Exploring an 1800's Silver Mine from Top to Bottom

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9 ай бұрын

The Santiago Mine was discovered in the 1860's and was mined continuously for over 50 years. Silver was the main commodity mined here. Over the years, several mills were constructed to support the mining operations, each larger than the one before. After decades of constant activity, the mine's rich ore bodies were depleted, and the Santiago Mine was abandoned. The mine ended with 20-25 miles of underground workings and dozens of levels. There were numerous adits, shafts and open stopes that provided access into the extensive workings.
We set out to this impressive mine hoping to gain access to the massive underground workings described in historic reports. Though we were unable to access the vast majority of this complex, we were able to fully explore some of the mine's original underground workings from top to bottom.
Join us as we follow a 350 ft. vertical shaft down through several levels of 1800's and early 1900's workings. We were the first to explore these workings in decades.
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#minesofthewest #urbex #abandonedmine #mineexploring #abandoned #mining #exploring #desert #travel #history #adit #shaft #underground #minerals #silvermine #goldmine #exploringabandonedmines

Пікірлер: 36

@MinesoftheWest 9 ай бұрын

Thanks for stopping in to check out this video. A lot of planning and scouting went into this one, so I hope you enjoy!

@mysterycrumble 9 ай бұрын

was great, thank you!

@Carolb66 6 ай бұрын

Just watched it, absolutely fantastic really enjoyed it thank you! You can tell you put your heart & soul into this. Well done. ❤😊👍

@EraX52 9 ай бұрын

Wow a stream from yall, this will be good, I love your channel, you should bring back where at the beggining of the video you show the map of the mine

@mikewinings4120 9 ай бұрын

That plastic piece is so intriguing, great that Justin is with you

@richardwarnock2789 6 ай бұрын

More area's to explore and all that climbing made you all worn out no doubt some Hot stew and brew!!! Back in shape!!!; )

@hamsterman2008 9 ай бұрын

Amazing collection of artifacts ....THIS BELONGS IN A MUSEUM !

@MarkBrockman1956 9 ай бұрын

You’re the best!

@sanddabz5635 2 ай бұрын

This was insanely cool!😎👍

@handyman1957 9 ай бұрын

Wow, what a awesome mine. Glad your back, I was starting to wonder. Thanks for letting us see the work it took to get out, as it gives a much better perspective of the work it takes to get into one of these : )

@richardwarnock2789 6 ай бұрын

Here's for Stew and Brew after that relax !!!

@MinesoftheWest 6 ай бұрын

Holy cow, thank you so much!

@jeremytuggle6424 9 ай бұрын

Great video!

@CMExploration 6 ай бұрын

What an adventure! Excellent video thank you 👍

@Coltbreath 9 ай бұрын

I wonder why the mine closed since there is still residual ore to be mined. Lack of operating costs or a drop in the price of silver?

@Dave_9547 9 ай бұрын

That clay like material is interesting, wonder what it is? Seems unlikely to be talc, but clearly made some of the adits very unstable. That air line at about the 39 minute mark looked like plastic pipe instead of steel. If so someone worked areas of this mine in more recent times, maybe in the seventies?

@michaelfercik3691 9 ай бұрын

Aluminum and magnesium was used to make pipes in the 19th centry

@erickneebone3412 9 ай бұрын

that clay like material looks like tailings. If there was a mill on site; it is likely that they were using mill tailings for filling the stopes.

@westcoasttommy4327 9 ай бұрын

Quote: " if it was the 'rule' that brought you here , then what good was the rule?" ~Anton

@karae.2282 4 ай бұрын

The white clay looks like kaolinite seems that's when the ore and rocks were removed were weakened enough to collapse after getting wet

@rogerrichter9917 9 ай бұрын

The dynamite box at 9:06... did that explode in the past? And those are just the sticks that didn't explode? There are pieces of box all over. No one rips a box of dynamite apart, right?

@myhificloud 9 ай бұрын

Is there a gear list posted somewhere detailing your filming equipment? The details and colors produced in your videos are spectacular.

@MinesoftheWest 9 ай бұрын

I don’t have a gear list yet, but I am thinking about making a video along those lines.

@myhificloud 9 ай бұрын

@@MinesoftheWest That would be fantastic and thank you

@RustandDustExploration 9 ай бұрын

Another sick rappel. The envy was strong with this one. Did you grab any long exposures of the ladder network? Great looking hard rock mine.

@MinesoftheWest 9 ай бұрын

Thanks friend! Didn’t take any stills in here, was in too much of a time crunch. Thanks for watching!

@RustandDustExploration 9 ай бұрын

@@MinesoftheWest No worries. I prefer the uninterrupted videos on here, but I do enjoy some of the shots you compose (as evidenced by my having ripped off a couple of them 😄).