Others never got beyond the ‘prospect’ stage of development, yet still managed to establish one or more tunnels, adits, shafts, drifts and/or stopes. Some of these were good producers of ore and have extensive underground workings.
That may seem like a startling statistic, but historical records indicate that my state has more than 100,000 mines dating from the 1850’s through the depression era of the 1930’s. Within a one hour driving radius of my home there are more than four hundred abandoned hard rock mines. The answer could be a specific type of mine structure known as an adit. How could that bit of history factor into your planning and preparation if you have to deal with a SHTF scenario? Let’s say you made the decision to shelter in place, but now your regional or area security has deteriorated, and you need to move yourself or family to a safer location if only for a few days or weeks? What if you don’t have that ideal piece of land in the mountains with a lake or trout stream to retreat to? You have an exigent need to abandon your preferred location because it is about to be compromised. Mining activity exploded and, as a result, there are many thousands of abandoned mines in the West and Southwest today.
Eastern industrialists and speculators became more willing to invest in prospects – often without proper due diligence. As the railroad system expanded in the 1870’s and beyond, the extraction of less valuable metals, such as silver, copper and manganese became more viable endeavors. From there, the ore might have been shipped around the horn to a mill on the east coast. Unprocessed ore was frequently transported overland in pack trains to seaport locations like San Francisco. Early exploitation of minerals and ores were greatly hampered by the lack of economical milling and transportation resources. What lured the early settlers and adventure seekers to the vast territory of the American West? In a word: Gold. Bolo outlines in great detail the safety precautions and other considerations you would have to make before relying on a method like this, but the concept is incredibly interesting. For the adventurous soul, abandoned mines could provide survival shelter and security opportunities in a SHTF scenario. It covers an amazing amount of information on the subject of abandoned mines. Editor’s Note: This is the first of a two-part article that was generously contributed by Bolo.
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