Dangerous McCormick Uranium Mine
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- čas přidán 6. 06. 2021
- Recently I went out to Utah looking for some uranium mines. One that I was interested in finding was the McCormick mine. I wasn't able to find any info on mining data sites but I remember seeing a picture of it and it seems very interesting with its steel bracing. In this video I find what I was looking for and I wasn't disappointed.
Music by: The American Dollar
If your looking to buy some uranium ore check out uraniumstore.com
#radiation #radioactive #uranium
I'm 77 years old and when six years old would camp with my dad and my moms cousin at their mines near Moab..had several small mines and had the claim to what became the Rio Algum Lisbon Valley mine..250 employees working 24/7 for 17 years..dad gave it way in 1962...said it was a waste of time spending two weeks a year keeping his claim active...😢
I spent a week wandering the area back in 2006. Did some research and went out hunting the Mi Vida mine. After locating it, I wandered the area you covered here. I took lots of photos of the area and made some tags on google earth and other sites. Easy to get to. Glad that I spent time reading up on Charlie Steen as well. Made me want to know more. Sadly I have not been able to get out there again. Thanks for sharing.
The area is very cool with lots to explore. So far this has been the only mine that remains open in the area that I’ve found.
It's interesting to me that this kind of sandstone landscape is as rich with uranium as it is. I live out near STG and there are a number of old uranium mines out this way, also. Not nearly to the extent that there is in the Swell or around Moab/Canyonlands, but still quite a bit. I haven't personally explored any of them and I think they've been sealed due to the population explosion out this way, but they do show up on some of the USGS maps. Even if they can't be explored (it's unlikely I'd do that anyway), it's still an awesome piece of history.
Cool, the rocks glow!
Another great video! I’m visiting all my radioactive bucket list locations, vicariously through you. Thanks again for sharing your experiences with us.
No problem. Glad you enjoyed the trip.
Stunning landscape
Was able to pin point it quite easy, thanks for saving me a trip, I can't imagine how unpleasant it would be to work in that dusty hole...
Would be quite an experience to work down in that mine.
Dude, thats really awesome ! Thanks for sharing that! i once went out to Arizona looking for a spot just south of Fredonia, I dont know if you ever heard about it but I was told there was very rich ore,
There are some pretty good spots around there. I'll be making a video about a location that is right off the road anyone can visit.
Those strips of iron that you talk about are called mats. The one at the portal with lots of holes is an aircraft landing mat. During the wars, they could hook them together and quickly make an airstrip with them. Back in the fifties, they were used in the mines to hold the ground up. The problem with them was, they were heavy and didn't bend. The other mat could be bent to better secure the ground.
Thanks for that. This mine was the first time I've seen these "mats" used.
PSP: perforated steel plate
There was so much of this PSP made in ww2 that we were still using it in the Vietnam war in the 70’s.
Why would “someone want to hold the ground up”? 😂
Are you walking on the ceilings again?😂
Very cool bro, thanks for the vid.
I was there a couple of years ago as well. I had the same feeling. Did not want to get buried alive. I left it to the bats. I did get a few specimens from the entrance. Great historical place to visit. I agree about the radon.
Smart guy!
Awesome video!!
The Canyon Country Zephyr has numerous articles about these mines that might interest anyone who wants to know the history of the uranium mining in this area. They can be accessed and read online.
What a spicy mine!
that was really neat with the black light! Awesome explore!
That drone shot at the end was really cool!
Thanks.
Really enjoying your content. I was wondering if you could go into more detail on how the different (minerals?) carnatite? were mined or extracted from the rock. Were the miners at certain mines exposed to radiation such that they developed health problems, etc. I don’t know much about mining radioactive substances which is probably why I’m so fascinated with your channel. Keep up the good work!
This mineral looks like autunite, I think.
Same vibes as a ghost hunting channel :D
Great Videos!
Thanks.
This reminds me of some of the old cinnabar stopes that I'd checked out.
Thanks!
Thanks so much. This will give me some gas for my truck on the next adventure. Everything helps.
Shocking, I am from Fiji island, and would like to meet you in future!
Thanks.
good work! I like your video.
Thanks.
That is actually the Brunke decline on the Big Buck claim group. The McCormick mine was part of the Standard Uranium operations on the Big Buck claims and just to the south of this location. More than 24 million pounds of uranium were produced from the very high grade ore deposits mined in this part of the Big Indian mining district on the Lisbon Valley Anticline.
