JeepAndrew’s Abandoned Mines Thread

Alright, continuing from the last set of pics, it's time for some pics down that 1/2-mile deep shaft that I promised..

Rigging was set, triple checked, and gear prepped. The first rope was a 300 footer, and we would be carrying down an additional 550 feet with us. Our goal was to reach the 800ft level, uncharted territory. According to the owner, nobody had been below the 500 level since the 1950s. We were determined to be the first.

With this shaft being over 2,000 feet deep, there was ABSOLUTELY no room for error. One missed step in prep or mistake here could severely injure or kill one or all of us.

Here, I'm making a final check on my descending gear before dropping while Miah looks on.


This was the view of what was below my feet, 2,650 feet of uninterrupted wood-lined haulageway to water far below. This was, by far, one of the most terrifying things I've ever had to do during my explorations.


5 Minutes later, I reached the end of the first 300ft of rope. I crossed over thru the haulageway barrier and stepped off into the manway and sound footing. I radioed up and Jason came down above me and snapped this pic as I stuck my head out into the haulageway. You can see the timber-lined shaft disappearing into the depths. The brightest lights we had could only light up around 150-200 feet of the shaft.


A little background info, the geology of this mine was such that most of the levels were extremely small, with exception of the 800-1300ft levels. The deposit here is a type known as a "Breccia Pipe", which is a tube-like ore deposit that snakes up through the surrounding rock. This particular shaft was punched downward right in the center of the breccia deposit from the surface, which meant that long wandering drifts and crosscuts weren't needed in the upper levels to get to the ore, as it was right at the shaft. Below the 700 level, the breccia pipe veers away from the shaft, and long passages shoot away from the shaft to access the ore (and stopes). The breccia eventually rejoins the shaft at 1375 feet, and stays with it until the bottom.

15 minutes and 1 re-rig later, I stepped onto the station at the 500ft level. The shaft continues on down another 2,200-ish feet past here.


Part of the 500ft level shaft station. You can see some colorful blue copper minerals laying around.


Last 300 feet of rope is rigged and ready to go. 300 more feet!


Welcome to the 800!


The other two guys arrived and we set off to explore. No footprints or signs of human visitation!


Old nasty dynamite, anyone?? Dangerous stuff.


70 year-old shovels, as they were left when the mine closed, rusting away in a wet drift.

Some scratched in graffiti from 1914.


Fuses and blasting caps along with some random wood junk.

 

Continuing on with my Utah adventures, here’s a video from my buddy’s YouTube channel of a 600ft shaft we dropped and explored. Long video but worth it!

https://youtu.be/zoXCJZAcbwg

 

Subd all this is amazing. And gives me anxiety at the same time.

 

Doing this takes some getting used to, but can still be nerve-wracking for sure.. That's why I do keep a fresh pair in my pack for emergencies

 

it is crazy what is still below ground in our country... There's so much history, so much of what built America, hardship and tough times down in those mines.... I have always been interested but lack the equipment and knowledge to do what you do... Thank you for sharing the pictures... It's even more crazy than I imagined. They literally just up and abandoned these places. It was like the quitting time alarm went off and no one came back.

 

You’re welcome! I never thought this thread would be as popular as it is.

Most of the time the miners were told not to come back at the end of a shift, and that’s it. The majority of mines I’ve been were operated numerous times by different companies/owners over the course of the 19th and 20th century, but could have been shut down for 10 years or more between those active times. And yes, some of the stuff left underground is awe inspiring. Nowadays, mines are completely cleaned out of all equipment and erased from existence.

 

I went on a coal mine tour in Ashland Pa. (next to the burning town of Centralia)with the family almost a year ago. Paled in comparison to what you’ve got going on here but I found it fascinating.
Please keep updating, I’m hooked.

 

Centralia is crazy, it’s on my bucket list of places to visit.

 

Honestly not much to see anymore. There’s only one hotspot that I know of and this past year the local law enforcement has been issuing citations for trespassing often. They don’t even want anyone on the old abandoned highway anymore even though the hotspot under it has apparently gone out.
I know that area quite well since I’m only a couple hours from there and it’s only about 30 min from Rausch Creek and AAOA.

 

Even today on the surface mines I worked. If the cost to extract exceeds the current commodity price, full stop stay home, don't spend anymore money.

Cost and effort to remove some of the equipment could easily have exceeded the value of equipment.

