Hard Rock mining in the Mother Lode of California, Murphys - Angels Camp - Columbia

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buckyboy

Jr. Member
Nov 19, 2009
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Primary Interest:
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Hard Rock mining in the Mother Lode of California, Murphy's - Angels Camp - Columbia

I have been in several producing hard rock mines, in a couple mucking out after the charges were blown. Very dangerous for sure. Very sweet to see that specimen gold though.

All of these mines are already have been worked pretty good, my friends that ran them are in South Dakota hauling gravel because one guy his back is toast, the other guy almost got killed from a cave in.

Is there a source, a book or a consultant in the area that could help us start a new operation. I have a property owner whose property owner has been identified as good potential for mining. I know the regulations part in Calaveras County, but need help in starting from "point a" Thanks to all who can advise.
 

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The only way to make a profit from any hard rock operation these days is to work "ninja style". That is, secretly, dead -of-night, mid-winter when nobody's
around, and no noise making machinery. Otherwise you end up getting chewed up and spit out by all the regulatory agencies and and anti-mining enviros
just like the 16-to-1 mine in Allegheny. They have millions of dollars in proven gold reserves but are tied up forever in beauracratic red tape and litigation.
In short, if you try to play by the rules, you'll be bankrupt before seeing your first ounce.
 

Ninja style eh?
Osarizawa Woman Miner.jpg
 

Are your mines dry?Most in the Angels area are not,and I would really like to know your plan for de watering them because as of right now,there are no allowances for this in Cala county
 

MrLee - That is a perfect pic of the reason not to go "ninja style" also. She is proving that where she's at, life is cheap. So, playing by the rules is no-win
and ninja style will eventually get you dead. What's left?
 

Gold fever is rampant Fullpan....does no good to even tell em,you know as well as I do,they ask,but wont listen....the reason they are fishing a body out of a shaft every year here
 

kuger said:
Gold fever is rampant Fullpan....does no good to even tell em,you know as well as I do,they ask,but wont listen....the reason they are fishing a body out of a shaft every year here
Click to expand...

X2

I caught an episode of Gold Fever when Tom was out behind Columbia in a hard rck mine that his dad had been wanting to mine. Was some deep mud all the way back and when he ran out of oxygen he was hacking, breathing hard and almost didn't make it out. Looked like it scared the crap out of him pretty badly where he said he'd never want to go back again.

Woke me up pretty good about peeking in some shafts. I think I'll stick to the open air
 

jeffrm20 said:
X2

I caught an episode of Gold Fever when Tom was out behind Columbia in a hard rck mine that his dad had been wanting to mine. Was some deep mud all the way back and when he ran out of oxygen he was hacking, breathing hard and almost didn't make it out. Looked like it scared the crap out of him pretty badly where he said he'd never want to go back again.

Woke me up pretty good about peeking in some shafts. I think I'll stick to the open air
Click to expand...

Great point Jeff,toxic gas settles in mines from all kinds of things...rotted timbers,natural gas etc. and it "two steps ya",you get two steps and your dead....no warning
 

Hey Vini

Do you remember the three young guys killed about two or three years ago. Working and old shaft, had some gas powered equipment set up too close to the entrance, and carbon monoxide went into the hole and killed all three. Two were from Prather, and one from O'Neils I believe...

vini said:
I'd get onto looking for california journals, USGS, mines and geology , for the areas your talking about like this one,,

California Division of Mines and Geology: Bulletin 182 - Geologic Guide to the Merced Canyon and Yosemite Valley, California (Road Log 2)
Click to expand...
 

Kuger, Oakview2 - we had at least two in the last year in Nevada. I think they left them and just performed a ceremony.
 

Fullpan said:
Kuger, Oakview2 - we had at least two in the last year in Nevada. I think they left them and just performed a ceremony.
Click to expand...
Yep,happens every year.........we used to play in the famous Carson Hill Mines,as kids until two guys who had no business "exploring",with there lack of experience ventured in,and only one came ot alive....Ollie O'connor who worked in the mine and lived at the base told them not to go,and If I remember didnt let the one guy use the phone when he came in distress that his buudy had fallen in a shaft....If....I remember right.

Yes,I said we played in the mines,but we were taught at a very young age what was safe and what wasnt....would I let my kids?Heck NO!!!
 

Hey vini - I just got through taking the road log trip on your link. Google e. flying low between Snelling and Don Pedro lake McClure area. Never been there in person.
I guess you guys down there have checked all the dredge tailings? I can see the old dredge near La Grange and the Clamper marker! Anyone have a link
to how it looked on maps before Lake McClure Don Pedro lake? Those dredge tailings is where I might want to try ninja style!
 

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Fullpan said:
Hey vini - I just got through taking the road log trip on your link. Google e. flying low between Snelling and Don Pedro lake McClure area. Never been there in person.
I guess you guys down there have checked all the dredge tailings? I can see the old dredge near La Grange and the Clamper marker! Anyone have a link
to how it looked on maps before Lake McClure Don Pedro lake? Those dredge tailings is where I might want to try ninja style!
Click to expand...
Fullpan....thats my back yard :hello:......recent discussion on here about those....those bucket line dredges made pay by the massive amounts of material they were moving....not big gold.That area is too far down....now,the Doodlebug dredges got some nice bigger gold further up.....asfar a "Ninja",private Property owners round these parts tend to sling at least salt rock....especially right now,every body gold thirsty
 

Yeah I saw an old "doodlebug" video that was a blast to see no one wearing hard hats, men high on rig with no safety lines, breaking down and setting
up in different place in ten? hours. Kinda refreshing!!
I keep thinking about the odds of larger quartz cobbles with just a little gold on/in them being sized out to the tailings - keeps
me awake at night!
 

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I gotta get to bed,but my great uncle worked a bucket line and witnessed a softball size quartz rock with enough gold on it,he seen it from the other side of the room......go over the classifiers,and out the discharge arm....and gone.He mind marked the spot and returned but this was way before detectors,and he just passed down the story and that it was by a forked Bull Pine...near.......trust me I have looked :icon_thumright:
 

jeffrm20 said:
X2

I caught an episode of Gold Fever when Tom was out behind Columbia in a hard rck mine that his dad had been wanting to mine. Was some deep mud all the way back and when he ran out of oxygen he was hacking, breathing hard and almost didn't make it out. Looked like it scared the crap out of him pretty badly where he said he'd never want to go back again.

Woke me up pretty good about peeking in some shafts. I think I'll stick to the open air
Click to expand...

Just watched that episode. Very good.
 

Buckyboy - I apologize for getting way off topic. You asked "what is point A?" The first step is to hire a mining geologist/engineer to evaluate the mine.
You may find one locally, if not contact Mackay School of Mines at the University of Nevada Reno (UNR) for referals. Most of these guys are working in
other countries where regulations and environmental restrictions are not as bad. After a favorable report is published, time to start looking for investers,
as it will cost a bundle. Good Luck.
 

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