You are great at filming, you’ve got a great voice for it . And you don’t move to fast. Thank you

Love seeing the sheep come running up and stop right in front of him

EDIT: Well this mill REALLY caught my interest, so after much research, it seems that the rather complicated mystery secondary building is in fact ... drum roll... a Dense Media Separator plant, otherwise known as a "sink-float process". What this plant does is it adds ferrosilicate slurry to the ore to achieve a liquid mixture of desired specific gravity. The basic principle is if you have a liquid with a specific gravity of for instance 2.5, anything you add to that liquid with a specific gravity lower than 2.5 will float, and anything higher than 2.5 will sink, so you're basically creating a liquid that makes the gangue "buoyant". In this plant what looks like a ball mill is actually a Wemco drum, which has lifting flights inside that catch the heavier sinking ore and deposit it into a central launder, while the floating gangue overflows the end. The "floats" and "sinks" are then deposited on different parts of the vibratory screen in front of the Wemco. This screen has 5 discharges, floating gangue to waste, "sink" product to mill, water to wash sump, dilute media to dilute sump, circulating media to densifier (the spiral classifier to the right of the vibratory screen). The densifier further splits off the circulating media into thickened media and more dilute media. The sumps are the boxy hopper looking things you encountered on the ground floor. The circulating media from the densifier simply gets sent from its sump right back to the Wemco, but the dilute media is sent through a magnetic separator (possibly the big box thing that you first saw to your right as you came in) which recovers the rest of the ferrosilicate, which then goes through a demagnetizing coil before rejoining the rest of the media at the Wemco. About one pound of media is lost for every ton of ore processed. On the platform at the very top where the conveyors come in from the crushed ore bin are a set of water washed vibratory screens, but these are before the ferrosilicate is added and I think what these were doing is simply sizing out ore from gangue. I'm not 100% sure, but I think because Galena is quite a "friable" ore, it probably arrived at the DMS plant slightly smaller than some of the gangue, so this larger gangue got separated out first. The gangue then drops into the spiral classifier below to dewater it before sending it out on the conveyor to the waste pile. Meanwhile the ore that "passes" the screen feeds into the Wemco. The DMS process is basically the modern successor to the jig, in that it achieves the purpose of separating out some of the waste material from the higher grade ore, but is obviously considerably more sophisticated. I don't know if you noticed the big permanent magnets over the feed conveyor, but the reason for those is to catch tramp metal from the crusher, because they didn't want that stuff ending up damaging the magnetic separator. The shelving full of random nuts and bolts, and even a ball mill ball, is I think actually all tramp metal that was "recovered"... the ball would've been spat out of the dry ball mill in the crushing plant, and made it through the tertiary jaw crusher, probably destroyed the face plates on it. The Italian labels on the motor control panels, "separatore magnetico" = magnetic separator, "addensatore ferro silicio" = ferrosilicate densifier, "bobina demagnetizzante" = demagnetizer coil, "pompa di ricupero" = recovery pump, "pompa verticale" = vertical pump, was what helped put things together, so thank you for taking the extra time to film some of that! Edited to update: Also on second evaluation that crushing plant is quite a bit more complex than I'd previously noticed. There's a jaw crusher, a gyratory crusher (which seems to be disconnected from the circuit, so probably from an older configuration), a cone crusher, a hammer mill (I actually recognize this one, a Loro & Parisini M66), a dry ball mill, and a secondary jaw crusher, so, 6 types of crusher, basically a crusher emporium! I think originally there would've been a vertical bucket conveyor taking ore from the Dillon screen up to the gyratory crusher, which would've fed back onto the screen, but this was superseded by a more modern cone crusher that they installed outside. The flow process in the crushing section goes: Bin -> grizzly -> oversize into jaw crusher -> dry ball mill --------------------¬ |----> undersize into log-washer ------------------> | Dillon triple deck screen | | |-------> top screen -----------------------------------------------------------------------> tertiary jaw crusher -¬ |----> wash to thickener |-------> middle screen -----------------------------> hammer mill ------¬ | |-------> bottom screen ----------> cone crusher ---------¬ | | | | |-------------------------> vibratory screen | | under | | over |------> pass-through into bottom hopper ----------> high grade conveyor to bin low grade conveyor to bin Evidently they were REALLY serious about not over-treating the ore, it seems they wanted to make absolutely sure that each particle size fraction was separated out and went through the exact most efficient crusher type for the size, and then that ONLY high grade ore went through the mill with as little gangue as physically possible. I'm actually not sure if all this sophistication is evidence of a highly profitable operation, or the necessities of declining ore quality. Whatever the case, "huge" is definitely the correct adjective, I'd estimate easily 1000 tons per day. This is an extremely impressive mill that it seems is still technologically "current", minus computerization of course.

