Just a pointer for you. Use your welder to thaw the mine. Hook up one end of the rail to ground cable then power to the same rail father down. The dead short with heat the fairly fast. I use that trick to thaw frozen drain lines under house trailers
I have a suggestion that I think will help with the drain line. Run a half inch copper line all the way through your drain line and have a fluid (engine coolant would be best since it freezes at much lower temp) recirculation system that has a heater/boiler connected to the copper line. Anytime you expect a freeze, turn the system on with the heat on and the heat from the copper line will transfer to everything inside the drain line preventing it from freezing
@@exploringabandonedmines it's much simpler than it sounds 😄 I incorporated the same idea into the concrete in my driveway to prevent snow and ice building up. Anytime we expect a freeze with precipitation, I turn it on and enjoy the fact that I don't have to shovel 2 tons of snow the next day
You know Frank you must really love mines to put that much work and money into one you are not going to mine lol. But I do love how you are keeping hystory alive and keeping it authentic. Keep the dream alive Have fun stay safe.
They might need air doors to the upper levels, then the natural geothermal heat ought to melt the ice. Possibly even block the daylighted stopes or upper adits.
@@ThatGuyThatCommentedOn_A_Video they did have some rocks fall from the back. I'd be most concerned about the areas recently relieved of their supporting waste rock.
Wow. I wouldn't think the ice and snow would be such a problem. Always keeps you busy. Hope you had good holidays. See ya next week. Enjoy your videos. 💕
Hello from snowy Ottawa, Ontario. The shafts in your mine are going to be giant chimneys now. I am interested to see how much draft you have with the fire you have going.
That Ice is so thick, it must have been pretty tough to clear that. As always you guys had a good plan in place. It certainly did look cosy with a nice fire blazing. Love and greatest respect to you both ❤👷🏻♂⛏👷🏻♀⛏ ❤.
That's really melting the ice for us! It takes so little to make a BIG problem. Thank you for all that effort you put in, Frank & Sharon! Watch out for falling Rock.
That looked like a lot of work! Maybe a more insulated door and a duct/fan to draw air from deeper in the mine would keep the entrance thawed out in winter.
Wow , that’s a cold place , imagine working that mine all those years ago , without modern equipment, clothing, lighting , must have been one of the tuffets jobs on earth Love your big timbers work looks very impressive
I remember in past video 's that there is a good slope going out by the ore car free wheeling out with the waste rock to the portal.The temp must have really go super low any way glad you are back to removal and back to mucking ⛏️🤔
Random thought because of this situation I wonder if a thermal camera would be helpful exploring mines. in theory, airflow would cause a local cooling in the area as the air flows though gaps. it should be warmer or colder than the main mass of the blockage as it will take time to transfer the heat
If you want a easy way take care of that drain line, they make heat tape that you run along pipes to prevent them from freezing in the winter. Just run it on the inside, not sure you have electricity in there, but it automatically turns on when it gets down to like 38 and off when it's above it. Keep up the good work.
The open stopes allowed the heat to escape, allowing ice to build up. Wow, now that is going to be a long time to get rid of the ice out. So this might be a seasonal mine.
For your museum Frank , you might consider dressing in period clothing while working on Yankee Boy giving an authentic view into history ! Just an idea .
Frank is this just build up from that small pipe that's always running or is this accumulation since you've been clearing the upper levels down to that main haulage
thats a lot of ice! It might be a good idea to find a big diesel torpedo heater for winter, you can just set it right in the door and dump a few hundred thousand btu's in there for a few hours. Since they are forced air, you should just be able to put it in the middle of the addit and it'll heat a good length of the mine. you can get them cheaper than you expect at auctions usually, and the fuel tanks are sized to run overnight typically. and maybe put some heat tape on the drain pipe so you can warm it up even when it's frozen like that.
Looks like someone left the bath 🛁 running lol. Have you heard of a salamander, propane heater used on construction sites to heat up large areas? Might be nice to have on hand, just a thought 🤔
Man I wish I could come up and help you guys out I've never seen snow before I'm a Florida boy. I think it'd be awesome to visit, for a short time though LOL... Stay warm y'all!
Thanks for sharing. Were the portal doors open? Or closed and not well sealed? Was the cold air free to draft through the mine portal and up? Seems that way to me. It’s just like a chimney.
@@exploringabandonedmines how hard would it be to frame up with doors and skin with blue tarp to control air flow? Or even haul a wood stove back towards your working area, but install stove pipe up the old vertical shaft? (At least part way)
Hook about a thousand amps positive on one track negative on the other. Lol I wonder if something like that would work. I know if you have an extension cord in the snow it'll melt through.
