|
|
Once again my friend Tony flew in from England and we headed out into the desert to our Shamrock Mine. We try to spend a week when we go to make it worth the travel and set up time.
This is our home for the week. We take the little camping trailer and set up in a "cut" that was made by a previous miner. Tony built the rock walls on both sides to hold back the dirt and provide enough width for us to camp. Looks pretty cool too.
My first "selfie" ever. Might be my last.... 
Tony is happy after we added new wood to the collar of the mine and test fit the gate. We've had someone drop a big rock down the mine and destroy a ladder. There have also been small animals fall in and die as well. Hopefully this will take care of those issues.
We always see wildlife when we are out. It's rare to get this close to an antelope but he didn't seem to mind. Sorry about the focus but I was shooting out the back window of the truck and didn't get it right.
I've been told it was also tarantula mating season, or migration season, take your choice. Either way we found four of them during the week, including three that marched right through our camp like they owned it.
We have built a small headframe so we can haul dirt out of the mine. We are currently trying to clear out the lowest level that has been filled with dirt and mud. It's hard work filling the bucket, hauling it 100 feet to the surface and emptying it into a wheel barrow. Gives me a lot of respect for the miners of days past. When we leave, we break everything down and lower it into the mine until the next trip.
It's tradition that I bake fresh bread when we are at camp. Amazing when it's hot out of the oven, makes great sandwiches, and once it gets a bit stale, great French Toast.
It's been a lot of fun working at the mine. Not sure if we can make it profitable since the gold is bound up in sulfides. There's a bit of silver as well, but the price of silver wouldn't make it profitable. We are going to play around with grinding and smelting to see what we can come up with. Always and adventure!
Abby Normal
"Government is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem." Ronald Reagan | |
I have heard about both you and Tony but haven't seen photos of either of you before. Nice to put faces to the names! That's awesome that you have your own working mine. Really puts some of the stuff you've seen underground in abandoned ones in perspective I bet.
| |
aw, dang. Double post D:
[last edit 1/29/2017 6:07 AM by DawnPatrol - edited 1 times]
|
Add a poll to this thread
This thread is one of your Favourites. Click to make normal.Click to make this thread a Favourite.
| This thread is in a public category, and can't be made private. |
Powered by AvBoard AvBoard version 1.5 alpha
Page Generated In: 78 ms
|
|
Ethics
