desert mines

[1637]

i keep finding old mines in the desert that go straight down,it must have been really hard to work,everything had to come out in a bucket.i cant even see the bottom.i think a trench would be easier to work .iam not sure if there are veins or just better dirt that deep. those were some tough guys. brad

 

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[EQ8]

I watched a "Dangerous Roads" video about Peru and they were mining places for gold that were like that. Hauling everything up in buckets, using dynamite with 2 minute fuses.. Definitely hard working, risk taking people there.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

A mine shaft.

Vs. a tunnel or audit.

 

[Bodfish Mike]

Brad I have seen the holes you speak off.
I was talking to another miner and he said the old timers would dig down to bedrock then tunnel along it.
Sounds like very hard and dangerous work.

I'll dig to bedrock but my limit is 3 feet.
I have done well from the tailings of these holes with my drywasher
Cheers Mike

 

[cyzak]

i keep finding old mines in the desert that go straight down,it must have been really hard to work,everything had to come out in a bucket.i cant even see the bottom.i think a trench would be easier to work .iam not sure if there are veins or just better dirt that deep. those were some tough guys. brad

The reason you are seeing these shaft is because in a few places the veins ran vertical and not horizontal.The old timers would come along and find and exposed mineral vein coming out of the ground they would follow it straight down.

 

[Bodfish Mike]

The reason you are seeing these shaft is because in a few places the veins ran vertical and not horizontal.The old timers would come along and find and exposed mineral vein coming out of the ground they would follow it straight down.

Some of the tailing have round river rock so I don't know if it was a vein they were chasing or an old river channel.
Cheers

 

[cyzak]

Some of the tailing have round river rock so I don't know if it was a vein they were chasing or an old river channel.
Cheers

I call those type of excavations coyote holes they are the most dangerous it's old ancient rivers beds that got covered up long ago.

 

[roy2bears]

Water wells or air shafts to a mine ,. Is this a,possibilty?

 

[gold tramp]

Depends on your deposit, placer or hard rock.
It's really just the way one follows the lead and go's about doing the least amount of digging.
The values dictate the type diggin you will do, shaft, trench, drifting, open pit or well....
Gt ...

 

[cactusman]

I've found countless ones like that; it may seem easier to dig a trench, but the old timers weren't into digging anything that wasn't profitable, so if the vein went straight down that's how they chased it. And those guys had to be tough as nails to dig like that, all day, and living right there, off of whatever supplies they had. And then take into account the risk factor...

Needless to say, we have it way easier! The gold may have been more abundant back then, but wow did they ever have to work for it...

 

[dave wiseman]

It's called following the lead..which means you go in the direction that gold is going...with continual sampling.Coyote holes were/are in the sides of hills...which I did for 30 years,chasing gold in stringers.If you've round river rock it's placer...old or newer.Those old timers had to deal with climate,loneliness,native Americans and lack of water.The water may have been miles or hours away.Alot of Arizona hard rock diggings were shallow deposits with short lived gold camps.At these places nice quartz gold species might still be found.

 

[xracer550]

Many of the shaft's in the El Paso Mtn. & Coolgardi area where dug strait down to bedrock then follow the pay streak .
this is what they found in goler gulch near the Edith E cabin :

 

[Seden]

Nice gold! In the early 1930's the miners used power equipment and dug a trench down to bedrock near the Edith E. and got small nuggets from it which is why it was nicknamed "The pea patch". The BLM warned them that it wasn't safe to be down there and sure enough it collapsed and thankfully no one was down there at the time. The BLM announced that they can not do that again. My Uncle Charlie Behrens lived in the house on Goler heights from the early 30's till the late 90's and had lot's of stories to tell. My Grandfather also had a cabin up on Goler Heights during the early 30's which is since gone. The old timers just scratched the surface as there is so much gold out there to be had.

 

[Hard Prospector]

Lots of straight shafts down to bed rock then "drift in" along the lead. Old cemented gravels made up the back of such and although good gold to be found, very sketchy indeed. Many an old timer was buried alive in such desert places. Sample, sample, sample and know your limits!

 

[1637]

wow.what a cool picture,cant wait to get back out there,but iam still not going in one of those holes,you can drop a rock and not heard it hit the bottom

Many of the shaft's in the El Paso Mtn. & Coolgardi area where dug strait down to bedrock then follow the pay streak .
this is what they found in goler gulch near the Edith E cabin : View attachment 1817692

 

[Hard Prospector]

Good gold means squat when your rendered desert fertilizer in a collapsed coyote hole. Fill up a 5 gallon bucket with dirt and see what it feels like when placed upon your chest..... times that by 100! Slow down, take you time and have a plan.

 

[russau]

There's a location in New Mexico that I worked called "dead man's cliff " and it had a lot of coyote holes . Some prospector's came up there to work this spot and saw two boots sticking out of a hole........thinking some sort of a joke or warning , they pulled on the boots only to realize that someone was still in them hence the name ! No matter...Stay out & stay alive !

 

[StreamlineGold]

Back in the day it was easy to blast and sink a shaft. They would go 10-15 ft in a single shift, it was the most cost effective way