A Great (And Scandalous) Silver Mine Of Sardinia: Brecca Part 1 of 2

[@STB-1]

Seriously one of the best exploration channels on KZbin showing us places from all round the world that most of us will never visit, in HD with no nonsense and a unique commentary that allows us to follow along as if we were there with you. The time and effort put in to not only capture and edit but to provide a written detailed description is massively appreciated, a big thank you.

[@TVRExploring]

Thank you very much. It's great to read a comment such as yours... I'm glad you're enjoying these.

[@maxwellonyx9559]

instablaster

[@UKAbandonedMineExplores]

You pop up in all parts of the world mine exploring, lucky bugger. Dramatic looking stope and looks like new rope they've used.

[@TVRExploring]

That stope was awesome... And, yes, the rope wasn't too old.

[@scotttaylor8498]

You are the best presenter on here. Great videos.

[@TVRExploring]

Thank you very much!

[@fuchsia5899]

it’s good that your posting a lot because I’ve been binging these videos for ages

[@TVRExploring]

I've been posting mine videos from around 2015. So, yes, there are a lot of them now! Thanks for digging through them...

[@davidmicheletti6292]

Before my grand father came to the USA he learned to mine there. First he came the northern Minnesota and married my grand mother. He then moved to Arizona and became a pattern in a copper mine in Meyer. That is where my father and two of his brothers were born. In time he moved to Kansas and then Minnesota where he lived until he retired. Life was hard, very hard

[@Jennralize]

That vein, the colours and crystal crusting at 23:00 !!! ❤️❤️ Thanks for another great vicarious adventure! 😊

[@TVRExploring]

Thanks, Jenna. Yes, the colors in this one were impressive.

[@williamwintemberg]

The story in the description is every bit as good as the explore. Wow! Good Job!

[@TVRExploring]

I agree. That story made the mine much more interesting to me!

[@giaimeginesu9889]

There's also a dark story related to this mine. The owner was an Englishman, J.M. Moss, who also delighted in astronomy. While he followed the mine and the stars, his family, not used to Sardinian isolation and rude '800 "countrylife", was in disrepair: his alcoholic wife went mad and threw dishes from the windows, and the daughter was having an affair with a local farmer. The consequence was a pregnancy that our English man tried to end with no one knows what concoctions. The latter were effective beyond measure, because in addition to the son of guilt they also killed the culprit. Overwhelmed by pain the English technician also committed suicide with poison. Might be a legend, but if you look carefully, you can find a cross with his name chiseled in a rock outside

[@TVRExploring]

Yes, it is quite a story... It makes the site much more interesting to know details like that. I love it when we can learn more about the personalities behind a mine.

[@c103110a]

Sardinia. That's where I get my olive oil imported from. Stone ground - cold pressed. Good stuff. My people came from the town of Zoldo in the Dolomites. Known for their iron mines and drop forges powered by the river Mae. The iron was used to make nails and hinges that were sold in Venice.

[@TVRExploring]

Some good stuff comes from Italy, to be sure... Olive oil included! The Dolomites are a beautiful area. And, yes, some great mines are around there too!

[@JDR1971]

Beautiful country!

[@TVRExploring]

Yes, it is!

[@001desertrat3]

TVR , Nice Explore ! I think that little winged friend @ 5:45 is actually one of the offspring of that Sheep that you mentioned , because it's a BaaaaaT . Lol . -- (No , I'm not getting senile , just having a little bit of fun) .

[@Killswitch22022]

As always what an awesome mine and exploration. I can't thank you enough for all of your videos and commentary. Very nice of the Italians to leave you and the future explores a ladder to get down to the inner workings. Maybe bring a UV flashlight in the next mine to see if any of the minerals glow. It would be a cool added feature for your videos.

[@TVRExploring]

Thank you very much for coming along. I've had a UV light in some videos, but they keep getting broken. Mine exploring is very hard on gear...

[@ducaticanine]

Sardinia is awesome. was there in 2018. love it!

[@TVRExploring]

Yes, it is one of my favorite parts of Italy!