Thanks
Nicely done, m8. I lived in Utah all my life. Had no idea the wonder that was around!
Utah is one of my favorite places to visit. If I didn't live in Montana I would live there.
There are thousands of abandoned uranium mines in Utah, pretty cool stuff to explore
@@reagan6743 cool to explore but it should be done with great caution.
@@RadioactiveDrew definitely. There are lots of adits that are ticking time bombs waiting to collapse
@@RadioactiveDrew Where can I get a Geiger counter like yours? How much are they?
That is so cool! I would love to go find some Carnotite!
I pulled a couple of pieces out of there. Not as active as other pieces I've found in that area.
@@RadioactiveDrew Let me know if you ever want a closer look at some of your specimens. I am a geochemist at Utah State University, and I have access to lots of equipment including gamma spec, x-ray equipment, ICP-MS, etc.
@@andrewlonero8003 thanks for offer, I might take you up on it.
Nice! I want to explore some irradiated places. I don't know why it just sounds fun lol.
It can be pretty exciting for sure.
Awsome! Do you happen to have coordinates I can't find the location, I'll be heading there day after tomorrow
I wonder if breathing the dust your feet stir up is a bad thing.
I think we still have the ore charts and mine maps for all of those mines in that particular area.
There are used to be a 25’ diameter shaft just south of there but I believe they have closed them all off. Most of those mines they purposely pulled the pillars and caved them in. They even been mined back into to see if they missed anything. They did miss a pretty big area that was mined out in the late 80’s early 90’s.
Would be cool to see a map of the mines around that area.
@@RadioactiveDrew I also asked my dad he said that mine you showed was not the McCormick mine and he also said it was in 80’s when they mined the rest of it but all of those mines connected together underground
Yeah, I’ve had other people say the same thing. I’m just going off of mining reports…which aren’t always correct.
Would you be willing to post GPS cords for McCormick, since it’s so difficult to find?
nice work sir. glad u made it out without an extra arm 😂 the UV is the icing on the cake for me. multiple wave lengths we can observe say a lot more than most give credit. bet it felt strange inside that mine.
you ever wear any emf blocking materials while within one of those mines.?
@michaelmyrick6973 emf blocking material won’t work against gamma rays. They are too high energy. They only work with energy waves that have lower frequencies.
@@RadioactiveDrew interesting ill have to test this. silver is a magical element electrum is equally as interesting. i wonder if that's been tested with a charge in the silver as well. not only is it antibacterial it can stabilize water and other things by proxy.
That would scare me to death - makes me nervous watching! Lol
Exploring mines by myself can be a little scary.
we call these exotic silicates
very few people know how to make this useful whence extracted..
there are many more elements with natural charges, too.
It would be really cool if you could hook up with Gly over at Abandoned and Forgotten Places and actually get deep into some of these mines. I've never seen a Uranium mine on his channel, and I'm sure he'd be down for something unique like that
I’ve seen a lot of his videos. Maybe that’s where he draws the line…with uranium mines.
@@RadioactiveDrew is there a special filter for a respirator?
@@george2113 I think radon goes right through filters as its a noble gas, i could be wrong though.
Just a PSA Don't go in abandoned Mine shafts where roof is only supported by a little galvanized metal put there 60 years ago
I hear you loud and clear. But its a risk I have accepted that I'm okay with.
For those that are OMG! with the roentgen (geiger) counter buzzing. Take refuge in the inverse square law and distance. It's the type of exposure that is harmful
@5:00 miners held the rock at the entrance with bacon strips to keep it secure.
I’m trying to find this mine. Do you have the coordinates? (Trying to get some ore samples) I’ve been to other mines similar to this near goblin valley.
I sell ore samples from the area on uraniumstore.com
El silencio es por la radiactividad que hay en esa mina y si, es un silencio extraño.,es como si toda la vida estuviese en suspenso...
Your life might even get CANCELLED!!!
Better torch next time you are in that mine, really interesting
I revisited this site and went back in with a brighter light and looked around a bit more. That video should be out in a couple weeks.
@@RadioactiveDrew thanx , look forward to seeing
Hasn't processing improved with uranium so less rich ore is profitable?
Which drone model are you using? Excellent panoramic shots.
I'm using the DJI Air 2 S drone. Really happy with its functions and video quality.
That’s awesome, I looked at buying one of those a while back, wife was not on board LOl.
