Lava flows...Gravel sandwiched between rock layers with gravel above. The gravel is rounded river rock. This shows an old river valley was there. Rivers commonly run in faults which create a low point. The heavy deeper mineralization is laid in by hydrothermal fault mechanics in other parts of the mine. This proves there is faulting. The faults create the weak point for hydrothermal solutions to rise in and flow through. The nearby volcanism reactivated at some point in the past and flowed down the river valley over-top of the river gravels. Thats why the rock is so black....it is primarily basalt lava. In sections you can see the flow layers laying horizontally while the crystaline structure from cooling is vertical. This fits only with surface lava flows. I hope that helps the understanding of the viewers and your's @Tvrexploring. And btw, the flowstone comes from calcite, not quartz. Calcite can also be massive and looks much like quartz. Fortunately it is softer to mine. A very interesting mine and well presented, thanks.
Love them old Drift mines....looks like it was in operation not too long ago ....love that track bender .....wonder who owns the mine ..... love them old Auriferous Tertiary channels.... so much Gold to be had.... down side is the back is very soft and ready to drop ....great place to bring a VLF... that looks like a Basalt flow in between the two bedding planes of gravel ...common for that to happen like that.... yes we appreciate you crawling into them tight places ..... you know that channel still has a lot of Gold still in it ....really good explore my brother .... would love to go in there with a few VLFs someday
gravel is most likely a conglomerate rock and has been lithified. still not the most stable in terms of open voids underground but sure as hell isnt gravel. I think he even said "looks like cement" which is just a man made conglomerate rock!
@@royreynolds108 ive worked with a major cement company. Cement is a man made substance, its a manufactured product and is not naturally occurring. The ingredients to make cement are found naturally but not the actual product. This is indeed lithification which moved grains around to reduce pore space and squish them together to form a loosely held rock. Mining can use concrete but not for this sort of application because its damn expensive for such a small operation. It would probably blow their cost way over any revenue. And yes you are correct, i was being stupid earlier Cement is the binder and Concrete is the product. I totally misread initially
Been watching these videos for quite some time. It’s amazing how much America has changed and people just accept it. Much love. Thanks for sharing. Hope 24 is a better year for alll of us.
Good video. The miners were working the gravel that was on the bedrock, that would be the richest values. The first raises you came to when you entered the mine were the miners going up to try and find the river channel. They would do that until they found the lowest gravel section. There’s probably still good value in a lot of the channel they didn’t mine. It amazes me the amount of work that the old time miners did.
Thanks for sharing your comments. You now have video evidence of what to expect the next time you go in. What was the story of Tim Fadda? if you don't mind. @@SilvasSmallMining
Prob a few million left in there...Gives a good indication of how rich the original gold rush must have been for the first panners...Estimate an ounce or two per day in virgin creeks...
This is one of the coolest thing I've seen on TH-cam. Hands down. It even looks like the river was covered over in lava, then flowed over that to form a new river bed on top before once again being covered over. Be really interesting to get some samples to a geologist and have the deposits or some of that organic material dated to see just how old it was before it was buried.
Between the fire extinguisher, the generator, aluminum ladders and the sluice box ??? Late 90’s early 2k some boys were camping and prospecting those river gravels Thanks for the vid
Justin. Another year passes. Thank you again for the effort in bringing random strangers to you, awesome exploration content. I really enjoy watching the videos you make available for us. I know you've had some tough times (as you've shared with us) this past year, but I hope random kindness from strangers (to you) on the internet can give you the warm fuzzies moving forward. I appreciate it man. I really do. Thank you. All the best Justin. 😁👍
@@TVRExploring @ 21:34 (is it just me, a reflection, or does that not look like gold coins or gold nuggets?). I'm thinking you guys would have noticed these, if they were, but I have to ask. This place is confounding, the "water", and "Gravel ceilings" really make me uncomfortable.
35:49 dang straight you're gonna crawl through that hole! reason why i keep coming back all these years... you say you like placer mines, every time i see you in one i get nervous. but thanks!
Can’t believe how they left those gravel pillars and that they are still standing. I wish there was a way to know how some of these mines payed out. The amount of work is astounding
I second that notion...They took the richest layer of gravels, so it's possible that what's in place (the ceiling) could have rich values by todays gold prices!
Hell yes we appreciate your efforts!!! Amazing what was beyond the "failed chute" towards the end of the video ... a LOT of workings hidden back there! Thanks for sharing 🇨🇦
My thoughts on the Gravel Bed Rock Gravel sandwich is volcanic activity where deposited gravels were covered in lava and then more gravel was deposited on top of that. Great adventure!
You have shown us placer deposits underground before but I don't recall one that big and extensive in some time. Surprised the amount of artifacts still outside at the portal...very cool. The one area with the incredible bedrock walls was interesting, that is what people think of when they imagine "solid bedrock". As a youngster I was a helper on a local water well drilling rig. I remember seeing lots of that dark gray coming up the hole (for me to shovel) as we got down a bit.
