Clues on Old Mines From Old Hands?

[starsplitter]

This is a combination treasure hunting and mining inquiry...

Shortly, I will be visiting an old mine site in South America. It has, or was, mined for several hundred years by Native Americans, then by the Spanish using locals as slave labor. A friend who owned the concession and mined it artisanally over twenty years ago is leading me to it. It is located in the mountains in an arid area near a seasonal river/stream bed.

I am wondering about clues that could indicate more than just the main shaft. Tailing piles will be among the first things I look for. However, I am wondering about ancient ore crushers, smelters, and indicators of other activities/openings in the immediate vicinity that might have been hidden from the Spanish. Also imagine there are other things that have not occured to me - I have little or no knowledge of hard rock mining.

Hope some old hands can help out. Any ideas or suggestions would be deeply appreciated.

Thanks.

 

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[dave wiseman]

You might want to look for an arrastra by a water source..

 

[dave wiseman]

If you do find an arrastra or where one once was,you might want to take it apart and pan out the dirt and gravel..unless it's an historical site.Also the creek,gully etc. where the arrester was/is might have gold in it ..even if it was a year round,seasonal or now dried up indentation.A little downstream,of course.Putting the rocks back in place would be the proper thing to do after your work,if possible/or your so inclined.....and then again if you have the extra money you get infrared satellite pictures which should show traces of past human activity.Very pricey,though.

 

[timberjack]

I dont know the history of the area your mine is located in and im not really up to speed on the topic, but, you might want to search "spanish treasure symbols" i have read a few of the threads,,,there are some referances about spanish mining practices in"the many hidden treasures of marisopia county" by Eagle down, in treasure by location section of this forum.seems like they were very clever at hiding what they had found.
Might be a good idea to get a map of the area and try to get a mental grasp on the lay of the land, are there geologic maps of the area? Any history of the area to reasearch? What was mined? What is the host rock? What are the indacator materials in area? Basically i would do all the reading about the area i could befor i got there...Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[starsplitter]

Thanks to all who replied. It is much appreciated.

Update...

Visited the site today with a friend (the former concession owner from the early 1990's). Lots of changes to include a road, and three new mining operations in the immediate vicinity with infrastructure being built for another. Assume that all of the mines are now in the "small" category. My friend's mine was classifed as artisanal. His former mine is one of the three "new" operations. Disappointed, but a fun day nontheless.

 

[littleneckhalfshell]

""His former mine is one of the three "new" operations. Disappointed, but a fun day nonetheless."" Sorry for your disappointment, sort of ' a dollar short and a day late' kind of thing. I assume that any claim he had to the property had run out and new people were the early bird to get the worm. When I was up in far northern Ontario in the gold mining area, a friend did part time prospecting, the way he did it was to research old claims from the 20's and 30's, everyone was looking for gold and silver then and tossed aside copper and zinc ores, but those figures were listed in the required assays to maintain the claims. When he read something promising, he would go out, find the claim markers (metal tags either on posts or rock cairns) and search and sample the property, he had a 6 wheeler and a gasoline hole drill, a little blasting gelatin and he would have his samples. Good research can lead to good results, especially when some of the work is already done for you by people long dead. Again sorry for your loss, it could have been a grand adventure. ;-)

 

[starsplitter]

Littleneck:

Thanks for the reply. Yes, disappointing, but not surprising. It had been over 20 years after all. Reearch here is not easy. However, I do plan to obtain concession old concession maps. These should be public record. There are many legends, etc. here. worth following up and the locals can be of great help. The language barrier is a challenge, but that is to be expected.

InfidelSaint

 

[tamrock]

I'm thinking you wouldn't need any approval for your mine method from msha?. You could just get with the program and start hauling that muck. As for me it's always safety first no matter what the rules are.