Haul Out The Riches

Haul Out The Riches. . It was one thing to blast, drill and muck up the rock underground. It was quite another to get the rock with the riches to the surface. The most obvious solution was to put the rocks in a bucket of some kind and push, or lift it, to get it out of the mine., Man and Beast were in the mine to bring the silver and gold bearing rocks to the surface. The rocks were sorted and placed in carts or buckets. They were sometimes hoisted to the surface or pushed or pulled out of the mine on tracks. Horses, donkeys and mules provided the power., How many can you find? , As you walk around the Tonopah Historic Mining Park, how many different ways can you find to bring the gold and silver to the surface? Above, an ore bucket is attached to a hoist which was pulled by men or animals to bring up the ore. Find this sign titled "Hoistmen" in the Mining Park for more details., Shafts and Cages, as in the photograph above form the mining infrastructure that is literally hundreds of feet beneath where you are standing., Can you find it? , Where is this ore cart located?, Today, Many Hard Rock mines are Open Pit, as in this photograph of Round Mountain Gold Mine just 60 miles from Tonopah. Gone are the days of animals, small ore carts and buckets. At this gold mine, ore shovels dig, lift and scoop out the ore-bearing rock with more than 100 tons loads., Mining Mules often spent their entire lives in the mines but were never abused. Mistreating a mule was cause for being fired., Electric Power replaced animals to raise and lower the ore carts. Here a cart is ready to be lowered into the Mizpah Mine.,