Glad you enjoyed the video! Thanks for checking it out. Definitely was a multilevel maze in there.

Thanks for your comment, Jillian! Now that spring is here and the temperature is starting to warm up, I’ll be making new videos soon. As always, thank you for your ongoing support. I appreciate it.

New to this channel. I'm skipping heart beats just watching this. You'd never get me down there. I just think of all those men ( and boys) who knew nothing else but dealing with dark and dirt all day, every day, 6 days per week. These are the men who helped make our countries wealthy. Thankyou for keeping their memory alive. Signed Perth Australia

Yes, the Swiss cheese mines can be tricky to navigate. They seem to have a lot of random tunneling and stoping going all over the place. One could spend many days in this mine exploring every nook and cranny. Sounds like you enjoyed the video. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment!

Thanks, Todd! I remember you showing me that one trap door that was further in the mine where that series of bridges was. However, it looked like there was another trapdoor on that small bridge that I show elsewhere in my video. Sometimes we are just in such a rush when going through these mines trying to keep up with each other and stay abreast of what’s going on that is difficult to take it all in. At any rate, it was an unusual mine regarding all the Swiss cheese stoping going on. Some good shots of you in this video, too! None really of Joe, though, because he’s always way ahead of all of us checking out as much of the mine as he can! LOL By the way, what are holy schnikes? I like when random stuff like that gets caught on video. LOL

Glad you enjoyed it! Those old-time miners certainly worked hard in such awful conditions. No doubt about that. Thanks for watching and commenting!

Thanks for the visit, Anna!

Thanks for watching! And thank you for the great feedback. Definitely are a lot of colorful underground workings here.

That’s very true, Lesley! These Swiss cheese mines are always like that. One could literally spend hours if not days climbing through all the stopes and to the different levels. Sounds like you enjoyed the video. Thank you very much for your support!

Thank you for your comment! They’re definitely were some vibrant colors in this mine. Those winzes are always precarious - especially when the clearance to get past them is very narrow as it was in a couple of the ones you saw in this video. One misstep and you’ll go tumbling down in there to lower areas of the mine. I do think the phrase “Swiss cheese“ is a great way to describe these kinds of mines. it must’ve been hard on the miners to work in such cramped and contorted stopes.

Thanks, man! Yes, you have been a LONGTIME supporter here, and I thank you for that. Thanks for checking out this latest video and for taking the time to comment. I appreciate the support.

I’m pretty certain they would’ve had ore cart tracks inside this mine. As in most abandoned mines, however, the tracks get removed and recycled elsewhere. Glad you agree about the name “Swiss cheese stoping.“ Thanks for taking some time out of your day, William, to watch and comment. I appreciate the support.

Thanks for subscribing! Welcome aboard! You picked a good time to subscribe because I’ll be posting a lot of new content now that spring is here. In fact, I was recently talking to the Zia Mountain Adventures channel and the ABANDONED UNDERGROUND channel about doing some more collaborations with them in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

The wooden false floors are also dangerous. Never have seen termite damage in these mines, but dry rot is a real possibility. Nice hearing from you again, Rolf! Thanks for checking in.

Thanks, “Tony!” Yeah, that was a tight squeeze going through that hole. Fortunately we don’t have to do that too often in these abandoned mines.

Thanks for watching and commenting, Roy! Those collars around winzes are not to be taken for granted, that’s for sure! Nice hearing from you again, and I hope you had a great holiday the other day.

Thanks for watching and commenting! I hope you had a great holiday as well.

I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving the other day, too! Thanks for checking in here and taking the time to watch and comment. I appreciate the support. Yes, this mine was quite extensive with a lot of tunneling going all over the place in random directions. So glad you are able to enjoy the adventures vicariously from the safety and comfort of your home.

Thanks, Alex! These Swiss cheese stope mines certainly are somewhat unusual in how erratic and twisting they are. Glad you enjoyed the video.

Welcome back, Eric! Thank you for your support! All is going well. Will be posting some new videos here probably next week. Have a big trip planned for next weekend to check out many abandoned mines. Spring is here, so it’s time to start exploring again.

@@AbandonedMines11 Yhuppers! Glad to hear from you and that your doing okay^-^/ oh wow nice! I love trips lol they always seem to bring you to cool hidden places.. Spring is definitely here😭 so windy here lmao

I may be headed to the path of totality myself out in Texas. But the weather is not looking promising, so it’s touch-and-go right now.