Would love to see a future video review of your Thermo Geiger counter, Cheers!
@@englishguy1985 yeah I'm thinking about doing a little review about the Radeye B20 and how it compares to other detectors that do the same thing.
@@RadioactiveDrew I would like to see that review. I have a couple of geiger counters and am also learning as I go.
@@JD-xh6cy That plan is to do a little review on the Radeye B20 and comparing it to something like a Ludlum Model 12 and maybe some other detectors. But that video will happen a little later.
I love that cave but its hot scarey
Do you have lead skin? I'm all for following my curiosity, but I'll pass on the olde intentional radioactive dosing, thanks.
This level of radiation is pretty low.
Dude you’re totally going to regret not seeing what else was in there! I have the same feeling when I leave a mine half explored
I plan on going back there and doing another video about the mine.
Maybe trust your gut feeling and stay out and alive? Just a suggestion and enjoy the landscape in the outside and journey getting there.
@@RadioactiveDrew while I wouldn't suggest an entourage, wouldn't it be safer to invest the mine with a partner?
There are some mines I want to explore that I don’t want to go in alone.
Well, at least you will still be alive!😀
Can even see some white “snow” effect in your camera when you turn off the flashlight to use the UV
Well the ISO was kind of high in the camera so it was mainly noise from the sensor. Maybe some of it is from gamma radiation but this mine wasn't that radioactive to be honest...compared to other uranium mines.
Unfortunately Carnitite, and Tyuyamunite are not fluorescent under ultraviolet light. I do believe that is the majority of the uranium, bearing secondary minerals.
That sounds about right. I think there are different oxidation states of uranium that might fluoresce under a UV light.
Join me next week as I explore the elephants foot and later this month I'll be exploring the four reactor cores at Fukushima
I remember hearing some guy talk one time(or many). Galen Windsor, I think his name was?....
isn't Uranium radio active?
It's possible that the infamous United States Radium Corporation used that mine to to gather carnotite for making their Luminous Radium Paint, they called them "Undark Mines".
They could get radium from almost any uranium mine. Of course the mines with the higher percentage of uranium in the ore was more sought after because they could get more radium out of it. I think the history of this area in regards to uranium mining didn't start until the 1950's. Mining uranium for radium started in the early 1900's. I believe the Temple Mountain area did some mining in that time period specifically for radium. I did a video about the area.
@@RadioactiveDrew Yes, wasn't sure if it was one of their mines but i think the U.S. Radium facility processed half a ton of ore per day, some of the ore was sourced from Utah which was one of several locations the United States Corporation used.
The mineral even looks like the watch paint.
Drew, you should wear an annual dosimeter as you are going into and being exposed a lot dosing. Would they even let you on a plane with a geiger counter?
Yes you can fly with a Geiger counter.
Why would they not?
sweet Jesus that geiger counter is like 2 grand !
👍👍👍👊😎
you can actually see the gamma hitting the camera lens a few times
time stamp? i couldn't see
Go back and watch when the image gets white flecks from the video dropping out when radiation hits camera.
@@user-rs1fo2dd9b 3:18 - 3:46 He's right, you can see small amount of white specs/dots in darkness. It kinda looks like old time grain film. But OP is right as the gamma rays penetrate the lens.
Didn't you guys hear him say " let's see what it looks like under the UV light " ??????...........Or is there something else that could be gamma ray getting into the camera ???...............? Erik
What minerals make the rocks reddish color?
Usually iron.
It sounds like there is a lot of radon in this mine and that is not good for your lungs... Anyway, great video from the exploration. I love the drone shots 😀
The radon was pretty low in this mine. Usually the mines I visit that have a high concentration of radon gas contaminate me and my equipment. This mine didn't do any of that. I did a video about Radon Health Mines and other mines high in radon about a year ago on this channel.
@@RadioactiveDrew incourage as many people as you can to bathe in mercury and dance in a radom storm
we need it these days
@@springchickena1 nothing wrong with going into this mine. Having a rocking fall on you is by far the greatest risk.
Elemental mercury is more or less safe, it's the methylmercury that you need to look out for.
did you find snakes in abandoned mines?
Not any alive so far. I find skins and skeletons.
the more you know .... When can we expect a follow up on this mine ?
The video after next. So in a couple weeks. I already went out there and shot some footage.
@@RadioactiveDrew that's great , also it's good that you came back unharmed .
