In this video, we rappel 200 feet into an abandoned gold mine located in the Mojave Desert. The mine featured an awesome water pump and a number of other interesting relics. On the 200 ft. level, we found a live snake that we decided to rescue. The snake seemed very cold and there was no way it could get back up on its own. Hopefully he doesn’t make the same mistake twice, as there are many shafts in the area to fall into.

This mine was originally prospected around the turn of the century, however, no paying ore was found. In 1922, a prospector reworked an old pit and discovered highgrade gold ore about 5 feet below where the original prospectors stopped. Soon, a company was formed to develop this mine and a 300 foot inclined shaft was dug. This discovery also revived an interest in the surrounding area, and in the following years new discoveries were made. This mine was most extensively worked in the 1920s up to the early 1930s. It was then worked on and off into the 1950s.

The geology of this mine is also very fascinating. Rather than being hosted in quartz, the gold was found in a calcite vein. There were calcite crystals everywhere, but unfortunately the camera did a poor job of picking up the beauty of them.