Exploring an 1800s gold mine

[BHNugget]

Spent the day getting a guided tour of one of the first gold mines in the Black Hills.The owner showed us the original operations and then showed us how hes mining it now.Very interesting day!His greatgrandfather was one of the prospectors that was in the Hills before the Custer Expedition made thier famous trip through the Black hills.The last picture is a turquoise sample from the mine,the only known discovery of turquoise in the Black hills.

 

[del]

very cool pictures and great history lesson . reminds me of myold days exploring the old mines shafts in Arizona seeing lots of bats an turquoise . thanks

 

[BHNugget]

Heres a couple pics of the raw ore before being crushed.The vast array of different metals they extract is amazing.Gold isnt really thier primary target these days,just a bonus.The last pic is a sample I was given by the owner of what comes out of the furnace,before they start extracting the different metals they want.

 

[OkieDigger]

I love stuff like this. I've been to a few mines (just to look) and have been amazed at how hard of work it is.

 

[MNDigger]

Thanks for the great pics! Sounds like a lot of work though!

 

[marchas45]

Neat story as this is the first time I've seen ore upclose and It has never been an interest of mine. Great looking pictures. The old fart learned something today. thumbsup01

 

[Islandhunter]

Nice story and great pics...would love to get down in one of those minds...though I don;t think I;d be over joyed about those furry little bats down there.... :shocked04:

 

[coinnut]

Great pictures. What a time they must have had in the early days. That was rough work. Nice array of metals and other minerals. That is Turquoise and not Malachite:huh: Beautiful! thumbsup01

 

[BHNugget]

Great pictures. What a time they must have had in the early days. That was rough work. Nice array of metals and other minerals. That is Turquoise and not Malachite:huh: Beautiful! thumbsup01

Not sure coinnut,I was pretty sure the guy said turquoise,but then I heard so many different names that day that the only ones I really retained in my memory were platinum,gold,silver,copper and molybdenum.The last one not meaning much to me. lol

 

[coinnut]

It probably is Turquoise then. But I would have stopped hearing names after GOLD lol