Deep Dive On The Biggest Gold Mine In This Area - Part 1 of 2

[@dirkhartman9572]

Awesome to see the place back in the day, sad the nice mansion is completely gone

[@TVRExploring]

Absolutely. I would love to have seen it in place...

[@shacuras8201]

I love the historical photos! Looking forward to part 2

[@TVRExploring]

Just posted it!

[@IHUTCHI]

WOW! I love all the old pictures that go along with this mine. It is so hard to believe that a place can look SO different in 100 plus years. I am looking forward to part 2!

[@Steven-vo8tk]

Needless to say this was a huge operation. Those houses were very large and looked elaborate for a mining camp. Looking forward to part 2.

[@TVRExploring]

Much more than a mining camp, to be sure... This was a huge operation. The pictures we found just show a part of it.

[@djspatrick]

Hard to get my head around the size of this operation - the historical photos helped! Can't wait for part 2!

[@TVRExploring]

I just posted the second part...

[@williamwintemberg]

What a site! So massive! I kept wondering what one could see if the brush and leaves weren't there. Many clues hidden, so little time. This is a noteworthy explore for sure! Thanks Justin and Crew!

[@TVRExploring]

Thank you. Yes, I wish that we had passed over the area right after the forest fire from a couple of years ago as the brush fills back in very quickly.

[@karlfonner7589]

Thank you for posting. You guys are the Superman of mine exploration. The pictures of the past to the present are especially interesting.

[@TVRExploring]

Thank you. Yes, it is great to be able to find historical photos of the mines.

[@jamesthompson8008]

Very cool!! Especially thank you for the very rare historical photos adding context along the way. Heres hoping there's more of it in part 2. EXCELLENT CHOICE to share photos of the men working back in the day - proper way to honor them!

[@TVRExploring]

Yes, it is wonderful when we can locate historical photos of the mines that we visit. I wish that more mines had been photographed in the past!

[@laurahaaima1436]

This channel is an absolute gem.. Thanks guys for documenting so much before it gets lost..

[@TVRExploring]

Thanks for watching!

[@markattardo]

Wow! The historic photos were a huge plus. All y'alls researching and exploring is quite a commitment!!👍👍👍👍👍

[@bryanlong1363]

At 43 minutes. The square rock foundation with the large pipe nearby, could have been a hydro power generator. Maybe a Pelton wheel system….?

[@-r-495]

You got it all. Mansion. Infrastructure. Mine. Dogs. Photos from passed times. Boy I love this site.

[@TVRExploring]

Yes, this was a great one to pin down the location of. It took a few visits, but I think that it was worth it.

[@bryanlong1363]

It’s been a pleasure meeting and exploring with you and TVR crew. Thank You…

[@brentkeller3826]

"Sudden Mr McBride sighting!" Part of our standard measurement has arrived! An object 1 McBride tall is equal to 1.25 Italians. One Italian tall is .75 of 1 McBride.

[@ADITADDICTS]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@TVRExploring]

That's a very accurate unit of measurement.

[@brentkeller3826]

@@TVRExploring At some point there will likely have to be a showing of the channels relative units of measure, along with something that is half to .75 of one Italian. Watching the new video on the computer while responding on mobile, was wincing at the thought of hidden winzes or sumps under the water on the way in.

[@TVRExploring]

@@brentkeller3826 Yes, the hidden winzes or sumps are definitely something we'd rather avoid...

[@parkerrowe4687]

At 43 min. The foundation with the pipe next to it. Seems to located at the point of maximum drop on the site. Think that was the location for a Pelton wheel? Great to see the OG McBride

[@ADITADDICTS]

OG in the house!🤘🏻

[@TVRExploring]

Good point about the Pelton wheel... That is certainly very possible (especially as those power poles and lines were just above it).

[@mickie7873]

The photos helped some in orientating the levels of development near this mine. Unbelievable how you guys found the artifacts in all the undergrowth. Good job/great search! Thank you for documenting this area.