Good hearing from you again, Dan! I’m glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment. I also appreciate your feedback. These Swiss cheese stope mines are kind of unusual, that’s for sure. Really not my most favorite kind of mine to explore, to be quite honest. Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving this past week and are looking forward to a relaxing holiday season.

@@AbandonedMines11 Same back at you Frank. I aways enjoy your explorations, I need to make time to get KZfaq more often. Enjoy!

Yes, lots of levels in this one! I believe the guys I was with are going back to descend most of those winzes sooner or later. Thanks for the visit, David!

Thanks for the visit, Dave!

Hey, Matt! Doing well here. I hope you are, too! Did you have a nice Thanksgiving? Looks like things are turning a bit wintry up there in northern California. If I’m not mistaken, isn’t that where you live?

Thanks for your comment! I’ve never been to the mines around Calico, but I know other explorers who have and they’ve reported the same thing you did - lots of graffiti and trash everywhere! That area gets a lot of foot traffic for obvious reasons.

Yeah, those bridges are definitely not to be taken lightly. Kind of rare for a mine to have this many bridges in it. I was given the suggestion that I should severely reduce my lights when trying to film the sparkling tunnel walls. I’ll have to try that the next time. Thanks for dropping in this evening and checking out the video. I appreciate it, as always. 👍

Not sure how deep that main vertical shaft was near the end of the video. If I had to guess based on what little I know about the mine and its production, I would say it probably went down another 100 or so. There are definitely lower levels that you saw underneath all those makeshift bridges and false floors. I’m not sure if there is a level below that level, though. If there is, both of those lower levels probably connect up to the main vertical shaft as well. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment!

Happy new year to you, too! Thank you for the greeting and well-wishes. And thank you very much for all of your ongoing support here on my channel - I appreciate it.

@@AbandonedMines11 Thank you very much Frank

Same to you!

They sure were! Thanks so much for watching and commenting.

I know what you mean about the modern, open-pit pit mines intersecting older underground workings. I’ve gone down into some defunct open-pit mines and have found exposed tunnels. Also have found some pretty cool artifacts in those tunnels as well! It’s a shame that the open-pit mines obliterate all of those old, original underground workings, but such is the price of progress. That Morenci Mine you spoke of is enormous! That mine definitely altered the landscape including having a highway get relocated!

@@AbandonedMines11 it sure sad to know what they are taking away when you watch them open pit areas that you know have tons of tunnels and so much history buried there. Morenci is so huge it's hard to fathom. I watched them literally move mountains within just a couple years. A guy I worked with said he was exploring some of the old Chinese-dug drifts there in the 60s and he had some amazing stories about the stuff he found. Unrelated but I've been watching your vids with paranormal activity. It reminded me of the old #9 shaft near Superior, AZ we were drilling there in the mid to late 90s when the mine was shut down and heard the stories of "white boots" the ghost that all the miners saw underground there. Apparently it was a guy who died in a collapse. Anyway we had to fill our water trucks up at the old head frame. At night, it always felt like you were being watched and you would here the creepiest sounds. Metal clanking. Head frame humming like the elevator was moving. Had a worker come back with a half full truck once and never would go again because he was spooked so bad. Said he heard a loud metal bang and heard what he thought were whispers telling him to leave. Right before that he said his skin crawled and all his hairs stood up. He was a pretty rugged dude and not much scared this guy but man something freaked him out.

Thanks for the anecdotes! When you think about it, it’s quite stunning how many people have died in these mines. I found some old reports online from the late 1800s and early 1900s about a couple mines in Nevada where they listed all of the fatal accidents that occurred there over the years. Accidents included things like miners falling down 1200 foot vertical shafts, miners getting crushed by equipment, miners getting buried in cave-ins, miners getting blown up by explosives, etc. It was a very dangerous job with a real risk of being killed on a daily basis! Nowadays it’s probably much safer due to safety regulations and safety laws, but back in those days it was basically a free-for-all.

@@AbandonedMines11 it sure was! I've heard so many stories over the years of similar fatalities. One old miner told me it was kind of like living a rock star life. He said they worked hard got paid very well. Then partied at the bars and brothels all night. Many of his friends- coworkers didn't make it past the 40-50s. The ones that didn't make it out of the tunnels dies young from lung problems ect... And your right it so much safer nowadays. And not near as many people willing to do it. It's crazy how much the industry and people have changed over the year. Thank you so much for documenting your experiences. Amazing work to you and your team!

