Volume 5, Number 25
June 30, 2002
GOLD PRICES:
ROAD REPORT:
Dry and Dusty!
WEATHER REPORT:
The weather was pleasant again this week. The highs were in the 80's to mid 90's and the lows were in the 50's to low 60's. Only a couple of small puffy white clouds passed by all week.
Gold Canyon, elevation 3000'
Precipitation since 9-1-01 : Rain 55.38" Snow 34.63"
USFS Pacific Southwest
Region 5
Fire and Aviation News
WHO WAS HERE:
Damien was up here on Wednesday. Rick came back up on Thursday and expects to stay until Tuesday. On Thursday, Bud, Joe-ann, Butch, and Josh came down for the day. Shaun was gone the last half of the week but returned today. I heard that Dave & Jo were here but I didn't see them.
RECENT EVENTS:
Casey's Place moving right along toward the grand opening.
Casey's Place has done allot of work remodeling in preparation for their grand opening in August. Their new hours are 6 AM to 9 PM minimum, 7 days per week. As soon as the food menu is available, I will list it hear in full.
Casey's will also be putting my world famous Beer Bottle Collection on display. There are over 2500 different brands of beer in this collection. You can also look forward to a new Casey's Place Web Site which I will be designing and maintaining for them.
Casey's plans on being one of Northern California's best gourmet Bar and Grills. Not only will they be serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but they will also be offering VERY reasonable rates for bed and breakfast too. This should be a very unique tourist attraction in the Mother Lode for many years ahead.
More details next issue.
Solid Waste Fees going up again!
According to the Mountain Messenger, solid waist fees will be going up about $20 per year for residential property owners and dozens to hundreds of dollars per year for business owners. Bottom line, expect your claim tax to increase to possibly double from last year.
Diver finds bodies of missing brothers
Pair had gone exploring in flooded mine shaft in Silverado Canyon.
June 24, 2002
By JOHN McDONALD and ERIC CARPENTER
The Orange County Register
A diver has found the bodies of two brothers who disappeared Sunday afternoon in a flooded mine shaft in Silverado Canyon, the Orange County Sheriff's Department reported.
A specially trained cave diver from the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department searched the abandoned mine shaft for the men.
The two brothers, Nicholas Anderson, 23, and Glenn Anderson, 18, both of Tustin, and a third person had entered the mine off Pine Canyon Trail at about 3 p.m. Sunday, said Sheriff's Lt. Colin Murphy. The trio found their way blocked by water about 100 feet inside the cave. The two brothers are experienced cave explorers who surf and play water polo. They dove into the water in hopes that they could swim past the flooded portion, he said.
The third member of the trio waited about two hours for his friends before hiking down to call police. Sheriff's deputies, aided by a helicopter equipped with special gear for detecting people in the dark, were dispatched and searched the area to see if the pair had exited the cave another way or after their friend left. The searchers found no sign of the brothers.
"It is really hard," said Terry Kling, the mother of the two brothers. She was surrounded by relatives and friends at the Orange County Sheriff's command center at the end of Silverado Canyon Road. "If they get out of this I want to wring their necks and then never let them out of my sight again."
Cave diving is a specialized form of diving, Lt. Murphy said. There is no light and it is easy to become disoriented. Deputies had hoped that the brothers found an air pocket in the mine so that they could be rescued, he added.
There are about 10 abandoned silver and tin mines in the area. Orange County Sheriff's officials said the mines are not closed off to the public but are dangerous.
Davis elected to mine's board
June 25, 2002
FROM: The Union, Nevada City, California
Tim Omarzu
It may come as a surprise to Gov. Gray Davis, but an Alleghany gold mine has added the state's top elected official to its board of directors.
Michael Miller, president and chief executive officer of the Original Sixteen to One Mine, said he would write a letter Monday to Davis informing him of the appointment.
Davis was not consulted prior to the appointment, which was ratified at the mine's annual shareholders' meeting Saturday. The mine is publicly held, but its stock is not listed on an exchange.
