{"id":13192,"date":"2014-12-09T16:42:03","date_gmt":"2014-12-10T00:42:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wkoopmans.ca\/notebook\/?p=13192"},"modified":"2014-12-09T16:42:03","modified_gmt":"2014-12-10T00:42:03","slug":"carolin-mine-british-columbia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wkoopmans.ca\/notebook\/?p=13192","title":{"rendered":"Carolin Mine British Columbia"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Cariboo\u00a0gold rush of the 1860’s is a seminal event in the creation of the province of British Columbia.\u00a0 The idea of finding gold essentially laying within the gravels of an ancient creek bed captures the imagination even today.\u00a0 Placer gold like that\u00a0though is not the only source of the precious metal.\u00a0 It is also found trapped within\u00a0rocks elsewhere in British Columbia, mining of this type is refered to as ‘hard rock’ or ‘lode’ mining.<\/p>\n

\"CarolineMineMineral-9792\"<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

An example of the interesting geology found around the area<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Carolin\u00a0mine sits in such a location near the Coquihalla\u00a0river.\u00a0 While small quantities of gold were removed in\u00a0this area during\u00a0the early 1900’s it wasn’t until the Carolin mine operated beginning in 1982 that a significant amount of gold was removed.\u00a0 43,500 oz are recorded for the 27 month period of operation.\u00a0 Since that time there\u00a0have been\u00a0a number of owners of the mine claims and small amounts of assessment work but mostly the mine buildings and tunnels have been left to decay.<\/p>\n

\"wkoopmans_caroline_mine-9258\"<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The surrounding area is beautiful though marked by human hands\u00a0through logging and mining. Of course without either it also wouldn’t be accessible.\u00a0 It’s never a good idea to go inside an old abandoned mine but it’s clear that the tunnels here are quite stable and do not require any shoring aside from the portal area.<\/p>\n

\"wkoopmans_caroline_mine-9374\"<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

That being said I still left my motorcycle helmet on.<\/p>\n

I have since learned that the different levels of the tunnels are interconnected which also explains the cool breeze traveling through the mine delivering fresh air.<\/p>\n

\"Longsection_Projected-Ore-Zones\"<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The above image is from the New Carolin Gold Corp.<\/em><\/p>\n

On a photography note, when deciding what camera gear to take I had to balance weight verses capabilities.\u00a0 Choosing to use the Pentax K-3 for its resolution and low light capabilities\u00a0was easy but I had a more difficult decision with what lenses to take and which to leave behind.\u00a0 In this case I opted for the lighter weight Pentax DA 18-55 WR and HD DA55-300\u00a0\u00a0WR lenses as opposed\u00a0to the faster and better optics of the DA*16-50 and DA*50-135 but with their greater weight.\u00a0 (The DA* lenses together weigh 608grams more.\u00a0If the differnece was gold it would be worth about $26,000 CAD).\u00a0 608 grams\u00a0may not seem like that much but it can be the difference between carrying an additional lens or a couple small film cameras or the difference between a sore back or not.<\/p>\n

\"Pentax_Lenses-8130\"<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

After 35km of riding around on some pretty rough roads I was pleased with my choice though I did miss the wider angle and the extra light gathering ability especially being without a tripod (those are pretty heavy too)<\/p>\n\n\t\t