Blasting for Gold! Drilling and Blasting a Gold Vein at My Mine!

[@rom65536]

I used to work as an IT tech for a coal company. I got sent to one of the company's mine sites to work on a mine engineer's computer. When I got to his office, there was the absolute worst taxidermied deer head on the wall. I mean, this thing looked like a real life example of a deer as drawn by a kindergardener. I asked the engineer "What's with the derpy deer head?" and he told me the story. Just before quitting time two days before Christmas, with the mine going to shut down from Christmas eve till New Year's Day, they were going to blast off a cliff face. So they drilled the holes on top of the cliff, loaded them with their blasting compound, wired the whole thing up and were ready to go. It was just before quitting time, and the men were all anxious to get home for Christmas. Everyone was clear of the blast zone, and the clock was ticking. They blow the siren and just as the engineer reaches for "THE BUTTON", out of the woods comes this big 12 point buck. He walks right up to one of the holes full of blasting compound and starts sniffing at it. Everybody is screaming at the deer to run, throwing rocks (way to far away to be effective) and trying to get the deer out of the blast zone..... and the clock keeps ticking. Finally, the engineer has had enough and just mashes the button. The deer goes flying, end over end into the woods and the cliff face comes down and everyone has a chuckle and goes home for the holidays. Some of the guys came back and searched the woods, eventually finding the mangled deer. They had the head stuffed and mounted as best they could, and gave it to the mine engineer as a Christmas gift.

[@FishFind3000]

Lol, that would be a great gift.

[@awesomecronk7183]

That's bloody hilarious

[@nunyabisnass1141]

Lmao, merry derpmas. I shouldn't laugh at that and i suppose none of the engineers wanted to either (hence trying to scare it away), but thats just the way it is sometimes. No use crying over spilled deer parts.

[@ahoytheremate1954]

Rom i will never have a dead animal on my wall because there's nothing left i ate them

[@arnoldgrubbs2005]

@@ahoytheremate1954 Well, you can't eat horns though... just saying..

[@Askjeffwilliams]

Finally ....now you're talking Jason ..... feel the burn baby ....you can get away with a 3 hole burn as well but it won't be as clean.... we noticed you didn't stem your holes after loading a round.... now tghe fun part ....mucking time ..... good job my friend and can't wait to see more on this mine ....take care sonny Jim

[@mbmmllc]

Hey Jeff! Thanks for the comment. You and I will have to get together some time and talk about loading and blasting. I really dropped the ball on getting you up here this year! I will get in touch with you in the next few weeks and we can make a plan for the future. I might be heading down your way after Christmas and if you're up for it I might stop by and see you. We will talk soon my friend. So c'mon lets go!

[@PaulAllee]

Jason does everything fun I like to do. Melt stuff, go underground, work with metals, use all the fun tools and recycle stuff I have learned so much from this channel.

[@anatikus1050]

PVC can potentially build a static charge. It's safer to use a wood broomstick or wood dowel rod. Your videos are great. Can't make them if you're dead.

[@epiphany7573]

When using explosives the rule is always P for "Plenty!" Great video Jason!

[@blacklabelonthebedrocks]

Jason, While loading your holes, it would be better to unroll the first three or four feet of the fuse lines only. Open the rest right before connecting. This would avoid the spiderweb-like mess you had.

[@joen4520]

Or just batch tie ;)

[@mridaho7871]

My thought was to uncoil just enough line to reach the back of the hole then wire tie the rest so you’d end up with a coil of wire dangling at the face. Cut the tie as you’re connecting them.

[@geradkavanagh8240]

Yeah, that was a total mess, one alternative is to set a post and clip them in order from top to bottom as you go. Used to do open cut coal mine blasts and when your dealing with 100 plus holes you really have to have your act together. Chance of misfire because of overlapping lines was pretty high in this video.

[@hunnybunnysheavymetalmusic6542]

@@joen4520 Shots are timed for a reason. Blowing them all at once is not as efficient as properly timing each shot. People spent a lot of years and a lot of money to determine the best possible patterns to time the shots.

[@joen4520]

@@hunnybunnysheavymetalmusic6542 the timing is in the cap, not in the length of the cord. Clearly you've never lit a round. You still time the round as normal but instead of clipping each clip onto the det cord you can tie 5-6 cap cords into a knot and just tie a clove hitch around the knot. Det cord detonates lighting all the caps in the knot simultaneously, while the delay is inside the cap. Source: have drilled, loaded, timed and lit dozens of timed jackleg rounds in an underground mine

[@gr2269]

We always reamed the zero hole out with a much larger bit, this insured the cut would break in a much more predictably, great video I enjoy this very much from an old hard rock gold miner.

