Deadhorse Creek Gold Mine

Holy cow... No blog updates for a while now!  This one was such a great ride it must be recorded.  Paul and I have been waiting to do this ride for quite some time.  I found reference to a gold mine for sale in the Mt. DeCosmos area towards the end of the riding season last year.  Now that we have found a tried and true route into the Nanaimo Lakes region without having to use a gate, we decided the time was finally right to go and find this mine.  Actually we attempted to get there a week earlier following trails along the north side of Decosmos from the power lines, but the trail didn't look too friendly.  We walked it and managed to reach the DeCosmos road and we quite likely could have got the bikes through the rocky trail, but we just didn't welcome the struggle.  So, on Sept 29th we made our way through the standard Moriarty Lake route using what we have come to call "the key trail."

Here's our route to #19 (the mine) and back to the starting point at Doumont Rd:

 1.  Stopped and watched some amazing young riders flying over the track at the Nanaimo Motocross Assoc. (Wastelands).  Very skillful riders on that track.  We met up with Ryan there, who was able to join us on his 450 KTM.  VERY nice bike!
2.  Through the tank traps.
3.  Left turn on Branch 142 towards Boomerang Lake.
4.  Past Boomerang Lake, turned right and then right again towards the power lines route.
5.  Headed NW along the power lines.
6.  Right turn to follow Okay Mountain Valley, (on west side of mountain).
7.  Left onto 155 main.  Got to try Ryan's KTM here... WOW!
8.  Turned left off of 155 towards mountain ridge NE of Moriarty Mountain onto 155N.
9.  Left turn towards mountain ridge.
10.  Ridge Trail NE of Mt. Moriarty
11.  Turned right onto "key trail" linking the northern logging roads to the southern roads (thanks Google E).  There's a nasty downhill section full of young alders shortly after this location.  (Might not be easily accessible if quaders don't hurry up and help us in keeping the trail usable).
12.  Down through alders.
13.  Left turn towards Healy Lake.  This was a failed attempt to get through to the DeCosmos roads by cutting past Healy Lk. 
14.  We stopped briefly at the lake to take a look:  Catch and release with non-barbed hooks here.  Daily limit=0. 
15.  Past the lake it began to get pretty steep and rocky.  Too rich for my blood!  Ryan had little trouble blasting through this section on his KTM, but Paul and I would have had much greater difficulty.  Do-able I think, but not without pushing and pulling each other.  :(  Much easier to continue through Nanaimo River Road.
16.  Back onto the main trail and downhill to Nanaimo River Road.
17.  Left turn at the beginning of Second Lake to follow the road leading up Mt. DeCosmos.
18.  Right turn onto mine trail and a sharp left again up a well grown in trail that begins to climb a bit steeper.

19.  We reached the Deadhorse Creek Gold Mine.  The narrow trail comes to an abrupt end where it meets the creek.  You can see the mine opening from here if you look slightly upwards at about 2 o'clock.  You need to climb down into the creek bed, which is about 15ft below you.  Someone has very kindly attached a couple of ropes to a tree to help you climb down about ten feet.  Once down, the entrance is clearly visible to your right and easy to reach.  (It has a flat roof, which I found a bit surprising).  We entered the mine for about 50m and encountered a vertical ventilation shaft that lets a good deal of light in.  From here there are a couple of spurs leading off in different directions.

We discovered that Paul had acquired a large metal staple in his rear tire.  It was pretty clear that a gentle ride out would be the best fix.  Excellent bit of riding on his part, not only in protecting the rim from damage, but staying upright on a tire with broken beads down a pretty bumpy trail.

20.  Luckily, the yellow gate was opened by a truck ahead of us and we escaped through without needing to retrace our route heading north.  We turned left shortly after the main gate and continued towards Doumont on logging roads once more.
21.  Continued along the SW side of Blackjack Ridge.
22.  Right towards Boomerang Lake.
23.  Thru the Tank Traps and out to Doumont to put Paul's sick bike onto Ryan's truck.  ;)

Here's some photos:

Healy Lake

Parked at Healy Lake

 

The end of the trail leading up to Deadhorse Creek.  You gotta wonder how that staple managed to get up there.  Surely nobody would be stupid enough to keep riders away from looking at a mine by puncturing their tires? 

 

Climbing down into the creek bed

Climbing down using the ropes.  You can see the entrance to the mine in this shot:  Look at the tree on the right.  Now look between the two sets of main branches on the left side of this tree.  The darker spot in the gap between is the mine opening.

You can see the mine entrance a little clearer here.  Ryan is pointing his camera directly at it.  I'm standing at the bottom of the ropes where we climbed down.

The mine entrance, (lit by daylight).  Square!?  I thought rounded would have been stronger/safer.  What do I know?