​@@livinlovinlife7777Garfield is before my time. When I was up there, we were mining around old workings in Shannon and Coronado. I'd pull my truck up about fifty feet from the old Pyramid shaft and eat lunch. There were lots of buildings and old steel electrical poles up that way, a lot of them are buried now. In Shannon, we mined through old square-set stopes. There were places where the highwalls were just full of timbers and bright blue oxide ore, with rails sticking out. As for spooky stuff, your experiences at the #9 remind me of some things I witnessed at the Higdon shaft in Missouri, especially the bangs and machinery noises. The #9 is now active, Redpath is trying to get it back into production.

Thanks for the suggestion! Will try to be more mindful of that in the future. Thanks for stopping by and checking out the video!

Thanks for checking in, Jesse!

I like your use of “ant farm“ to describe this mine. That’s another very apt description! Yeah, with all the stoping that was underneath the main level, we weren’t always sure just how thick the floor was beneath our feet at some points. Thanks for taking the time to check out the video and to write a comment - I appreciate it!

Thanks for the feedback! I know what you’re talking about when the sounds emanating from a video trick you into thinking they are happening in your room. It’s happened to me a few times when watching movies or playing video games. I’ve even had to stop a video and rewind a bit in order to make sure the sound was coming from the video and not from the room I was in! Thanks for stopping by here and checking out the video - I appreciate it!

​@@AbandonedMines11 Great video Any updates on the Corolla Thank you have a blessed day and be blessed

Thanks for your comment! I still drive the Corolla but not as much this past year or so due to having a newer car. As a result, I'm not racking up the mileage on the Corolla like I had been in recent years. I'll be posting a video soon showing the Corolla.

Yeah, these Swiss cheese mines as I like to call them can be tricky when it comes to navigating them - especially if you start going up or down into all the convoluted stopes that lead to other levels and areas. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment - I appreciate the support!

Me, too!

Thank you! Will do! More videos coming soon.

Justin would know more about that. He has researched these mines quite thoroughly. I am almost certain, though, that they were all mining the same deposit of ore.

No.

No doubt there were a lot of accidents in these mines back in the day. It really was dangerous work!

Hey, Ryan! Thanks for your inquiry. I’ll be posting some new abandoned mine exploration videos soon. In fact, the other day I was talking with Justin from the ABANDONED UNDERGROUND KZfaq channel and emailed Todd from the Zia Mountain Adventures channel. Planning some big, upcoming explorations of some pretty cool places! Stay tuned!

The Corolla is still rolling! I really need to do an update video on it. I haven’t been driving it as much these last couple of years because I got myself a second car, but it still runs great!

As far as collecting mineral specimens go, I’m not really into that. We do see some interesting stuff from time to time, but I seldom bring anything home. It is interesting how some of these tunnels have such low clearance. I’m sure many miners back in the day suffered from back problems and other related ailments due to being stooped over a good part of the time. Because of this reason, I would guess that most miners didn’t (or couldn’t) work past the age of 45 or so. Thank you for checking in all the way from Norway! I appreciate appreciate it. Always nice hearing from you.

Thanks for checking out the video! Mining certainly can be an expensive hobby. The labor alone is backbreaking. On top of that, you have to purchase all the chemicals and machinery used to refine the ore and stuff like that. And for what? A couple grains of gold? One thing we’ve noticed about these old mines is that when they are purchased by a large mining company to be reactivated and made into an open-pit mine, the mining companies are often either located in Canada or in China. There never seem to be American companies doing the mining unless I am misinterpreting something.

The guys I was with in this mine do rappel down into vertical shafts. Check out their channels via the links in this video’s description, and you’ll see all of their videos where they do just that. They have found some pretty awesome artifacts in some of the drift tunnels down off of those vertical shafts! Thanks for checking in here and taking the time to comment - I appreciate it.

Cool! Let me know when you’re in Southern California.

@@AbandonedMines11 will do. Might bring a friend too,

Didn’t need to mark directions in this mine because we stayed in the main tunnel. However, had we started going up or down into the stopes that were all over the place, there would’ve been a good chance of perhaps getting lost. There is more than one entrance to this complex of mines, so eventually one would probably find an exit. Thanks for watching and commenting!

New videos coming soon, my friend! Thank you for your support.

Thanks for dropping in, Stan! Hope you had a nice holiday a few days ago. To be quite honest, these “Swiss cheese stope mines“ as I like to call them aren’t my favorite kind to explore. Too erratic for me. This one did have an abundance of false floors in it, didn’t it? I would rather keep those to a minimum, if possible.

How’s it going?