Has anyone ever go in or prospected in abandoned mines?

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dogcat

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I know it's super dangerous...

However every time I was close to a shaft I would always go there and have a look what does it look like and was curious what is inside...but yeah also I doubt if I can get a piece of big gold nugget under those shafts....I thought back 100 years ago there would be some leftover as our ancestors didn't have the detectors? Do you also have similar feelings like me going down to the shaft and those curiosities? I don't think I am the only one :rolleyes:

anyone has pics if you ever dive down or stories you experienced or ever heard?

BE SAFE..

Kind regards,
Ethan
 
We've been n a few but you have to be choosy. I stepped into the sloping mouth of one that was solid rock into a wide quartz seam. The GPX6000 picked up a signal in the quartz so with a little help of a couple of borrowed chisels and a block hammer we extracted a block of quartz with visible gold. This shaft was most likely dug long before the invent of metal detectors.

Some can be quite safe but yesterday I lay flat on the ground and edged near enough to look down into the dark depths. This shaft is into the Cue granite and very unstable. I dropped a rock and heard it hit to bottom perhaps just 30m down but too far to fall. This mine has no mound around it, just four steel pickets and a low fence.

Shaft.jpg

Notice the loose rock on the ground. That can't hurt you but what's going to come down if you decide to strike something with your pick?

Shaft 2.jpg

This one is into solid rock. I bought Mrs M a 15m rope ladder for her birthday about 10 years ago.
 
Shaft 3.jpg

This was worth a careful look inside - note the rocks that had fallen.

Shaft 4.jpg

They had left these huge expanses of unsupported roof and in this case it had crashed to the ground.

Reef.jpg

I had to strap Merv's wrists together to prevent him chipping away at this gold rich seam above o_O
 
I've just done the tour of the Central Deborah Gold Mine in Bendigo, a fascinating experience of what it's like inside a gold mine, worth every cent of the admission fee, they've got one area behind glass that still has some gold in the quartz seam, unfortunately I didn't get a photo that does it justice.20241110_115548.jpg20241110_115827.jpg
 
Moneybox said:
We've been n a few but you have to be choosy. I stepped into the sloping mouth of one that was solid rock into a wide quartz seam. The GPX6000 picked up a signal in the quartz so with a little help of a couple of borrowed chisels and a block hammer we extracted a block of quartz with visible gold. This shaft was most likely dug long before the invent of metal detectors.

Some can be quite safe but yesterday I lay flat on the ground and edged near enough to look down into the dark depths. This shaft is into the Cue granite and very unstable. I dropped a rock and heard it hit to bottom perhaps just 30m down but too far to fall. This mine has no mound around it, just four steel pickets and a low fence.

View attachment 15710

Notice the loose rock on the ground. That can't hurt you but what's going to come down if you decide to strike something with your pick?

View attachment 15711

This one is into solid rock. I bought Mrs M a 15m rope ladder for her birthday about 10 years ago.
Click to expand...
that's so brave. Thanks for your photos. you are the first person giving me first person experience. I hope you two safe and find big nuggets.
 
dogcat said:
that's so brave. Thanks for your photos. you are the first person giving me first person experience. I hope you two safe and find big nuggets.
Click to expand...

We entered these mines to see what type of rock they were mining a hundred years ago. We were on a live lease where we were not allowed to prospect or remove anything however there are no rules preventing us taking a look. This particular mine is in the east Pilbara in Western Australia. I have a nearby lease but my lease does not have any old mines that I know of but it's very steep country so there's a possibility of finding something in the future. We very likely have the same orebody on our lease but in might not have nuggety gold.
 
Moneybox said:
我们进入这些矿井，看看一百年前他们开采的是什么类型的岩石。我们签订了有效租赁协议，不允许勘探或移走任何东西，但没有任何规则阻止我们参观。这个矿井位于西澳大利亚皮尔巴拉东部。我有一个附近的租赁协议，但我的租赁协议上没有任何我所知道的旧矿，但那里地势非常陡峭，所以未来有可能找到一些东西。我们的租赁协议上很可能有相同的矿体，但可能没有块金。
Click to expand...
what could you read from the rocks or stones you saw? an experienced prospector told me rocks could tell a lot while salt pepper is just one of them
 
dogcat said:
I know it's super dangerous...