[@bebeandjohnnotsonomadiclif5287]

The Photos, History, this is great, part 2 as soon as this is over.... Thanks.

[@Go4TheGold369]

Good video man!

[@putteslaintxtbks5166]

What it must have looked like on a busy day back in the time it was at it's prime. Just to have a mansion out there says alot, cool had the picture of it too.

[@johncorlett3699]

a lidar scan would be epic

[@ADITADDICTS]

Yes it would!

[@leighsayers2628]

Fabulous history and vision ..great explore . From Australia

[@wes11bravo]

Astounding how large that operation was.

[@paulcooper9135]

That is an incredible amount of surface work for a single shaft! How monsterous where those underground workings? Thanks for sharing 🇨🇦

[@TVRExploring]

Nine levels were drifted off of the shaft and there were other adits in the area (that we know of). As you'll see in Part 2, there is a lot more here than was stated in the reports.

[@stevenhigby3512]

That is a lot to explore, would have loved to see that back in the day.

[@TVRExploring]

So would I!

[@davec3459]

Difficult to get scale from a video but the site, and every part of it, seem massive. Great video, thank you!

[@TVRExploring]

Yes, this was a huge operation.

[@AppliedOCD]

Thank you for sharing this video! What a thrill it would be to go back in time and visit this place in its heyday! I appreciate the meaningful, detailed description.

[@terrystewart2070]

Very cool detective work! Looking forward to part duece!

[@Flyfish325]

From now on you'll be history. You'll be history, you'll be history, you'll be history.

[@slimwantedman6694]

Good morning from Southeast South Dakota

[@VikingExploration60]

All the steel you found near the 41 minute mark looks like it was part of an arial ropeway system, the concrete foundations could have been for the towers or the drive motors. I also see there was a massive foundation around the 43 minute mark, by any chance was it in line with those cables I mentioned, the foundation does look big enough to be a drive mechanism support for an arial ropeway.

[@bryanlong1363]

Thanks!

[@TVRExploring]

Thank you very much, Bryan! Ha, you were walking on our heads when I was shooting the second video that I just posted.

[@olspanner]

That sure was a LOT to see above ground. Hope the change was as good as a holiday for you guys.

[@TVRExploring]

That was an enormous operation, to be sure!

[@markhooper5824]

That was brilliant you guys. Ace dogs by the way.👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@ralphpatrick3071]

Humongous is an understatement!

[@rolfsinkgraven]

You guys have been looking at a very big puzzle here wow.

[@VeeVets]

Cable is the slang term for Wire Rope which is the Mfg.'s term.

[@sampointau]

Justin, at 31:08 that looks like one of those heavy metal barrels I explained to you way back with the heavier flat rolling rings on the barrel. Specialised use.

[@ChurchOfTheHolyMho]

Always good to see Adit Addicts make an appearance and use his terminator vision to somehow see all the relics buried under years of leaves and debris. hehe. :) Glad to see he is doing well, as are the rest of the gang. Was fun watching yall trying to piece together all the artifacts to get a lay of the land... and then to share photos so we could follow along. nice explore!

[@TVRExploring]

Haha, yes, Adit Addicts and his eyes are always very welcome on trips!

[@jilbertb]

Cool place... ❤The Dogs!❤

[@davidmicheletti6292]

Another amazing site. In Minnesota ive seen so called waste rock piles that are placed in piles not because they don't have ore but because it happens to be a lower grade that could be processed in the future when better processing equipment would be available in the future. In mining sites there could be several of these graded massive pile set aside from tailings or overburdened. Could some of these pile your observing be similar? Do you know if anyone has sampled these sights for ore?

[@ADITADDICTS]

I think it's the same with mines every where lol.

[@TVRExploring]

Yes, that is quite possibly the case with those piles. There was so much going on at this mine that's it is hard to figure out how everything connected. There was some brief survey work here done a few decades back. I would assume that they took samples from some of the surface stuff, but I don't know for sure.