ICE is not nice...what a CHristmas present..NOT! Miners (you) are just like Farmers (me)...we'll figure it out & make it happen!!!! Sharon (💖) was the brain behind this, right? So rock on!
Frank... How come you didn't just buy or rent a Diesel Space Heater ??? 280.000+ BTU or bigger would be perfect to heat and blow out those tunnels !!! The heat wouldn't go right to the top doing NOTHING to heat/melt the floor... it would blow EVERYWHERE !!! Set one at the front door and overnight would be all clear !!!
@@exploringabandonedmines Umm... Wood is not even close my friend !!! You can rent these or buy for cheap>>> 215,000 BTU Forced Air Kerosene/Diesel Space Heater with Thermostat. *DO THE SEARCH* Your "fire" was a joke !!!
Perhaps a longer tunnel extending from the face of the mine about 10 feet is how my friend does at their tour mine near Central City Colorado. His door is not insulated but he has thick rock bedding under his tracks. His mine is tours and active mining of pyrite that they sell to schools and universities. They also have college students that help and earn credit at School of Mines in Boulder.
So nice you use metric in Canada as I know what you're on about when you say -17c. I am totally baffled when watching American videos and they'll quote 21f as cold - and it means nothing to me - and a positive number usually means it's warm in my metric mind.
@@exploringabandonedmines Would a string of heat lamps help? Just a thought. And does raising temps cause a danger in the mine with expansion and contraction?
Thanks!
You bet!
Still my Number 1 TH-cam show. Love ya Frank and Sharon
@@helenasmith4286 No thank you. Gly went Hollywood. Enjoy this 3 day weekend.
Hopefully you guys come through Kamloops sometime we have a mine near Kamloops Lake to show you!
The amount of work you all have put into the Mine is beyond impressive !
More respect for the old guys that built these mines. This is another look into the troubles they faced.
great going mates . love you mates
Just a pointer for you. Use your welder to thaw the mine. Hook up one end of the rail to ground cable then power to the same rail father down. The dead short with heat the fairly fast. I use that trick to thaw frozen drain lines under house trailers
I have a suggestion that I think will help with the drain line. Run a half inch copper line all the way through your drain line and have a fluid (engine coolant would be best since it freezes at much lower temp) recirculation system that has a heater/boiler connected to the copper line. Anytime you expect a freeze, turn the system on with the heat on and the heat from the copper line will transfer to everything inside the drain line preventing it from freezing
Sounds way too complicated to me. The warm water will keep it ice free with a few miner modifications.
@@exploringabandonedmines it's much simpler than it sounds 😄 I incorporated the same idea into the concrete in my driveway to prevent snow and ice building up. Anytime we expect a freeze with precipitation, I turn it on and enjoy the fact that I don't have to shovel 2 tons of snow the next day
You know Frank you must really love mines to put that much work and money into one you are not going to mine lol. But I do love how you are keeping hystory alive and keeping it authentic. Keep the dream alive Have fun stay safe.
Maybe insulate the door and keep it closed when you're not around?
They might need air doors to the upper levels, then the natural geothermal heat ought to melt the ice.
Possibly even block the daylighted stopes or upper adits.
I'm excited to see how fire makes the air flow in a mine. But, I wanted to mention (though you probably know)... Ice breaks rock.
Rock breaks scissors!! 🤪 ✌️
When there is just a small amount at the bottom like that it should be fin in most cases.
@@ThatGuyThatCommentedOn_A_Video they did have some rocks fall from the back. I'd be most concerned about the areas recently relieved of their supporting waste rock.
@@zippythinginvention true, rock can be unpredictable and dangerous.
You guys are relentless. well done. I am super impressed!! Good stuff and thanks for sharing. Stay safe.
Thanks 👍
This is a real change! Instead of Frank and Sharon scaring the crap out of me, now they got me freezing my butt off! Time to turn the heat up! Brrrrr!
That was quit a surprise after coming at the mine and seeing all that ice wow and a lot off extra work.
Wow. I wouldn't think the ice and snow would be such a problem. Always keeps you busy. Hope you had good holidays. See ya next week. Enjoy your videos. 💕
Thanks! You too!
You and Sharon are great people.
Hello from snowy Ottawa, Ontario. The shafts in your mine are going to be giant chimneys now. I am interested to see how much draft you have with the fire you have going.
Good news for Sharon... NO RATS?? Be careful and thanks for being back. GOD bless
Oooooo just in time for the show!
Hello from Kingston Ontario, Canada!
It would be cool to do a three-way collab with mbmmllc and sreetips with some ore from the Yankee Boy.
Three-way collaboration with mbmmllc and Dan Hurd.