[@chrisb2381]

If not reaming a hole, I like to use a 6 pack burn. Pulls well!

[@Porty1119]

Oh yeah. We've gotten good results with around a 3.5" ream using an air track drill. We extend the reamed pilot hole well beyond the other holes; it seems like it pulls about another foot.

[@shucksma6337]

Thanks for the long videos.Others gold seekers are making short crappy ones.Your videos really hold our attention for learning.Thanks for all of your knowledge.

[@susanturcotte3176]

Thank you for explaining how blasting works. It was educational in that no one else has ever talked about it. Looks like a great entry into a rich quartz vein! I can't wait to see more Jason!

[@MOTOMINING]

Nice! I'm taking a Mines Supervisor Course as we speak! It covers everything from quarrys to underground! There's a large section on explosives!

[@adventureswithgoat719]

YeeYee

[@nunyabisnass1141]

That makes sense, since explosives are very good at making things larger over an area.

[@redmist6131]

Good luck and don't blow your fingers/hand off remember safety 3rd

[@paulcragg1315]

This guy would fail it.

[@anonymousanon9084]

Hopefully it’s not online learning 🤪

[@michaelleeadkins9611]

Several years ago I worked underground coal mines. I worked in the engineering department but we had coal mines from 36" to 18 feet high. The 18 feet section was conventional in which we drilled and shot coal. I did get my certified shot Forman card. The face was shot with liquid gel tubes and caps..the shot fire was what we called a "20 shot" fire..it was about 200 vdc supply and when you pushed the charge button and hollered fire I the hole three times, the next button the whole earth shook..that was crazy. Good video. Can't waite to see your harvest from the project! Be safe

[@freddking4389]

Jason, that was a great blast. I couldn't stop watching it. Over and over. You can never go back down to the other size blast after that. I have been waiting for this video. Thank you.

[@adventureswithgoat719]

Yes! It's boom time!

[@StreetMachine18]

looks like fun!

[@UtmostOutdoors]

It was very interesting to see how the miss-timed delay still blasted a huge hole, but created more work to clean up all the fractures before the next blast. Always great to learn from you Jason!

[@rdaw33]

Not being an explosives expert, or even an "armchair blaster" I held my breath every time you rammed each explosive piece home!!!....Glad you know what you are doing!!!!

[@carlwest859]

> Can't wait to see the next shot. Years ago a licensed blasting crew was pulled over on an interstate in Tenn. Inspection of the pickup truck with two employees revealed blasting caps loose on the floor board. both were smoking, had a 12 pack on the seat between them, a few cases of explosives in rear with a gas can missing the filler cap, a rag stuffed into the filler cap of the fuel tank for the truck, and some other oddities not typical for their profession. Take care and hope the vein produces well.

[@larryevans7669]

Great Video, Thank you so much Jason. Loved it. But really, blowing stuff up, what's not to love. Easy to follow your logic and processes.

[@illeagle6024]

Jason is living my dream. 😁

[@rodneygilbertson2231]

So it’s the birth of a mine! Loved it!

[@nunyabisnass1141]

Pink surveyors tape is awesome for tying up cords in the field to help keep them organised.

[@caseybenner4530]

Definitely got my vote on more explosions.

[@mridaho7871]

Great video again Jason. This shows how much work actually went into making all the mines scattered around the world. Can you imagine doing this to produce a mile of tunnel.

[@Michael-rg7mx]

You can use a third of the jelly if you use stemming. The holes where you want a smooth wall Crack really good with 3 runs of det cord. Blast just one in the center then the perimeter all together. Saves on caps. Only need 2 and use the nonel ignitor.

[@francisjahera1150]

Hallo

[@minniskata]

I’m very interested to see how this video turns out. I was a rock driller, currently a blaster for quarry and construction applications. I do much larger scale than this, and very different techniques, but the same concepts. Very cool to see different methods in the industry! Really enjoying your content! Keep doing cool things!

[@eeoo570]

Finding gold and making booms…looks like fun!

[@marknunya3035]

Thanks for making a video of the blasting it was very interesting. I can't wait to see the assay of course.