@SilvasSmallMining you may want to do better about securing your property and having it clearly marked. Why did you not install a security safety door at the portal to prevent entry? California has some crazy property laws that protect people coming onto others property regardless. Seems like your lackadaisical attitude towards safety and security is going to set you up for a lawsuit that will take your claim away. This video now serves as evidence to support that fact. If this truly is your claim, do better.
@@Springfield-eo8jl Crikey Moses Man, why don't you join Alcoholics Anonymous and tell them about your imaginary stories of Whoa and bad luck or just STFU. lol
Always appreciate everything you do while exploring those dangerous mines ! Please just be careful we who watch you love you and your endeavors and want to keep you around for many many years to come .
Thanks for all your hard work exploring all of these mines and artifacts. I'm mostly bed bound in an assisted living situation, so you are doing what I wish I could do. Thanks again for letting me live vicariously through your adventures! Stay safe for me and everyone else. No footage is worth any of your team hurting yourselves!!
Nice fine. I really like the old river channel deposits. The mine I'm working is in a layer of Paleozoic Marine Rock. There's all kinds of loose clam shells and impressions in the hard rock.
That is one amazing awesome mine explore , so much bed rock and gravel in there. Some amazing colours as well throughout the mine, that ore cart with the generator looked really cool as well. All in all a fantastic place to visit 😊
Yes, I appreciate you crawling through the water to confirm what is on the other side! Thanks for exploring these cool spaces. I am too old for this but wish I was there...
Hi Justin. It definitely didn't look easy to get over that wedge rock you mentioned. Once you got a better look at the drift beyond the collapse, it almost sounded like you weren't happy it did continue. I can only imagine the decisions you restle with pitting your energy level, safety, ability, etc. against what you might feel we (your viewers) would want to see. I, for one, hope that you do what YOU feel is best for you. I will come along whatever you decide.
Thanks for the great explore! This mine reminds me of an article on the California Mining Journal (CMJ, now ICMJ - International!) I read decades ago about the Ruby Mine somewhere near Downieville. They were following a low-grade gold vein, got ~1/4 mile in, ran across a tertiary age river bed that proved richer than the vein. As they worked along it, it got richer and richer until the last couple months they were finding nuggets weighing Troy pounds, including a softball-shaped and sized one weighing 8 pounds and a gold slab weighing ~20 pounds!!! THEN…WWII shut the mine down! When it was allowed to open again, they found the adit was massively collapsed ~100 feet in, and I guess it was not possible to clear it. And survey work trying to determine where the old working face was, to intercept it with a vertical shaft, indicated the shaft would have to be 1700 feet deep, and was not economically feasible. A pity, because evidently the source veins of the gold was awfully close to that old working face!! This mine seemed very similar!
The Ruby was actually opened up again. Brush Creek Mining dropped a new shaft on the far end of the older workings a number of years ago and rehabbed the adit. So, although it was rough, the older workings were connected underground and were accessible. However, it was never financially feasible for sufficient rehab work to be done to get proper access to the old river channel. So, now the Ruby is abandoned again after several companies leased it and had a go at it. The current owners are trying to unload it.
I've been a subscriber since your beginnings. I REALLY APPRECIATE THE THINGS YOU DO FOR US !!! Especially to get us into those tight spaces for those money shots !!! Seriously I hope you can keep making great videos ! Happy Holidays ! TVR !
I've been you for several years now and I admire the fact of the mines you and your friends have have put a lot time and effort my compliments sir, but as far as walking thru that mine yes I agree some of the areas are deeper than they look, thanks for all the sharing and I assume yall still have your mine? Hope you and your family have an awesome Christmas
Please have someone walk in front of you whenever possible, it helps so much with getting perspective, so much cooler to watch. Without a person, the passageways seem much smaller.
Stunning placer .....you have two options , one is that the riiver cut a channel through the bedrock and back filled with gravel and the other is that either sediment or volcanic action buried the river then another river ran over the top of the same area, knowing there was a huge eruption int the sierras milliopns of years ago its likely a buried river with another section of the same river on top. There is probably stil;l a lot of gold down there because the miners would have chased the bottom of the river bed to get all the best big stuff. A decent metal detector would be useful down there
Hi Justin nice to see chuck with you as its been a while since we saw him, he looks well i think you said he had been busy with work, interesting video an unusual mine.Have a nice christmas.
At 1:55 the yellow gadget leaning against the box is a rail bender. The steel screen at 33:30 is called locomotive netting for catching large cinders before they go out of the smokestack. If there is any gold in that gravel, it will be along the bottom next to the bedrock in each seam of gravel.
at 21+ minutes, you were talking about the giant slab that fell. it is a thin, smooth layer with river gravels on top. My guess is the thin, smooth layer was once magma, then had river gravels laid over.
