Link to first video:    • An Incredible LeadSilverZinc Mine ...  

We recently returned to this mine to explore new areas and drop the two winzes on the 400 ft. level. The first area we explored was an open stope that dropped into a part of the 50 ft. level we could not access last time. This part of the mine turned out to be way more extensive than we thought it would, and there were winzes and stopes dropping all the way down to the 200 ft. level. After exploring this we headed back outside and went down the main shaft. We reexplored each level to look for anything interesting we may have skimmed over, but we didn’t find much.

Once on the 400 ft. level, we set out to drop the two winzes we found the last time. To clear up any confusion, I mistakenly called the 400 level the 640 level in my last video. I also mistook the 300 ft. level for the 400 ft. level (The mining reports seemed to have left out a level leading to this confusion). This meant that one of the two winzes we were about to drop went down about 240 feet. The first one wasn’t it, and only went down 35 ft. The second turned out to be the winze we were looking for. It definitely didn’t appear to be at first as it looked more like a crude test winze. However, it only looked so rough because almost all the infrastructure for it was dismantled. We found the headframe remnants scattered about the 400 level.

The winze was extremely dusty as there was no airflow to remove it. This made descending the winze very unpleasant, even with masks. There were a couple small drifts on the way down, but the bottom level was the most extensive and featured a number of degraded artifacts.

Heading down to this bottom level we were putting our lives at risk due to our own stupidity. We decided not to wear harnesses because we wanted to be quick and we didn’t think the winzes would be difficult to descend. It wasn’t terrible using the handlines, but we definitely should have used harnesses to be safe. Our worst offense, however, was our lack of air quality monitors. I had been using an o2 meter, but the sensor had failed before this trip. Xavier’s 4 gas detector had also expired. With the lack of airflow we knew we shouldn’t have pursued this, but we did it anyways. The phrase “curiosity killed the cat” exists for a reason.

The oxygen at the bottom level was definitely lower than normal (20.9%). We could tell due to changes in our breathing and a slight lightheadedness. It was very unwise to explore this level, but we felt that if we carefully watched our breathing we would be ok. We were at least smart enough to walk slowly so as to not stir up any co2 that may have been pooled along the floor. I believe we were very lucky that the concentration of oxygen was not low enough to prevent us from climbing out.

Seriously, if you find this mine, don’t descend that winze! As the wood continues to rot and the iron continues to rust, the air is just going to get worse. It is not worth it, especially when you can just watch this video from the comfort of your home.