It’s best to not make assumptions about abandoned mines… This mine is a good demonstration of that as I was as guilty as everyone else in assuming that a little pocket was just a part of a small stope or dead end raise. Surely, such a dull, insignificant-looking notch in the rib of the adit couldn’t lead anywhere of interest!

This was a gold, silver and lead mine. The ore at this site was discovered in the late 1800s and the early efforts consisted mostly of surface work and some minor underground work (none of which exceeded one hundred feet in depth). The serious work at this abandoned mine took place in the 1920s.

Our initial attraction to this mine was based on rumors of an underground horse whim and some other intriguing features. As I was researching this mine in more depth after our visit, I came across a report that described an underground connection to a large neighboring mine in the district. We were unable to locate any of those. One never knows what to make of rumors, but I have no reason to doubt the report that I read. There are adits and shafts running all over the place at this site. It would be easy to miss something, but there were also a number of caved sections that we encountered in other areas.

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You can see the full TVR Exploring playlist of abandoned mines here: [ Ссылка ]

You can see the gear that I use for mine exploring here: [ Ссылка ] and here: [ Ссылка ]

Several kind viewers have asked about donating to help cover some of the many expenses associated with exploring these abandoned mines. Inspired by their generosity, I set up a Patreon account. So, if anyone would care to chip in, I’m under TVR Exploring on Patreon.

Thanks for watching!

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Growing up in California’s “Gold Rush Country” made it easy to take all of the history around us for granted. However, abandoned mine sites have a lot working against them – nature, vandals, scrappers and various government agencies… The old prospectors and miners that used to roam our lonely mountains and toil away deep underground are disappearing quickly as well.

These losses finally caught our attention and we felt compelled to make an effort to document as many of the ghost towns and abandoned mines that we could before that colorful niche of our history is gone forever.
I hope you’ll join us on these adventures!

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