Have a review of cajoe gmv2 geiger counter
No I don't. I've never heard of this detector.
Please be careful!
I try to be as careful as I can be.
Oh wow a little vein of radium?
Little vein of uranium. You would have to process a couple tons of uranium just to get one gram of radium.
Hey. Get me some of that carnotite!
I have some from this mine I'm going to sell in a couple weeks. I usually sell what I find at uraniumstore.com or at my eBay store www.ebay.com/usr/uraniumstore
@@RadioactiveDrew I did not know the Mc Cormick mine was where it is. I drove right past it a couple of weeks ago. Rats. I went to your website. Did the 70+k carnotite rock come from the mine in the video?
@@ByteSci none of the samples on my site are from that mine yet. I have some from that mine that need to be photographed and listed.
@@ByteSci if you want to see the pieces I found at this mine they are up on the site now. All of the ones that are super colorful are the ones from this mine...along with the petrified wood infused with uranium.
Its odd that both Australia and the U.S.A pull Uranium out of similar looking terrain ( iron rich red rock ) the green glow ! is that the same glow they used to cover aircraft instruments back in the 1940's and ww2
Aircraft instruments used radium, which is found in uranium ore.
What part of the country is that?
Utah, near Moab. There are a bunch of uranium mines out there.
@@RadioactiveDrew very scenic desert🏜
One of my favorite places to explore.
I'm no expert on Uranium or uranium mines but I've heard from a uranium miner that it sticks to your lungs shouldn't you be wearing a respirator?
It’s the decay products that can stick to you…not uranium itself. Usually it’s the decay products that come after radon…the daughters of radon. These are negatively charged and will stick too you. Back when these were being mined they had ventilation to keep the radon concentrations down. But if you aren’t working down in the mine and only doing a quick visit then the risk is very low because your exposure is very low.
Do you carry a hydrogen sulfide detector?
No…but I should. Any suggestions on one to get?
@@RadioactiveDrew H2S and oxygen sensor. Id check Mine Safety PPE.
@raginroadrunner thanks.
Massive exposure, not worth it. Whatever that detector is picking up is probably in the dust floating around in the air
The radiation exposure wasn’t that high. There is a mine near this one that has a crazy level of radon coming out of it. It’s the mine in one of my first videos about radon.
That's exactly right and once it's in your lungs, it stays there for rest of your life. RD is gonna think everything's fine for 20 years or so, until it isn't. Failing to wear a particulate respirator and waving a geiger counter around, while saying it's not that bad, is extremely foolish behaviour. If the rockfalls don't get you, the long-term ingestion of radioactive dust will.
I’m guessing your name is Dangerous McCormick? And you’re exploring a uranium mine?
Hard. Hat.
I know. I wore one when I went back to this location.
Omg. The dangerous uranium mine killed Kenny.
You bastard!
Two words "Radon gas".
You really need a limiter on the audio of your videos. That counter is crazy loud
I put a limiter filter on my videos now.
If the falls don't get him, cancer will!
You would get 5 times more radiation exposure flying from LA to NY than visiting this mine.
You aren’t worried about the radiation?
Not really. Radiation exposure is based on time and distance. I wasn't down there long enough for it to be a problem and the level of radiation wasn't that strong. There is another mine in the area that has a much higher level of exposure due to a lot of radon gas and higher uranium concentrations. Short exposures to medium levels of radiation isn't that concerning to me. There are some sources out there like Cobalt 60, used for medical treatments and food preservation, that could give you a fatal dose in a couple minutes if you were holding it.
After watching this video I found this interesting old video on Radon Gas etc.
czcams.com/video/aOcQaLBbGLs/video.html
🤣👍🏼
The top is unstable..
ГУЛАГ тоже у вас был...
This is what happens when the mine manager is more interested in profit than safety, not organised, over use of dynamite, not supported to last ,timbers, pig stys would last for a hundred years in that environment. Poor mining.
I just went back to this site to film a bit more of the location. There is a lot that has collapsed in this mine. Seems extremely unsafe to go into other sections.
@@RadioactiveDrew do you know if the load was worked out?
I’m not sure. Mining history on this site has been a bit less than the other mines in the area. Most of the mines in the area are sealed up but this one has been left open.
Is this mine called McCormick, or McCormic? The only McCormick mine I can find is a gold mine, and this is listed as McCormic in many places.
