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Comment count is 16
Jet Bin Fever - 2014-02-27

I really loved this. Informative and entertaining. Poor CGI guy going in with a T-shirt and a crappy flashlight.


Meerkat - 2014-02-27

He really should have been wearing a red shirt.


infinite zest - 2014-02-27

^all for you.


RockBolt - 2014-02-27

All good information, any questions leave 'em here-


The Mothership - 2014-05-23

So what is it that you mine, RB?

Also, how common is it for professional mine/cave explorers to stumble across unlucky unprofessional mine/cave explorers?


RockBolt - 2014-05-25

I've done a little of everything, underground coal on Alabama, underground metals in Colorado, Idaho and Nevada, quarries all over the US and Canada. Spent a good chunk of time working for an equipment vendor so I got to travel to a lot of different operations doing that.

In general there is very little legitimate exploration of abandoned mines, the main goal is usually to locate and secure any openings that people can fall or wander into, there isn't too much done to the interior of abandoned mines because it is crazy dangerous and more money than any one would spend on something that should never be interacted with anyway, and in general if you can keep people out the rest of the mine should cause very little problems or interaction with the outside world. Plus mine adits can go for miles on dozens of levels, and the extent of which you probably don't even know as maps probably no longer exist. Very high risk/cost for almost no reward.

Unlike caves that have been open for thousands or millions of years, mines are built specifically not to outlast the probable life of the mine (build it better it costs more, ergo you don't), and even during use they require constant attention to keep them safe to be in- barring down loosening rock, replacing rusted bolts and mesh, controlling groundwater, maintaining ventilation, etc. Underground excavations can become very unstable very quickly and with that most people who know better know to stay the f away. Also animals move in. Not the ideal place to run into a mountain lion.

But if people go reported missing in areas with a lot of old mine activity or more commonly someone gets hurt in a group of teenagers in an underground mine and someone manages to get help, then mines may get searched and people dragged out.

I've seen a video shot by a just such a bunch of teenage idiots in Nevada, going down rotted ladders, climbing over deep shafts, being as reckless as possible until finally about 30 minutes in they decide to climb down an old rope, surprise it snaps and hapless moron #1 falls about 30 feet down a hole. The video ends there but basically their flashlights died soon after but someone managed to get out and get help, they were all rescued many hours later. The kid lived but he was pretty banged up, exceptionally lucky.

But if you go missing in a mine and no one notices, then yeah that body probably will be there for a while. Even with others illegally exploring all the time, there are so many mines and such a maze to every one of them that being found accidentally is still a pretty low probability event.


The Mothership - 2016-01-25

Cool, got it. Not going into any abandoned mines anytime soon.


Sludge Vohaul - 2022-04-14

Stars for both this story and for teaching me a new word: adit


Albuquerque Halsey - 2014-02-27

Ah! I remember all this from the abandoned mine display that that have at the natural resources building at the NM state fair.


Albuquerque Halsey - 2014-02-27

full version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJhvVRW-NgI


infinite zest - 2014-02-27

Ah. So they had to use the CGI guy because they blew their budget on those conquistador costumes.


infinite zest - 2014-02-27

Gotta wonder why they decided to make the CGI guy have the same basic features of the kid who died in the mine though.


Adham Nu'man - 2014-02-27

Thank you, very nice video.

I've explored a handful of abandoned mines and re-identified the locations and mapped a few mines that have been lost to history.

As a speleologist, I use caving equipment and techniques, and I still consider mines to be much more dangerous than your average cave.

This is a video I took a couple of years ago of one of the mines I located and mapped. It was the first mine I re-identified and it was my first foray into it. You can't really see shit as I filmed it on a cell phone and wasn't using any video lights but if you check at just after 6:15 you can see the quality of the rock.

http://youtu.be/NxOficOT7rU


EvilHomer - 2014-03-03

Hey Adham, izzat you? You look like John Turturro (you know, the guy who played "Jesus" in The Big Lebowski)!


Meerkat - 2014-02-27

They have got nothing on abandoned mimes.


ashtar. - 2014-02-27

They didn't even mention dampfs. Just clouds of various types of killyougas that you can't see or smell. I've done a lot of caving, but I would never ever ever go in an abandoned mine without serious gear and expert guides.


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