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Creede, CO Presentation Report
On June 5th, leaders of Mojave Underground presentated a special report on the history and working of the Ophir Hill Mine. The report was given to scholars, historians, and enthusiasts who somehow lead a career in the mining industry. This was the 20th annual Mining Historical Conference, this year held in the underground community center of Creede, Colorado. Our audience included approximetely 75 people.
Our assignment was to discuss the history of Ophir and the Ophir Hill Mine, along with a presentation in regards to the underground working of the mine, and a little about what Mojave Underground does.
Russ led our segment with a report on the UDOGM closure efforts, and what can be done to stop/alter the destructive reclamation efforts that have already erased thousands of historical sites across Utah. While Russ was presenting, Stuart, Crystal, Miah and I took advantage of the darkness and snuck behind the presentation to change into our exploration gear; including coveralls, climbing harnesses, backpack, gloves, helmet, and lights. I quietly returned to the presentation to queue up our powerpoint and waited for Russ to finish. As soon as Russ finished, the four of us cranked on our lights and walked into the room. The audience sat up from their classroom positions and began wispering to each other. One person exlaimed “I knew they were up to something!†What a sight we were to see. Cameras flashes illuminated our bodies, darkened by the brightness of our lights.
We turned our lights off and intrudoced ourselves. Stuart and I took turns through the presentation discussing all the various aspects of Mojave Underground and Ophir’s history. We had been working the past 4 months on the video presentation designed specifically for the Creede Conference, focusing on the exploration of the Ophir Hill Mine. While this video played, we guided the audience throught a tour of the mine. Questions were asked after each ooh and aahh. When the video concluded we closed our presentation with some facts about abandoned mine exploration, and how it is not as dangerous a hobby as we are lead to believe.
We provided mini-DVD handouts to everyone and spent near a half hour after the presentation concluded answering more questions and speaking with old men about not much at all. We have been invided to speak at other events in the future, and look forward to speaking at more. The presentation was quite a success. Thanks everybody who helped make it possible.
The Media DVD can be downloaded here: (Recommended)
ISO Disk Image
.ZIP Compressed Archive
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sHbsdG97mU[/youtube]
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