Upon entering the Mining Heritage Center, I received a warm greeting from Tom Horton.  After l told him about the past MHA conferences in Ouray/Silverton and in Telluride, the 2025 conference in Gunnison, and my mission to take photos for the MHA website, Tom escorted me to the mining exhibits on the lower lever of the Center.  He challenged me to report back to him on my favorite exhibits. Picking favorites turned out to be difficult because of the large collection and high quality of the displays.

Entering the mining exhibit area, you are immediately surrounded with an array of full-size, rail mounted mining machinery.

A compressed air driven Eimco mucking machine (right) scoops a bucket of broken ore and throws it backwards into an ore car behind it.  A battery powered mine motor/locomotive (left) hauls ore cars to the shaft for hoisting to the surface or to the surface through an adit.

The “San Juan Chute” exhibit shows a chute full of ore from a stope above is ready to be loaded into the next empty ore car.

Drilling holes for explosives was initially done by hand with chisel pointed drill steels and one or two miners wielding sledge hammers. This was called single-jacking and double-jacking.

The advent of compressed air driven drills initially used drill steel with integral bits that had to be sharpened after they were worn down during use.  Removable bits shown below were then introduced.

BLASTING UNDERGROUND AND MINERS LAMPS

The early miners used black powder explosives. When nitroglycerine explosives were introduced and used in cold climates such as at Silverton, it was necessary to prevent them from freezing and becoming unstable. Powder Thawers (AKA dynamite warmers) served that purpose.

When drill holes are loaded with explosives, a fuse is inserted to detonate the explosives.  The fuse is cut to the proper length to provide enough time for the miners to safely leave the area before the blast. Blasting caps are crimped onto the fuse to insure a safer and more successful blast.

(Left) Fuses gave way to electrical detonation of explosives with electric blasting caps and portable blasting machines (detonators) to provide an electric charge.

Teapot shaped oil lamps replaced candles in some mines. Brass flame safety lamps were used to detect explosive methane gas in coal mines.

Carbide lamps provided greater and longer lasting illumination and replaced candles. Today, battery powered electric lamps have replaced all forms of open flame miners lamps.