That looks like a placer drift mine in some parts of it. Other parts are obviously a hard rock mine unless they went down beneath the bedrock and tunnelled and were hauling out gravels from below to wash the gold out of it outside.
wow that place looks very delisious. can almost taste the gold on that bedrock, very strange how the gravels are layered i almost want to say the black rock looks like lava i wonder if the river was there over time maybe 2x. pretty cool place, i had paused the video many time to check out the gravels. love it👍
Any dates on the accumulation tank or fire extinguisher? Looks pretty modern. 1990s? What a wild exploration Justin. It would have been a very dangerous mine when operational with those planes of placer and bedrock intertwined
Dude ... @13:39 you have gravel on bedrock on gravel ... and the bedrock looks like it itself was laid down in layers ... ! Plus, earlier you mentioned gravel from a river on top of a mountain ... however, this is evidence that the gravel carrying river cut through the mountain ... several times. Wow ... just wow !
Excellent explore, man you had me on the edge when in that deep water with all the collapsed gravel. Man you got some balls dude. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.🎄☃
I'd wager they were only looking for that thin layer where the gravel sits on top of bedrock. All the gravel that's currently piled up everywhere has already been through the sluce. Amazing mine to get to see. Great content!
Hello Justin and crew! Another great mine video! I am hooked on your channel and watch with great interest as you explore these wonderful old mines. I would like to offer a suggestion if I may. I think it would add some human interest to your great videos if you would introduce your crew members at the beginning of each video so that the audience can get to know them. This is a valuable tool because viewers are interested in the people on adventure as well as the adventure itself. Take the show storage wars for example. People can only watch so much of looking at the contents of storage lockers before it becomes mundane. The producers of the show cleverly showcase the individuals and the interesting things in their lives to keep people watching. Otherwise, this show would have probably ended long ago! I'm not saying that you should take it to the extreme that storage wars does, but letting us know who is with you would add even more interest to your videos. On another note. I would like you to consider exploring 3 mines in Acton, CA. The Governor, the Red Rover, and the High Grade mines. Half of the Gold that has been mined in Los Angeles County was taken from the Governor mine. All 3 are on private property. There is also a great story associated with these workings because they were all owned by California Governor Henry T. Gage and then his family. Most people associate California Gold mining with Mother Lode Country and the great rush of 1849, but in fact California's first Gold Discovery was in Placerita Canyon, Los Angeles County in 1842. The Gold seekers then followed the Santa Clarita River in Soledad Canyon to Ravenna which became a community. The mines I previously mentioned are just up the road a piece. Should you decide to do this, I would offer you and your crew my home as place to stay. Another mine to explore in this area would be the Tick Canyon Borax mine in neighboring Agua Dulce. Keep up the great work and stay safe! Mel The Ice Man, Acton, CA.
I wonder if those many pieces of wood that are embedded in those layers that also contain gravel indeed could be swept into the river millions of years ago as many of them seem to have squared off sides and matching edges, making them look as if they come from trees that once saw the inside of a saw mill.. If that would be case every aspectv of the story about those layers of mixed materials indeed would be very different after all! Again a most impressive, daring and nothing short of heroic exploration .. what an enormous mine!
Hitting a riverbed means bigger pieces of gold, and also a bigger change of separation off several layers like what has happened there, a risky operation but profitable, thnx for a very interesting explore, and seeing this means you survived, again lol you are a brave man.
It would have been interesting to have panned some of that gravel to see if any color showed. As for that black rock covering the gravel with another gravel layer on top, the black rock looks igneous. Without eyeballing it up close, it's hard to tell, but it might be a very fine basalt. This seems to suggest a lava flow across the river at one point.
Have you figured how much that gravel would pay per cubic yard (the conglomerate looking like a better deal than the lode angle)? From an engineering standpoint, the mine looks like a mess (i.e., you'd probably spend way more money on infrastructure than extraction).@@SilvasSmallMining
Justin- you got some giant cahones man climbing through that one in the back. Must’ve been a big producer for that extensive carving once it hit river gravel. And again- McBride forgot something 😂 waders 😂 thanks for your awesome content
Placer mines seem so sketchy. The old tools were cool! I believe I saw a couple of square set timbers, I'm guessing from a different mine? Lots of cool stuff! Thanks Justin!
The black layers above and below the placer material could be lava flows that went over the river and then a million years later did it again. Might be a spot to look for diamonds.
Heres to a better year for you justin those of us that follow you closely know its been a rough one for you dude heres to a prosperous and healthy new year stay safe down there my dude 🥂🎉🎉❤
if you ever do a part 2 of this mine, remember to take a rubber boat with you, the ones you blow air into to and deflat them again, they dont take that much space, otherwise a very interresting mine on the show
After the fact, you should bring a gold pan and try sampling some of the fallen down gravel and water filled runs since there is an abundance of water, and "yeah, you're gonna to get wet!" LOL Thanks for the video, this was really enjoyable seeing the old gravel stream bed and colors.
Coolest mine I've seen, the geology is wild, a minelab detector in that that place would probably be singing all day. Would love if you did a video of that, I know its not exploring but it may be a retirement plan. Obviously values had to be quite good at $25ish an Oz to get it all out. Thanks for the ride!
The modern rivers cut through the ancient rivers. When prospecting in the rivers and creeks, look for rounded quartz boulders and cobbles. These indicate an ancient river on the hillside above.
