Miner Greg wrote:
Thanks a lot for sharing your shots! I understand your primary focus on collecting and I respect that. But you do have some pretty good photos of your journeys. I like the timbered entrance to the flooded tunnel. Still looks like it is holding up well. Looks very interesting especially the old chutes which look pretty intact. Do you have any information on how much further any of these tunnels go? Talk to you soon.
Miner Greg
You're welcome. Glad you guys liked the photos.
I think you're right that the flooded tunnel is in fact a tunnel rather than a drift. The local 'expert' we consulted swore that it was a drift. Too straight in my opinion.
The tunnel itself seems to be holding up well though the timbered entrance was showing signs of rot from being so close to the moisture. The water was just a bit deeper than my Gore-Tex boots. Besides that, the only light source we had was the flashlight I grabbed off the shelf in the parent's garage. It worked but I had no idea how old the battery was. The next time I fly out, I plan on bringing the appropriate gear and making an attempt to find more information about the extent of the tunnel and second mine.
The drift went in about 20-30 yards and opened up into a good sized stope. Of course I didn't measure it but I would estimate that it was maybe 75 yards long and perhaps 15 yards wide from the foot wall to the hanging wall with about a 15-20 degree slope on the floor. With nothing for scale reference it's really hard to tell though.
Miner Mike wrote:
Thanks for sharing your photos! I've done some rockhounding in Arizona. It is quite interesting to see an abundance of minerals so unlike those found here, particularly, in the Highlands region of NY and NJ. If I lived out west I feel like I would have quite the mineral collection. However we still stumble upon some unique minerals out here, just that the geology is more predictable.
Understood. The geology here in MO is not quite as varied as that in AZ and UT either. MO still has some cool stuff, though.
Most of the minerals I have, native copper etc, come from AZ, but Southern Utah is a Mecca for rockhounds. My dad enjoys purchasing or collecting mineral and rock specimens from his travels. He was in New Zealand and was determined to get something as he figured he would never be back. So he found a good sized rock store and was excited about taking home something cool. As he looked around the store, most of the stuff he found was from Southern Utah! Oh well.