I know I am 5 years late to the party, but I just had to say thank you. This is one amazing explore. What a time capsule you documented. Love your stuff. Again, thank you!

Its amazing the mines u find glad u make these videos another great work as always stay safe and keep them coming

Enjoyed the continuation of this explore! Loved the sheep parade!! Thanks for taking us along!!

I'm still amazed how intact things are. Great to see! Maybe there were plans of starting it back up at some point that has long passed. It's nice to see you got it before things really started falling apart. Another Great Video! Nice Work!

Thank you for sharing your adventures!

WOW! The crystals!! That skeleton has been there for a long long time. That mill is huuuuggggeeee! Really fascinating.

Mind blowing how much equipment was left behind there, even back then in used and better condition, surely it would have been worth money to sell on again rather than leave to rust away. Seems such a waste to me :( great bit of exploring, loved watching it, thanks for sharing it with us all!

As a self-employed welder/fabricator (among other things) i look at all those old trucks and just dream of rebuilding the engines and getting them going again, perhaps modding them into portable cranes or whatever. The conveyors and support structure represent a huge resource of c-channel, angle iron, sheet steel, steel boxes, etc to use to build new stuff. And with a good plasma cutter alot of the rusting otherwise useless structure could be cut away and scrapped. The solid buildings repurposed into workshops, etc.

Loved the musical sheep! What a bonus!

As I raise Suri alpacas, I was particularly interested in the sheep, wondering their breed, to have that sort of fleece on them. I also LOVED all the sheep bells jingling.

Wow Just amazing how much equipment is left at this mine. The scrap value of it alone must be in the 7 figures! Loved seeing this. Thanks for sharing another awesome mine exploration video. The heard of sheep was really cool as was seeing the old jeep!

I just discovered this video and it looked familiar but the advantage of being my age is that memory isn't as good as it once was so all of your videos are new to me once again especially if I fail to check the 'like' thumbs up. Pretty cool tour. Now I'll see which other videos I've forgotten. I don't have to wait until Wednesday to see something new!

Your assessment of the overall flow of the mill is pretty well spot-on.

Your content is awesome! Keep it up and stay safe! 👍👍

New subscriber. Way cool keep up the videos. Much enjoyed. Thank you for a glimpse into yesteryear.

The size of that mill and the equipment shows how much was mined there, I'm surprised you haven't found more mining operations to go with it.

I really enjoyed this tour with you and you move your camera slow to follow so exciting

Awesome clips!!!

the front end loaders all appear to be Caterpillar 966 Models. The cement mixer at 31:15 looks vary similar to a model that Mack Trucks used to make what's unique about that one is that it has a pump equipped to it to pump cement up to higher platforms on construction sights. I would almost have a feeling that this plant may have not only been a mine but also a cement plant as well being that Florid is added to cement as a binder.

Looked like a Cone Crusher before you showed the big Jaw Crusher... this was one heck of an operation that you found. Good Job i really enjoy your Videos ! Next time your in the Mohave County AZ area hit me up i know of some old mines.

Another great video. Thanks for showing us another interesting place that we otherwise would never see. I was going to say that the mill at 25:15 is probably a rod mill (based on its shape)..........but then I saw what appears to be a ball from a ball mill (that you pointed out) on the far side of the gaping rust hole in the floor at 27:07.....

I wondered about all the green grass around the mine sight as it is unusual to see any green around a mine out in the desert but after seeing the flooded adits right on the surface, I see why. What a neat place. It must be a fairly hidden place as so much equipment is still there. Great video, as usual.

Hey Justin. That mine is like an abandon city, huge. Throughout the video, the constant bird songs in the background kept stopping me from paying attention. It was so nice. There aren't to many birds here in eastern Maryland. The birds bring me back to my families farms in Oregon Thank you for the very nice video, I really enjoyed it. Ody Slim

I'm actually inclined to think that it went the other way round, they started out mining underground and then stoped through to the surface, forming a gunnis. Cross cuts likely revealed that the mineralisation in this area was a rich stockwork, not unusual in this kind of metamorphosed sedimentary rock, so they simply opened the gunnis out into a quarry. That would imply that almost the entirety of the opened out area here was basically paydirt, which is pretty incredible.

