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To add insult to injury, the vast majority of these mines have been closed off to the public in the last 20 years for liability reasons, even the ones that don’

To add insult to injury, the vast majority of these mines have been closed off to the public in the last 20 years for liability reasons, even the ones that don’t generate significant amounts of latent pollution. Obviously most people don’t want to be around a defunct uranium mine but the same policies have closed off all other mines. You used to be able to roll up on a mine tailing pile or even go into the mine to look for mineral specimens. Even though the mines are no longer economically viable, they were a gold mine for rock hounds and educators looking for interesting rocks. Now all of that is gone and all we have left is bullshit commercial operators that make fake tailing mixed with commercially sourced gems.

skipkey 2y ago
There are still quite a few accessible mines on public lands in Arizona. Well, generally the mine shafts themselves are off limits for safety reasons, but you can usually get to the tailings piles. In the last couple of years I have pulled nice specimens of chrysocolla, fluorite, onyx from tailings.
bhhaskin 2y ago
It is a very good thing abandoned mines are closed. They are deadly and you should never go into one.
- defrost 2y ago
  As someone who is over 60 and who has been going into abandoned mines for 40 years can I ask why? What's next, no more bungy jumping, free climbing, surfing The Right, sinkhole diving, mustering cattle, etc?
  - notheyarent 2y ago
    Yes. Those are all extremely dangerous activities and our public hospitals should not be carrying the burden
    - throwup238 2y ago
      I don’t think you understand what “mustering cattle” means...
      - defrost 2y ago
        Growing up in the Kimberley it was all Bull Buggies, Broomstick choppers, Quarter Horses and dirt bikes, all intrinsically a wee bit risky - but good practice for "grown up" geophys surveying in custom STOL crop dusters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B-zWxDJOZU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B-zWxDJOZU
        082349872349872 2y ago
        3:54 B taurus indicus begs to differ! (no oysters on the menu plz?) The guy who taught me to swing a Brunton was over four times my age, and whenever we were hiking in to a site he led us in: this basically meant we young vegetables would be frantically scrambling up to a nearby ridge so we could spot where he'd got to, only to eventually notice him waving cheerfully at us from the next ridge line over.
        defrost 2y ago
        Buuuut they roast up so fine :( 'Wee bit risky" is right, keep your head on a swivel and don't be on the quad bike when the irate bull flips it and all is okay. Your leading surveyor was very much our father when we were in single digits .. four hour long walks across rugged landscapes and down gorges with him as a barely visible dot waaaay up ahead. He's a lot slower now approaching 90 .. but can still split wood and shovel a tonne or two.
    - defrost 2y ago
      The ones we pay our taxes for? They're not exactly burdened by extreme sports injuries, most surfers, for example, are injured crossing roads, in car accidents, or at work falling off roofs, etc. ( source: one of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiona_Stanley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiona_Stanley conversations back in the day )
  - bhhaskin 2y ago
    The Nevada division of Minerals has some great info: https://minerals.nv.gov/Programs/AML/AML/ https://minerals.nv.gov/Programs/AML/AML/
    - defrost 2y ago
      The point of substance there is: Being uninformed may result in accidental injury or death. rather than your blanket advice to just avoid risk altogether. The Division of Minerals is legislatively mandated to conduct the State's AML program to identify inactive mines, rank their degree of hazard, and carry out activities to secure these sites Clearly people do go into abandoned minesites to evaluate their current state. The back end of https://www.spglobal.com/market-intelligence/en/industries/metals-mining https://www.spglobal.com/market-intelligence/en/industries/m... carried a much larger database of global abandoned mines withmore infomation on why production lapsed (a good number may still be economically feasible with modern techniques) that wasn't simply limited to Nevada. That data should still be there on request.

skipkey 2y ago

There are still quite a few accessible mines on public lands in Arizona. Well, generally the mine shafts themselves are off limits for safety reasons, but you can usually get to the tailings piles. In the last couple of years I have pulled nice specimens of chrysocolla, fluorite, onyx from tailings.

bhhaskin 2y ago

It is a very good thing abandoned mines are closed. They are deadly and you should never go into one.

defrost 2y ago
As someone who is over 60 and who has been going into abandoned mines for 40 years can I ask why? What's next, no more bungy jumping, free climbing, surfing The Right, sinkhole diving, mustering cattle, etc?
- notheyarent 2y ago
  Yes. Those are all extremely dangerous activities and our public hospitals should not be carrying the burden
  - throwup238 2y ago
    I don’t think you understand what “mustering cattle” means...
    - defrost 2y ago
      Growing up in the Kimberley it was all Bull Buggies, Broomstick choppers, Quarter Horses and dirt bikes, all intrinsically a wee bit risky - but good practice for "grown up" geophys surveying in custom STOL crop dusters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B-zWxDJOZU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B-zWxDJOZU
      - 082349872349872 2y ago
        3:54 B taurus indicus begs to differ! (no oysters on the menu plz?) The guy who taught me to swing a Brunton was over four times my age, and whenever we were hiking in to a site he led us in: this basically meant we young vegetables would be frantically scrambling up to a nearby ridge so we could spot where he'd got to, only to eventually notice him waving cheerfully at us from the next ridge line over.
        defrost 2y ago
        Buuuut they roast up so fine :( 'Wee bit risky" is right, keep your head on a swivel and don't be on the quad bike when the irate bull flips it and all is okay. Your leading surveyor was very much our father when we were in single digits .. four hour long walks across rugged landscapes and down gorges with him as a barely visible dot waaaay up ahead. He's a lot slower now approaching 90 .. but can still split wood and shovel a tonne or two.
  - defrost 2y ago
    The ones we pay our taxes for? They're not exactly burdened by extreme sports injuries, most surfers, for example, are injured crossing roads, in car accidents, or at work falling off roofs, etc. ( source: one of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiona_Stanley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiona_Stanley conversations back in the day )
- bhhaskin 2y ago
  The Nevada division of Minerals has some great info: https://minerals.nv.gov/Programs/AML/AML/ https://minerals.nv.gov/Programs/AML/AML/
  - defrost 2y ago
    The point of substance there is: Being uninformed may result in accidental injury or death. rather than your blanket advice to just avoid risk altogether. The Division of Minerals is legislatively mandated to conduct the State's AML program to identify inactive mines, rank their degree of hazard, and carry out activities to secure these sites Clearly people do go into abandoned minesites to evaluate their current state. The back end of https://www.spglobal.com/market-intelligence/en/industries/metals-mining https://www.spglobal.com/market-intelligence/en/industries/m... carried a much larger database of global abandoned mines withmore infomation on why production lapsed (a good number may still be economically feasible with modern techniques) that wasn't simply limited to Nevada. That data should still be there on request.