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Gold mining.

Anonymous Mon 13 Apr 2020 05:56:51 No.1733238 View View Reply Original Report

Quoted By: >>1733353 >>1733638 >>1733816 >>1733871 >>1733904

Hey /out/
So I want to begin exploring old gold mines, closed placer claims, old trailings ect. But the more I look into it the more I am confused.

My goal is to find closed and abandoned mines, but all of the information that I can find is giving me contradictory information which gives me no faith that I won't get shot for "claim jumping."

Also, how do you find people that also love to explore old mine sites? Any advice would be appreciated.

PAN MAN

PAN MAN Mon 13 Apr 2020 07:53:05 No.1733311 Report

Quoted By: >>1733362 >>1733871

your green, stay the fuck out of old mines, but since you will ignore this warning here are some dangers to look out for.

false floors
>the miners worked the ore body down the length of the drift and followed it down, covering the gap with wood, this rots and you fall to your death.
dangerous gases
>do not ever enter coal mines, gases since abandonment heavier than normal air build up and kill you
cave ins / shit supports
>wooden supports in a working mean that the rock is likely weak. these supports degrade and will collapse at random
toxic chemicals or acid drainage
>acids generated from ore reacting with water and air for decades

There are loads more dangers to do with abandoned mines, for your safety and the safety of those who will search for your body, just stay out of them.

PAN MAN

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PAN MAN Mon 13 Apr 2020 07:59:26 No.1733319 Report

Quoted By: >>1733323 >>1733348 >>1733362

As for looking for abandoned mines, go online and just google your local area with terms like "gold rush" silver mine, gold mine, copper mine etc.

You can find info on mines across the us and canada on government websites, for canada its Minfile and for the states they each have their own websites, but USGS has info.

Next once you know there are old mines in your area, start looking around on google earth. go into the mountains or local area and start looking for old roads, follow them, look for collapsed buildings, switch backs and ore dumps, once you know what your looking for you start seeing them everywhere in some areas.

Next, legally mining claims, both placer or hard rock are still public land, basically if no one is there go ahead and explore, do not be a shit head and break into anything locked. Do not disturb or try and enter anything obviously active.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 13 Apr 2020 08:04:32 No.1733323 Report

Quoted By:

>>1733319
>both placer or hard rock are still public land
false in the US

most mines in the US are patents, not claims. Patents are private property. They're never abandoned.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 13 Apr 2020 09:03:47 No.1733348 Report

Quoted By:

>>1733319
is this pic from colorado?

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 13 Apr 2020 09:10:42 No.1733353 Report

Quoted By: >>1733362

>>1733238
Your never going to find gold
You can't even find the catalog
>>1732248

Anonymous

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Anonymous Mon 13 Apr 2020 09:40:31 No.1733362 Report

Quoted By: >>1733735

>>1733311
>>1733319
Great advice! I just want yo metal detect around the old mines, not necessarily go into them.

The specific thing that I'm having trouble with is how to tell if a mine claim is active or closed... all of the info is really confusing.
>>1733353
I feel dumb... I swear that I checked the catalog for mining threads. My apologies.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 13 Apr 2020 14:30:44 No.1733490 Report

Quoted By: >>1733556

If you can get your hands on some old topo maps they should be marked. I’ve got some from the 1920s and up.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 13 Apr 2020 16:23:33 No.1733556 Report

Quoted By: >>1733608

>>1733490
It’s pickaxe symbol, right? I used those for old mines in Colorado and iron mines in upstate New York and they mark every little mine ever. Just remember as mentioned by anons above, old mines can be death traps.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 13 Apr 2020 17:49:51 No.1733608 Report

Quoted By:

>>1733556
yes most forest service and geologic maps also use that symbol.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 13 Apr 2020 18:28:14 No.1733638 Report

Quoted By: >>1733725 >>1736231

>>1733238
Be aware of Tommy knockers

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 13 Apr 2020 20:30:48 No.1733725 Report

Quoted By: >>1736231 >>1737258 >>1737312

>>1733638
I'm not afraid of no mine gnomes.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 13 Apr 2020 20:40:47 No.1733735 Report

Quoted By: >>1733785

>>1733362
find the county you want to explore.

go on the county assessor's webpage for that county.
check their map/gis page
It should show all PRIVATE PROPERTY in the county. Avoid those mines.
Next go to the BLM and/or FS offices for that district. They can provide (for a fee) location data on all ACTIVE CLAIMS on their land.
avoid active claims.

in most states in the western US there will be essentially nothing left since almost all mines are either private property or active claims. Actual abandoned mines on FS/BLM lands are usually plugged or fenced to keep people out.