I bet that was a very loud place to work ,lol . Thanks for all the great videos , I am so jealous of you , BE SAFE .

Amazing 👍

nice rock. Looks good a nuff to rework

Looks as if a major highway was built near by and this facility made the concrete to build the highway with the cement trucks are there. Just a thought. Be safe exploring!!

24:50 those are v-belts. They're used to connect conveyor head drive motors to the gear reducer boxes that drive the head pulley itself.

Thank you,Fantastic.73s

Wow I'm amazed all the dumpers trucks muckers machinerary wasn't sold scraped wen this mine finished up. Just sitting there to rot. As said in last video the Italians don't have that scrapper mentality or were they that profitable they just walked away. But there something beautiful watching nature take back wat man made cool explore as usual look forward to nxt adventure.👍☘🇮🇪

So cute the sheep. LOL You can’t go but what others say. I was told that on one of the islands 🌴 they had real rude people in the stores. So, I went in and didn’t talk. Just smiled. Omg, they were so friendly. I felt bad I judged someone by what someone else said.

Another great video, thanks for sharing. Just an FYI, at the start of the video that is a track loader / crawler loader, depending on what you want to call it, not a bulldozer. Appears to be a mid 80's Fiat-Allis FL6, could be wrong as the undercarriage appears to be wrong for that model. Betting that would still run as they did put a can over the exhaust to keep rain out.

Thanks TVR for the excellent treks and placing yourself in harms way, for our viewing pleasure. How you say?........Felice Halloweenie?

I have no idea what all the things are. Super cool stuff though. Look, look, look, what's that? Look a row of muck things. I didn't comment when this one came out. Hubby has seen me watch all your videos. He saw this one come up as next on the TV. We have Netflix and I'm not logged in to KZfaq on the TV. So he hit play. I heard you start talking. Next thing I know, we're both standing at the TV looking at the Fiat things. Thanks for another video!! And taking us along.

Wow how neat

When those Woolies came streaming down the hill... 😄

was waking from my nap when i heard the Sheep 🔔 and seen them walking down the trail, thought i woke up in the promise land 🙂

I love it. The first sheep stops and looks like"Who the hell are you?"

Very cool. One massive operation. Looks to be a concrete plant operation on the back of a mining operation?

That was a very big operation ! Probably employed hundreds of people ! Like so many others here I think about how much of a waste there is at this place, but you have to consider that the main bean counters figured it would cost more to do anything with it than they could get out of it ! Still seems a shame to see so much stuff just rusting away ! If I was the one walking around there...... would probably be a few tears in my eyes thinking about all the things that could be reused....... and are not ! Thanks for sharing and take care. 👍 👍

the crystals are probably some form of gypsum.

Can you imagine what that mill complex must have cost to build and what it took to put it together? Wow!

Another awsome video, cant belive all that iron goes to waiste.

The apparatus that you showed at 28:36 is a pair of shaker table classifiers. The crushed material is washed over the perforated tables as they're mechanically shook. You can see the spring mountings, allowing the tables to move. The size of the holes in the tables determines what's classified out.

The "trommel" you saw at the end of the big mill is a vacuum separator the dewatering the concentrate before they dump it in those round storage bins. Also they arent silos. Silos are only for silage.

Given that that big machine was beside a ball mill i beleive it is a torit type extractor. They are specialized in dealing with extremely fine dust. The dust settles to the bottom of the chutes and it quite common to see them double banked like that.

That Fiat in the beginning is an old Fiat Campagnola. Great sturdy armed service vehicles made from 1950's through the 70's iirc.

Those sheep were surprised to see you there. LOL

Always amazing how they left behind so much valuable equipment ... just walked away mid crush. What happened? Did the bottom fall out of the market and intentions were to come back but never did. Lots of money invested and lost. Sad.

That Bulldozer setup looks like a crude early version of a Tunneling Jumbo.

👍 👍 thx !! 😎

I found one of those those trucks (Astra BM 304 F) for sale online as a 1983 model, so I would guess the mine operated until around that time

Nice to see for the second time I am like you to use the bulldozer for two uses. Can you think how much trouble 🤔 it would be just to replace a belt

That a WWII Fiat? haha thought it was a cobbled together old Dodge I love old Iron.. Another good video...

Thumbs up #100 Comment #18 Sweet video!

About to check their mine looks like that Dozer could have fit inside of it with that drill on the side of it

28:14 Gravel, the next level !

