Veins of Quartz--Path to the Motherlode

In the photo above is a typical ore face in the underground mine I recently visited. The rock itself is marked and drilled to allow explosives to be placed into the face and then remotely detonated when the mine is cleared of miners during shift changes. Below is a partially drilled face showing the markings and the PVC pipe placed in the holes as "keepers" that allow for a clean hole in which to place the explosives.  Remote electronic detonators are then added to the mix and readied for the next opportunity to blast.

In the photo below I am holding the remains of the wiring for the electronic detonation that show the melting of the covering and insulation from the flash of the blast.

These remnants in the photo below are fairly typical of the ore mix once the detonation occurs. The blasted rock (muck) is loaded with low profile loaders and placed into low profile ore trucks that haul it from the mine and then stockpiled outside. The ore is then loaded once again and hauled to the mill located ~30 miles away to be ground up and the gold separated.

Below, a blasted ore rock held by one of my peers shows the mineralization that is conducive to the formation of gold.  In fact there actually may be a little gold visible on the surface :)


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