Exploring The Abandoned Fortuna Silver Mine: Mechanical Delights

We wrap up our explore of this abandoned mine with “mechanical delights” in the middle adit… In this case, they take the form of a Hendrie and Bolthoff geared friction hoist. It weighed 1500 pounds and would have produced about 10 hp. The drum was designed to hold 600 feet of ½ inch rope (as a reminder, miners call metal cable “rope”) and it would have been able to hoist 1500 pounds at 225 feet per minute.

I found some good information on Roth & Co. too at the following link:

In case it wasn’t clear in the video, the hoist was for that void dropping down in front of the hoist. As I found out later, that drops all of the way down to that ore chute that we encountered in the very first video (the bottom adit) that the air was blasting out of. Remember that? So, were they hoisting ore out and dropping waste rock down? Or vice versa? Or were the ore chute and the hoist used at completely different times and had nothing to do with each other? It’s impossible to say now… Obviously, a significant amount of work was being done down that pit/winze for the miners to go through the cost and hassle of bringing that heavy hoist into the mine. Think of how much effort simply maneuvering it into place would have taken! So, it feels pretty safe to say that there are some respectable stopes or drifts down there. I would say that this is one where I wish that we had had the ropes with us, however, that ground looked pretty bad around the winze. The concern with being on the ropes in a situation like that is with rocks dropping down on you from above. Even a rock the size of your fist can put a world of hurt on us – or even prove fatal – if it falls a sufficient distance.

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Growing up in California’s “Gold Rush Country” made it easy to take all of the history around us for granted. However, abandoned mine sites have a lot working against them – nature, vandals, scrappers and various government agencies… The old prospectors and miners that used to roam our lonely mountains and toil away deep underground are disappearing quickly as well.

These losses finally caught our attention and we felt compelled to make an effort to document as many of the ghost towns and abandoned mines that we could before that colorful niche of our history is gone forever. But, you know what? We enjoy doing it! This is exploring history firsthand – bushwhacking down steep canyons and over rough mountains, figuring out the techniques the miners used and the equipment they worked with, seeing the innovations they came up with, discovering lost mines that no one has been in for a century, wandering through ghost towns where the only sound is the wind... These journeys allow a feeling of connection to a time when the world was a very different place. And I’d love to think that in some small way we are paying tribute to those hardy miners that worked these mines before we were even born.

So, yes, in short, we are adit addicts… I hope you’ll join us on these adventures!

#ExploringAbandonedMines
#MineExploring
#AbandonedMines
#UndergroundMineExploring

[RolandMitchell]

That hoist is a Compressed air Tail Rope Haulage Engine; that is to say a steel rope that is fixed to the drum and like a fishing Rod reel. Gravity rotates the drum as the rope is being Pulled out: The Handbrake is only used to steady the drum when there is a Heavy Load, like a Mine Car; The Compressed air that Powers the Machine makes a chug chug sound as Both Pistons power the Drum. they are Normally for Pulling I don't think there is a reverse on these Machines where only Gravity will feed out the rope

[captainpicarde]

I really enjoy the way you thoroughly document these mines and show us all the workings and the artifacts you find. Nice job as always.

[williamwintemberg]

Nice winch! It looks to be 100% intact! I'm surprised someone didn't take it apart and haul it out. Great find! As always, Outstanding Work!

[JH]

I'm fascinated by your videos, TVR! Came across the first through a YouTube recommendation and now I can't get enough of them. I like your approach and thorough explanation as you go through the mines. I'm learning a lot about hard rock mining; I'm on the southern edge of the Pennsylvania anthracite fields so I'm only used to coal mines.

[myefhatch]

Awesome video 👍 it's hard to imagine how they get the different equipment down into the mine. That hoist even stripped apart would still have been extremely heavy. Amazing what the old timers did with basic hand tools and limited machines.

[treadmarsh]

As many others have stated, that hoist is cool. Another awesome piece of history.

[johanroodt]

Thanks for another excelent video. As I started working underground on the Witwatersrand gold mines in 1972 and ended up working on the plant of a copper/lead/zinc mine in Namqaualand in South Africa, just about all the terms you use and the equipment you show in your videos are very familiar to me although sometimes we called it by another name. I can just salute those old time miners for their ingenuity and willingness to work in some of those conditions. Looking forward to the next video. Be safe.

[sop]

Thanks for the link to Roth Whiskey. I am a single-malt Scotch drinker myself, but enjoy reading about locally-made whiskey. When you can't find the real stuff, liquid gold could make you a rich man if you sold it instead of drinking it.

[Big_John_C]

You're sounding a bit exhausted bud, is that cute Italian lady wearing you out? 😉

[archstanton]

Very interesting mine. The contrasts in the rock from the Nevada mines is amazing. when you got close to the hoist the first thing I noticed was the wear from a mans hand on the controls. Really brings home the fact that at one point someone, probably lots of "someones" spent untold grueling hours right there, on those controls, working that machine.

I don't think we can possibly overestimate the time, and toll it took on people to bring the fruits of mining to the light of day. Your videos bring us a bit closer to those people and their lives.

[ericcorse]

That hole right before the hoist didn't look too steep till that small avalanche. A hoist like that would be some cool yard art.

[jimacsteelgaming]

I’ve been watching these videos for the past week now and they are amazing. I find it so crazy between how the rocks change within the mine and the stuff you find that the miners and or company left. Totally awesome.

[nickdull]

I found your channel through your Horton mine video while looking for a video of the mine that wasn't someone faking some bs about ghosts.. I found my own gold mine of conten right here, thank you for being real I love the content!

[ashleighnelson]

My gut says the ore chutes were used in the older sections of the mine for both ore and waste rock, being a more primitive and cheaper technology. As the mine payed out or changed hands the hoist was added and likely used for only ore, with waste rock being disposed of through the original chutes.
Keep in mind this is only a guess. 😁 Thanks for another great video Justin!

[chrisackerley]

Joseph Roth founded Roth & Co. in San Francisco in 1859. Primarily a whisky bottler, Roth also bottled Mohica Bitters. Because of it's size, your bottle probably was a one quart whisky bottle. Roth & Co. went out of business in 1919, with the advent of Prohibition.

[fxw]

Also the third video shows a nice exploration of the middle addit of this mine. Thank you Justin for your effort of documenting this mine and also for the additional information in the video description!

[richardbidinger]

I thought you might like to know that your video of the old abandoned Soviet mine where you heard the scream, made it onto Sir Spooks channel for it's paranormal aspect (the scream). I explained to everyone what you actually do, so they would understand that you aren't into ghosts or the paranormal. I was a little surprised to see it pop up on someone else's channel. Who knows, maybe you'll get a few more subs out of it.

[myrrhavm]

Blows my mind every time watching and thinking of the toil and hard work in the middle of presumingly nowhere with little or any technology for what may have been very little or none at all return.

[jonesfactor]

Could you imagine the cable snapping while standing there running the controls 😯

[pauloneill]

Another piece of history a hive of activity to silence decay. The machine of commers a wage a fortune to be made. Them were the days to now an industry in decline so these mines need be recorded mapped shown with modern lights cameras for total craftsmanship that in truth its miners never got appreciate. Cause of the quality of there lights. Top job take care many regards from Ireland.👍🇮🇪☘Godbless/peace🙏✌