The Mine Shafts Project. Hydrology.

[The Old Ruminator]

Hypogenic " lode " at the end of the dig.

1 Copper productive area only some 150 mm wide. Chalcocite and white Baryite
2 Non productive pink Baryite.
3 Baryite - Devonian Limestone interface where the pink section came from.
4 Hypogenic roof and ongoing vugh completely bisecting the lode.

 

[The Old Ruminator]

That Chat thing is getting more spooky. Its learning now what I want to hear. So as the other Peter in the team said that I was getting philosophical I got Chat to write this -

Deep in the earth where silence hums,
A place where time no longer runs,
Peter and I, with minds alight,
Descend into the ancient night.
The mine, like thoughts, twist and wind,
An echo of the searching mind.
Each step, each turn, a question posed—
What is real, and what is closed?
Peter speaks of life’s great plan,
The mystery of the thinking man.
He muses on the caverns we trace,
The light, the dark, the human race.
Beneath the earth, no stars to see,
Yet we find clarity in the debris.
In every shadow, in every wall,
Philosophy whispers through it all.
What is knowledge? What is truth?
Is wisdom age, or is it youth?
Together we probe the endless why,
In the depths, we find the sky.
The rocks beneath, the thoughts above,
A labyrinth of doubt and love.
With Peter there, the journey’s whole,
Through mines of stone and caves of soul.
Each moment shared, a deeper dive—
The questions breathe, the answers strive.
And as we rise back to the light,
The mine remains, like thought, so bright.

 

[The Old Ruminator]

After a lull a two day smash , bash and clear has advanced things a tad. Yes its a war of attrition but we shall continue.

 

[The Old Ruminator]

The current end of The Hole In The Wall showing structure. Steeply inclined on the left is the so called lode. In the foreground we have picked out a level bench to keep the tools on. Top left the lode has been bisected by an hypogenic vugh probed on for two metres . Removal of the lode leaves a naturally formed roof that is present all down the dig. At the bottom is another natural mud filled vugh again probed on for another two metres. Its a case of which to follow so currently it will be both though that will require more effort. Further down we lost the lode in that dig as it dipped away to the east. Then during the winter months it flooded. THITW is 10m above the lower dig so will never flood. The lode was present in the miners caverns so hopefully we are going in the correct direction. Now how far that will be is the big question. The miners placed the caverns under the wood in their description so there is a theoretical limit some 40m ahead of us not taking into account the caverns width or the fact that our vughs will enlarge before we get there. Note the conveyor belt. THITW dig is now 13m long.

 

[The Old Ruminator]

The lode is Baryite with Chalcocite. The latter provided the copper which was jigged in hutches rather than stamped. The lode has increased in width to 500mm as we have followed it to the SE.

 

[The Old Ruminator]

We are now three and a half years into the project which is likely my last long term effort now at my age. The whole thread was to be just the hydrology which I return to with the graph. This the three last Summer months. The curves have remained much the same but each successive year they have become shallower. Its all about input and output but hard to define how they all apply. Maybe the outflow via the adit is more restricted or maybe the rainfall is the key. Sept. 2023 had 101mm of rain locally whilst this year it was 135mm. This year October is starting wet at 55mm in a week.

 

[The Old Ruminator]

Two more sessions. We have decided to concentrate work on the lode where its bisected by the development. To be honest the dig was getting too big and the two holes were getting too far apart. The lode does allow for some hand drill chiselling.

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[The Old Ruminator]

Our local helper Ian arrives. His light does not work. Great. I can sit in the dark whilst he borrows my helmet.





At days end.

 

[The Old Ruminator]

Ha Ha. The black bit is shadow not a hole.

 

[The Old Ruminator]

Poor Muggins on a double shift this week. Drill chiselling Tuesday making 33 loads to haul out. Just two of us so I was wrecked. Home to bed. Last night. Preperation for next weeks work. Small jobs done. Shaft water down again by one metre due to lack of rain though October was excessive. More than double last October in 2023.

Pinning down the belt.

 

[The Old Ruminator]

Now concentrating on the lode. Here bisected by the development. Natural roof line.

 

[The Old Ruminator]

To be honest its all got too big. We really want to just tunnel forward on the lode. The flat rock above his head is the side of the lode. The natural roof where the lode has been cut through by hypogenic solution. All nice and cosy though and a better place for lunch.

 

[The Old Ruminator]

Note the tool bench and seat. Oh and the nice tool box. The bench is the downward continuation of the lode left in situ.

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[The Old Ruminator]

The October rainfall peak shown in orange against the previous two years,

 

[The Old Ruminator]

A single part of the lode removed this week.

 

[The Old Ruminator]

Er umm any ideas whats what anyone ?

 

[braveduck]

Er umm any ideas whats what anyone ?

Crystals are Calcite ,Dog tooth spar .

 

[Babyhagrid]

Out of interest, do you have the mineral rights for the area to be extracting ore?

 

[Space Doubt Caver]

Er umm any ideas whats what anyone ?

It looks like either Pink Quartz or
rose quartz.

It is created when some silicon ions within the quartz crystal lattice are replaced by trivalent aluminum ions and pentavalent phosphorus ions.

The most common impurities that cause the pink color are manganese, iron, and titanium.

So depending on where is is from, will give a good probability of what causes the colouration.

 

[The Old Ruminator]

Out of interest, do you have the mineral rights for the area to be extracting ore?

Its not actually an ore as the word "lode " is a misnomer. Basically its Baryite with some Chalcocite but I dont think that the crystal forms are Calcite.