It's weird seeing how the bedrock crumbled and collapsed, but the gravel apparently stayed above. Normally isn't it the gravel and placer that always falls? I do like the color of that bedrock though. And while that water was definitely deep, by the water lines on the walls, it looks like it was at least a foot or more deeper in the past. Ever had to bring scuba gear on mine exploration? *sees 35 minute mark* Okay, you really DO need scuba gear! XD Honestly this mine, it really should be called the "A river runs through it" mine. Both for the ancient placer and all the water in it now. Edit: And thank you for all the effort you put into your explorations. It is very much appreciated.
Absolute great mine. Why did they left all this things behind. That make no sense to me Thank you for your work. Merry Christmas and a happy new year 2024 Glück Auf Frank Galetzka
@@terryrempel68 thank you for your komment. But mining in such a remote area is not a one man Show normaly. Okay for me the background from these mines are intersting . Merry Christmas and a happy New year 2024 God bless you
Apparently Tim Fadda worked the mine with his father Bill Fadda.. Apparently they mentored Silva who inherited the claim. Based on posts in comments and a reply to me. God bless. An interesting time comes....like no other. @@frankgaletzka8477
@@SilvasSmallMining so you're claiming this as your claim? Is this a patented mining claim or is it located on land that was physically paid for and deeded to an individual as private property? If it's an unpatented mining claim anyone who wants to be there can ..nobody's being disrespectful either.
Looked up Tim Fadda - died in that mine (Magnolia Mine) in 2020: Timothy William August 25, 1946 - May 24, 2020 SIERRA COUNTY - Timothy William Fadda was born on August 25, 1946, in Oakland, CA. He passed away on May 24, 2020, while working at his Magnolia gold mine in Sierra County, CA
Watching this and seeing how very far back one of you venture and seeing the mine car team and genie I’m thinking with all that had collapsed the miners just barely made it out alive. Like all that gravel mix is very unstable looking add the weight of the surrounding bedrock. It doesn’t seem like it would take much to disturb just one rock and it’s all going to fall in
Lava flows...Gravel sandwiched between rock layers with gravel above. The gravel is rounded river rock. This shows an old river valley was there. Rivers commonly run in faults which create a low point. The heavy deeper mineralization is laid in by hydrothermal fault mechanics in other parts of the mine. This proves there is faulting. The faults create the weak point for hydrothermal solutions to rise in and flow through. The nearby volcanism reactivated at some point in the past and flowed down the river valley over-top of the river gravels. Thats why the rock is so black....it is primarily basalt lava. In sections you can see the flow layers laying horizontally while the crystaline structure from cooling is vertical. This fits only with surface lava flows. I hope that helps the understanding of the viewers and your's @Tvrexploring. And btw, the flowstone comes from calcite, not quartz. Calcite can also be massive and looks much like quartz. Fortunately it is softer to mine. A very interesting mine and well presented, thanks.
Love them old Drift mines....looks like it was in operation not too long ago ....love that track bender .....wonder who owns the mine ..... love them old Auriferous Tertiary channels.... so much Gold to be had.... down side is the back is very soft and ready to drop ....great place to bring a VLF... that looks like a Basalt flow in between the two bedding planes of gravel ...common for that to happen like that.... yes we appreciate you crawling into them tight places ..... you know that channel still has a lot of Gold still in it ....really good explore my brother .... would love to go in there with a few VLFs someday
We're still waiting for you and slim!
@@ADITADDICTS WE COULD SHOW HIM ALOT IN THAT AREA
looks like next year should work@@ADITADDICTS
@@Askjeffwilliams I'll get some beans goin!
@@oldschoolmoto Pete! My brother you are sooo right about that!
Seeing the gravel laying on top of the bedrock gives you the inclination to hold your breath. Other worldly. Thanks, as always, for the adventure.
gravel is most likely a conglomerate rock and has been lithified. still not the most stable in terms of open voids underground but sure as hell isnt gravel. I think he even said "looks like cement" which is just a man made conglomerate rock!
@@kalevwade4532 Cement is the glue that holds the aggregate, rocks, together by the use of water to get the chemical reaction going.
Ou guys get out of there get a big excovator to much loose rock any worth your life
@@royreynolds108 ive worked with a major cement company. Cement is a man made substance, its a manufactured product and is not naturally occurring. The ingredients to make cement are found naturally but not the actual product. This is indeed lithification which moved grains around to reduce pore space and squish them together to form a loosely held rock. Mining can use concrete but not for this sort of application because its damn expensive for such a small operation. It would probably blow their cost way over any revenue.
And yes you are correct, i was being stupid earlier Cement is the binder and Concrete is the product. I totally misread initially
Been watching these videos for quite some time. It’s amazing how much America has changed and people just accept it. Much love. Thanks for sharing. Hope 24 is a better year for alll of us.
Good video. The miners were working the gravel that was on the bedrock, that would be the richest values. The first raises you came to when you entered the mine were the miners going up to try and find the river channel. They would do that until they found the lowest gravel section. There’s probably still good value in a lot of the channel they didn’t mine. It amazes me the amount of work that the old time miners did.
@@SilvasSmallMining
Be careful in there.
