Mine shaft digging

[goldtruck59]

Hello everyone.
Every time I detect around the old diggings my mind wanders to the old days and what it would of been like digging these shafts. So much so that I have often thought of cleaning one out and seeing if the old timers left anything behind or simply just to get the feel for what it must of been like to hit that layer.
Unfortunately fitness and age now limit that pursuit.
I would love to know if anyone has done as I suggest or actually dug themselves a shaft on the old goldfields with pick and shovel?
Please share your experience as it would be amazing to know.
It always gets my mind buzzing when on a rich field (what was) and you see a gap in the diggings and wonder if only I dug a shaft there!! What would you find.
I suppose there's a bit of nostalgia and romance in all of us.
Cheers.

 

[Ben78]

Do a industrial working at heights and confined spaces course and go digging!

 

[kawman]

a lot those guys digging had no experience at all at digging.. cave ins were common.. imagine work cover looking at that today.. :|

Do a industrial working at heights and confined spaces course and go digging!

 

[Nugget]

I think he's more looking for personal stories of shaft digging / mining the old fashioned way.

Have you checked out these topics goldtruck59?

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3968
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3070

Even though some may disagree with his methods, Hunting the yellow does quite a bit of cave exploring.

 

[charlie123]

I am 29 years of age and i still think within the amount of time these old timer shafts were dug it is a good effort. I garantee there was no bacon eggs for breakfast or lamb chops for dinner, no coka-cola if thirsty. After 4 days out i begin to deplete. These guys were stronger, fitter, even smarter. With the education we have now, and compared to what they must have had, i think they were leages above us

 

[goldtruck59]

I'm with you Charlie123. I think its awesome what went on in the old days. I sit there sometimes when its just the sound of the bush and try and picture what it was like. Tough customers that's for sure.
If anyone's cleaned out a old hole, love to hear about or better still dug their own. (on the old diggings)
Thanks Nugget for the info.

 

[Jaros]

Hi there, when i lived in Melbourne and was doing my Tech in Training course with the PMG. a fellow tech. mate of mine and his brother all went to Walhalla in Gippsland and did a bit of fossicking and even tried skin diving in the creeks (Brrrrrr) . One day went walking into the hills miles out of town and noticed a mine opening or adit in the side of the hill. We had torches and ventured inside about 50 mtrs and started getting a bit claustrophobic. My mates brother showed us a bex bottle with some chemicals in it and said he was going to ignite it. It had a long wick but we ran like buggery out of that shaft and stood about 20 ft outside of the opening and the blast knocked us of our feet. As we shot out of the area we noticed some business cards laying randomly about belonging to some American company who had a lease the area . Being in our late teens we got outa there very quickly.
To this day i don't know what was in that bex bottle?

 

[goldtruck59]

yeah I think I should of labelled the post Holes not mine shafts. My mistake.
I mean like the old Lead at Dunolly where theres hundreds perhaps more holes/ shafts following the run of gold 10 plus feet down in the old creek bed etc.
Has anyone ever cleaned one out or dug a new one.?
I suspect with a miners right we would be allowed to?
Anyway thanks for the input everyone.

 

[dwt]

im sinking in the front yard at home the mrs was really p###ed when she got home
2 problems though the dog keeps burying his bones there and my 4 year old nephew keeps backfilling it on me

.

 

[headbut]

That's one hell of a front yard dwt

 

[Heatho]

That's one hell of a front yard dwt

It will be.

 

[Heatho]

Find anything in there?

 

[dwt]

Find anything in there?

im actually chasing a lead that supposedly is in this area,some old drilling results,some very intelligent friends,and hey presto!!!!! im digging a hole........sorry heatho yes mate one tiny piece out of 500kg of crushings,and i mean tiny.. 8) certainly not enough to quit my day job!!!!

 

[Heatho]

Find anything in there?

im actually chasing a lead that supposedly is in this area,some old drilling results,some very intelligent friends,and hey presto!!!!! im digging a hole........sorry heatho yes mate one tiny piece out of 500kg of crushings,and i mean tiny.. 8) certainly not enough to quit my day job!!!!

Classic, you just never know though hey, at least you know for a fact there is Gold there now. Sweet!

 

[Hunting the yellow]

nice setup m8 love the crane how far down are ya ?

 

[Hunting the yellow]

Hello everyone.
Every time I detect around the old diggings my mind wanders to the old days and what it would of been like digging these shafts. So much so that I have often thought of cleaning one out and seeing if the old timers left anything behind or simply just to get the feel for what it must of been like to hit that layer.
Unfortunately fitness and age now limit that pursuit.
I would love to know if anyone has done as I suggest or actually dug themselves a shaft on the old goldfields with pick and shovel?
Please share your experience as it would be amazing to know.
It always gets my mind buzzing when on a rich field (what was) and you see a gap in the diggings and wonder if only I dug a shaft there!! What would you find.
I suppose there's a bit of nostalgia and romance in all of us.
Cheers.

ive been down 30m shafts and could still see the orignal pick marks all the way down on the sides

the ammount of effort that went into some of the old mines is incredible

 

[charlie123]

I think what was reported was alot less than what they found, this was where the energy came from

 

[goldtruck59]

Yep that's what Im talking about HTY, awesome.
As an aside to the topic, I was lucky enough to go several thousand feet underground recently and observe mining in full swing near woods point. The amount of old (100 year) drives that went off chasing a vein was unbelievable, at all angles. They must of had acrobat and mountain goat in their blood. It was great to chip off a bit of quartz from a reef that had flecks of gold in it that far down. 2200 ft.

 

[dwt]

nice setup m8 love the crane how far down are ya ?

howdy HTY, not far mate only about 12-13 feet down in sandstone rock already so slow digging 8.( the crane is actually made to fit on the back of my patrol hangs out the back by 2.5-3meters(keeps the big girl away from the edge of the shaft) and makes an excellent shaft drop in the bush if you noticed the hinge half way up, it folds open and it fits neatly in the back of the tray lifting is done by 2 x4,500 pound eletric winches one main hoist for lifting and a secondary for "oh s#*t the battery just died" means of get the hell otta here,and i extended the winch leads with 7core trailer wire thanks to some switched on auto sparkys, she'll go down 119feet and do a 160kg dead lift(swl) ............ 8) ps.............. technically im digging a water well

 

[goldtruck59]

My apologies I did ask a similar question about 6bweeks ago but left the next day for an NZ trip and forgot. Lots of great answers just read them thanks everyone :8