Laying Line in a Formerly Abandoned Mine

[lungwater]

Not sure I understand the purpose of this project. If the place is going to be "dewatered", then why the need to send in cave divers to remove cables etc? Is the purpose of the cave divers to remove these hazards for preparation of the mining work?

Dewatering will not happen for quite a long time. Part of this is because I want to enjoy the damn thing for a few years AND if the mine isn't fruitful it is cheaper to dive than shore, dewater, dig collapses, shore etc...

Cost of maintaining a claim is a bit more than 150 US dollars a year. If you can prove you have done "real work" on a site it goes down to 10 a year (a bit more but you see the point).

Removing cable, taking samples, removing and replacing rotten shoring all constitute real work. This keeps the cost of a small desert oasis to almost nothing (compared to commercial sites or five hour drives).

Plus, although I haven't responded to anyone yet, there are more than a few people who asked me here whom I will certainly send the invitation out to. I am taking my time with this. I want to ensure safety of others using my property.

[lungwater]

Where in Arizona is the mine?

Cochise, near the border.

[lungwater]

The BLM {Bureau of Land Management}is the reckoning US Government force that controls most everything of any value, land, rivers or otherwise. I've explored some potential flooded mines in Summit County, Colo & can tell you that these mines are risky business at best, and contain serious breakdown, and timber rot thru out them. They are not worth the risk of life to even attempt to dive them. A team of tech divers from Denver ck'd them out a few years ago and found them to be securely gated shut by the BLM with warning signs posted. They are high altitude mine shafts {above 10,000ft}which represents a complex set of deco tables.
But your idea seems intriguing. I just would not pursue it. In my opinion a costly and dangerous idea at best !

Risky for certain. I do eventually plan on sharing this site with those who asked me and only if I feel it to be as safe as the other mines I have explored.

Having lived in Colorado for a while, it seems like everything dive related is more treacherous. The altitude is a bit of a hassle, and the BLM mines out there are quite hazardous and remote.

We have a metric ####-tonne here, and a lot of the BLM land is relatively flat, making transport and prospecting easier.

If you are interested in seeing a lot of pictures of Arizona mines (and US mines in general) check out minedat, an excellent resource.

[lungwater]

Sounds nice. Curious on the pics. We have some divable mines in Europe too. Dove mines in Germany, Belgium, France, Slowakia.All have their own history.

Compared to many of the popular sites, most of the mines in my region are quite claustrophobic. Many tunnels just wide enough to run tracks and a hopper, just as many only shoulder width. Raises up and down between drifts are equally small.

They can be very rewarding and terribly treacherous at the same time. Initially exploring them and avoiding nests of cable, metal rods and machinery can be more than hair raising. Sometimes, collapsed shoring and bubbles create the perfect scenario to dissolve the ceiling and the site is too risky for me. Most sites are too risky for me. I like this one so far.

[lungwater]

I'll be thinking of this as I drive across country on I-10 this Wednesday. Years ago I talked with the W'berg mine/museum owners north of Phoenix about this possibility. Too much liability they said.
When my family lived in LA county for a couple years in the late 70s, my brother and I explored a couple of mines in the San Gabriel Mountains, with one multi-tiered with old wooden ladders. I went back to find them in the 90s and they were blocked off with steel doors, etc.
I've always loved the history of the old West and mines are right in there with that.

A lot of the more dangerous ones now are filled with foam and the larger adits are caged and used as bat roosts for endangered bats.

[Kelly Jessop]

Risky for certain. I do eventually plan on sharing this site with those who asked me and only if I feel it to be as safe as the other mines I have explored.

.

From what I understand you aren't a cave diver nor have overhead training, what experience do you have in the overhead with mines? For people wanting to be involved in a project of this magnitude and danger, it may be good to give information on what to anticipate. Only reason I have concern, another project similar to this that brought people together with different backgrounds and experience, resulted in a fatality.

[rblackburn]

resulted in a fatality.

I still think about him from time to time

[rjack]

Geologically, Washington pretty much sucks for underground diving. We have almost no limestone at all and our mineral deposits actually diminish as you descend unlike in drier more sedimentary regions (a consequence of the geology). So most mines weren't dug very deep. That said I have managed to dive four different mines here. There are a few more which are on inaccessible private land or I suspect have serious water quality issues. They're really cold and generally pretty short penetrations. Good luck on your "claim", sounds like a good time - I wish we had something that substantial that hadn't been patented here.

[twaldo]

How does this compare to the mines at Bonne Terre?? Isn't it basically the same thing?

[Rich]

Tim, Bonne Terre's set up for tourists, you have to know someone to get a "cave dive" there.

Safe diving,

Rich