Thanks for sharing your comments. You now have video evidence of what to expect the next time you go in. What was the story of Tim Fadda? if you don't mind. @@SilvasSmallMining
Prob a few million left in there...Gives a good indication of how rich the original gold rush must have been for the first panners...Estimate an ounce or two per day in virgin creeks...
This is one of the coolest thing I've seen on TH-cam. Hands down. It even looks like the river was covered over in lava, then flowed over that to form a new river bed on top before once again being covered over. Be really interesting to get some samples to a geologist and have the deposits or some of that organic material dated to see just how old it was before it was buried.
I appreciate your dedication and crawl
Between the fire extinguisher, the generator, aluminum ladders and the sluice box ???
Late 90’s early 2k some boys were camping and prospecting those river gravels
Thanks for the vid
What a special treat to see an active and working mine and the underground mysteries of gold :)
Justin. Another year passes. Thank you again for the effort in bringing random strangers to you, awesome exploration content. I really enjoy watching the videos you make available for us. I know you've had some tough times (as you've shared with us) this past year, but I hope random kindness from strangers (to you) on the internet can give you the warm fuzzies moving forward. I appreciate it man. I really do. Thank you. All the best Justin. 😁👍
Thank you very much for the kind words and support. They mean a lot...
@@TVRExploring
@ 21:34 (is it just me, a reflection, or does that not look like gold coins or gold nuggets?). I'm thinking you guys would have noticed these, if they were, but I have to ask.
This place is confounding, the "water", and "Gravel ceilings" really make me uncomfortable.
The legendary Mr Mcbride and a placer mine, what could be better.
Great vid!!
Idk about legendary but some beers would've made it better lol.
35:49 dang straight you're gonna crawl through that hole! reason why i keep coming back all these years...
you say you like placer mines, every time i see you in one i get nervous.
but thanks!
This is crazy. Three times in a row of videos that are wet mines. Keep up the great work Justin!
I love the underground ancient rivers! Thanks for sharing this!
That is amazing seeing a underground ancient River
Can’t believe how they left those gravel pillars and that they are still standing. I wish there was a way to know how some of these mines payed out. The amount of work is astounding
I second that notion...They took the richest layer of gravels, so it's possible that what's in place (the ceiling) could have rich values by todays gold prices!
Should be records of the ounce production with the mining records of that state. Nevada has all records dating back to the 1800's
Hint: The deeper in it goes, the more it produced...Prob 3-5 ounces per metric ton of gravel...
Hell yes we appreciate your efforts!!!
Amazing what was beyond the "failed chute" towards the end of the video ... a LOT of workings hidden back there!
Thanks for sharing 🇨🇦
It would be a very interesting video to interview the owner about the history of this mine. What an incredible amount of work invested.
Imagine the pay the miners got out of that ancient riverbed. Probably a lot left.... that generator was prolly only 20 years old.
My thoughts on the Gravel Bed Rock Gravel sandwich is volcanic activity where deposited gravels were covered in lava and then more gravel was deposited on top of that. Great adventure!
You have shown us placer deposits underground before but I don't recall one that big and extensive in some time. Surprised the amount of artifacts still outside at the portal...very cool. The one area with the incredible bedrock walls was interesting, that is what people think of when they imagine "solid bedrock". As a youngster I was a helper on a local water well drilling rig. I remember seeing lots of that dark gray coming up the hole (for me to shovel) as we got down a bit.
So, go work it or sell it so somebody else can work it.@@SilvasSmallMining
@SilvasSmallMining you may want to do better about securing your property and having it clearly marked. Why did you not install a security safety door at the portal to prevent entry? California has some crazy property laws that protect people coming onto others property regardless. Seems like your lackadaisical attitude towards safety and security is going to set you up for a lawsuit that will take your claim away. This video now serves as evidence to support that fact. If this truly is your claim, do better.
@@Springfield-eo8jl Crikey Moses Man, why don't you join Alcoholics Anonymous and tell them about your imaginary stories of Whoa and bad luck or just STFU. lol
Always appreciate everything you do while exploring those dangerous mines ! Please just be careful we who watch you love you and your endeavors and want to keep you around for many many years to come .
Thanks for all your hard work exploring all of these mines and artifacts. I'm mostly bed bound in an assisted living situation, so you are doing what I wish I could do. Thanks again for letting me live vicariously through your adventures!
Stay safe for me and everyone else. No footage is worth any of your team hurting yourselves!!
You got my thumbs up ! 👍 Love the Placer tunnels & mining
Truly amazing that the bedrock seemed to be weaker than the river bed material! What an awesome mine, must have been huge in the day. Thanks
Great video and interesting mine. You are appreciated for all your efforts to follow the drifts to their conclusion
Nice fine. I really like the old river channel deposits. The mine I'm working is in a layer of Paleozoic Marine Rock. There's all kinds of loose clam shells and impressions in the hard rock.
Love all you're videos, great work you do and the history lessons you thow out there is great!
That is one amazing awesome mine explore , so much bed rock and gravel in there. Some amazing colours as well throughout the mine, that ore cart with the generator looked really cool as well. All in all a fantastic place to visit 😊
The shots showing the ancient river bed bottom and its gravel above the fallen bedrock were brilliant.
