Tonight I start my first hitch as a crew foreman in the underground mine here near Elko. This is not what I had mind. But as the industry has contracted with the investor money drying up there is very little surface drilling (exploratory) going on anywhere. So that leaves the underground core drilling we do for clients with active underground gold operations.
I have very little experience underground so this is perfect that I am in charge of six drills and a crew of 15. This should also make the drillers who have spent years underground more than a little ticked off that I am their fearless leader. Oh well, tough shit I guess.
This mine is huge and I am pretty sure I will get lost down there tonight. I know where three drills are for sure the others not so much. We drive into this mine and our first drill is about five miles in and the furthest about eight miles, with hundreds of miles of roads and drifts all over the place. It is a busy mine and you constantly have to get out of the way of mining equipment. Noisy, dirty and dark. The other mine we are drilling in is closed down right now because of a major cave-in of the portal. Yee Ha.