    

In the mine.  Looking back towards the entrance.

Looking up.  This is a vertical shaft about 50m into the mine.  Pretty wet here...  Lots of water dripping into the mine from this spot.  There were a couple of rotting timbers that appeared to be carrying some load at this location.  Good time to watch your step a bit more carefully.  Tons of ventilation happening... No worries about gasses, although I guess that's more of a coal mine problem.

Oh, another shot of the entrance, like it's any different when you're on the way out.

Ryan at the entrance and Paul further back making ridiculous "scary faces" with his little Walmart flashlight.

Detail view of the road past Healy Lk. where we turned back.

Detail view of the DeCosmos road that begins left, right before Second Lake.  The top shows the right turn onto the mine road and the following left turn up towards the mine.

Outstanding ride!  Highly recommended!

(Updated route to this mine with a downloadable track can be found here).

"There's Gold in Them There Hills:" Proposed Route #5

Got out again yesterday and rode the Sundew Gate to Weigles Rd standard route.  It was quite wet but it was fantastic to get out on the bike again if only for a short spell.  I'm amazed at the continued change in conditions on some of the local logging roads:  There are many spots where streams have chewed up the hard packed gravel road surface.  This is nothing new to a seasoned trail bike rider from this area, I'm sure, but it's sure catching my attention lately.  The tank traps really make me laugh lately.  There's a six inch wide route that I like to take through the quagmire... If I mess with my six inch strip, I'm stuck in the goo.  Anyway, I thought I'd post another proposed route today.  Here's another climb up Mt DeCosmos planned for after the snow melts in the spring.  Proposed route #5:

I was surfing the internet, looking at mid Vancouver Island mines, (closed historical sites).  I found an interesting page offering a parcel of land for sale in the Nanaimo region with a proven gold mining site.  The article described the mine site itself to be behind a small waterfall on Deadhorse Creek in the Mt DeCosmos area.  So, I now have an approximate position of the land for sale, the creek and a possible location for the mine/waterfall.  The trail to the mine continues up Mt DeCosmos for some distance to a second summit location which looks like it will offer spectacular views of the Nanaimo Lakes Area.  (Here's the webpage with the land for sale).

Here's some Google screen snags:

The route in orange begins at the end of Second Lake on Nanaimo Lakes Road.  The first "possible location" shown is another reference I found to the mine.  I think this might be an inacurate "within 500m" type of reference that refers to exactly the same mine.  The white squared boundary is approximate location of the mining land that's for sale.  The blue line represents the location of Deadhorse Creek.  The bright green line shows the final spur leading to the summit ridge.  It might be a bit too hairy for a ride, but a hike up this final trail would be well worth it to get to the view.  (Great geocache location too).  Red arrow shows the highest point on the road.  The elevation profile shown at the bottom looks at the orange route from lake to summit, with the vertical line showing the high point (red arrow) position.

Same roads viewed at an angle to show the contours better.

A detail of the creek in blue.  Approximate mine location is shown with the red arrow.

A detail of the final spur road in green.  The red arrow shows the high point in this trail and also the beginning of a section that may prove too difficult to ride.  We'll have to see.

Google Earth view looking East

Google Earth SW View

Two panoramic views from the top of DeCosmos:  The first is a 360 degree panoramic photo and the second is a winter 128 degree panoramic.  Both were created from YouTube videos using Microsoft's Image Composite Editor (free software).  

 
I'm really looking forward to this ride.  Looks like a full day if that mine is to be included in the ride.  Better bring a gold pan on this one!

UPDATE:  We did this ride in the summer of 2012, and we found the mine.  See here for details.  

Road Trip to the Myra Falls Mining Operation, Central Vancouver Island

I headed up the island yesterday with Paul to Campbell River to join a group of thirteen people on a tour of a well-established Vancouver Island mine.  He rode his Suzuki DR650 since the insurance on his Kawi street bike is up and I rode my Triumph since I had one day left!  We stayed overnight in a Campbell River hotel before taking a bus the next morning to the Myra Falls Mine Operation within Strathcona Provincial Park.  This mine has been in operation since the early 1900s, first as an open pit mine and then as an underground mine that extracts ore containing zinc, copper, lead and gold.  The crushed ore is processed into liquid concentrates above ground at a location near the mine shaft and the products are then shipped to customers across the world who process the metals in these concentrates further.

(Click photos to enlarge).  We met at Nanaimo's northern Starbucks after work on Thursday and rode up to the hotel in Campbell River.  (brrrrrr)

Light purple line showing route from Nanaimo to Campbell River on the bikes, (140Km).  Dark purple line shows route from bus meeting place to the Myra Falls Mining Operation, (99Km).

