We had to wear hardhats to go in the mine; coats were also available to
borrow since the temperature in the mine is 43 degrees.
Shelton and Ben were in front of Alan and me in the downhill tram.
Heading down the hill to the mine entrance.
Margie and Paul on the into-the-mine vehicle we transferred to.
a large nugget of native copper
the 54-degree shaft is illuminated here. The copper veins run at this angle due
to folding of the geologic layers. So the miners perforce had to work on that
steep angle.
transferring back to the tram for the ride back up the hill.
This drawing shows the function of the hoist which was used to rapidly
move miners and ore carts up and down to the active work area.
The huge drum is housed in the building on the right and the
carts go up and down in the building on the left.
This drum would wind the cable up, or pay it out as it spun. The taper at the
ends allowed it to slow down as the carts approached either the surface or
the work area below ground.
Alan holds a chunk of the cable that was used.
Ben gets to handle it, too.
This steam-powered hoist was a 'modern marvel' when it was built in 1920. It could move carts
at 36mph and had the capacity to reach 1.5 miles into the ground.
Large wrenches for working on this machine.
The outside of the hoist building
There were assorted rusty parts scattered around for us to wander through.
The shafthouse where the carts/skips were sent down and up.
a large copper nugget outside the shafthouse.
Exhibits of a man-car and a skip inside the shafthouse. They were sent down at that
54-degree angle of the vein.
Lilac season - this beautiful spot of color was right beside the gift shop and the restrooms.