Nice vid
🍺😎
30:30 Not only do you need to worry about the water going over the waders, you should look at the water line on the wall.
Yes, I appreciate you crawling through the water to confirm what is on the other side! Thanks for exploring these cool spaces. I am too old for this but wish I was there...
Hi Justin. It definitely didn't look easy to get over that wedge rock you mentioned. Once you got a better look at the drift beyond the collapse, it almost sounded like you weren't happy it did continue. I can only imagine the decisions you restle with pitting your energy level, safety, ability, etc. against what you might feel we (your viewers) would want to see. I, for one, hope that you do what YOU feel is best for you. I will come along whatever you decide.
Ha, yes, there are definitely times when it is a relief to see that a particular section of a mine has caved and we are unable to proceed.
Thanks for the great explore! This mine reminds me of an article on the California Mining Journal (CMJ, now ICMJ - International!) I read decades ago about the Ruby Mine somewhere near Downieville. They were following a low-grade gold vein, got ~1/4 mile in, ran across a tertiary age river bed that proved richer than the vein. As they worked along it, it got richer and richer until the last couple months they were finding nuggets weighing Troy pounds, including a softball-shaped and sized one weighing 8 pounds and a gold slab weighing ~20 pounds!!! THEN…WWII shut the mine down! When it was allowed to open again, they found the adit was massively collapsed ~100 feet in, and I guess it was not possible to clear it. And survey work trying to determine where the old working face was, to intercept it with a vertical shaft, indicated the shaft would have to be 1700 feet deep, and was not economically feasible. A pity, because evidently the source veins of the gold was awfully close to that old working face!!
This mine seemed very similar!
The Ruby was actually opened up again. Brush Creek Mining dropped a new shaft on the far end of the older workings a number of years ago and rehabbed the adit. So, although it was rough, the older workings were connected underground and were accessible. However, it was never financially feasible for sufficient rehab work to be done to get proper access to the old river channel. So, now the Ruby is abandoned again after several companies leased it and had a go at it. The current owners are trying to unload it.
Wow. That is one of the most geologically interesting explores you've shared. Be fun to come back with a detector. Thanks for sharing
Thanks for taking us on your incredible adventures.
You certainly go through some pretty sketchy areas to bring us great videos. Thanks and have a happy Christmas and New Year.
I've been a subscriber since your beginnings. I REALLY APPRECIATE THE THINGS YOU DO FOR US !!! Especially to get us into those tight spaces for those money shots !!! Seriously I hope you can keep making great videos !
Happy Holidays ! TVR !
Thank you. I have a particular fondness for the subscribers from the early days!
Fantastic episode I truly do appreciate what you go through to get these amazing images. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I've been you for several years now and I admire the fact of the mines you and your friends have have put a lot time and effort my compliments sir, but as far as walking thru that mine yes I agree some of the areas are deeper than they look, thanks for all the sharing and I assume yall still have your mine? Hope you and your family have an awesome Christmas
Appreciating every efforts you put in this exploration!!!!
Absolutely fantastic video. . . 😎
0:59 Fire extinguishers are a great way to get a last active date for a location, the inspection tags will have it.
Please have someone walk in front of you whenever possible, it helps so much with getting perspective, so much cooler to watch. Without a person, the passageways seem much smaller.
Stunning placer .....you have two options , one is that the riiver cut a channel through the bedrock and back filled with gravel and the other is that either sediment or volcanic action buried the river then another river ran over the top of the same area, knowing there was a huge eruption int the sierras milliopns of years ago its likely a buried river with another section of the same river on top. There is probably stil;l a lot of gold down there because the miners would have chased the bottom of the river bed to get all the best big stuff.
A decent metal detector would be useful down there
Another amazing explore.
Thank you gentlemen 🙏
The gravels look really exciting actually.
Hi Justin nice to see chuck with you as its been a while since we saw him, he looks well i think you said he had been busy with work, interesting video an unusual mine.Have a nice christmas.
The geology in this mine is pretty wild! Interesting to see how it interfaces with the rock underneath it.
At 1:55 the yellow gadget leaning against the box is a rail bender. The steel screen at 33:30 is called locomotive netting for catching large cinders before they go out of the smokestack. If there is any gold in that gravel, it will be along the bottom next to the bedrock in each seam of gravel.
The contact zone.👍🏻
Exactly.@@ADITADDICTS
Extremely interesting and visually stunning mine! I'm amazed at all the trouble you go through to film these mine! Thank you for sharing them with us!
That Generac generator is circa 1998. The Jim Crow looked nearly new!
You always do a great job. We love watching you. Thank you so much.
Oooh, a rare McBride appearence! Nice!
at 21+ minutes, you were talking about the giant slab that fell. it is a thin, smooth layer with river gravels on top. My guess is the thin, smooth layer was once magma, then had river gravels laid over.
Would love to see you re-visit those gravels again with a metal detector! Great video!
Doesn't even look abandoned I hope this place stays hidden or on private property.
Looks like someone is planning to come back to this mine someday. Probably not even 10 years abandoned.