However every time I was close to a shaft I would always go there and have a look what does it look like and was curious what is inside...but yeah also I doubt if I can get a piece of big gold nugget under those shafts....I thought back 100 years ago there would be some leftover as our ancestors didn't have the detectors? Do you also have similar feelings like me going down to the shaft and those curiosities? I don't think I am the only one :rolleyes:

anyone has pics if you ever dive down or stories you experienced or ever heard?

BE SAFE..

Kind regards,
Ethan
Click to expand...
Don't do it. But I have lowered a video camera down one once about 50 feet. Broken timbers etc.
Also went into an old gold mine when I was stupidly young. The evidence of cave ins while exploring soon mabe me realize how dangerous it was. Horizontal shafts with big piles of rock on the floor from roof collapses. Was interesting but wouldn't do it again.
 
Remember air quality in confined spaces can be extremly bad .learnt a lot about it when we did confined space rescue years ago.you definetley need to lower a meter in before entry.
Or a canary.
Theres been a few youtubers going into mines recently .not for me though.
 
Hi Ethan, I find historic mines fascinating but it’s a difficult hobby to have! I’ve spent a fair bit of time exploring and researching but one of the issues is the reports on sites like DIGS can be decades old and a lot can change in that time eg:the mine is bulldozed in. Also accessibly can be difficult, they are often on trails that are not maintained. Personally I've found the best gold to be in the mullock piles outside the shaft. What state do you live in? If your near northern NSW/Sth East QLD I’m happy to share info on the better sites I’ve seen. View attachment IMG_0197.jpeg
 

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harry7777 said:
Hi Ethan, I find historic mines fascinating but it’s a difficult hobby to have! I’ve spent a fair bit of time exploring and researching but one of the issues is the reports on sites like DIGS can be decades old and a lot can change in that time eg:the mine is bulldozed in. Also accessibly can be difficult, they are often on trails that are not maintained. Personally I've found the best gold to be in the mullock piles outside the shaft. What state do you live in? If your near northern NSW/Sth East QLD I’m happy to share info on the better sites I’ve seen. View attachment 15729
Click to expand...
HI Harry.

I am in SA. So you have been into the mines? have you seen anything interesting? I have seen your attached photos.

I went to WA mainly and witness mines everywhere. From Lenister to Laverton, you name it.

I hope you safe each trip. It can be really dangerous.

Kind regards,
Ethan
 
harry7777 said:
Hi Ethan, I find historic mines fascinating but it’s a difficult hobby to have! I’ve spent a fair bit of time exploring and researching but one of the issues is the reports on sites like DIGS can be decades old and a lot can change in that time eg:the mine is bulldozed in. Also accessibly can be difficult, they are often on trails that are not maintained. Personally I've found the best gold to be in the mullock piles outside the shaft. What state do you live in? If your near northern NSW/Sth East QLD I’m happy to share info on the better sites I’ve seen. View attachment 15729
Click to expand...
Hi Harry,

Prospecting site you mean？ that would be good lol love it

Kind regards,
Ethan
 
Yes, ive been inside a shaft and followed the old timers drive for about 80m i think they went into nearby hill. I found heaps of tiny gold, specimens, round cut out rooms, all walls solid rock i didn't dig any signals in the roof or walls only detected the shaft floors for old timer dropped gold. Most gold was found on the bottom of the shaft, and a few specimens in some rock piles in the rooms not so much on the drives floor. I also used a broom handle to tap the shaft floor further along where there was old grey rotten boards of wood and found a false floor leading down to another level which had its own eco system of bugs, frogs, spiders and other insects, many spiders on the walls had made homes in the roots coming down from the surface, alot of old and new webs and a damp mouldy smell lingered i used a mask. Further down that tunnel eventually came to a section of water and could see the tunnel had collapsed, around the water was a green blackish fungus creeper like plant. I avoided it and made sure not to disturb it or the water. Didn't get any gold on second floor only old pieces of brass pipe, and junky iron metal. I've also been under wild dog diggings. Its risky but i always go by myself.
 
I have never descended an old shaft but occasionally I will walk into a horizontal drive if the rock formation appears solid and particularly if beaten foot tracks show that it is frequently entered.
I explored one adit,, sounding the walls with a metal detector, and got a good reading as the detector passed over a substantial crevice at shoulder height.
I spent ages working at that crevice with a variety of tools and finally extracted the target.
It was a .22 brass cartridge case that some wag had hammered flat and driven into the crevice.
As they say, "If a situation seems too good to be true, it probably is."
Grey panner
 

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