[@michaelpass2176]

The new fuses that go boom!❤😂

[@carroll-w7wxv]

Thank you Jason for bringing us along !

[@etarheel1]

Go big or go home, right! 😂. Always learn things in every single video! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and adventures with us!

[@StirlingLighthouse]

Big badda boom! 💥 🧨 💥 Cool stuff Jason. Thanks 🙏

[@twisttwister8254]

Nothing can stop gold fever...not even a mountain 🎉😮😊

[@jeffatkinson3288]

THAT was COOL!! Looking forward to seeing what's next!

[@SasquatchBioacoustic]

Great video. Please show us how you clean up the debris and bolt up the walls to make them secure.

[@physicsfan314]

Love to see a collab with the Slow Mo Guys on this sort of deal. That would be incredible!

[@GSProspecting]

Great job all around fam. What a blast. Keep on having fun and living the dream fam. Gold Squad Out!!!

[@cz8189]

Always interesting and refreshingly direct and honest ! Thanks - love learning from these videos

[@garyschlagel995]

THANKS FOR SHARING, JASON! GREAT VIDEO! VERY EDUCATIONAL!

[@christopherleubner6633]

Very good shot. When using the detcord caps, you need to make sure the cords are separated by a minimum distance or else they will trigger other ones prematurely. Detcord is mighty fun stuff. One cool use of it is to crimp lugs or splices on large cables. It basically cold welds the lug on as well.

[@Ethan-xm4fv]

I love your sound effects of the blast. The slow motion was awesome.

[@susanturcotte3176]

Me, too Ethan! It was almost a great rock band's beat!

[@mindseyeproductions8798]

1:40 tools; I love them and this one is extraordinarily cool. 😎

[@jamesthompson7825]

I really appreciate the time you take to explain the process. It reminds me that it’s time to untangle the Christmas lights for this year.

[@susanturcotte3176]

Hee hee hee James! That though crossed my mind several times as Jason picked up the tangled mess and shook it!!! Lol!! (It even sounded like Christmas lights!!!)

[@bobbyhoward9672]

Been waiting for another one in this series

[@larrytischler570]

Nice drilling set up Jason. Looks like a minature oil drill bit

[@Seven-Seven-77]

Who doesn’t love blowing up stuff - great vid thank you 👍😀

[@itatane]

Thanks for the highly informative video Jason. While it's best to have everything go perfectly, I reckon a slightly mistimed blast is always better than, "where's the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth shattering kaboom!"

[@bobcansee]

Blasting is pretty cool. I never really knew how it was done. Thanks Jason for showing us how its done. Good luck man!

[@silvaorgold]

That looks like a lot of hard work but a whole lot of fun great job Jason please tell me you're crushing all that stuff I can't wait to see what's in there Keep up the great work you always do a great job

[@dominickfagan4050]

love watching you dont have stuff like this in Ireland you are lucky. Love your mobile processing unit on the truck to well thought out

[@OregonAuExploration]

Can't wait to see the development of your mine.

[@Scottaaa]

120lbs drill rig that's a hard day's work? Definitely enjoyed the nuts and bolts of it

[@Sonex1542]

I just like watching things go BOOM!

[@d.t.4523]

Great. Better than expected results are always a bonus! Keep working. Good luck! 👍

[@CaptainDansWanderings]

I could watch this kind of footage all day long.

[@seaofredkc]

That was cool!!!! "Big Bada Boom"- (Fifth Element Quote fits good for this one)

[@JGDyffryn]

This type of video is great. Not an overly complicated or overly simplified take on something that you don’t often see. While I know I’m not likely to ever need to do any blasting or mining, I love learning more about it. Would you be able to talk on some costs of the supplies used??

[@nicevideomancanada]

and what license is required. I used to make explosives in High School and so did my Father in England after WW2

[@susanturcotte3176]

I also wanted to question what kind of licences/permits do you have to have just to get your hands on blasting equipment. I'm sure it's not the same everywhere and certainly wouldn't want the wrong person to get ahold of this stuff!

[@nicevideomancanada]

@@susanturcotte3176 like me?

[@susanturcotte3176]

@@nicevideomancanada hi Peter.... You made explosives in HS? Wow! I'm a disabled, 30year RN, who only patches up people like you... tee hee!