The mine doesn’t come up on many maps. But I’ve seen it spelled McCormick on a few. I guess it all comes down to who wrote the info down on the reports in the past.
You should probably be wearing a hard hat!
I just went back to this location to make another video about it. I wore a helmet.
which you had better lighting.
I went back there with a more powerful light. That video should be coming out this week.
Why was there a torch behind you at 4:28? You said you were alone
reflection on camera
That was a lens flare coming from the light I was using.
John Wayne died and a lot of the film crew got cancer from filming by old uranium mines!
That’s incorrect…they got dusted by a fallout cloud from the Nevada Test Site after a nuclear test.
@@RadioactiveDrew ...And the production company hauled sand/soil from the site back to the Hollywood studio for an exact match ("The Conqueror" 1956), and more exposure.
خیلی عالی بود مرررردsded
عالی
Hi Drew, your Geiger counter won't register radon which can be as high as 1 million Bq/m³ in a uranium mine with no ventilation running. 1M Bq/m³ (27,000 pCi/L) is about 5000 times the accepted "safe" level and equivalent to having more than 200 chest x-rays in the 30 mins you spend in there. You are buying a lung cancer ticket in a small lottery.
My Geiger counter that I'm using will detect alpha radiation which is what radon emits. Also it can detect all the decay products of radon which emit alpha, beta and gamma radiation. Based on these readings I can see how much radon is in a uranium mine. I'm not worried about getting lung cancer from visiting these mines. If I was working down in them for long periods of time I would be much more concerned about my exposure.
@@RadioactiveDrew You are missing the point and need to learn a bit about the physics of radon detection. We use radon methods all the time in uranium exploration and your Geiger counter does not work as a radon detector because you are not dealing with a point source of alpha emitters nor gamma emitters as they are spread throughout a volume and a GM detector is very inefficient anyway. You have to use appropriate equipment - horses for courses. Your problem, not mine. Speak to an expert at a modern uranium mine.
@@karhukivi I know the Radeye B20 isn't a radon detector. I have a dedicated radon detector at home to monitor levels when handling items. But I can gauge how contaminated a mine is based on the activity of the air in the mine. There is a mine just down the road from this one that has a very high level of radon in it. I can tell because once you walk in and back out your clothes are contaminated, plus the meter reads around 80,000 CPM in the air. I know its radon daughter contamination based on the decay rates.
Also your dose rate of 200 chest x-rays in 30 mins isn't correct. The radiation that comes from radon is a mix of different types. Usually x-ray exposure is very similar to gamma radiation exposure. Alpha and beta radiation usually don't get factored into dose rates because they don't have the penetrating power that x-rays and gamma radiation has. The majority of the radon decay products are alpha and beta emitters.
@@RadioactiveDrew You are breathing in the alpha emitters with every breath. Once in the lungs they decay to metallic particles that continue to emit even more alpha particles - that is the problem. We use ZnS scintillation cells, polymer film, ionisation chambers and alpha particle spectrometry to measure the total alpha particle count in a given volume of air, which can be residential, soil gas or mine air. I can guarantee that your Geiger counter is not measuring anything that you can relate to radon in air. But you know best!
Old miner here. Completely stupid. You never go back to abandoned workings. 1 cubic foot of sandstone is about 130lb.
Got to get better torches
That’s the plan, when I go back there.
Need better lighting 😉 ! 👌✔️
and videos like this with names on the open mines is why the USGS goes an blasts them close an other rock hounds can never see them. you only have 388 subs an not much reach but edit this out
Yeah, I don’t think so. I’ll make my videos how I want to make them.
You dont want to be contanimated
U spreadin it
In this mine I don't become contaminated walking inside. There is one close by that does contaminate you. Its nothing you can spread and its undetectable in 24 hours.
Better be wearing some lead undies…
This mine was pretty tame. There are others in the area that are way more intense.
Hi guys. Insted of harm innocent people, wont you take a visit at Max Planck institute to find a solution of propulsion or energetic on?. You the uranium mines exploiters or corpotation. Daaammm.
So mining sucks huh?
Where is the women workers if women are so = to a man? Lol
Stop that rotten sound track
I like the music.
Everything was great but you did not need the loud 🔊 🔊 alarm for so long. That ruined the video for me.
Makes you wonder if all the mine workers ended up getting cancer and dying
I don’t think all of them ended up getting cancer. Seems like the ones that smoked had a way higher chance of getting cancer.
why don’t you have any detectors with you???