Underground Gold Mines of California

Video Description

Join Jason, Harry from @mineoperator and Austin as they venture deep into the Mars Mine in the Mojave Desert in search of high-grade gold ore. This mine has a fascinating history, with rich gold pockets hidden within its quartz veins. The goal of this expedition is to prospect for gold, collect a sample, and bring it back to Jason’s mill site in Washington for test milling and recovery. As the team gears up for underground exploration, Harry explains the unique geology of the region—many of these veins average between 0.25 to 0.5 ounces per ton of gold, but historically, miners sought out rich gold pockets rather than low-grade ore. Could there still be undiscovered high-grade zones waiting to be mined? Before descending into the mine, safety comes first with a snake check—in the desert heat, rattlesnakes often take refuge underground. Once inside, Jason and Harry take us through the 85-foot vertical descent, explaining how the mine was rebuilt after a devastating fire in the 1980s or 90s. They inspect the old wooden headframe, stulls, and original mining structures still in place. As they advance through the underground workings, Jason examines the footwall, hanging wall, and vein structure, identifying minerals like chrysocolla, copper showings, and sulfides. Along the way, they encounter original stope workings from the 1930s, untouched pillars left behind for support, and remnants of past mining efforts. Harry reveals that when the Discovery Channel filmed a test mining run here, they only recovered half a gram per ton, but their subsequent drill sampling showed significantly higher grades in certain areas. The team works their way toward the richest part of the vein, where visible gold can be seen under magnification. They also uncover gem-grade chrysocolla, which could be valuable for lapidary work, but the focus remains on finding payable gold ore. Without a blasting license, all work here is done by hand using impact tools, making the mining process slow and challenging. Will Jason and the team uncover rich gold pockets and get a valuable sample to process back home? Or will this prospect turn out to be low-grade and uneconomical? Stay tuned as they take this ore to the mill and put it to the test! 🔔 Be sure to like, comment, and subscribe for more underground gold mining, geology, and hard rock prospecting videos! For more info please email or call: Email: [email protected] Phone: 360-595-4445 Website: http://www.mbmmllc.com/ Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/MBMMLLC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MBMMLLC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mbmmllc/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MBMMLLC Keywords: Gold mining, Mojave Desert, underground mining, hard rock mining, abandoned mines, gold prospecting, mine exploration, Mars Mine, visible gold, gold vein, gold ore, chrysocolla, sulfides, footwall, hanging wall, gold deposits, high-grade ore, mine sampling, test milling, historic gold mines, Discovery Channel gold mining, mining ruins, desert mining, hard rock gold, small-scale mining, quartz veins, stope mining, underground geology, old mine shafts Hashtags: #GoldMining #HardRockMining #UndergroundMining #MojaveDesert #GoldProspecting #AbandonedMines #Geology #GoldVein #HighGradeGold #GoldOre #MineExploration #HistoricMines #SmallScaleMining #MiningHistory #Rockhounding #JasonMBMM #MineOperator