[@nicevideomancanada]

@@susanturcotte3176 I only have a small piece of shrapnel in my leg and I mildly burned my hand with some black powder it was only bad enough to make the skin on one hand a bit tighter than normal. I learned my lessons.

[@wes11bravo]

My nephew is a Combat Engineer and I keep thinking about how his facility with the good ol Danger Putty will translate into a civilian career. I can't think of anything better than this!

[@Ed_in_Md]

That was awesome! I must have watched it twenty times!

[@RealLifeFinance]

Your videos are so educational. Thanks!

[@Michael-rg7mx]

Just one more. Do you want to shatter the rock on the foot wall first, try not to turn the pay into dust? How about just cracking the rock. Cut the sides and 3 holes to crack it. All of that fuming out was wasted. Stem the shatter charges then you can do it with 1 or no delays. Cord cuts clean on 2 foot centers. 3 feet between center holes. That hard rock shatters easy. If it gets softer load more. Try that it is half the holes and a fraction of the jelly. In that wet hole use 1/4" crushed rock to stem. That 5 dice was on 3 foot centers, 6 feet deep. Pounding on a cap may be the last day in the mine. Great video, thanks for posting.

[@Gueronorteno]

Jason you should invest in a powder punch for making cap wells in your bang sticks, much easier than shoving the cap directly through the explosives packaging.

[@MrItsthething]

Love your videos! I've been watching since you guys first started demonstrating the rock crushers. Keep up the good work!

[@MegaSilverStacker]

That will be the most excitement I get to watch all weekend!!! 🍿🍿🍿Thank you Gaber🤗🤗👊

[@EDMcIntoshBrocher]

24:25 That is the face of a man happy at his work. Jason, never mind the gold - just blow more stuff up!

[@kevinhubbard8039]

Very cool I really enjoyed how you explained it and showed us what you were doing great video

[@BiggestKev1960]

Thank you for sharing Jason, interesting stuff 👍

[@ericsteinman510]

Thanks! I love your working knowledge as well as your chemistry and geological understanding. It’s entertainment you learn something from.

[@mbmmllc]

Awesome, thank you!

[@dirtfloorengineering]

So awesome seeing that brand new portal

[@kylerayk]

Great video and explanation of the drilling and blasting process! Stay safe and keep the content flowing!

[@tinamathews3379]

This is very interesting. I highly doubt that I will ever do any mining, at my age, but it's always good to learn I may well use this knowledge for a story, sometime.

[@danielteague4626]

Awesome, love it. Although it looked like one of my fishing trips after a few to many drinks 🤣🤣 trying to sort those wires out. Cheers

[@joshuajackson6442]

Thank you, that was beautiful!

[@Ekaern]

i would recommend to put tape marks on your loading rod, for anfo/ dynamite and plugging the holes with sand if shooting vertical angled holes, you lose up to 30-50 percent of the effect from the GP/Dynamite.

[@davidbeer]

Really enjoyed this Jason 🙂

[@Kevin-ht1ox]

Pulling it out is always the most difficult part.

[@44070Swinger]

Isn't it always though..... lol

[@seymourpro6097]

A properly stemmed hole uses less powder for more useful work, and usually the drilling makes the stemming. you need to use a wooden tamping rod (Broomstick?).

[@MrD308]

What is stemming?

[@markfudger5267]

@@MrD308 stemming is where you plug the holes with inert material after loading the explosives. Otherwise most of the explosive power just exits straight out of the hole wasting explosives (you need to contain the explosion for a short time to gain the best effect). If you're drilling downwards you can pack the hole with the waste from drilling the holes. Horizontal holes can be filled with clay plugs by filling a plastic pipe with clay, inserting it into the hole and pushing the clay out with a wooden rod down the center of the pipe. Plastic tubes of inert gel can be used instead (more expensive and you're spreading plastic waste everywhere).

[@wilfor03]

Wow.....that was great!! Thank you for taking the time and explaining things....

[@soberone6322]

Love your channel great sense of humor lol 🙂

[@schmip]

i love how the sticks of explosive look, like big pieces of danger sausage!

[@elyworsley3764]

That was awesome!!! What a great video brother!! I love blowing stuff up.

[@durwinpocha2488]

Right between the hanging wall and the foot wall. What a blast.....

[@jph8266]

Holy crap that was awesome!!!!! BOOM🤘🧨🧨🧨💥😳😮 Love this stuff! Now I’m excited to see if you got gold from that debris.

