Hello! Ive decided to become a hard rock miner!

[Mad Machinist]

@ mad.
thanks for the heads up. I'll stop replying to all those personal messages enquiring about assay reports for the mine then!
regards,
don

don,

There are more than a few here you can trust. It will take time to figure out who they are. You'll find those ones will give you the best advice and be happy for you. I can give recommedations, but they are just that, my recommendations. You have to decide for yourself who to trust and who not to.

Good luck, be smart, and stay safe.

 

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[miner don]

Is anyone else stuck indoors and unable to mine during the winter? I so want to get outside and back to mining! I'm wearing holes in my carpet from pacing the floor so much.

 

[DizzyDigger]

How's it coming along up at the mine?

Yep, stuck inside too, but then that's normal for this time of year.

 

[miner don]

How's it coming along up at the mine?

Sadly I haven't been up there since September. Right now there's too much snow to drive up to the property. I'd have to walk in the last 4 miles in and that isn't practical. I need some global warming to come along so I can get there and start mining now!

 

[Goodyguy]

Is anyone else stuck indoors and unable to mine during the winter? I so want to get outside and back to mining! I'm wearing holes in my carpet from pacing the floor so much.

Good time to get equip and game plan ready for the coming season. Use the time to study and learn, we're not gettin' any younger and soon enough be too old to do anything but talk about it.

Here is a pretty good book entitled "Mining in the Pacific Northwest" written in 1897 complete with maps for Washington and BC.
It's FREE to read online. And you also have the option for it to be read to you by computer. Can also zoom in on the pages for easier reading.

https://archive.org/stream/mininginpacificn00hodg#page/n5/mode/2up

 

[miner don]

Good time to get equip and game plan ready for the coming season. Use the time to study and learn, we're not gettin' any younger and soon enough be too old to do anything but talk about it.

I'll turn 40 in March. I'm hoping I have lots of years in me to still make it out there.

I would love to be out rounding up equipment but i'm super poor.

I wrote a research paper with bibliographical references before I actually set foot on the ground to stake my claim. I used that book in my paper because it contains information relevant to my claim! It's pretty amazing that a publication from 1897 is online and holds such a wealth of information.

Anyone else interested in staking a claim or just browsing mining history of WA would really enjoy reading it. I did. Thanks for linking it.

 

[Goodyguy]

I'm only 65 and hope I have many years left as well, but seems like it was only yesterday when I was turning 40.
Time sure flies when you're having fun.

Here's hoping you'll soon strike it rich at the mine and funding will no longer be an issue.

GG~

 

[Mad Machinist]

Sadly I haven't been up there since September. Right now there's too much snow to drive up to the property. I'd have to walk in the last 4 miles in and that isn't practical. I need some global warming to come along so I can get there and start mining now!

I'm still around. Sadly, it will Sept of this year before I get out again. After having my left bicep surgically reattached to my forearm last Sept., the wife is holding me to the Doc's recommendation of a year off. Good thing is I've regained full use of my left arm and about 75% off the muscle mass after having my arm in a sling for 5 months.

I returned to my day job in Nov., working on finishing my degree, and getting my own machine shop going, so I have plenty to keep me busy. No pacing the floor for me.

 

[miner don]

I'm still around. Sadly, it will Sept of this year before I get out again. After having my left bicep surgically reattached to my forearm last Sept.

Ouch that sounds extremely painful! It's stories like this that remind me to never take things for granted.

I fell at school when I was 6 years old and caused damage to my right elbow joint. The doctor thought I just sprained my arm and put it in a half cast and sent me home. Years later the damage became apparent. I cannot fully straighten my right arm. I'm missing about the last 25 degrees of motion due to the damage in my elbow joint. My right arm is also noticeably weaker than my left arm. Even simple things like shifting a manual transmission car all day will cause my arm to hurt. It sucks, but I press on.

I wish you a fast, full, and speedy recovery. It's great that you are keeping yourself busy despite your injury.

 

[augoldminer]

i seldom replaced wood timbers at the adit of a mine.
i have used steel sets or the best is culvert like they use under freeways.

i had one mine i leased that the owner had to replace the timbers at the entrance every couple years.
i used a large culvert set on its side and buried enough that i could add dirt and tracks.
15 years later it has not had to have any repairs.

the most likely place a mine will cave is the entrance.

plus in forest areas you want a fireproof entrance.
and its a good place to hang a door to keep the vandals out.

Drilling and blasting a round will be your hardest problem.
Every rock is different and some are tricky.
Find a old miner to teach you how to drill a burn cut and how to load and time a round.

I have spent many days on the wrong end of a jackleg.

 

[backwoods tracker]

don,

One thing I forgot. Since you posted up the location of your mine, DO NOT put up an assay report. Too many eyes watching this forum that would like nothing better than for you to do the work for them and then find a way to take it from you.

If you need help with the pelton wheel, let me know. I'll dig through the Machinery Handbook and get you the formulas.

My first thought when I saw the location posted, my next first thought when I saw the photos...."Oh crap !!!!!! Don't post that....oops, too late."

 

[Mad Machinist]

Ouch that sounds extremely painful! It's stories like this that remind me to never take things for granted.