[@sampointau]

And at 37:17 Justin, just after you find the big boiler and pan back up towards "big bolts", there sticking out horizontally is an ash scraper for the boiler with its oval handle! Which you may not have noticed.

[@TVRExploring]

I did not notice that! Great catch... Thank you.

[@ScottVanArtsdalen]

Amazing to see how many trees are at that site compared to the pictures of the mansion you showed where there were relatively few trees.

[@TVRExploring]

And that's after a large forest fire from a couple of years back cleaned out a lot!

[@SullRockMine.]

The first mine your partner went partly into I didn't see any waste rock pile any idea where it went. Cool video as always.

[@TVRExploring]

Thank you. The waste rock pile may have eroded away, washed away or simply been covered up by more than a century of leaves and underbrush...

[@stupidminotaur9735]

From Florida greetings.

[@sierramountainsrailfanning2114]

Good evening from gold run California

[@qldabandonedmines]

Morning from Australia mate!

[@putteslaintxtbks5166]

To the lands of 15,000 old mines, hi from mid US.

[@Baked_intell]

The pooch pouch 😂 so radd 🥰cool site 😎 👌

[@yoyodynepropulsionsystems]

The black doggo is all about running around and exploring, the tan one, not so much. It just stands and stares at you, not really into the whole thing, or so it seems. oh yeah, and that rail is most likely pre-1920s, around 1923 rail markings were standarized, your markings don't follow the standard.

[@Springfield-eo8jl]

Good info about the rail!

[@TVRExploring]

Haha, yes, you summed up their personalities perfectly! Thanks for the info about the rail. I didn't know that.

[@almeisam]

Even though those black berry bushes are rather invasive and get in the way of everything, and very sharp, the black berries off of them are really tasty!

[@sanfranciscobay]

Blackberries in the San Francisco Bay Area are about $7.99 for a container 2 inches tall x 8 inches wide x 4 inches deep. They come from Mexico and are expensive but very good. Maybe .25 cents or more per Berry.

[@autotek7930]

Man i would literally build me a home out there if it's far enough away from people! That's absolutely gorgeous 😮

[@teotwaki]

Love all of your videos. At the 1M mark your friend was tromping through a lot of poison oak/ivy. Hope none of you had issues with that pesky plant.

[@TVRExploring]

Thank you. There is a lot of poison oak in that area, but those were invasive blackberry bushes that he was walking through at the 1 minute mark. The poison oak doesn't have leaves on it in the winter.

[@Springfield-eo8jl]

Yet another keyboard warrior safety expert defeated in the comments section!👏👏👏👏

[@teotwaki]

@@TVRExploring It seems that the keyboard warrior Springfield-eo8jl is unhappy that I didn't admit that I misgendered the blackberry bushes, lol. Thanks for the correction! I should have looked closer at the leaves before commenting. Mea culpa.

[@ADITADDICTS]

To be fair I hate both of those damn plants.

[@teotwaki]

@@ADITADDICTS LOL!!

[@larrykluckoutdoors8227]

That has to be a big mine inside. Hope you find a way in. Thanks for the video

[@TVRExploring]

Huge! Nine levels off of the shaft...

[@milwaukeeroadjim9253]

Wire rope is what we used for lifting heavy objects: used in cranes and hoists. What state is this mine located in. Are you in Washington?

[@ADITADDICTS]

California.

[@grizzleypeak]

Must have been a lot of gold there to be building a mansion to live in. It's hard to fathom what the old timers accomplished with simple machines and man power. Where did they find the calories to do work like that in remote areas that are still remote today? Definitely some tough people.

[@TVRExploring]

Yes, this was the biggest mine in the area for a while. It's like a little sister to the Empire Mine in Grass Valley - right down to the mansion! And, yes, the toughness and tenacity of the old timers continues to impress me...

[@MikeOrkid]

Wow. Just wow...

