JeepAndrew’s Abandoned Mines Thread

Back down the winze to the 900...

After a long grueling trip down through more winzes, stopes and tight claustrophobic crawls, we found ourselves on the 1100 level! Here, Travis and Jeremy pose at the 1100 station of the eastern main shaft.


The scrappers were here at some point, as evidenced by the pile of wire.

Ore car on the 1100


Very old newspaper from world war 1!


A pristine air hoist for a winze!


Very dangerous ladder into a stope..

 

Teasers from last weekend’s Tombstone trip!...

 

Probably about a 3-5. There was evidence that it had been handled before by other (less careful) explorers.

 

We always are. We never handle any kind of explosives we find underground. Even blasting caps can pack enough of a pop to blow your hand off.

 

First off I wanna say that this tread is awesome, love the pictures of the old machine shops almost more than the mines themselves.

And since we’re talking about explosives...

Hold it to your chest and there’s a good chance a cap will kill you and blow your hand off at the same time. Blasting caps generally contain about as much or more of an explosive charge as a hand grenade just without the casing designed to be shrapnel. Depending on the type of cap of course but I wouldn’t mess with them.

I work in the blasting industry and got the joy of disposing of some old electric caps a few years ago. The type that a radio frequency or a cell phone or a static shock could set off. Was kinda scary compared to the electronic ones we use now that are incredibly safe.

However I got the see what a cap going off by itself outside of a bore hole looked like and they’re nasty little buggers.

YouTube blasting cap inside of ballistic gel.

 

At one mine in Utah there were boxes of electric caps left behind. I definitely will not handle those, as I’ve heard the same about the electric caps being sensitive to static.

 

That looks like Gerrard! They back open for business? Or you just go in on your own?

 

That would be the Girard! They are open for business again and I went down with some of the big group members to survey and photograph!

 

Funny how nothing changes. My favorite deployment packages were filled with candy

 

Nice man! When they open back up?

 

About a year or so ago, new owners have really fixed it up!

 

You mean no more crawl of death in the first 10 minutes of the tour? Lol

Have they pumped the water down at all or is 450' still max depth?

 

Oops I don’t know how I missed your response.. my bad! Nope, water is still around the 500ft mark. We discovered tons of new ground down there!!

 

Tombstone Shenanigans!!

Recently, myself and a few of the exploring group members were allowed access the mines in Tombstone, Arizona! We had full unlimited access to one of the largest abandoned mine complexes in Arizona! 200-300 miles of workings!!

The mine manager, Robert, scoots next to a decent drop!


Dan (left) is having a weird flashlight in the mouth moment, and Matt (right) is extremely happy, and amused by Dan’s expression.


Jason sits at the 300 level of the Girard Shaft!


Ore cart!


Jason and Robert in part of the enormous Girard Stope!


Stulls, timbers that span the floor and ceiling of a stope, support many hundreds of thousands of tons above.


Old-school strap rail, pre-1900s!


Civil Defense supplies!






An untouched level in the Empire Mine!






Kevin stands near a massive wall of stacked waste rock!


Remains of a windlass!


Empire 200 level stope.


This place is absolutely amazing. We were the first humans to access this part of the mine in 90 years. A time capsule for sure!


An underground blacksmith shop!


Wooden ore cart!

 

That operation seems like it would use up a large amount of oxygen down where it's needed most. And then the heavy offgasses potentially traveling down to collect in a low spot. Any idea if their smithing practices were altered for life below deck?

Edit: wow those are amazing pics, thanks again for sharing with us!

 

The forges used were small coal (or coke) fired forges, not much larger than a small modern BBQ grill. And this is one of 4 forges scattered in different locations throughout the complex. I did notice that all locations had very good airflow (from other workings above or below the place where the forges were), so I’m guessing that the offgassing was dispersed pretty well. Then again, safety took a huge backseat to production back then...

 

Been MIA lately! Recently got hired on with another power company and have been soaking up the overtime! I have more trips planned in the near future, including what will be the deepest on-rope shaft drop I’ve ever done. Oh, and pics will be in-bound soon!

This new job has me doing work I’ve never done before, some of which involves rappelling and rope access. it’s great experience for new skills in mine exploring!

 

Congrats on the new yob, be safe up there!

 

Thank you!

 

No thank you!