Gold Vein Sampling in California's Mojave Desert 🏜️

In this episode, we head deep into the California desert with Harry from @mineoperator (https://www.youtube.com/@mineoperator) to explore and sample ore from a historic underground gold mine with multiple levels, old workings, and some seriously promising high-grade material. Before we even step inside, there is one important job to handle first: a full rattlesnake check around the portal and inside the opening section of the drift. From there, we make our way underground, looking at the lower haulage level, the original ore chute, and the raise system that once connected the different workings in this steep, narrow mine.

As we move through the mine, we talk about how the old-timers followed the vein through the mountain, how the structure changes from level to level, and why the lower workings turned out to be much less productive than the upper zones. The mine has seven levels packed into only about 100 vertical feet, showing just how aggressively the miners were chasing the hottest parts of the vein. Along the way, we examine barren sections, thin oxidized quartz, limonite-rich material, and the altered wall rock that helped tell the story of where the gold really was concentrated.

After hiking the same steep miners’ paths used in the late 1800s and into the 1930s, we reach the upper dump and start looking at the rock that first tipped everyone off that this mine still had serious potential. Sampling from the dump revealed gold values in the limonite-bearing quartz and calcitic vein material, with some of it running from a quarter ounce to over an ounce per ton. Using an XRF, we narrow in on the type of rusty, iron-rich, vuggy material that consistently points to the best mineralization.

From there, it is time to enter the upper portal, inspect the old stope and shaft setup, and talk through the original mining system, including the bucket rail, manway, and the improvised modern ore chute used to get rock safely down to the lower level. Once the lights, power cords, and tools are hauled in, we climb into the tight, cramped workings where a limonite pocket on the vein returned some of the best numbers in the mine. Previous channel samples suggested strong values, but the real excitement is in the rich rusty seam and associated quartz-calcite material that may carry even better gold.

This is real hard rock mining in a historic desert gold mine — narrow stopes, dusty air, ladders, old timber, oxidized vein material, and careful hand extraction in a spot barely wide enough to work. As we break out chunks of ore, the limonite, calcite, quartz, and altered wall rock all start showing the exact textures and colors that suggest we are into the good stuff. By the end of the day, we have several promising bags and large pieces of ore ready to go back to the shop. In part two, we will crush, mill, and run this material to find out how much gold is really hiding inside this high-grade desert vein.

Check out more videos from MineOperator at: https://www.youtube.com/@mineoperator

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#goldmining #geology #earthscience