Here we are properly suited up for our tour.
Our guide, whose name tag said 'Sam I am', was a retired miner and gave us a great tour. He even demonstrated some of the (LOUD) equipment.
This wall was set up to show the blasting pattern to take out an 8x8 foot section.
I'm sure glad we'll be out of here by 2:20.
Of course, I'm just kidding. This mine is no longer economically feasible, except as a tourist attraction.
He demonstrated this shovel thingy that scraped out the tunnels.
And this bucket thingy that threw the ore in the cart. All of these items are really LOUD.
Despite all this, Sam I am's hearing was very good. That really amazed me.
At the end of the tour, he showed us some rock samples. This first shiny rock is iron, not silver.
While this is silver - quite a disappointment. How could they even pick it out down in that dark mine?
This pretty one is peacock copper.
And what did I learn from the tour? I learned that this is another job I would never want. (But I kind of knew that already.)
That's how I felt when we took the mine tour in Bisbee - not a job I could handle.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad was a coal miner in KY for a while, he didnt stick with that and Im glad...he died a young man anyways. That silver is hiding well in that rock!
ReplyDeleteDid you fill your pockets with some of that silver ore? You could subsidize your gas bill that way... :cD
ReplyDeleteI like different "thingys" too! Somehow I never know the proper names for things. I was in the salt mine under Detroit years ago, and they let us carry out anything we could. I used a 25 pound chunk as a doorstop in my office for years!
ReplyDeleteGreat tour you gave with your photos as well! We've been meaning to do a mine tour, just haven't been in the right place at the right time.
ReplyDeleteYou sure you weren't on a tour of the Molly Kathleen gold mine in Cripple Creek? The tour looks just like our here. And ours was loud, too. And that is not a job I would like.
ReplyDeleteMining ... not for me either, thank you very much.
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