Recent Mining Operations 2001-Present

Site #1 - Quarrying off the Frazier to 3D Map the Mineral Horizon at the Big Bill Mine 2002

"Fire in the Hole!" First blast at the Frazier Quarry

But we diverge. From the beginning...

After 250 acres of exploration, drilling a dozen outcroppings to no avail, finally, consolidated rock.

No punch-throughs at 14 feet into dirt beneath. No fault lines, just solid rock as deep as we can drill.

We clear "no more than 1/4 acre" per DNR spec and drill out at the edges. Still solid. This is the original mountain top.

This rock's overburden stays 6 inches or less from the surface even on its downhill slopes.

Time to blast. Clayton decides on the pattern and depth to drill.

Wayne parks the dozer and with the crew loads the drill holes with explosives

The holes are filled, charges set. Easy does it. Safety first!

Every precaution is painstakingly observed.

We take cover. The warning call, "Fire in the Hole", and Frazier Quarry begins.

Such unexpected success makes the next step obvious, namely, to answer, "What is the lateral extent of this rock?" Previous mining of the Big Bill and Little Bill Mines has left a network of criss-crossing roads nearby. No need to push roads into the forest with all that in place. We drill down the service road to the dump at the foot of the Big Bill's twin shafts. But never in a million years would we expect to find what we did that day.