[@StarScapesOG]

That is a very nice mine, with some very nice previous explorers to leave a ladder and some ropes! They went through a lot of work to get those there... thank you for going where I can not and showing it to me!

[@StarScapesOG]

Also, I wonder if those crystals are sulfur compounds...

[@TVRExploring]

Yes, it is a very cool mine. All the better with the kind donations from previous explorers!

[@sugarnads]

I was feeling dizzy watching that part

[@olevolbracht9107]

I'm about 12 minutes into the video and what i was noticing is how hard if find to get a hold of what the size of these tunnels is. Maybe in upcoming videos you could try to edit a photo of yourself into the frame or something to show a size comparison? Just one still picture so there is an overall idea.

[@richardwarnock2789]

Nice mineralization in the rock great Colors!!!; )

[@TVRExploring]

Yes, the geology of that area produces some great colors!

[@CornishMineExplorer]

What a great mine, lovely how the levels twist and turn in every direction, I can imagine if this continued it would be easy to get lost in here. Looks very familiar to what I am used to exploring, muddy floors are the norm, very rare to find dry ones.

[@TVRExploring]

Loved this one! Corkscrewing down through the side of that canyon was awesome... As I discovered, there is even more to the twists and turns around that area where I descended. I cover those in the second video. Haha, you're being modest. What you're dealing with on a regular basis is way worse than what was in this mine.

[@iowapanner2223]

Great video, love the rock in that mine! Thanks for the work you put into making these!!

[@TVRExploring]

Thank you. Yes, the colors in this one were great...

[@garymckee8857]

Outstanding story, that's why l enjoy your videos.

[@TVRExploring]

Thank you. Yes, I try to share interesting details like that when I can...

[@gingerbread6614]

Your info is great. This mine sure has its history. Thank you so much.

[@mickie7873]

Some really interesting rock colors and jointing. Looks like a very interesting canyon riddled area of country you are in. Since it is Sardinia, I expect that the mineral activity is due to igneous intrustion. Pretty cool to have you capture this for our viewing. Thanks for the explore.

[@docmccoy1928]

It is interesting to see how they mined the galena. The drifts are short and the stopes are actually small. We chased veins of galena in long drifts finding good ore until we hit a pocket big enough to stope out. Having been long closed it is even hard to tell if and where they had rails and cars. Will be looking forward to #2, On the bright side a wife throwing dishes out the window sounds like a good friday night in most mining towns of the Northwest where I grew up and mined.

[@matthewkaschak6765]

Looks fun!

[@TVRExploring]

Definitely! This was a good one...

[@rdamp2374]

Great video at 27:40 the wooden peg in the roof is a surveyors marker.

[@SueGirling68]

Hi, man that mine was crazy it literally had every direction you can think of lol. The rock sounded nice with that echo which is always good to hear and there were so many cool colour variants. I am looking forward to part 2, it has some pretty shady and sad history that I read about in the description. Who in hell would do that to their Daughter though ??. Thanks for sharing. x

[@TVRExploring]

It is actually even more honeycombed than I realized because I missed some additional workings on that side of the canyon given the way I descended through the mine! Very solid mine with a good echo... The history on this one is pretty wild, which made the mine more interesting to me.

[@SueGirling68]

@@TVRExploring Yes it's definitely a wild history that's for sure. x

[@ericcorse]

There was some pretty colorful walls in the adit. You are lucky to be able to travel to that part of the world, Italy is one of the few places I'd go back to if I still choose to fly.

[@TVRExploring]

Yes, the colors produced by the geology of this region were impressive, for sure... I've been to a lot of countries now, but Italy remains one of my favorites.

[@kimbra1132]

Neat colors in them Italian mines. Love the rock architecture and stone buildings.

[@ekummel]

When I saw that ore pass and you said that you didn't think it went vertical, I was actually a little afraid for your safety and had a vision in my mind of you sliding down a dark, disorienting bore-hole into a pool of cold water to your doom...but then I realized that you published this video, so you obviously made it out alive....

[@MoosesValley]

Thank you for the tour. It sure is beautiful country and an interesting mine with a great history. +1 Like and Subscribed !

