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** Lost Gold At The Dead Man's Mine ** A Miners Journal **


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   May 15   2002

 

   This morning’s cleanup gave us ½ an ounce. It wasn’t exactly great but the gold is there. Jacob said we’ll get hot spots and cold ones as well. We just need to keep working consistently as far as putting yards of gravel through the tom. 

   We’ve had really good weather for working. Temperatures have been starting out in the low 40’s and climbing to about 70 each day. We worked the site hard all morning, broke for lunch, and got back to it until nearly dark again. We started hitting some rounded rock about six inches in diameter along with some smooth flat rock maybe a foot long. I think we’re into a good channel up here. Our trench is eight feet deep and about twenty feet in length. Jacob doesn’t think anyone has worked this area. We have not hit bedrock but Jacob thinks it may be close. Maybe another five to ten feet down. He said we may be working good pay in the streak above it and it should improve as we go deeper.

   We ended the day with sixteen yards of gravel processed. We’ll do a cleanup in the morning before we come back up here. We are getting faster at it and gaining experience each day.

   TO BE CONTINUED .................

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   May 23   1950

 

   To date we have processed 150 yards. The gold value is $102. Drifting continues along the bottom of the gravel channel. One raise has been driven upward 20 ft into the gravel in search of better sorted strata that might carry higher gold values. Most of the gravel thus far is poorly sorted and contains abundant clay and decomposed volcanic rocks. The gold content is extremely fine grained and ranges from a trace to as much as $10 but is averaging less than $1 per yard. 

   TO BE CONTINUED ...............

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   May 25   1950

 

   I am switching the current operation from drifting of bedrock to raising in the channel gravels. I have found that the fine, silty material immediately overlying the bedrock is nearly barron in gold but the cleaner quartz gravels higher in the channel carry much higher gold values. I have decided to put up four raises to test these gravels. The raises will be 4’ by 4’ and 20 ft long at an angle of 45 degrees to vertical and timbered solid. Because of the timbering the estimated cost will exceed the previous expense budget. However, I remain confident of good values to be found. I am also awaiting the decisions to invest in the project by several interested parties.  

   TO BE CONTINUED ...............

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1 minute ago, GhostMiner said:

   May 25   1950

 

   I am switching the current operation from drifting of bedrock to raising in the channel gravels. I have found that the fine, silty material immediately overlying the bedrock is nearly barron in gold but the cleaner quartz gravels higher in the channel carry much higher gold values. I have decided to put up four raises to test these gravels. The raises will be 4’ by 4’ and 20 ft long at an angle of 45 degrees to vertical and timbered solid. Because of the timbering the estimated cost will exceed the previous expense budget. However, I remain confident of good values to be found. I am also awaiting the decisions to invest in the project by several interested parties.  

   TO BE CONTINUED ...............

   Reading this confirms some of the old geology reports in this area which state that in some areas the best gold values are far above the bedrock due to all the upheavel. Of course as miners we almost always expect the best gold at or near bedrock. Confounding. At this point Jack Murphy seems to be running out of not only money but options. He needs some good results in order to secure some investors and keep the dream alive and also keep his house. I'm rooting for him.

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   Here is what the project looked like when Jack Murphy started. It shows the old workings from 1936 where over 1000 ounces of gold were taken and the operator murdered for the gold. Murphy is extending the drift northward at the 56 ft level along bedrock. They are of the belief that bedrock will drop away at some point where a major gold cache awaits them. However, the values have been weak along the bedrock at 56 ft so he is now seeing hope of better gold above bedrock and ready to raise 20 ft up to a higher level. In short, he needs gold now. We'll soon see what the results of this are. I think it's a make or break deal at this point. 

Map Of Shaft & Drift 001.jpg

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   May 29   1950

 

   The mine has been shut down for several days.The entire crew including myself has become sick with some kind of influenza. Only the watchman, who is tending to the mine pumps, has been out working on the property. The rest remain in camp and in rough shape. I have been too ill to attempt any work for more than a few minutes. The estimated cost of raising is $990 and may be our last attempt to mine depending on results.  

     TO BE CONTINUED ................

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   May 16   2002

 

   We did our cleanup with much anticipation. We were hungry for gold and saw some. There was ¾ of an ounce. Better than yesterday but still not what we hoped for. We had a good mountain man’s  breakfast of bacon, sausage, eggs, and gravy over biscuits. I washed mine down with strong coffee with a shot of Bushmills in it. Jacob’s morning starter.

   We got up to the mine and had a bit of trouble with the pump up on the mountain and Vern and Jim had to work on it to get it going. It took an hour of valuable time away from digging but we finally got gravel being washed through the tom. Everyone agreed to work straight through lunch and even Jacob was in the trench shoveling away.

   Around 3:00 PM we finally had our break and gulped down some light snacks we had with us. Jacob rolled one of his smokes and leaned back against a tree. He said we were all doing good and this reminded him of the crew back in 1936 when they were all busting tail and not seeing the gold they wanted. Then one day it was there in spades. I think it was his way of giving the crew a pep talk and it worked. We went back to shoveling until just after dark and finally shut down. We had sent 19 yards through the tom and were all proud. Then we pulled the mats using flashlights and drove back to camp in the truck. We were all tired and hungry. Tomorrow we all hope to see more gold.

   TO BE CONTINUED ..................

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15 hours ago, GhostMiner said:

   May 29   1950

 

   The mine has been shut down for several days.The entire crew including myself has become sick with some kind of influenza. Only the watchman, who is tending to the mine pumps, has been out working on the property. The rest remain in camp and in rough shape. I have been too ill to attempt any work for more than a few minutes. The estimated cost of raising is $990 and may be our last attempt to mine depending on results.  

     TO BE CONTINUED ................

   Murphy has gone off the main plan of drifting north along bedrock at the 56 ft level. He was planning on finding some gold at that level until he encountered the drop off point where bedrock fell away and a huge jackpot awaited. Unfortunately, he is quickly running out of funds and hasn'r been able to impress investors. So now he will raise shafts into some better values above bedrock which is not what he expected to do. He needs gold to pay the bills and get back to his bigger plan. A cost of $990 was quite a bit of money back in 1950. We'll see if he succeeds. I wonder what kind of flu bug took out the entire crew and put them out od commission? Sounds nasty.

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