I fell at school when I was 6 years old and caused damage to my right elbow joint. The doctor thought I just sprained my arm and put it in a half cast and sent me home. Years later the damage became apparent. I cannot fully straighten my right arm. I'm missing about the last 25 degrees of motion due to the damage in my elbow joint. My right arm is also noticeably weaker than my left arm. Even simple things like shifting a manual transmission car all day will cause my arm to hurt. It sucks, but I press on.

I wish you a fast, full, and speedy recovery. It's great that you are keeping yourself busy despite your injury.

I've got a couple of permanent injuries myself. My left shoulder was busted up many years ago by a rockfall during scale down. Turned my back on a greenhorn and he broke a rock loose that landed on my shoulder. My left collar bone displaces now and then. Extremely painful.

I was awake during the surgery on my left bicep due to a nerve block. One of the weirdest things I've ever felt. Was kinda cool to jam out during the surgery to some old school Metallica.

I'm a mine machinist for my day job. And even though I don't want to admit it, I think my hard rock days are coming to an end due to injuries. I'll still stay in it in a repairing equipment capacity. Machines do all the heavy work in that area.

Good luck. Be smart, and stay safe.

 

[miner don]

My first thought when I saw the location posted, my next first thought when I saw the photos...."Oh crap !!!!!! Don't post that....oops, too late."

Thank you guys for all of the feedback and advice. One of the smartest things I've done thus far in my short mining career is join this forum.

I guess I'm too trusting. If I had found a previously unknown deposit I might have been more cautious about releasing information about it. In this case though there was a lot of historical information readily available online; That's found I found it! I did my due diligence online then followed that up by inspections on the ground. I didn't think anything I did was magical.

The claim was originally staked about 1893. It hasn't produced in over 100 years. The spot has been reclaimed at least 3 times after the original claim owner left following the railroad washout. Again I didn't really think I had found something that wasn't already well documented in various literature.

Maybe I'm being Naive.

 

[backwoods tracker]

Thank you guys for all of the feedback and advice. One of the smartest things I've done thus far in my short mining career is join this forum.

I guess I'm too trusting. If I had found a previously unknown deposit I might have been more cautious about releasing information about it. In this case though there was a lot of historical information readily available online; That's found I found it! I did my due diligence online then followed that up by inspections on the ground. I didn't think anything I did was magical.

The claim was originally staked about 1893. It hasn't produced in over 100 years. The spot has been reclaimed at least 3 times after the original claim owner left following the railroad washout. Again I didn't really think I had found something that wasn't already well documented in various literature.

Maybe I'm being Naive.

Not trying to be an alarmist, nor to worry you. Just be a little more discreet about particulars that may draw attention from the less scrupulous folks in the world. Right now scrap copper is going for $2.95 per lb. at the scrap yards in my neck of the woods, and folks are ripping unsuspecting homeowner's A/C's and plumbing in broad daylight when they are at work. Silver is around fairly close to $20.00 per troy oz., and gold at around $1245.00 ..........get the drift ?

 

[miner don]

After a long winter I'm finally back to mining (or at least working on stuff at the mine). I've been very slow to update my blog but I finally got 6 new posts up about my adventures so far this year!

 

[augoldminer]

Your lower adit is not a drift for ore.

Its the old powder magazine.
The heavy door and the timbers laid down on the floor of the drift with planks laid on them to store the explosives on to keep it dry/er gives it away.

 

[miner don]

Your lower adit is not a drift for ore.

Its the old powder magazine.
The heavy door and the timbers laid down on the floor of the drift with planks laid on them to store the explosives on to keep it dry/er gives it away.

I was wondering why that was such a sturdy door. That tunnel is at roughly 90 degree angle to the ore vein. It does eventually intersect it where there are two crosscuts.

 

[allenkeeton]

i don't think i could do what you are doing but it does sound pretty awesome. best of luck to ya.

 

[trikeman72]

@ mad
I'm sure your wife appreciates you staying out of trouble!

I'm really excited about the pelton wheel also. It will be a fun engineering venture. According to the Altimeter in my GPS the falls are approx 84 feet high. I could go even higher upstream to get some additional elevation. I'm not sure of the flow rate of the falls. We just finished out August which is the driest month of the year here. Even then there was good flow over the falls. The local tell me that the flow rate is magnitudes higher in the winter/spring months with all the runoff.

The interesting part to me is the pelton wheel has many variables in it. Head heights, flow rate, pipe diameter, pelton/turbine size and construction, gearing, and then rpm for something like an AC generator. It looks to be a lot of fun doing all the math and making it all work!
regards,
don

Ohhhhh to have water on my claim Nevada desert is a beotch lol
even if I poured it on the ground it wouldn't stay long enough to make mud.
One things for sure tho. There ain't no bugs around til I fill my panning tub with water. Then holy crap I seen some wild flyin things lol

I'm thinking that I need to scale down my shafts adits whatever they are. Still working out lingo kinks. When I look up at ceilings I see like cracks or places that if I tapped lightly with a pick material would fall out. So since I didn't wanna wake up dead I just didn't mess with it.


Be safe and good luck.
Bill