Or water and gasses can make it impossible.

Very cool as always @JeepAndrew

 

That’s a good point. Most of the closures were due to swings in commodity prices as you mentioned. With the EPA reclamation regs in place now, every effort to pull equipment and clean up is made, and for the most part is undertaken. Past and present, a mining company will know they’re in financial trouble some time before, either by dropping commodity values, decreasing ore quality etc, and will make plans as to closing down. In the past it was usually announced at closing of a shift and everything was often left right where it was, tools, equipment, infrastructure etc.

I’ve seen ore cars still completely full of lead ore, with shovels and rock bars leaning against them. They had been that way for 75 years, and I had a mental image in my mind of a mine foreman walking up to a group of guys at shift end there in the 1930s, telling them to put down the tools and don’t come back to work tomorrow.

 

That’s good to know, and not at all surprising. I’m sure the numerous YouTube ghost videos and History channel documentaries (not to mention the movie Silent Hill) have made that place a very popular tourist destination.

 

Precisely.

 

I got to thinking, I wonder if that fire could spread that direction.. it would depend on if the two coal seams are connected, and if any workings are present, as the fire won’t spread thru solid coal.

 

The fire under centralia is on a completely separate vein of anthracite coal from what I remember from the tour.

 

Ahh, that makes sense. Good to know! That fire is estimated to continue burning for another 200 years, based on what I've read.

If you're ever in Arizona, I'd recommend visiting the town of Bisbee and taking the Copper Queen Mine Tour. They take you underground on a train of personnel cars pulled by a battery-powered trammer to 1500 feet and walk you through stopes and drifts etc. It's a really interesting tour! There's also the walk-through silver mine tour in Tombstone just up the road.

 

Sounds awesome.

 

I’m still going thru Utah pics, will be uploading more soon!

In the meantime, here’s a two-part video series on a huge lead/zinc mine in southern Nevada that I hit with the exploring group last year. Ended up over 1000 feet down! Enjoy!

Part 1-https://youtu.be/MzbU8FqAZMY

Part 2-
https://youtu.be/E1PacbUt5YU

 

Sub'd.

Good stuff n here.

 

This next Utah site (I’ll refer to it as the “Cathedral Mine”) was on another property owned by the same guy as the 2600ft shaft I shared pics of previously. A large lead/zinc/silver/copper property, with over 20 miles of workings according to records.

This mine would not require vertical rope access. Entry was through an adit at the top of the mountain near the main shaft collar and involved hiking down 500 vertical feet (and a walking distance of 5-6 miles) through stopes and drifts. One member of the group, Miah, had been through before and spoke of gigantic stopes, some as large as a concert hall! Needless to say, we were excited to get in there, and this one certainly didn’t disappoint! Unfortunately, I was unable to get any decent pics of the more massive stopes, as we would’ve needed many tens of thousands of lumens to light them for pictures. A revisit with more lighting will be planned in the future

This first pic is what’s left of the 50ft tall headframe over the main shaft, severely damaged in a huge surface collapse that happened in the 1980s. Sometime that year, a large slab of rock delaminated off inside the shaft at the surface, snagging the hoist cable and a haulage cage below and took out 450 feet of timber lagging, ripping the cable and sheave wheels off the headframe as it fell. Now what’s left is a funnel around the shaft that someone could easily slide into. A very good example of how dangerous shaft collars can be to approach.


The one remaining haulage cage laying on its side, luckily it was pulled out just a year before the collapse.


We made our entry and I snapped this pic just as we began our Jules Vern-style journey though the vastness of the mine. Here, Miah stands 75 feet below us lighting up a ladder on the opposite side of the stope and doing a fine job of lending some scale to this place. Mind you, this is one of the SMALLER stopes in this mine.


Making our way down thru a very narrow section of near-vertical stope, on very slippery and wet metal ladders. This section was 150ft in depth.


Tight squeeze.. definitely not for the claustrophobic.


Miah begins down.


Down we go, more stopes and steel ladders..




175 feet down so far....


Mineral specimen collecting!


The steel pipe and orange ribbons mark the route. Very easy to get lost in this place...


One of very few sketchy wooden ladders. This one was at the bottom of a very tight crevasse squeeze, and we had to drop onto it blind. Made for a little thrill!


300 feet down now, me looking at a very rotten wood plank and platform over a deep drop.


More to come of this huge mine!