[@JhonDiamond2021]

awesome work buddy, blasting gold mine.

[@CabinOnTheWater]

Now we know why Gold Coins are so expensive. So much work from the time a site is surveyed, blasted, mined, recovered, smelted, assayed, sold, delivered, struck, packaged, sold, delivered, etc. So many steps I missed in getting gold from a mountain into your coin collection or bullion stack. Wow!

[@jasonlambert5552]

This video was certainly a blast to watch

[@JoshuaRosaaen]

That was awesome! It didnt seem that big but I cant wait to see what happens once you clean that up...please show a before and after if possible. Thank you as always for the adventure.

[@donaldtayloe4406]

If you go too big you fracture the rock around it so it becomes unstable at the entrance probably not a big deal but you wanna use just enough to blow chunks off not break the wall basically because you gotta walk under those walls later

[@johnolsen7073]

Thanks for the lesson in Ez Dets and delays.

[@ericmcrory4668]

The 14 year old pyromaniac that still lives in my 53 year old body thinks that was really cool! Would love to experience the percusion of that blast in person.

[@Madlintelf]

I'm really impressed, that sure beats feather's and wedges hands down! Thanks I always wondered how to plan a blast like that, granted it didn't go in the order that you wanted, but the results are fantastic.

[@kaboom4679]

All the same principle . Drilling a line of holes in a blank face , with nowhere for the force applied to break toward , is not going to end well , no matter if you are applying force by mechanical or chemical means . Chemistry is easier , but , expensive . So you really want to make the most of it .

[@chrisa1559]

Awesome Jason! I have been wanting someone to upload a video showing the drill/blasting process.. Like you read my mind!

[@bigshan5806]

Airleg drilling goodtimes, loud, heavy, but so much fun. Underground mining was hot as , but we blasted some boondies using that beast. Box n diamond blasting for faces. If u can use your water to clean your holes makes it easier to load, use some inch poly for your lifter holes on the base, stops crap going in them. .happy mining mate.

[@steveaumann6335]

Awesome video, I’ve always wondered how you guys start a mine shaft. Thanks for sharing 👍👍.

[@silaschipman7870]

Awesome video! Very informative and great execution!

[@hunnybunnysheavymetalmusic6542]

Due to geometry being what it is, it is actually impossible with a normal jack leg to drill perfectly parallel back, rib or floor shot holes because the drill its self is larger in diameter than the bit. Therefore, your outer holes will typically be from about .03 to 0.8 degrees outward or else your hole will completely close its self in on you as you drill, unless you are drilling in really mucky soft junk that flashes off the back and ribs easily.

[@Porty1119]

It's a mine, not a pharmacy. If it doesn't underbreak and stays on line I'm happy.

[@hunnybunnysheavymetalmusic6542]

@@Porty1119 My point, in case you are not getting it, is that the outer holes are ALWAYS tapered outward. Otherwise, eventually your hole shrinks to nothing. I have no idea what a pharmacy has to do with anything, but physics has everything to do with it. Matter occupies space. The only way you could possibly straight-line drill your outer shot holes is if the drill bit were somehow entirely offset outside of its own way. Despite your 'miney' looking name, I have no idea if you've ever shot off a round, let alone tends of thousands of them, and, while I do not want to prejudicially assume people have, or have not had experience in this industry, so I am trying to be patient and simply explain the overly obvious: The drill its self is larger than the hole it is drilling. If that on the surface does not prove anything to you, I can't help but go on the premise that you have not spent any time using a rock drill. But in the end, simple fact remains: ALL outer holes MUST be drilled at a slight taper OUTWARD, to maintain the size of the adit/drift/tunnel/hole.

[@robertgoss3626]

Can’t wait to see more of this project. That’s awesome. I love your videos. I’m learning a bunch

[@snagger5299]

Well that video is worth a thumbs up that's a heck of a lot better than those shorts videos

[@Jimothycrithmas]

Great vid. Love the energy. Your passion is infectious.

[@FancyPants43]

Now this is what I'm talking about!! 💥💣💥 Thanks for the video! 💯😎💯

[@jansteve-007]

That is some heavy machinery to handle, the wawe for you👏👏👏👏

[@stevemacdaddy9909]

That was very informative. Learned something new. Ive always wondered how to drill and blast rock.

[@danielfmyers]

17:40 best description of delays on the internet