[@SueGirling68]

Hi Justin, wow what a huge site, like you said though they did get out millions of dollars of gold from it and I don't doubt it with all the solid Quartz lying around. Could that big stone foundation have been for the stamps as it looks strong enough to endure the weight and the stamps banging down all day long ??. Thank you for sharing, much love. xx 🥰

[@TVRExploring]

Yes, this was an impressive operation, to be sure. Indeed, the stone foundation may well have housed the mill. It seems to be in a location that would make sense and it is the right size. We couldn't find any pictures to be 100% certain though.

[@SueGirling68]

@@TVRExploring an awesome find either way. xx

[@seldoon_nemar]

Have you ever looked into LIDAR mapping drones? Not sure if they have gotten any cheaper, but the neat thing about them is that if you do a topo scan, you can then strip the vegetation off the landscape on the computer, and get GPS points for things like foundations and possible addits. even if it's buried in a giant brush thicket, you could see it Getting a top down view of just the landscape even more exposed than when it was in use is wild, because you can see just how much is left carved into the ground

[@TVRExploring]

Yes, we recently obtained LIDAR imagery for our core exploring area, which has certainly helped. We're still experimenting with it, but, yes, it has definitely guided a couple of recent trips. Some stuff we simply would not have known about.

[@seldoon_nemar]

@@TVRExploring oh man, please please please put some of that footage in your videos if you can. A site like this would be awe inspiring and whenever I see the models, it's definitely a "oh, we're _in_ the future" moment when you turn the trees off

[@brannancloward]

Old blazes marking trails on the trees are a very cool way to know you are going somewhere! It always sucks hiking with rat dogs.... they just can't hang! It is good to keep mountain lion food with you though.

[@janddmaurer7334]

Please sir, may I have some more?

[@TVRExploring]

Just posted Part 2...

[@tedc7714]

I wonder if that place has been prospected. I figure there is enough gold left to make it pay. I will bet it burned out in a forest fire. 100 years ago.. I doubt they just walked away.

[@autotek7930]

How many people worked there? That's a massive amount of work

[@ADITADDICTS]

I think at the slower point there were 80 men employed but not 100% on that info.

[@autotek7930]

Dang those are real men lol. Today's guys couldn't handle that

[@ADITADDICTS]

@@autotek7930 I'm a maniac with a shovel, justin can attest to that, but no way on a level with those old timers. Those bastards were crazy tough for sure!

[@testy518]

I'm sure history buffs love this but I'm getting off,. I want to see the mine!!!

[@Sawdust5764]

Where is part two? Im dying to see what is beyond the gate at the drainage tunnel

[@TVRExploring]

Just posted it! There's a lot more back there than we expected... It was not just a simple drain tunnel as the reports stated.

[@Sawdust5764]

Sweet, someone once told me you could harvest crystals beyond that gate. Looking forward to seeing the facts myself lol

[@shineyrocks390]

Structural work means there was shiney stuff somewhere in the hole

[@TVRExploring]

Definitely!

[@patruddiman4228]

Those blackberry bushes are everywhere here on the central Oregon coast

[@TVRExploring]

They're horrible. Not native plants...

[@brianvalley5223]

That old boiler dates back to maybe the early 30s.

[@autotek7930]

So if you found that mule shoe with the nails all in it, does that mean the mule died right there?

[@ADITADDICTS]

Lol no hopefully not😂 They used the mules to haul the full ore cars out. Sometimes they'd throw a shoe and it would look about like that one with the nails in it.

[@bruceflaws3213]

Signs or just blazes?

[@randylamar943]

There's a lot of buck rubs in that one area.

[@laurahaaima1436]

With the current gold price.. open it again :P

[@ADITADDICTS]

I forgot how big this place is. 😶

[@TVRExploring]

Huge! All of the way down the ravine...

[@ADITADDICTS]

@@TVRExploring I remember the all the way down part. AND the all the way back up part too lol.