You can rent ground thawing blankets and heaters.
We use them all winter here in Montana .
That Ice is so thick, it must have been pretty tough to clear that. As always you guys had a good plan in place. It certainly did look cosy with a nice fire blazing. Love and greatest respect to you both ❤👷🏻♂⛏👷🏻♀⛏ ❤.
That's really melting the ice for us! It takes so little to make a BIG problem. Thank you for all that effort you put in, Frank & Sharon! Watch out for falling Rock.
Good evening from Southeast South Dakota
What about using few sheets of plastic as air curtains, keeping the ground warmth in the mine to prevent freezing.
You need to get the air operated mucker to help dig out the mine instead of hand shovels might even work for large ice as well 😉
That looked like a lot of work! Maybe a more insulated door and a duct/fan to draw air from deeper in the mine would keep the entrance thawed out in winter.
It isn't usually a problem
yur very strong frank you 2 . amaze me every day...
Wow , that’s a cold place , imagine working that mine all those years ago , without modern equipment, clothing, lighting , must have been one of the tuffets jobs on earth
Love your big timbers work looks very impressive
Thanks we were happy with the timbering as well.
I remember in past video 's that there is a good slope going out by the ore car free wheeling out with the waste rock to the portal.The temp must have really go super low any way glad you are back to removal and back to mucking ⛏️🤔
Random thought because of this situation
I wonder if a thermal camera would be helpful exploring mines. in theory, airflow would cause a local cooling in the area as the air flows though gaps. it should be warmer or colder than the main mass of the blockage as it will take time to transfer the heat
My phone has thermal imaging...I have no idea how it works!
You have plenty of wood what about a boiler or blast furnace to pump some heat to area needed with vent pipe. alot folks use dc welders to
Good Stuff 👍
If you want a easy way take care of that drain line, they make heat tape that you run along pipes to prevent them from freezing in the winter. Just run it on the inside, not sure you have electricity in there, but it automatically turns on when it gets down to like 38 and off when it's above it. Keep up the good work.
No we don't have power.
I have a tiger torch...
Frank has tiger blood 🏁😂😂✌️
LUCKY 13 !!!!!!!!
The open stopes allowed the heat to escape, allowing ice to build up. Wow, now that is going to be a long time to get rid of the ice out. So this might be a seasonal mine.
No it is at low elevation the ice doesn't last long.
For your museum Frank , you might consider dressing in period clothing while working on Yankee Boy giving an authentic view into history ! Just an idea .
Consider getting a good size barn style blast heater. Lots of heat and no smoke
Seems like if you get your door sealed up the ground would be warm enough to melt the ice near the entrance
The fire melted the ice in a hurry!
You guys are sure doing a nice job on that! Keep up the good work!
Frank is this just build up from that small pipe that's always running or is this accumulation since you've been clearing the upper levels down to that main haulage
I scaled some loose material in the #1 shaft that caused a dam that backed up the water on the main haul level.
thats a lot of ice! It might be a good idea to find a big diesel torpedo heater for winter, you can just set it right in the door and dump a few hundred thousand btu's in there for a few hours. Since they are forced air, you should just be able to put it in the middle of the addit and it'll heat a good length of the mine. you can get them cheaper than you expect at auctions usually, and the fuel tanks are sized to run overnight typically. and maybe put some heat tape on the drain pipe so you can warm it up even when it's frozen like that.
Some one left the shawer on
They have a warming cords for downspouts so they don't freeze, maybe put one of those in the drain pipe
Looks like someone left the bath 🛁 running lol. Have you heard of a salamander, propane heater used on construction sites to heat up large areas? Might be nice to have on hand, just a thought 🤔
They made them for kerosene as well.
We have a propane heater but Wood is hotter and cheaper.
Man I wish I could come up and help you guys out I've never seen snow before I'm a Florida boy. I think it'd be awesome to visit, for a short time though LOL... Stay warm y'all!
Starting to melt now!
That is good for you guys, hopefully. Actually pretty chilly down here right now
I won't say freezing, LOL I obviously have no idea what that's like... Y'all have a blessed day!!
Been away .
I take it the heat from the fire isn’t hot enough to buckle the rails?
Nowhere near that hot!
If the door was sealed off better, and was also insulated, it might not freeze as bad.
Thanks for sharing. Were the portal doors open? Or closed and not well sealed? Was the cold air free to draft through the mine portal and up? Seems that way to me. It’s just like a chimney.
The top of the mine is open to the air so it can convect up or down depending on temperature differential
Yes there was a lot of air moving through the mine when it got cold. That was a big part of the reason it froze up.