That looks like a placer drift mine in some parts of it. Other parts are obviously a hard rock mine unless they went down beneath the bedrock and tunnelled and were hauling out gravels from below to wash the gold out of it outside.
In a placer drift that's exactly what they do. Punch in below the contact zone of gravel and bedrock and let gravity do the work.
What an excellent explore !
Cool show. Thanks for crawling through the muck to get the good stuff!
wow that place looks very delisious. can almost taste the gold on that bedrock, very strange how the gravels are layered i almost want to say the black rock looks like lava i wonder if the river was there over time maybe 2x. pretty cool place, i had paused the video many time to check out the gravels. love it👍
Any dates on the accumulation tank or fire extinguisher? Looks pretty modern. 1990s? What a wild exploration Justin. It would have been a very dangerous mine when operational with those planes of placer and bedrock intertwined
Better lock up your road and put up some signage before others come along not so respectful.
@@SilvasSmallMining thanks for replying. I wish you luck with the re-opening. Stay safe.
Good luck looks very profitable,you are lucky man to have this..
Back in my area and exploring with chuck👍
A great and lovely area packed with history! One of my favorite places to visit.
Cool vid guys well done,, wonder if the mine was actually producing ???
Great video and write up.
That’s the best of both mines in one!
You guys find some cool stuff
Dude ... @13:39 you have gravel on bedrock on gravel ... and the bedrock looks like it itself was laid down in layers ... !
Plus, earlier you mentioned gravel from a river on top of a mountain ... however, this is evidence that the gravel carrying river cut through the mountain ... several times.
Wow ... just wow !
Could the layer of "bedrock" between the placer deposits be a lava flow, to me it almost looks like obsidian.
Bingo.
You are correct....but primarily basalt I suspect.
Excellent explore, man you had me on the edge when in that deep water with all the collapsed gravel. Man you got some balls dude. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.🎄☃
I'd wager they were only looking for that thin layer where the gravel sits on top of bedrock. All the gravel that's currently piled up everywhere has already been through the sluce. Amazing mine to get to see. Great content!
Everything you always wanted to know about the drift mines "The Tertiary Gravels of the Sierra Nevada of California by Waldemar Lindgren"
Hello Justin and crew! Another great mine video! I am hooked on your channel and watch with great interest as you explore these wonderful old mines. I would like to offer a suggestion if I may. I think it would add some human interest to your great videos if you would introduce your crew members at the beginning of each video so that the audience can get to know them. This is a valuable tool because viewers are interested in the people on adventure as well as the adventure itself. Take the show storage wars for example. People can only watch so much of looking at the contents of storage lockers before it becomes mundane. The producers of the show cleverly showcase the individuals and the interesting things in their lives to keep people watching. Otherwise, this show would have probably ended long ago! I'm not saying that you should take it to the extreme that storage wars does, but letting us know who is with you would add even more interest to your videos. On another note. I would like you to consider exploring 3 mines in Acton, CA. The Governor, the Red Rover, and the High Grade mines. Half of the Gold that has been mined in Los Angeles County was taken from the Governor mine. All 3 are on private property. There is also a great story associated with these workings because they were all owned by California Governor Henry T. Gage and then his family. Most people associate California Gold mining with Mother Lode Country and the great rush of 1849, but in fact California's first Gold Discovery was in Placerita Canyon, Los Angeles County in 1842. The Gold seekers then followed the Santa Clarita River in Soledad Canyon to Ravenna which became a community. The mines I previously mentioned are just up the road a piece. Should you decide to do this, I would offer you and your crew my home as place to stay. Another mine to explore in this area would be the Tick Canyon Borax mine in neighboring Agua Dulce. Keep up the great work and stay safe! Mel The Ice Man, Acton, CA.
I wonder if those many pieces of wood that are embedded in those layers that also contain gravel indeed could be swept into the river millions of years ago as many of them seem to have squared off sides and matching edges, making them look as if they come from trees that once saw the inside of a saw mill.. If that would be case every aspectv of the story about those layers of mixed materials indeed would be very different after all! Again a most impressive, daring and nothing short of heroic exploration .. what an enormous mine!
Wow ..awesome explore ..what an interesting mine ..thank you for your great video and skills .
From Australia 🦘🦘🦘
Hitting a riverbed means bigger pieces of gold, and also a bigger change of separation off several layers like what has happened there, a risky operation but profitable, thnx for a very interesting explore, and seeing this means you survived, again lol you are a brave man.
It would have been interesting to have panned some of that gravel to see if any color showed. As for that black rock covering the gravel with another gravel layer on top, the black rock looks igneous. Without eyeballing it up close, it's hard to tell, but it might be a very fine basalt. This seems to suggest a lava flow across the river at one point.
Have you figured how much that gravel would pay per cubic yard (the conglomerate looking like a better deal than the lode angle)? From an engineering standpoint, the mine looks like a mess (i.e., you'd probably spend way more money on infrastructure than extraction).@@SilvasSmallMining
@@SilvasSmallMiningAre you getting much gold out of there? Looks like a pretty good area. Looks like some real work
@@b-radfrommalibuthose aren't his mines lol
Where is the mine located
Justin- you got some giant cahones man climbing through that one in the back. Must’ve been a big producer for that extensive carving once it hit river gravel. And again- McBride forgot something 😂 waders 😂 thanks for your awesome content
I'm glad you ran into the bear OUTSIDE the mine, and not INSIDE!
