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

[GhostMiner]

 July 27 2002   Part Two

 

   The old ore car was in need of repair so I spent the rest of the day working with Jacob to remove gold bearing quartz from the old mine bucket by bucket. We crushed it up as best we could by pulverizing. It was by far no professional job as we weren’t equipped for hard rock mining but at least we could get a rough estimate on values per ton. We panned the pulverized ore and came up with an estimate of just under one ounce to the ton. Jacob couldn’t believe it. This was rich ore - rich enough to make us a bundle.

   Jacob was trying to figure out why the mine had been abandoned. He thought that the big companies on top of the mountain had simply buried the lower workings under tailings and the smaller company was forced to leave. He said the big operations boss probably didn’t know how good the ore was and seeing they were making big gold up on the higher mines it was simpler to just keep dumping tailings down below and keep their big hydraulic mines producing. Once the lower mine was buried under many feet of tailings and abandoned it was soon forgotten. This was just amazing to me but it seemed to be all about speed of production and easier gold.  I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the old timers who had put in so much hard work just to be run off the mountain. Now Jacob and I had a lot of contemplating to do as to our next step. 

   TO BE CONTINUED ...................

 

[GhostMiner]

  July 27   2002   Part Three

 

   Jacob and I spent the evening discussing the unexpected developments on the lower mine. It seems there are many twists and turns on this property. Jacob liked the idea of taking a shot at hard rock mining. It would allow us to work longer into the Fall and perhaps Winter. We could work the tunnels in any weather and stock pile the ore for Spring processing. The old mine car and tracks could be restored and made usable again with a little work on our part. However, we would most likely need a crew to follow the quartz vein if we wanted to mine enough raw ore to make it a worthwhile venture. We have no hard rock mining experience and lack some of the needed equipment. We will need a stamping or crushing process and drilling equipment for starters. It concerns me to take on a crew of new people out here. I worry about potential problems. Many things could go wrong.

   It was well after midnight and we were at camp and still talking things over when we both heard a holler from inside the tunnel. It sounded like a distant voice way down the drift somewhere. We got up and walked over in the direction of the adit which was not too far from our camp near the creek. I walked into the opening just ahead of Jacob. I thought I saw the light from a lantern down near the area where the tunnels branched off. I shined my flashlight in that direction but saw nothing moving and the light had vanished.

   Jacob hadn’t seen it and when I told him about it he said it could be trespassers. We both stood very quietly and listened for a few minutes. Sure enough, there were two or three voices down there somewhere. They must have taken the right tunnel leading east and were out of our view. Jacob had the Thompson and I had my sidearm. We slowly advanced into the dark keeping our flashlights off.

   TO BE CONTINUED ................

[Old Miner Don]

43 minutes ago, GhostMiner said:

  July 27   2002   Part Three

 

   Jacob and I spent the evening discussing the unexpected developments on the lower mine. It seems there are many twists and turns on this property. Jacob liked the idea of taking a shot at hard rock mining. It would allow us to work longer into the Fall and perhaps Winter. We could work the tunnels in any weather and stock pile the ore for Spring processing. The old mine car and tracks could be restored and made usable again with a little work on our part. However, we would most likely need a crew to follow the quartz vein if we wanted to mine enough raw ore to make it a worthwhile venture. We have no hard rock mining experience and lack some of the needed equipment. We will need a stamping or crushing process and drilling equipment for starters. It concerns me to take on a crew of new people out here. I worry about potential problems. Many things could go wrong.

   It was well after midnight and we were at camp and still talking things over when we both heard a holler from inside the tunnel. It sounded like a distant voice way down the drift somewhere. We got up and walked over in the direction of the adit which was not too far from our camp near the creek. I walked into the opening just ahead of Jacob. I thought I saw the light from a lantern down near the area where the tunnels branched off. I shined my flashlight in that direction but saw nothing moving and the light had vanished.

   Jacob hadn’t seen it and when I told him about it he said it could be trespassers. We both stood very quietly and listened for a few minutes. Sure enough, there were two or three voices down there somewhere. They must have taken the right tunnel leading east and were out of our view. Jacob had the Thompson and I had my sidearm. We slowly advanced into the dark keeping our flashlights off.

   TO BE CONTINUED ................

Gosh darn this mining story just keeps getting better lol !

[GhostMiner]

   July 27   2002     Part Four

 

   As we got further in we turned our flashlights back on but muted the light with our hands. We could still hear voices in the distance but couldn’t make out any words. It sounded like mumbling to me.When we got to the east tunnel we heard the voices more clearly. In a whisper Jacob said they must be back in there somewhere. 

   I couldn’t figure out why someone was messing around on the mine this late at night. We shined our flashlights down the east tunnel and I hollered out asking who they were. The voices stopped. That tunnel didn’t go all that far and we moved slowly towards where the talking had come from. Eventually we saw the ending wall. There was no one there. This was impossible as there was no way out except to come back towards us. Jacob shook his head and told me we needed to get out of there. So we headed back out of the mine. 

   We stood at the adit for about ten minutes just listening. There were some faint sounds of what sounded like small rocks falling but no voices. We stayed there for an hour and never heard anything more. It was a mystery.

   TO BE CONTINUED ..................

 

   

 

[dig4gold]

Ghosts from the past.....

D4G

[Mike Furness]

Told you to watch out for the Tommy Knockers!  🙃🤣

[GhostMiner]

1 minute ago, Mike Furness said:

Told you to watch out for the Tommy Knockers!  🙃🤣

That entire property is full of weird happenings. I could probably write a book just on that. 

[GhostMiner]

5 hours ago, dig4gold said:

Ghosts from the past.....

D4G

I think that entire property is haunted. That was one a number of times I chased after voices at night. Also lights that appeared & vanished. The place has a dark history. 

[dig4gold]

It is a strange thing this believe or non believe of happenings from the other side. There are many things that happen that have no logical explanation except to put it down to the paranormal or visitor's from the other side. It is something I believe should not be scoffed at. If what you are telling us actually happened, & more than once or twice, & isn't made up for your "story", then you will have your own thoughts on the matter. "They" obviously mean you no harm but it would be un nerving. The mind is a powerful thing & it is how you process what you have "witnessed" as to how you react to it. Interesting, & like you say, you could write a book on that subject alone. Maybe you should.

D4G

[GhostMiner]

4 hours ago, dig4gold said:

It is a strange thing this believe or non believe of happenings from the other side. There are many things that happen that have no logical explanation except to put it down to the paranormal or visitor's from the other side. It is something I believe should not be scoffed at. If what you are telling us actually happened, & more than once or twice, & isn't made up for your "story", then you will have your own thoughts on the matter. "They" obviously mean you no harm but it would be un nerving. The mind is a powerful thing & it is how you process what you have "witnessed" as to how you react to it. Interesting, & like you say, you could write a book on that subject alone. Maybe you should.

D4G

Yes, it's hard to explain things which have no logical explanation. Even Jacob, the tough old bird that he was, wanted to get out of that tunnel and back to camp that night.