As you are all aware, we recently visited Colorado Edgar Mine. Before being what it is today, an underground lab used to train future engineers, it was one of the prominent mines back in the 1870s and produced highly valuable resources which included copper, gold, lead as well as silver.
During the period of gold rush back in 1859, George Jackson came across placer gold, at what is presently Idaho Springs. This was thus the first gold discovered in Colorado. The native of Missouri was attracted by the steam that rose from a hot spring. He kept this for himself for a number of months. The place was later named Jackson Digging. After the place being occupied by people, it was renamed Sacramento City, other names include Idaho, Idaho City but the name currently used and known is Idaho springs.
It is worth mentioning that that initial placer discovery was followed by other vein identification of gold on the creek. In 1903, the strike of workers in demand of working for eight hours come to what was termed as Colorado Labor Wars.. A number of films have been acted from the scene for instance Downhill Racer and Overbrook Brothers.
Thus it is important to bring forth what was learnt during the trip concerning the mine. I thus seek to bring to your attention the various things we learnt during the trip and these include labor mining, types of rocks, types of equipment used, various silicon, and decaying wood among other things. It is worth noting that dynamite was not being used anymore, and the mining team thus opted for ANFO (explosive) ammonium nitrate–fuel oil mixtures (Hutchinson 214).
I would like to know your take on the same, if you are in need of further information regarding the same then contact me through an email or a phone call (Student to provide the contacts)
It is evident that mining calls for a substantially larger manpower. According to statistics, close to 7,000 individuals are employed as mining engineers. Colorado Edgar Mine back in 1870s did produce highly valuable resources which included copper, gold, lead as well as silver. We were taken through the various stages in mining for instance mineral discovery which entail identifying a mineral reserve, mineral determination where ore properties are determined, and feasibility study this is where the cost-benefit analysis of the project is carried out. What follows is the mining operation, which usually takes one or a combination of the following; hydraulic, placer, hard rock or open pit (Cartwright 234). The kinds of explosive used then to mine were of two types, high velocity and low velocity.
It is worth mentioning that mining safety back then was not as advanced as what we have at the present time. Hydraulic mining or booming back was one method that was intensively used in mining gold. Hoses were used to carry high pressure water spray. This was used to wash deposits of gravel; this sprayed everything but left the bigger rocks in which gold were found. It is important to note that the water used for this purpose originated from a consolidated ditch.
Since the discovery, according to Hollister, one week working with six men in the min generated about 76 ounces of gold. Later almost 900 men joined the team of miners.
Other development most notably the completion of the Gilpin County tramway which had 24 inch gage to serve several mines took place in preparation of mining the gold. Additionally, the construction of Union pacific Railroad was of significance, on the same note the Denver Pacific line that connected Denver and Cheyenne was also a stimulant to gold mining.
The introduction of a drill that was powered by steam was introduced in 1870 by Charlse Burleigh. The tunnel created by the drill is the oldest in the region. The drill was usually operated by two men. The distances from the wall of drill steel were usually varying. Due to noise pollution, the crew stuffed their ears with cotton. The screw could be injured by flying rocks.
Another moment that is always memorable is checking of dynamite and and execution of Montana Lightning. When all the fuses were lit the termed ‘fire in the hole’ was loudly pronounced prompting people to take cover.
It is worth noting that Colorado Edgar Mine has distinct types of rocks. During the tour, principal types of rock in the mine include the following;
- Biotite hornblende schist
- Banded quartz biotite gneiss
- Granitic pegmatite
Additionally, gangue minerals are also found within these types of rocks and they include biotite, pyrite, quartz, feldspar, chlorite and hornblende (Miller 12).
Types of equipments and activities back then
The most interesting thing that happened in prior to conversion of the mine into an underground laboratory includes among other the process of gold discovery, identification to rescue activities.
Since the mine location is characterized by dust, there are very high chances of the miners to suffer from occupational lung disease usually a resultant of inhaling dust originating from crystal silica. It is worth noting the characteristics or symptoms of these disease; they include difficulties in breathing, coughing, fever as well as skin turning to bluish in color. Additionally, upper lobes of affected person lungs become inflated and scarred forming nodular lesion (Rosen 2).
There are four classes of the disease; the classification is on how severe they are; (listed from most severe to least severe)
- Chronic simple silicosis
- Accelerated silicosis
- Complicated silicosis
- Acute silicosis
According to Rosen 3 the symptoms and signs of this deadly diseases that has cause thousands of death include, dyspnea, coughing, pain in the chest, fever, dark rifts on nails, loss of weight, loss of appetite, tachypnea and fatigue. The disease is incurable but can be prevented by eliminating silica dust by watering the region or by dry air filtering.
Other kinds of problems that may make the mine unpleasant and to be closed for a given period of time is when the woods decay resulting in oxygen shortages which are very dangerous considering the fact that the mine is underground.
On the same note, we learnt that at some point, the mining process stopped using dynamite. What were adopted to replace use of dynamite were ANFO (explosive) ammonium nitrate–fuel oil mixtures. This decision was arrived at due to the unsteady character of nitroglycerin (Rosen 44).
I believe that although not all of us attended the Colorado Edgar Mine, this piece of work has given you some insight on what those who attended the trip learnt. If you are in need of further details concerning the same do not hesitate to contact those individuals that attended the trip.
References
Cartwright, Peter. The Dynamite Company: The Story of African Explosives and Chemical Industries Limited. Cape Town, Purnell & Sons, 1964. Print
Hutchinson, Robert. “Geological and Structural Setting of the CSM/OCRD Test Site:CSM Experimental Mine, Idaho Springs, Colorado”. New York, Penguin, 1983. Print.
Miller, Nadia. “Predicting Flow Characteristics of Lixiviant in a Fractured Crystalline Rock Mass”. 2010. Web.
Rosen George. The History of Miners’ Diseases: A Medical and Social Interpretation. New York, Schuman, 1943. Print