He was cute. Curious too lol.
Good afternoon from Southeast South Dakota
Placer mines seem so sketchy. The old tools were cool! I believe I saw a couple of square set timbers, I'm guessing from a different mine? Lots of cool stuff! Thanks Justin!
The black layers above and below the placer material could be lava flows that went over the river and then a million years later did it again. Might be a spot to look for diamonds.
Very cool. Did the fire extinguisher card have a date on it? This looks pretty recent. Thanks for the great videos.
Heres to a better year for you justin those of us that follow you closely know its been a rough one for you dude heres to a prosperous and healthy new year stay safe down there my dude 🥂🎉🎉❤
Metel detector would probably go Crazy Mad in the there !!!; )
if you ever do a part 2 of this mine, remember to take a rubber boat with you, the ones you blow air into to and deflat them again, they dont take that much space, otherwise a very interresting mine on the show
After the fact, you should bring a gold pan and try sampling some of the fallen down gravel and water filled runs since there is an abundance of water, and "yeah, you're gonna to get wet!" LOL
Thanks for the video, this was really enjoyable seeing the old gravel stream bed and colors.
I was thinking the same thing, pan a few hand fulls and try a metal detector 😊
It's amazing to see all that stuff left behind, and is still there. I just wonder how much more gold is still in that mine.
More gobbing=additional gobbing
Ore gobbing=high grade😁
Great mine and vid.
Material batuan nya cukup bagus sobat... kedalam berapa meter sobat....
Coolest mine I've seen, the geology is wild, a minelab detector in that that place would probably be singing all day. Would love if you did a video of that, I know its not exploring but it may be a retirement plan. Obviously values had to be quite good at $25ish an Oz to get it all out.
Thanks for the ride!
The hose @ 36:28 is pressure line not suction .
What above ground would indicate to the prospectors that this was a good place to begin an adit for a place mine?
The modern rivers cut through the ancient rivers. When prospecting in the rivers and creeks, look for rounded quartz boulders and cobbles. These indicate an ancient river on the hillside above.
It's weird seeing how the bedrock crumbled and collapsed, but the gravel apparently stayed above. Normally isn't it the gravel and placer that always falls? I do like the color of that bedrock though.
And while that water was definitely deep, by the water lines on the walls, it looks like it was at least a foot or more deeper in the past. Ever had to bring scuba gear on mine exploration? *sees 35 minute mark* Okay, you really DO need scuba gear! XD
Honestly this mine, it really should be called the "A river runs through it" mine. Both for the ancient placer and all the water in it now.
Edit: And thank you for all the effort you put into your explorations. It is very much appreciated.
Absolute great mine.
Why did they left all this things behind.
That make no sense to me
Thank you for your work.
Merry Christmas and a happy new year 2024
Glück Auf
Frank Galetzka
People get sick, injured or old. A heart attack, stroke, cancer, vehicle accident....so many potentials.
@@terryrempel68 thank you for your komment.
But mining in such a remote area is not a one man Show normaly.
Okay for me the background from these mines are intersting .
Merry Christmas and a happy New year 2024 God bless you
Apparently Tim Fadda worked the mine with his father Bill Fadda.. Apparently they mentored Silva who inherited the claim. Based on posts in comments and a reply to me. God bless. An interesting time comes....like no other. @@frankgaletzka8477
Very thorough exploring. The slightest gap or shadow entices you. Placer pillars look dodgy though. Brilliant job again.👍
Get the date on fire extinguisher tag
I said the same thing lmao, this place is fresh or maybe an old timer still lurking about occasionally.
@@SilvasSmallMining so you're claiming this as your claim? Is this a patented mining claim or is it located on land that was physically paid for and deeded to an individual as private property? If it's an unpatented mining claim anyone who wants to be there can ..nobody's being disrespectful either.
@@SilvasSmallMiningyou have an incredible mine. Congratulations.
Looked up Tim Fadda - died in that mine (Magnolia Mine) in 2020:
Timothy William August 25, 1946 - May 24, 2020
SIERRA COUNTY - Timothy William Fadda was born on August 25, 1946, in Oakland, CA. He passed away on May 24, 2020, while working at his Magnolia gold mine in Sierra County, CA
@@SilvasSmallMining who cut the locks? I didn't see this? I don't think these guys are like that?
The gravel ceiling was amazing. I've never seen anything like it. Would love to fossil hunt in there
I’ve watched a lot of mine videos and explored a few myself. This mine is really unique. I wonder if they even needed to use dynamite.
Watching this and seeing how very far back one of you venture and seeing the mine car team and genie I’m thinking with all that had collapsed the miners just barely made it out alive. Like all that gravel mix is very unstable looking add the weight of the surrounding bedrock. It doesn’t seem like it would take much to disturb just one rock and it’s all going to fall in