[@Donaldperson7]

If you had a gold detector you could use it against the rock and see if there’s gold in that rock?

[@br18od]

Do you guys get covered with TICKS with all that bush crashing?

[@Springfield-eo8jl]

During the winter?

[@ADITADDICTS]

Thankfully not yet. But I bathe in bug repellant esp since I work for a rice farmer.

[@TVRExploring]

No, the mosquitoes, ticks, yellowjackets and other unlikeable insects are kept in check in winter. The rattlesnakes are hibernating. The poison oak is subdued. It's a good time to explore certain areas... The downsides are the limited light and, of course, the rain and snow.

[@Springfield-eo8jl]

@ADITADDICTS Have you ever tried the Sawyer Picaridin insect repellant lotion? It's pretty waterproof, claims protection up to 14 hours but I've had it last 36 hours while camping. We buy the quart size bottle with pump dispenser. Last our family of 4 through the summer and fall while camping, kayaking, home gardening, hiking, etc.

[@ADITADDICTS]

@@Springfield-eo8jl No I haven't and thank you for the heads up! I'm going to have to get some, good lookin out👍🏻

[@scottharmon1573]

I Would like to know the name of this mine.

[@daveg2104]

It's easy enough to find, if you know how (it's not a secret technique though). Google Earth doesn't really show anything that I could see, and Justin gave pretty much all the information there is to know. If Justin doesn't want to say where it is, I'm not going to.

[@Springfield-eo8jl]

It is the Figgeritoutfiryerself mine.

[@daveg2104]

@@Springfield-eo8jl This one was easy (if you know how). It can be fun, although I'm not 100% successful.

[@ADITADDICTS]

​@@daveg2104Yeah you can't see a damn thing on google earth in this area unfortunately.

[@patruddiman4228]

I have a tapered punch just like that

[@TheRattlesnakeRanch]

Get your buddy a mic 🦻

[@tedc7714]

There is lots of manual labor there. Would it have been Chinese labor ??? Lots of man hours.

[@idkwaffles]

How the hell do you just casually walk past a puppy in a backpack and not even acknowledge its existence. That is not right sir, not right at all. 🤨

[@theunknown6034]

He said he was on dog duty when he showed the puppers in his pack he was carrying, but the second shot he showed it again but didn't comment on it.

[@JustAnotherPaddy]

Wouldn’t be TVR if there weren’t mine exploration doggos. The untold story is that the dogs all have dual degrees in history and geology.

[@TVRExploring]

Yes, those two bad dogs are an essential component of mine exploring kit.

[@pogos6633]

I get a little nervous when I see dogs on the exploration

[@Springfield-eo8jl]

I'm just curious, why did you feel the need to make this comment?

[@otagogold2236]

​@@Springfield-eo8jlto be fair there was a dog that fell down a old hidden mine shaft in the Goldfields not far from my town, fortunately they were able to rescue it

[@teotwaki]

I'm certain that these guys love their dogs and wouldn't endanger them. The dogs get great exercise and have lots of exciting smells to discover too.

[@beyond2k2k2k]

I feel the same way. I cringe thinking one of these dogs is going to fall down a shaft.

[@alanbourne2332]

@@beyond2k2k2kdefinitely should’ve left it home alone in a cage 👌

[@mickking5913]

As usual a top vid,where is this part of the country? Thanks Justin and crew from me over here in Western Australia.

[@TVRExploring]

Thank you. This is in Northern California.

[@shanemcguire170]

A comment on that concrete foundation with the bolts, judging from the size of the pit and its layout, I would bet there was a Bessemer Hit and Miss Engine on that mount. It would have likely been turning a generator or compressor, or both. If so, it was likely one of the larger models. It may have produced enough to run the tramway system. That said I could also have been a Steam Boiler and Steam Donkey engine too. At any rate I'll bet that was an engine mount of some type.

[@MiamiMillionaire]

👍