[@illeodavinci]

Great to have you in Sardegna! The story behind this mine Is Incredible. The ropes and ladders are there because about a year ago they opened this mine to the public.

[@TVRExploring]

I love Sardinia. I actually visited this in 2017. So, the ropes pre-date this being opened to the public... I know that cavers and other groups like to visit the safer abandoned mines in Italy and so I'm sure there was already a move in the direction of opening this up.

[@illeodavinci]

@@TVRExploring i moved here 10 years ago, It is beautiful! Can not wait for part 2! Great videos

[@Seat1AJoe]

Beautiful mine! Awesome location!

[@frankgaletzka8477]

I habe seen Part 2 First and it is a great looking landscape Do you explore the old mill I see alot of Blue colour in the mine I wonder this is coppervitriol and there must be much copper left in there Very good Video Have a good week Yours Frank

[@mick_mosley_420]

This video just made my video!!! Love watching your videos!!!

[@TVRExploring]

Thanks for watching!

[@Porty1119]

Wow! It's striking how similar the terrain and vegetation on Sardinia is to southwestern New Mexico, down to the cacti.

[@richardbidinger2577]

The first thing I thought when I saw the inside of that mine, was that it looked like some crazy movie set. Like something straight out a Jules Verne novel. Very very cool.👍👍👍👍👍 I wonder if there's any silver or lead left in there. In the spiral ore pass, those areas that you called pockets may have been carved out for different reason. If you're throwing waste rock or ore down that way, that could get plugged up quick. I think they had miners stationed at those spots to help push the ore down and keep the pass clear. Considering where they were placed, it makes sense.

[@TVRExploring]

I loved the layout of this mine... As you'll see in the second video, there is a lot more in this cliffs that I missed while making my way to the bottom through this section.

[@rolfsinkgraven]

Great explore again, they surly dug a big chunk out of the mountain were the rope was, and that was a great story about the owner of that mine wow, tried too get into some natural caves and mines a few decades ago there but not much luck, ended up watchin the touristy ones sigh .

[@TVRExploring]

That area where the rope was must have had some very rich ore... As you'll see in the second video, it actually extends farther along the mountain than I realized in my initial descent. And, yes, it is a crazy story!

[@olspanner]

I am amazed at the places you visit, especially with what going on around the globe now. Looking forward to Part 2. Stay safe guys.

[@TVRExploring]

Best time to visit such places! I just finished editing Part 2... Thank you.

[@paulcooper2897]

Great exploration! Looking forward to part 2!

[@worldtraveler930]

Wow! That whole mountain looks to have been honeycombed by the miners.

[@TVRExploring]

It really was... In the second video, you'll see that there is even more of the honeycomb effect as I missed some sections on the route I followed down through the mine.

[@richardlovins6222]

When that first bat came at it made me jump that was great keep it up I enjoy your travels

[@cameronbleecker9072]

i’m really glad you showed up in my recommended! i subbed and i can’t wait to binge your videos😂👍🏼 keep it up man

[@belleange590]

WOW!!!! Amazing behind the scenes story. Would of made a great movie. Those bones probably go with the head outside.

[@TVRExploring]

It really would...

[@Big_John_C]

Damn Justin, you get around! Stay safe

[@DFDuck55]

I wouldn't have expected to find cactus there on your way in. When you first entered, where the sheep bones were, it kinda looked like someone may have been camping there. Sort of looked like a fire ring on the right. Interesting that someone would drill anchors and put a rope along that upper section, it really didn't look that treacherous.

[@TVRExploring]

Sardinia has an interesting environment... You get beaches, lush mountains, arid areas with cacti - quite a mix. Kind of like California, I suppose, which fits with the Mediterranean climate. This was a really solid mine and so camping there wouldn't be bad at all. The rope puzzled me too because that was indeed an area that I didn't perceive as treacherous at all. There was quite a wide, flat walkway through that open stope.

[@DFDuck55]

Once I looked up Sardinia on the map I see it's about the same Latitude as Northern California. We don't have many cactus here, but down south a bit are lots of them. And it's next to Spain which has lots of cactus, so it makes more sense to me now there would be cactus on that island.

