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Hi all. I am new to this site. I was very excited to find this site, as I did not know there were many people out there that were interested in mine exploration. I thought everybody else just wanted to close them all down. My main question here is are there any mines in the ophir area that aren't closed that are safe to explore? If so can you tell me what the names are? Also I have always wanted to get into the Ophir Hill mine, but it is obviously gated off. Does anybody know how one would go about getting access to that mine and any surrounding mines that are gated, or does a gate mean permanent closure? Pardon my ignorance here, again I am new to this but have been in several mines and caves in the area (a few years back). Any help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
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Pale Death beats equally at the poor man's gate and at the palaces of Kings.
- Horace -
Welcome to MU, The Ophir Hill is a patented claim and is privately owned. Due to liability reasons getting access to the mine is limited to personal friends and family of the owner. There are several patented and non patented claims in the Ophir area most of which have been gated. You may however find an entrance that was missed during reclamation or a gate that has been compromised.Jeff
Mojave Mine Team
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Jeff - Thanks for the info. Do you know of any of those said mines that may be open? Also if I were to open a claim on one of the closed mines would I then be able to access that mine and who would I go through to do that? Again I don't really want to mine them, I just want access to be able to explore some of them but it seems to be getting harder and harder to do that too. Thanks again.Pale Death beats equally at the poor man's gate and at the palaces of Kings.
- HoraceComment
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Most of the mines are patented, meaning you own the land. So those claims commonly run upwards of 100k plus up to over a million in that area. I know several non patented that would be considered cheaper, but they sold in the last few years for close to 20k. Are you rich? In the end there are quite a few mines up there that have access.
IUnderground Baby!Comment
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Kiel - no I am not rich. If there are mines up there that have access without buying a claim do you have examples of these mines, names and approximate locations etc? I went motorbiking up there in october and saw a few mines, all of which had gates on them but that is what peaked my interest in the area.Pale Death beats equally at the poor man's gate and at the palaces of Kings.
- HoraceComment
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The ophir hill is a private patented claim, we used to do large group tours, but it got out of hand. Now, we are very limited on access to only doing work for the owner in small groups several times a yearUnderground Baby!Comment
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That is very sad to hear. I was hoping to be able to get in there. It kind of defeats the purpose of preserving these relics of the past if people can't go in and see them. In my opinion restricting access to a mine of this caliber is almost as bad as having it reclaimed by the government or sealed. I can't see it either way so not much difference. I do understand the liability thing, but there has to be some way around that. Oh well I don't own the mine. Any mines in the area that are open that you would suggest visiting? Thanks alot for your help.Pale Death beats equally at the poor man's gate and at the palaces of Kings.
- HoraceComment
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We feel the same way about access to some of the mines such as the Ophir Hill but there is also a huge political aspect as well. The state is known to discourage mine owners from public entry. On the positive side many of the owners are aware of the historical aspects of the mines that they own and will put many of the contents of the mine on display. A good example can be seen in the town of Ophir. On another note if there were no mine or claim owners the state would destroy much if not all of what little historical equipment and structures that remain today.
There are many mines in the Mercur area I would assume could be explored.Jeff
Mojave Mine Team
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I know this question was directed to Jeff but I hope it's O.K. if I butt in here. I have always found that the very best way to find mines is by obtaining the U.S. Geological Survey topographical maps of the area. They don't always show every mine but probably 90%+ of them. Sometimes they even show their names.
Digital versions of the maps are available online, but I would still recommend the paper maps. They are a little bit easier to use (IMO) and they make nice documents to keep as well. I believe you can now order them online directly from the USGS.
Regards,
Fred M. CainComment
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We are not able to provide coordinates and directions on a lot of the mines. A little leg work and actually checking out these areas yourself is half the funUnderground Baby!Comment
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Fred - Yes of course, I appreciate any info that I can get as I am a rookie at this kind of stuff. That is good advice, and I will get the maps you suggested. The only problem I see is I am sure that it doesn't say whether or not the mine is accessible or gated, so I may have to waste alot of time hunting for the open ones. If there is no way around that, then I will do it. Thanks - any other suggestions or interesting places you have been to would also be a great help.
Thanks, NatePale Death beats equally at the poor man's gate and at the palaces of Kings.
- HoraceComment
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Fred - I have been playing around online with those interactive maps from usgs, they should be a great tool. Only problem is the GPS coordinates on the usgs don't match up with some coordinates others have listed for known mines. for example: one site has the Emma mine in little cottonwood as 40 35'33 N 111 37'52 W but the USGS map has the Emma on the complete opposite side of the road when I use those coordinates. I also tried it with Prince of Wales, Eclipse, Flagstaff, Maxfield, and Michigan-Utah mines in the area and found the same discrepency. Any ideas? Either the USGS map GPS isn't accurate or the coordinates listed online (this site included) are off by a half mile or so.... It is really throwing me off.Pale Death beats equally at the poor man's gate and at the palaces of Kings.
- HoraceComment
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No offense, but I have spent as much as 10-20 hours researching an area online and in old books and surveys before I went to an area. If it was easy everybody would do it. I think you would be surprised how many mines are still open if you just looked around, watch for the tailings piles, even if they are gated, there is usually something interesting to look at. I would recommend looking at this book list. I have most of them in hard copy. Some are cheap and can be found on amazon, others cost almost 200 bucks for me, but they are 700 pages. There are free online versions of some alsoUnderground Baby!Comment
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