Nobody wants you exploring old mines, and it's almost never legal to do so. The handful you can find were NOT silver and gold mines for the most part. It's usually stupid stuff like gypsum or borox or manganese mines that get abandoned.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 13 Apr 2020 21:51:00 No.1733785 Report

Quoted By:

>>1733735
>Actual abandoned mines on FS/BLM lands are usually plugged or fenced to keep people out.
They're pretty lazy about it most of the time, though. At one California gold mine I went to, what used to be the main veritcal shaft was collapsed in on itself and cemented, but the three adits downhill where they rolled out the actual ore don't have so much as a "Keep Out" sign.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 13 Apr 2020 22:30:34 No.1733816 Report

Quoted By:

>>1733238
if you're going into Mines for the love of God buy, among other things, an air quality tester. and as other anons have mentioned its fucking dangerous and dumb to just jump right into abandoned mines. ease into caving, play a little minecraft, go to a close and well documented cave that's for beginners. fag

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 13 Apr 2020 23:30:31 No.1733871 Report

Quoted By: >>1733891

>>1733238
see
>>1733311
Abandoned mines are fucking dangerous.
And they're abandoned for a reason, either they became too dangerous to work anymore, the vein was mined out or the minerals/metals in the mine aren't financially worth digging any more.
Could you possibly find an old gold mine, head in and maybe find a bit of gold without dying?
Sure.
Would you make as much money as working a minimum wage job?
Probably not.

Stick to gold panning or metal detecting on camping trips. You're not gunna get rich by jumping into a random mine for 10 minutes and swinging a pickaxe once or twice.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 14 Apr 2020 00:11:28 No.1733891 Report

Quoted By: >>1735155

>>1733871
I don’t wish to enter any lode mines, I just want to poke around them on the surface via metal detector and panning if possible.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Tue 14 Apr 2020 00:29:29 No.1733904 Report

Quoted By: >>1733911

>>1733238
Make sure you update your will anon

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 14 Apr 2020 00:36:50 No.1733911 Report

Quoted By:

>>1733904
That’s a sweet sign.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 15 Apr 2020 07:27:06 No.1735155 Report

Quoted By:

>>1733891
I've done that but in every case where I found gold the owners knew it was there and didn't appreciate me fucking around stealing their rocks.

Rich mines aren't ever abandoned. Best bet is to find out who owns it (usually several people and/or corporations) and ask permission. They won't give you permission for liability reasons, but perhaps they'll let you lease the property. But then for what it costs to lease an old mine and pick it clean you'll need dump trucks and excavators to break even, not a metal detector.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 16 Apr 2020 13:23:09 No.1736231 Report

Quoted By:

>>1733638
>>1733725
KEK

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 17 Apr 2020 18:06:26 No.1737252 Report

Quoted By: >>1737688

Mine explorer Anon here. As most have said if you dont know what you are doing than stay the fuck out. As for looking for things around the mine you are better off looking for where they set up their camps.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 17 Apr 2020 18:13:13 No.1737258 Report

Quoted By:

>>1733725
You should be.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 17 Apr 2020 18:17:25 No.1737261 Report

Quoted By:

A 6' x 6' timber being split like a tooth pick because of weight and pressure above..

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 17 Apr 2020 18:24:57 No.1737270 Report

Quoted By:

Most deaths that I know of in abandoned mines come from falling.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 17 Apr 2020 19:35:33 No.1737312 Report

Quoted By:

>>1733725
Idiot

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 18 Apr 2020 04:58:58 No.1737688 Report

Quoted By: >>1738251

>>1737252
>Mine explorer Anon here
thanks for checking in. I mark my calendar when you post so when you die I'll notice you missing.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sat 18 Apr 2020 20:04:15 No.1738251 Report

Quoted By: >>1738508

>>1737688
Thanks for keeping tabs on me. Chances are the excessive amount of beer and cigarettes will get me before a mine does.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 19 Apr 2020 01:27:39 No.1738501 Report

Quoted By:

Yeah I Think I’ll be staying out of mines

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 19 Apr 2020 01:41:01 No.1738508 Report

Quoted By: >>1738523 >>1738536

>>1738251
wouldn't bet on it.

you should do some OSHA/MSHA classes. They'll give you a rundown on risk factors.

alcohol and smokes are bad but don't usually kill until you're in your 60's. Industrial mining (essentially what you're doing even if you're not getting paid) kills a lot faster without extensive safeguards.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 19 Apr 2020 02:05:38 No.1738523 Report

Quoted By:

>>1738508
I mean most of the deaths are things like
Crushed by machinery
Silicosis/Blacklung/Mesothelioma
Process deaths- poisoning

none of those is likely to take you

but after that you have environmental hazards like falls, drowning, anoxia, bad air, fires, etc. These are things you risk. And even those are far more likely to kill you short-term than smoking or drinking. Even long-term the risks are probably higher depending how many hours you spend underground.

it's mostly a matter of time. I know you're careful about falls/drowning/hypothermia, but you only need to hit bad air once. Chances are very good you will eventually.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sun 19 Apr 2020 02:30:50 No.1738536 Report

Quoted By:

>>1738508
Well if I dont die of those two things for another till 60 I'm doing good.

>you should do some OSHA/MSHA classes.
pretty much so worthless for what I do, I'm not mining. Also I am familiar with bad air and low 02 levels.

I take as many precautions as possible while exploring. Working on a flight deck is just as dangerous.

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