[@dogsarebetterthanpeople4603]

Great job as usual. Thank you.

[@TVRExploring]

Thank you very much.

[@evanosburn718]

I'm not one to appreciate a deep dive when it comes to the history of a mine, especially the 'baby mama drama' of the owner operator. I did like this story in the description, for whatever reason I liked a lot Thanks man

[@markattardo]

That mine would drive me batty😁 Cool place!

[@katherinekinnaird4408]

So interesting thank you for traveling and sharing. Ropes and ladders when you need one. 👍🏻

[@TVRExploring]

I wish that happened more often!

[@AGDinCA]

I love that you take the time to add so much contextual information about these mines (when available). It really brings them to life. 💜 Also, before I watch the video, I think it is odd how similar the miner's name was to the company to whom he sold the rights. John Matthew Moss - Johnson Matthey... coincidence? Better watch the video now. 👍

[@TVRExploring]

Thank you. I think that particularly in this case, the back story makes the mine much more interesting... Some of the mines I visit in the US have interesting histories as well, but I have to hold some good stuff back from the videos of the American mines because the governmental agencies responsible for destroying historic mines in the US watch videos and social media very carefully for clues and information on mines. So, in order to protect them, I have to be far more secretive than I would like. In Italy, by contrast, there are no such moves. So, I can be very open with sharing locations and history, which is nice! Yes, you are absolutely right about the similarity in names between John Matthew Moss and Johnson Matthey. I did a double take when I saw that... Johnson Matthey dates back to 1817 though, so I believe the similarity is coincidental.

[@AGDinCA]

@@TVRExploring Two things, neither of which necessitate nor warrant a reply: 1. I completely understand and agree with your decision to withhold certain info on American mines. Those vultures... Anyway, I hope you are keeping all your notes, though, for some future compilation. 2. Your reply forced me to go back and read my comment. I was horrified at all of the typos, etc. That's what I get for engaging in lengthy commentary on my cell phone. 😁

[@cutt1293]

Great video, always look forward to you uploading a new video.

[@TVRExploring]

Thank you! Glad you like them...

[@EminenceFrontX5]

Great episode!

[@simontay4851]

When it was abandoned, how much silver ore was/is there left. Could it ever be an active mine again? Silver is still used today.

[@brandonpayne1207]

R.I.P. Chuck Taylors

[@TVRExploring]

Haha, yeah, that trip was it for the Chucks!

[@brandonpayne1207]

I noticed them in your thumbnail and thought, this must be a dry mine.

[@Mrseven6two]

What a Super kool mine!

[@andrewbarker9773]

what a sad history this mine had, some very cool colors in this mine though too

[@TVRExploring]

Yes, the history of this mine makes for quite a story...

[@bobmacadu840]

You go to some pretty cool places.

[@66hobgoblin81]

Hey TVR at 17•06 of the vid is that an optical illusion or did a miner paint a picture of a man on the wall?? Terrific colouring in that rock but I was surprised that there wasn't a stack of old drill rods and other metal laying around given how damned hard that rock would have been to get through. 👌👍.

[@TVRExploring]

I'm not sure if that was an optical illusion or not. I didn't notice it at the time if it was something the miners painted there... The post-World War II mines in Italy have a staggering amount of equipment around, but the pre-war mines seem to have much less. I believe that a lot of the metal components were recycled for the war effort.

[@ronniecardy]

Good video again looked more like a cave and mine combined with the rope. Kinda look like they were taking people and showing the inside on tours be careful

[@TVRExploring]

Cavers like to visit some of the safer mines in Italy and so I suspect that is a leftover from them...

[@llewdis]

That designation “ore pass” seems a misnomer since the passageway you descend looks incredibly clean. How would one of those have been used? If you just dumped ore down it would have become plugged quickly I would think, especially with the gradual grade that you show while descending.

[@TVRExploring]

The ore passes are always clean because the rough rock sliding down scours the sides smooth... That grade was steeper than it probably looked on camera. The part that puzzled me were the small level areas on the way down, where, I would think, a fair amount of ore would get hung up. I would think that someone would have to get in there with a shovel to periodically move some of the ore further along. I'm pretty sure it was an ore pass though given the location and features. It is also marked as an ore pass on a historic map I found.

