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Goblin Valley / Wildhorse Canyon Area
I just returned from a wonderful trip to southern Utah with my family. We spend the weekend down in the Goblin Valley area, camping in the Chute Canyon within the San Rafael Swell. On a drive Friday evening, I spotted adits about a mile away. Since my Dad’s Motor home could not handle the 4x4 roads to them, I grabbed my brothers and hoofed it over the portals. Sadly, most of them were cemented shut, including the Camp Bird 12 Group, North Mesa group, the Calyx and North Mesa groups , the Lopez and Flewelling Incline, and the Marchbank incline. These closures were done I believe in 2004 by the DOGM. The cement walls placed in the mines are stacked cinder blocks with cement plastered on the outside. Overall, a clean closure look. Mines such as the Black Beauty Mine and a couple others I could not identify were machine backfilled.
About an hour later, I came to the Vanadium King complex ( 38°40'54.23"N 110°40'34.90"W), which suprisingly still has a standing structure. The adit was large, about 10 feet high and 6 feet wide. The standard DOGM gate was gaurding its entrance. Two bars on aboue7 feet high appear to have recently been put in place, as the metal was still clean and had not yet had time to oxidize. A bar in the center had weak welds and had also been broken in the past.
The Vanadium King Mine was mined sometime during the 1950s-1960s. Vanadium, Carnotite, Malachite, Metahewettite, and Metazeunerite were the primary commodities of this particular mine. Uranium was also pulled from this and the surrounding mines. Its supporting host rock was primarily Sandstone, Clay, Mud, and Mudstone. Once inside the mine, I immediately came upon a large hydrothermal vein, which had been stoped out leaving an immense tunnel, reaching about 35 feet high. The floor was a clean soft sand, left from spring runoff that flows through the mine. About 750 feet inside the mine, I came to a different stoping which was heavy with arsenic on the ceiling. Hydrogen Sulfide could also be smelt throughout most of the mine. The air was dead do to the sealing off of all other portals. About 1500’ back, I came to a section in which the tunnel had been undercut by another tunnel. A ladder lead down to the lower level, which reflected the structure of the upper tunnel. All portals on the lower level were also sealed. I found a seasonal spring which had a dark green color to it, which I believe was the source of the Hydrogen Sulfide. Heading back out, I noticed a section of upper workings which would require a ladder to get to. Perhaps it will offer a bit more exploring the next time around.
After my thorough investigation, I returned Saturday morning with my family to show them around inside. Since the only exploration gear they had were lights, I just showed them around the entrance. Quite a trip!
Photos from the event:
[web:e49c4b8d53]http://mojaveunderground.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=6699[/web:e49c4b8d53]
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