Anyone know what mine this is?

[lobster68w]

A few videos on YouTube, near Goshen, they call it "satan's anus". Looks pretty deep.

I think it might be in this area, 39.964026,-111.853274

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ0EAjLUzSY&feature=channel_page

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNShFEOZWhE&feature=related

[CaverStretch]

This is the Copperleaf Mine. It's just outside of Euraka, about 100 feet to the north of the main road. There is a nice steel grate over the shaft. The shaft is about 25 in diameter and reports show the mine is 2200 feet deep. There is DOGM tag on the concrete showing the mine and gating information. We usually stop and look down for the fun of it on our way back. There are other names for it too, we used to call it "The Great Deep".

[lobster68w]

Cool, thanks!!

2200 feet, wow.

[RedRockXJ]

Is there access to this mine?

[CaverStretch]

On the record no. The shaft has a gate over the top. someone at one time cut a hole in the bars, but I'm not sure if it's still open. I probably would stay away from this mine. It's closed, it's close the main road, and you are dealing with some huge depths. There are plenty of other fun mines that are still open.

[lobster68w]

On the record no. The shaft has a gate over the top. someone at one time cut a hole in the bars, but I'm not sure if it's still open. I probably would stay away from this mine. It's closed, it's close the main road, and you are dealing with some huge depths. There are plenty of other fun mines that are still open.

OK, this is a little off topic, but what exactly are the laws in Utah?


My understanding is that most of the mines are usually on BLM land, and as such can't be posted.

I guess I was under the impression that if a mine didn't have a "no trespassing" sign, it was OK.

Is this not the case?

Thanks,

[Mike]

Read this thread for exact details:

http://www.mojaveunderground.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=241

Really the biggest thing is this: has been clearly marked as closed or protected from entry.

And clearly marked is not defined in the law. So essentially, if the mine is on public lands, and NOT clearly marked, eg wide open, there is technically nothing in the law that forbids it. If it is private property, you will have to obtain both the land owner and mineral rights owner permission before entering the mine.

BLM and NPS lands are the first to be reclaimed. They don't have to secure permission to from land owners to backfill and destroy. However in the case of say, Eureka, most of the 119 mines are on private property, and the owners have been forced into allowing the DOGM's contractors to come in and rip apart their land.

Make sure you also read the comments in that thread from rhartill, our lawyer. He points out some very valid topics.

[lobster68w]

Good read.

Thanks!

[ExpUt]

Anybody have a guess as to how many mines here in Utah are on public versus private lands? Would you guys agree with 75% private and 25% public for any substantial mine? Maybe even a littler higher for the private ones? Total guestimating here.

If a mine ran long enough or had substantial mineral quantities, it made sense for the owners to get a patent claim on the land. Those land rights today are worth far in excess of the original mines in many cases. In the Wasatch Front mines (PC/Big & Little Cottonwood/AFC) I can really only thing of a dozen or so of the 500+ mines that are on public land, the rest are still privately owned (Snowbird for example likely owns 50 or more patent mine claims). I think the DOGM uses a fear of liability and threat to convince all these owners to close and reclaim, though some were reclaimed by a Forest Service initiative rather than the current DOGM campaigns. With hundreds of closures slated in the next couple of years, now is the time to explore!

[Mike]

I think you are right. From what I understand, Death Canyon and Gold Hil are both under BLM Admin. A few through the Ophir District, and a few in Eureka. But most substantial mines are under a patented claim or claim of some sort. The MINDAT database is a good start to find out if its BLM, NPS, or Private.

[ExpUt]

I think you are right. From what I understand, Death Canyon and Gold Hil are both under BLM Admin. A few through the Ophir District, and a few in Eureka. But most substantial mines are under a patented claim or claim of some sort. The MINDAT database is a good start to find out if its BLM, NPS, or Private.

Gold Hill I'm not too sure about but at least several of the major mines in Death Canyon are still claimed, the owner of a few of is a member of ExpeditionUtah and gave us permission to check out the mines next time we are out. Friends of his own some of the other claims. I know there are some mines in abandoned mines in American Fork Canyon that sit 100% on Forest Service Property, but they removed all mineral entry rights canyon wide in ~1965 so staking a claim wouldn't be possible. Corey now owns a couple of claims on the NW corner of Utah, I really think that along with proactive relationships with mine owners (such as the MU realtion with the Ophir Hill ) is the key.

MINDAT is good for finding info on the actual mines, but it got to be a county by county land search to determine if the mine sits on private property. It could easily be a full time job to track that kind of information down. When you going full-time with MU Mike Imagine how much we could get done as far as access if we had a couple full-timers working 40 hrs a week to research all this stuff. MU should figure out a way to get a grant from a historical society or university in the name of research and historical preservation.

[Mike]

Full time with MU eh? Would have to make it start making us $$$ to do that We've tossed ideas around though. As far as relations are concerned, I'm working right now on relations with a couple other owners in Ophir, along with one down in Fillmore.

[one_bad_rover]

Gold hill has a lot of mines that are still open to claim, as does the Eureka area...

[one_bad_rover]

the next mine we claim is going to be called satans anus, that is the coolest name ever.

[lobster68w]

This is the Copperleaf Mine. It's just outside of Euraka, about 100 feet to the north of the main road. There is a nice steel grate over the shaft. The shaft is about 25 in diameter and reports show the mine is 2200 feet deep. There is DOGM tag on the concrete showing the mine and gating information. We usually stop and look down for the fun of it on our way back. There are other names for it too, we used to call it "The Great Deep".

I finally had a chance to get out to this one this past weekend. What an amazing experience looking down!!! I dropped a couple chem lights and watched them fall straight down until they got so far away you couldn't see them anymore. WOW. Very cool place. It's just too bad all the garbage people leave laying around.