I was hoping to go exploring for mines sometime soon and make a camping trip out of it. I have never looked for mines before let alone been in one before and am looking for some precautions, things to watch for, equipment I may need? just some tips would be nice and maybe even some
Hints to get me pointed in the right direction, no exact location or name dropping of course, simply a rookie looking for advice.

Thanks for the help

#1 recommendation i have. Multi-gas monitor. They can be rented, about 60-75$ per day. Not cheap but could save your life. H2S can be released, lack of oxygen, Co2 level could be high. LEL (lower explosive level).

Some mine have natural ventilation which keeps them "somewhat" safe to explore. While other requires mechanical ventilation.

#2 bring extra lights and extra batteries. You do not wanna get stuck in there without a working headlight.

#3 watch where you steps. Could be some open shaft. Unstable flooring. Or in the case of a mine i got into in Nevada, blasting caps and dynamite sticks laying around the ground. If you find some, dont touch them old dynamite can have nitroglycerin sweating out of it.

#4 head protection. Some mines are fairly stable others, not so much.

#5 dont go alone. Also, let other people know where your going and when you expect to come back.

#6 bring something to mark your path. Some mines can be a maze.

Once inside. Some have ramp access to different levels, other have shafts going straight down. Usually you will find more artifacts in the ones who require rappelling down to various level. One mine i had my friend pushing me around a carts on the tracks. Made me feel like indiana jones.

That's awesome, more then I expected, thank you so much

Where would you rent a gas monitor?

Posted by Greatwhiitenorth Where would you rent a gas monitor?

Many industrial tool rental place rent them. Look on the internet for nearest place.

To buy a multi-gas unit, with the bump test kit (kinda required to make sure your unit works properly prior each use) cost 1500-3000$

Single gas unit can be had for much cheaper.

There is some decent airflow in the mine (natural ventilation), but I think it may depend on how far in you are thinking of going. Being as it is your first time, maybe just play it safe.

As mentioned, definitely bring a good (led) light(s).

There is a caretaker that pops in from time to time. We ran into him two weeks ago, and was a bit picked that someone moved the boulders at the entrance to the mine shaft. As of two weeks ago everything was wide open, not sure now. You can easily spend hours up there exploring everything.

I will be checking that mine out. I was hoping someone could help me with where to start if I wanted to just hike through the bush for the weekend looking for hidden mines, just a general location, so I'm not wasting my time.

The carolin mine has 10.5km of tunnels. We spent 12hrs in it. The gas monitor had perfect reading the whole time. But that can change. The lower two levels are more exciting to check out. The conveyor level is flooded.

Otherwise you can hike to the top of the mountain from within. Or even drive a jeep inside if the entrance are not blocked.

They are talking about reactivating the mine. As an open pit mine.





http://www.newcaro...sp?ReportID=515086

Hey -Rio- Thank you very much for sharing that info, the Caroline looks like an absolutely top notch mine to explore, a best in class type of experience for safety, accessibility and interestingness.

It's very impressive that you actually brought an air quality monitor, but of all the hundreds of old mines I've investigated, the Caroline looks like one of the safest possible mines for expected ventilation and guaranteed lack of toxic gases. In a hillside mine with entrances at all levels like that, anything that is not flooded is guaranteed to naturally aspirate with the seasons, at least well enough to prevent any kind of fatal conditions from ever forming. If water can drain, so will any heavy gases, and if water can't drain, it will be flooded, like the conveyor level you mention. Meanwhile there are no light gases of concern in a hard rock gold mine with no coal anywhere within hundreds of miles, so there is no concern with trapped high spots.

I've done a fair bit of old mine exploring, it's an insatiable fixation for me, a compulsion, and the main thing I'm interested in when traveling. The Caroline just hit my short list, I will be checking it out in depth.

Other aspects relevant to safety: it's a new enough mine to not have suffered the kind of long term degradation that many older mines have undergone. Most of the wood will be relatively solid, air exposed rock should not be excessively rotten. And the mine is a rare example of a ramp accessible underground works, instead of being shaft or steep incline access only between the levels. This is a rare gem for getting to explore an old mine.

Make sure too while you're in the mine that you and the other person you are with both have walkie talkies or some reliable form of communication (just incase, it gets dark down there!) Do keep in mind though that at a certain point they stop working as well/at all so holding hands is the next best option to making sure that your buddy is always there Another important thing that may be obvious but needs to be said no matter what is to read every single sign just incase any warn of hazardous conditions (i.e. cave ins, gas leaks, etc)

Me and my buddies explored the mine summer 2015. Awesome. The mine is really big. The top section and the bottom section are pretty straight forward. But the middle 2 adits can feel like a maze. We explore the top and bottom on foot and drove atv's threw the middle 2 adits and explore all the tunnels. As someone said it's 10.5 km of tunnels so it will take a while. Hope you get to the really big stope, it was impressive.

Have fun and be safe.

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Posted by Darkzero Me and my buddies explored the mine summer 2015. Awesome. The mine is really big. The top section and the bottom section are pretty straight forward. But the middle 2 adits can feel like a maze. We explore the top and bottom on foot and drove atv's threw the middle 2 adits and explore all the tunnels. As someone said it's 10.5 km of tunnels so it will take a while. Hope you get to the really big stope, it was impressive. Have fun and be safe. 1. click to view

Wow great pic....how do you get such good lighting!

Mine Pictures are tough. Just like drain pictures. Flash pics suck as you get dust spots. So we do light painting. Set up a tri pod, open up the exposure for 5 secs or less and blast the area with light. This is no good for pictures of peoples faces as you can really notice the blur but light paint with people backs are the best. I use a fenix ld41 I think. 680 lumens and 300 meters distance.

I have attached 4 pics.

1. Dickson Mine - no light paint


2. Dickson Mine with Light paint


3. Drain Tube City - No light paint


4. Drain Tube City with Light paint - Notice the light scars on this one. It was from my early light painting. We did not move the flash light fast enough so it picked up our light scar's on the photo. The red sky is light pollution from the city lights. The photos we do today are much, much better. Depending on where we go I have a 6 inch tri pod that takes up no room and no weight when I can't use my larger tri pod. Also I use a power shot canon camera for most of my under ground work (It's not dslr but still some great photo's.)

Perhaps a follow up question then: how did you light up such a huge cavity? It doesn't look like a flashlight. Other light sources? Really long exposure?

There is no way I could light paint a space that big.

Posted by htp123 Perhaps a follow up question then: how did you light up such a huge cavity? It doesn't look like a flashlight. Other light sources? Really long exposure? There is no way I could light paint a space that big.

There was 2 of us with flash lights. 680 lumens and 300 meters distance can light up pretty much anything. We were on a 5 sec exposure. There was no other light source with us.

Sorry, I did not say this earlier. I do simple post editing as well. I use Adobe Light room and as long as you light paint properly with enough light you can lighten up the shadows and darks and get this out come. Here is the original photo before I lightened it up. Typically in smaller spaces you don't have to post edit but with a room this size you would have to. Message me if you have further questions and I can take some screen shots of the slight post editing I did.

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I didn't think you could recover so much information from a picture like that. I'm going to see what I can light up in some of my old ones.

anyone know what access is like early march? Im planning on making the drive next week.

Posted by gunther anyone know what access is like early march? Im planning on making the drive next week.

The snow may be too deep to allow access.

I'd appreciate any news/updates as well.

hour long hike in deep snow, Wouldn't recommend that trip for a while, unless you have snowshoes-then you'd be set

mine itself was cool

could see and upper and lower level, but stayed on the track..lots more to explore Im guessing