@@exploringabandonedmines how hard would it be to frame up with doors and skin with blue tarp to control air flow? Or even haul a wood stove back towards your working area, but install stove pipe up the old vertical shaft? (At least part way)
I guess you could make some extra money for the mine by leasing out space for cold storage?!
🤔 it’s Canada cold storage is free for all Canadians .. 🤷♂️ jus’ saint 😝✌️
The rats would like that!
Hook about a thousand amps positive on one track negative on the other.
Lol
I wonder if something like that would work. I know if you have an extension cord in the snow it'll melt through.
I couldn't help but notice there's an extension cord connector running on the ground alongside the track. Is that safe with all the water and ice?
It is only live when the generator is running for the jack hammer
I wonder if you could create a sump somewhere just for the winter months then use a pump, just a thought..
There is one. This was a one time problem that we have solved not an ongoing situation.
👍
Boy when Mother Nature tells you two to take a break, you grab a Red Bull and give her what for.
ICE is not nice...what a CHristmas present..NOT! Miners (you) are just like Farmers (me)...we'll figure it out & make it happen!!!! Sharon (💖) was the brain behind this, right? So rock on!
We managed to give the ice the bum's rush!
Frank... How come you didn't just buy or rent a Diesel Space Heater ??? 280.000+ BTU or bigger would be perfect to heat and blow out those tunnels !!! The heat wouldn't go right to the top doing NOTHING to heat/melt the floor... it would blow EVERYWHERE !!! Set one at the front door and overnight would be all clear !!!
Wood is cheaper and hotter
@@exploringabandonedmines Umm... Wood is not even close my friend !!! You can rent these or buy for cheap>>> 215,000 BTU Forced Air Kerosene/Diesel Space Heater with Thermostat. *DO THE SEARCH* Your "fire" was a joke !!!
Would a rail-mounted mucker help with ice and slush removal?
We have one but I don't think it would work the bucket would likely just slide over the ice.
Maybe you can run power through the rails, turn them into a giant horse bucket melter
There is a product that uses nitrogen than prevents ice and snow freezing or staying wet on the door step.
Totally awesome people helpers ❤️
Perhaps a longer tunnel extending from the face of the mine about 10 feet is how my friend does at their tour mine near Central City Colorado.
His door is not insulated but he has thick rock bedding under his tracks.
His mine is tours and active mining of pyrite that they sell to schools and universities.
They also have college students that help and earn credit at School of Mines in Boulder.
What is the name of the music you use I like the end music
It is a local band called "The Adits"
As you approach the timbered section it looks like polished concrete. You are making a good job of the mine all you need now is to find gold.
There is some concrete we built a dam where the pipe starts.
So, it happens when every the temp drops, well below zero.
Not if we close the door and keep the wind out.
put fire to it !
Did you use the jackhammer to break the ice any?
~( 'w')/
We never did once the ice started to melt it got soft and was easy to smash with a sledge hammer.
@@exploringabandonedmines Nothing like human power I suppose... ~( ,m,)~
😀
Your very own ice palace...not!
If yu have a metal pipe yu can use a welder to thaw it
No it is PVC
That's one problem you wouldn't have if you owned a salt mine. I wouldn't trade what you have though Frank and Sharon.
23 likes and you haven't even started the show yet!
They know it will be good!
did you try salt , loads of salt.
Salt doesn't do much on a foot of ice.
We closed our fire door in extreme cold
So nice you use metric in Canada as I know what you're on about when you say -17c. I am totally baffled when watching American videos and they'll quote 21f as cold - and it means nothing to me - and a positive number usually means it's warm in my metric mind.
Canada switched to Metric back in the 1970s.
Can you use salt?
We tried some it didn't do much
@@exploringabandonedmines Would a string of heat lamps help? Just a thought. And does raising temps cause a danger in the mine with expansion and contraction?
Salt melts ice real fast and as it dissolves in water it should help with the pipes
Also causes a lot of corrosion though.
@@MattyEngland it shouldn’t matter if only used to melt the ice, the constant running water should wash away any left
We tried some it didn't do anything.
@@exploringabandonedmines fair enough, maybe it was just too cold.
🏴🤔🤨😳🤯. 👍✨🤗
Can you use potassium chloride as a melting agent?
It wouldn't do much. Heat is the answer.
where did all the water come from
It is running year round out of the main haul level. It comes from beyond the #2 shaft that we haven't made it past yet. Soon we hope!
Weed Burner
When are you guys gonna have your first pour of ore?
We will leave the minerals for our guests.
I would've used the ice as a frozen sled way. Ha ha tho. Down hill all the way. When God gives ice, get skates.
rock salt?......cheaper than propane