Mine Exploration Project

Comment

Comment by Richard on August 5, 2009 at 12:29pm

It was a copper mine, seems to have stopped being worked around 1930. I am guessing because the bottom fell out on commodities prices with the Great Depression. There's quite a stream coming out of it so it probably flooded fairly fast after active mining ceased. Unlike most copper mines, water quality seems good (no acid mine drainage or toxic waste), there are frogs and salamanders living in there.

Comment by Don Chennavasin on August 5, 2009 at 12:03pm

Really great stuff.

Keep up the interesting exploration, and thanks for sharing.

What was the original use of the mine?

Comment by Brian Wiederspan on August 3, 2009 at 6:39pm

Dive 2 is in the planning stages right now.

So far, the plan is to look for a 3rd passage, with a planned depth of 180' or the bottom of the shaft, whichever is shallower.

The results from the second dive will dictate where we go from there.

We may set up a group to keep this all organized.

Comment by Richard on August 2, 2009 at 10:08pm

There have been rumors that is was dove by "some guy in Everett". Nobody seems to know much more than that. We found plenty of relatively modern junk in the dry to waist deep parts of the mine and a little junk near the entrance to the flooded incline shaft. But beyond about 30ft (its almost straight down btw) no evidence of any previous passage. We laid about 120ft of line with a max depth of 90ft, so pretty darn vertical. I think it flooded about 1930.

Comment by Jeff Seckendorf on August 2, 2009 at 9:17pm

How totally cool!!

Comment by Al Delisle on August 2, 2009 at 9:10pm

Very cool dive and video, thanks for sharing. Looking forward to Part 2.

Comment by Lynne Flaherty on August 2, 2009 at 8:24pm

Oh, watching that gave me goosebumps. That had to be unbelievably exciting, to be the first ones in there since the mine flooded. Any idea when that happened?

The water looks incredibly clear, and there didn't appear to be much, if any percolation.

Please keep us in mind for September -- not for diving, but we have a 4WD F250 pickup :-)

Comment by Richard on August 2, 2009 at 6:48pm

We gotta go back with mix and get to the bottom of this!

Comment by Alan Scott Weinberg on August 2, 2009 at 6:42pm

10/10 dive and video!

Comment by Brian Wiederspan on August 2, 2009 at 5:47pm

Thanks guys.

Chad...yes, freshwater. Water temps in the 40's

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