Myra Falls Mine in the Mira Valley, Strathcona Provincial Park

Same angle as above... zoomed in.

Suiting up after our intro and safety orientation.  We were supplied with coveralls, hardhat, ear protection, eye protection, a battery pack and light, heavy duty metal toed boots and a personal air-cleaning device (catalytic converter to convert carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide). 

Topside still... waiting for the green light to go down the elevator shaft.

On the surface still.  The panel here is used to provide the low current needed for explosives detonation.  They refer to a "tag board" of employees on the surface before detonating to ensure that the mine is clear of all personnel. 

The elevator shaft entrance

We're off!

Heading down in the elevator

Stepping out of the elevator at 449m down, (1472ft).  You notice the sudden fall in temperature immediately.  There was a whiff of rock and minerals and the sound of running ground water.  The air was cool and moving quickly.

We began a short walk to a work area where we boarded an articulating vehicle that would take us out towards the main ore body

Riding in the vehicle.  BUMPY AS HELL!

A not-so-great night-vision shot of the shop area where vehicles are repaired and assembled.  (All vehicles and equipment are chopped on the surface and reassembled below in this area.  They transport everything down here in or below the elevator we traveled down in).  

Another bad night shot of the shop area.

Another night shot.  This, (I think), is a robotic arm used to spray concrete over mesh, (as seen in the background), to strengthen newly opened up mine surfaces.  The "robot" is a man-in-the-loop type which uses a master controlling arm.  This concrete shell is seen in many locations through the mine except in those areas where the solid rock is stable and there is no danger of falling rock.  The concrete is mixed with heavy tailings, (unwanted waste rock that contains little or no mineral content).  This concrete mix is also used to back fill spaces that are mined out.  

Another shakey night shot of a typical mine vehicle.  They're all diesel which lowers the risk of explosions.  Emissions are carried off with the return air flow so the smell of diesel fumes is noticeable pretty much everywhere you go. 

Inside a "Refuge Station."  One of numerous stations found in the mine complex.  Once inside the station the door can be sealed to prevent gases and fumes from entering the area.  There's food, water and oxygen available at these sites.  Warning signals are made using a "stench gas" which delivers a "rotten eggs" smell through the ventilation system.  (This is the same smell added to propane, an aroma free gas).  An emergency signal can reach all underground personnel quickly using this low tech system even after other systems may fail.

Well into the mine.  Here's the end of this seam.  The explosives crew has blasted, the concrete crew has put up the mesh and concrete, (which also involves drilling into the rock to install re-bar and plates).  The trucks will now remove the ore before geologists and mine foremans prepare for the next round of explosives.  

Our excellent geologist guide shows a small pneumatic drill

Approaching a T-intersection where a vehicle is transporting ore for removal from the mine.  The yellow "pipes" seen above are part of the ventilation system that carries clean air into the mine.  Air is pushed through the mine using 100 horsepower fans.  The return or "out" air line is the mine itself of course.

Geologists follow the main ore body by sampling and reading core samples.  A driller drills deeply into the rock and removes a long core sample which is carefully broken and placed into long wooden boxes while maintaining the core's original order and composition.  Carefully labelled boxes are shipped to the surface for analysis by onsite geologists.  

     

A diamond drill cutter used for drilling core samples.

Exiting the vehicle on our return to the surface

Walking back to the elevator shaft

Going up!

Back on the surface and ready for lunch.

The elevator shaft from a distance

This is the "mill" where the ore is processed.  The elevator shaft and the mill are connected by a substantial conveyor which carries ore from the mine for processing.  (The mine calls this ore "fine" meaning rock chunks less than 12cm across.  The mill calls this "course" ore.  They begin the process of pulverizing the ore into particles fine enough to be suspended in liquid). 

The end of the conveyor.  The storage hopper for course ore

Steel balls, (1 1/2 inch diameter), used in tumblers to pulverize the ore.  These balls are replaced frequently as they wear down.

A tumbler containing steel balls and ore in operation

A soup made with pulverized ore and chemicals designed to extract specific metals.  Suspended metal particles are skimmed as they overflow on the left side of this photo.  There are many of these vats in operation at the mill, some are extracting zinc, some copper and some lead.  

Large motors stir the tanks of chemicals and pulverized ore

A tall standing elevator/conveyor produces zinc "cake," another product the mine produces along with its liquid concentrates.  Buyers of this product would bake it to extract the zinc.

Gold is extracted using a large bed which essentially pans for gold on a large scale.  The bed is sloped with its low side nearer to you in this photo.  The heavier gold remains on the upper side near the operator.

The operator shows some gold nuggets

The bus dropped us all off in Campbell River and Paul and I began the ride home to Nanaimo.

WHAT A GREAT DAY!!!!