TVR discovers a Fiat Drill at 1:30 ! My older brother was in the U.S Air Force during the Cold War . He was stationed in Italy for 18 months , he did some traveling on his days off . He saw a lot of stuff and brought back many 35mm Photos . He had pictures of old Italian Jet Fighters . Yes you guessed it . He was excited when he told me the Jets were Fiats ! ....... 9:25 The Bones from Monty + the Holy Grail ?. I bet you wished that you had a Holy Hand grenade with you right about then ? Another great video

The Sheep with The Golden Fleece!

It's vuggy quartz with manganese stain, this is where you find your gold.

Very cool old Fiat.

Again 👍

I was a sheep shearer in a previous career, so I was a little disappointed in your lack of coverage of the sheep angle! Lol

There must have been a huge number of people running this place in its hay day. I don't think I've ever seen an operation that big before. If that were in the US, the scrappers would have stripped that place to the foundations by now, amazing that doesn't happen there. I wonder, have you ever considered going to a fully operational mine and getting a tour just so we can see how it all works in real time. That would certainly be an interesting video.

are you in sardinia ? as a native i think that i have recognized the place :D. at 0:50 it's a FIAT "campagnola" that was the jeep of Italian armed forces in the past, there was a version equipped with 105mm recoilless cannon too. my dad use this during the service in police in the '60, they use them to patrol the mountains against kidnapping gangs.. bad times !

I bet that crusher made some noise.. Probably deafening.. Great video

I would need a week there

15:15 Love the sheep

I wonder what kind of compressor arrangement was used with the drill on the track loader. It wouldn't surprise me if they just trailered a diesel compressor behind it. Any air systems on the loader would not have supplied anywhere near enough flow to run the drill, even if the pressure was sufficient.

Where did they get the power to run all that equipment, and how did they get all that equipment up there to begin with.

Interesting crystals

Seeing how that's a remote part of Italy I would not want to look to close as to what is in those barrels or whom is in those barrels.

it just has to be osha approved!!!!!!

Amazing amount of scrap iron needing recycling.

Your CCD has dust on it. I’ve noticed this in several of your daytime videos. There are two specs of dust in the bottom right quadrant of your CCD. If your mirrorless camera lets you pull the lens, you can clean it using some special CCD cleaner. There are a ton of them out there if you search for it. I’ve had to do that with my cameras from time to time. Makes a huge difference.

I just wanna make it all run again!!!

That mechine is actually called a Track Loader But ya that is really wierd having a drill attached to the side of it.

You are the 1st person I have ever heard pronounce Fiat as Fee-It. I have always heard it pronounced like Fee-Ott. I had a little blue Fiat 500 I called Blau Punkt (Blue Dot in German). Only car of my 81 vehicles I ever named.

Not a bulldozer. A “ track loader” if it had wheels it would be a wheel loader

Good work, please keep a eye out for a good looking geologist sidekick that could articulate the processes and mineral types. Not to take anything from your endeavor, I really enjoy!

That dozer is like a old jumbo drill

I wonder if that track loader is salvageable. It wouldn't surprise me, it doesn't seem too bad a shape

History channel attempted making another reality TV program/show (Edge of Alaska)about McCarthy and the mines. Someone not from McCarthy wanted to open the mines and bring in tourists.

20:09 that is a cone crusher. They are typically used in secondary or tertiary crushing applications, before either milling, in metal operations, or screening/washing, in aggregates. I'm responsible for three of them.

Have you still to go into that flooded adit? The one at the end of the last video? Or is that still to come? Do you ever travel to the UK? Love your work, man. Keep it up.

their was a leg vise in the corner of the work shop

Wow, that first vehicle you show at 0:17 is a Fiat Campagnola. Its an Italian military vehicle made from 1951-73. I wonder what a military vehicle is doing at the mine?

That black band through that quartz is probably hematite. It's commonly referred to as gossan.

Hard to believe so many large vehicles and pieces of equipment are just left setting there.

The drive mechanism For the drill is hydraulic not pneumatic

That jeep is a Fiat Campagnola. Really cool off road vehicle that was inspired by willy's. A later version would be used as the pope mobile.

Typical 3 yr. old Italian vehicles lol

May have started as a mine site, they then turned it into a "batch plant" for making concrete.

Exactly at 9:33 look at the bottom left inside what looks to be a skull maybe a rat or something its eyes shined against the light

Where is this or where about? Good lookin area

What kind of camera are you using ?