Gopher Holes!

[Geowizard]

Hi Guys and Gals!

I thought it might be interesting to discuss the subject of Gopher Holes and share ideas and experiences.

In the early 1980's, I moved to Arizona and began my prospecting adventures. I lived in Mesa and found that the local library contained a map section that had all of the topographic maps for the state. Another valuable resource was the Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources, (ADMMR). They had files on all of the mines and prospects of any significance in the state. ADMMR also had detailed maps for sale that showed all of the mining districts. As a service to the public, ADMMR also had staff available to consult with prospectors and mining companies on all of the many aspects of prospecting and mining.

Armed with maps, mine files and free consulting, I was off to the races!

Stay tuned!

- Geowizard

[Jim_Alaska]

I hope that any "Gopher Holes" were properly filled in when any mining/prospecting was finished.
While visiting in Nevada last year I had the opportunity to visit the back country, but to my dismay I found many many Gopher Holes that were left uncovered.

Some of them that were obviously done by mining companies had been fenced off to prevent unfortunate accidents, but many of the smaller ones were wide open. This is a recipe for disaster and a very poor example left for the world of "anti miners" to use as an example of irresponsible mining practices.

Here is a link that aptly shows the situation I spoke of: https://www.detectorprospector.com/foru ... ic-rescue/

[Flintgreasewood]

For several weeks my wife and I have been watching a program filmed in Australia called Opal Hunters on Discovery channel. Often they show aerial video of popular mining areas. The mines historically were all small shaft and drift operations in very close proximity to neighboring mines. They appear to be uncapped, unfenced, unfilled and waiting for problems. Maybe since there are so many so close together anyone in the immediate area would be wary of danger. Apparently there is not much regulation or enforcement of mining regs in Australia.

[Joe S (AK)]

Hey Kurt - actually - you're a bit in error there.

Australians, like we used to be in the past, have and use a lot of common sense. Of course, in the cities that all goes out the window, but almost all of the land area of Australia is not in the cities - but very rural to barren in population. Because of that, the "fix everything with massive quantities of laws" concept is often relegated to more populous areas --- where common sense has been systematically bred out of the newer generations.

Bottom line - no one has to mandate that rural folks have to live under policies, procedures, regulations, rules and even laws that are in direct conflict with reason and common sense. We could learn about that concept from them.

In the case of the older opal mine shafts, young kids only have to be told by their folks to stay away from the holes and they do - for their entire lives. What's more, they pass that common sense to their children. Imagine that!

Of course - any reality show has only one objective - viewership at the expense of truth.

I bet you wish you didn't have to jump through all the hoops to conform with legislation, policy, procedures and such to keep stupid people from falling into your deep hole. :~)

Joe
Just returned from a long trip to South Eastern Australia,
visiting with mining friends from all over the country.

[Geowizard]

Joe,

I agree completely.

Mining by definition involves the process of excavation. The result is "diggins".

The enviros want to make mining MORE difficult by making miners feel and look guilty for digging holes! This is what we do. Whether the rest of the world agrees or not, digging holes has been and will always be a necessary part of opening up the ground to expose minerals, gems, opals, etc.

If miners and the practice of mining is to continue, we have to push back against the opposition. In a time where we as a nation must pull together to rebuild wealth, and considering that wealth comes from mining natural resources, the world has to focus on the work to be done.

- Geowizard

[Geowizard]

Coober Pedy;


https://curiosity.com/topics/coober-ped ... y-1573712/

Not many places in the world compare to Coober Pedy!

- Geowizard