[@captsam54]

That is just too cool. along with the history.. He was to engrossed with the mine and lost his family... Might be a lesson for someone....

[@TVRExploring]

Yes, that sums it up quite well. With the right actors, it would make for a good movie...

[@dhw14]

This is a great channel ya'll! Let's try to get it up to 100,000 subscribers!!

[@jardinsmaison]

14:45 wow interesting structure (old)

[@TVRExploring]

I thought it looked really cool in that setting... I climb up there in the second video.

[@meboyd7796]

You just can't help but out do yourself can you? Great job, where was your Italian guide?

[@TVRExploring]

Haha, she was in the area and got us here, but she isn't that into dark, muddy abandoned mines (I don't know what's wrong with women). So, she did a hike farther down the valley...

[@vburke1]

A little mud builds character :)

[@Sapphirez100]

stalagmite is what that strange formation is coming off the floor. Probably calcite is forming it.

[@oldman1nut759]

Hay man been watchen for a while and this one made me poop a little and no I wouldn't have done that so thankyou and this vid made me sub bro great job

[@matthewtracy8744]

I wish I could travel to new locations to explore, but Montana has a rich mining history, and I'm always finding new mines to delve into. Hopefully I can get a decent camera and start sharing videos of my own.

[@TVRExploring]

I'm not that familiar with the mines of Montana, but I know there are some great mines out there. You should definitely photograph/video the mines you discover, because they are disappearing very quickly and there is surprisingly little documentation of what we're losing! Hopefully, we'll see some of your work on here too!

[@matthewtracy8744]

They are definitely vanishing fast! But I've found a couple due to recent cave in activity! I will share a link when I can get some video posted! Love seeing your vids and the history of the SW!

[@cmpe43]

You rarely show your feet, thanks for showing the environment you're stepping in.

[@perfection4749]

Maybe that rope was for late night explorers not realizing at first that it was so open.

[@TVRExploring]

Quite possibly... Day or night, a mine explorer should have good lights though!

[@sidewaysaction9983]

Are you ever at home???

[@TVRExploring]

Haha, no, not that often...

[@sidewaysaction9983]

@@TVRExploring we appreciate the effort

[@jardinsmaison]

Iguazu falls, is there some cave there too loll

[@frankgaletzka8477]

This is nothing i can handle 😳😳😁😁was bis Last word That is a littlebit the Humor of a hanging man i Think You do it the hard way

[@VegasCyclingFreak]

8:07 Aren't you technically in an open stope?

[@TVRExploring]

I thought I mentioned that, but I guess not... Yes, you're 100% correct!

[@VegasCyclingFreak]

@@TVRExploring Oops, actually you did mention it in a caption. I must've have missed that looking away for a second while I'm working.

[@leesherman100]

This mine looks picked clean. Not so much as a paper clip remains.

[@Angl0sax0nknight]

You guys get around.

[@CyrusBrinkworthRAS]

it's like a story board....

[@nimikos2634]

So, if you continue east through the mines of Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia it will be interesting to see if the bat population increases - you know, as you approach.... Transylvania.

[@TVRExploring]

There are some great mines in those countries!

[@petepeterson4540]

wow ore rich and this is abandoned wow wow wow!

[@frankgaletzka8477]

In Germany this whole mine were shut and no one could get in there Here the authorities get one hardattac After the other if they had such a mine opend to the publik 😁😁☝️

[@alohathaxted]

Something to do with Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday Sun, plus to much spicy food not agreeing with the poor man.

[@TVRExploring]

Something like that! The story would make a good movie...

[@markhepworth7822]

Sardinia..NOT Sardeenia..

[@chrisv4640]

I saw a bat..lol nice dodging TVR Exploring

[@НадеждаШевелева-о9ы]

Перевод пжл🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺🙏

[@SPARTAN085B]

28:33 Its a cave person!

[@slavhub2835]

first

[@MiamiMillionaire]

👍