Miller, 60, said he is serious about the appointment, and said it would be a good thing for the governor, the state and the mine. The Original Sixteen to One claims to be the oldest continuously operating U.S. hard-rock gold mine, in operation since 1911.
"If he accepts this, he will become a better governor for the state of California," said Miller.
He denies that the appointment is a publicity stunt, though he said legislators told him he should try to publicize his troubles with state water quality regulators rather than expect help from elected officials.
The mine has battled with state regulators over discharges of water that flow into Kanaka Creek, a tributary of the Middle Yuba.
Miller said the mine's water discharge permit issued by the state requires more than 1,400 tests that would cost $60,000 a year - a difficult burden for an operation which is already struggling to meet workers compensation premiums and utility bills and hasn't been able to pay its seven miners for three weeks.
The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board issued a cease-and-desist order in March that requires the mine to meet new federal drinking water standards for arsenic by 2005.
Miller is also unhappy over being named on the permit as the discharger, which he said sets him up for criminal charges over the discharge matter.
"I thought it's only fair play," Miller told shareholders Saturday during the annual meeting at the mine. "I figure while Mr. Davis did not ask to be director, I didn't ask for my name to be on the permit."
Steve Maviglio, the governor's spokesman, said Davis doesn't serve on company boards. That would be a conflict of interest, particularly if the company did business with the state.
All but one of the mine's shareholders who attended Saturday's meeting voted for the six-person board slate that includes Davis. The board meets four times a year and pays directors about $5,000 annually.
Duane Frink, an Auburn shareholder, said he voted against the Davis appointment for a practical reason.
One of the directors named to the board is ill, and since Davis probably won't be attending the meetings, that could leave a four-person board subject to split votes, said Frink.
Ken McNeil, a San Antonio Heights shareholder, said he thought it was an excellent idea because government officials are too isolated from the problems of the business world and don't see the impact of laws that they pass.
Don't forget the Graniteville parade on July 6th.
Actually, I've never been to the event before, but then I never knew about the event either. I definitely plan on going to the event this year. In the past couple of weeks I've had several people tell me about how great it is. Even Nicole had to get into the spirit and draw the cartoon depicting the event below.
This was sent in from Reggie Gould of Gould Engineering
This is a mine that I wrote about in Silverado for the mining Journal,
December issue.
Reggie Gould.......................................................
Wow!
It was exciting to find and read your article: "Lost Below.." about the Blue Light Mines of Silverado. After searching the net for over a year for information & history it was refreshing to see someone besides myself who had the foresight to document their adventures there with photographs!
Some friends of mine have been up to the mines in the last couple of years and had gone in to the level 1 and 3 portals. As it turned out a couple of teenagers asphyxiated in the level 4 portal just a few days ago which is flooded. Apparently they had to dive under in a few places to reach the areas where they had perished. Rescuers determined the O2 levels to be about 5% about 450' in where the bodies were recovered by cave divers. Regrettably there is a petition going around to have all the known portals sealed off so it is not likely I will get the opportunity to photograph the opening in it's current state. Your photographs were great and gave some insight as to the size of the mines there. Incidentally, I enjoyed the photo of your "over-dressed" wife and took great pleasure in showing it to my girlfriend as she does the same thing.
Unfortunately the mill has been torn down by the forestry service in the early '70s and most of the mining equipment had been spirited off to who-knows-where. One of the original ore cars is on display in front of Silverado school and one of the shaker tables you mentioned can still be seen buried in the original mill site.
Anyway, I really enjoyed the article and passed it along to all my friends that had been to the mines.
I have a few contemporary photos of the area on my lame-ass home-brew website showing the current state of the mine at http://www.geocities.com/dash_ripprock/Silverado_Canyon.html
Drew Doyer
ABOUT THE MINE:
I spent the week getting things ready at the Mohawk for Larry's arrival. Damian was up here too helping me muck out the slough to the face.
If any of you would like me to email you when a new issue of "Fire In The Hole" is published, please let me know. TOTALLY FREE as always!
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