• Thursday-What'sUP March 20 - 03:32 pm

Even though the official opening for the season at the Quincy Mine isn't for another couple months, Ashlee Harvey and her family took advantage of the warmer temps, to strap on their snowshoes and explore around the grounds. Her boys had a great time walking around all the old mining equipment there and they even took time to throw a few snowballs around with Dad.

What a different perspective you see with the snow still on the ground around everything. Makes you think about our parents and grandparents that worked in the mines around the Keweenaw, winter, spring, summer and fall. I remember as a kid taking a tour of the Arcadian Mine in the summer, with my parents and we had to wear heavy winter weight coats, as the temps inside the mine were around 45°, even though it was warm and sunny outside. So I'm wondering if during the winter months, it stayed at the constant of about that same temperature or if it was even colder underground or perhaps warmer? I'm counting on one of our regular mining buffs to know the answer to that one.

I can not speak for all the mines, but in general the upper levels are similar to caves in that they maintain a fairly uniform temp in the 40 to 50 degree range. This depends on how close you are to the entrance and which way the air is moving.

Quincy however at depth was very hot. If you read the old accounts of workers there. They mostly had to strip down to the waist because of the high temperatures of the surrounding rock. At depth the rock temperature could be over 100 degrees.

It was quit a shock to leave the bottom of the mine at the end of their shift and ride the mantrip to the surface in the winter, but by that time they had their heavy coats back on for the walk to the mine dry house for a shower if they showered at the mine.

If not the long walk home in the snow could be brutal.

Nice pix!

I agree, Mary. I've often wondered what the "daily grind" was like
for my Grandpas working and making their ways to and from the
mines. All those ruins make us think, don't they?

...and the only time I was in a cave was at Ruby Falls at Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga, TN. It too, remained a constant temp year-round of 59 degrees.

Ruby Falls Cave is the only one I've been in also, Alex. A very 'black hole' until they switch on the colored lights. :-O

...yes, black and chilly. I remember loaning my jacket to a pregnant woman who was cold...ain't I gallant? :-)

Definitely, Alex!
When we exited the elevator our daughter, a teenager at the time, dug her fingernails into my arm until the lights came on. Won't ever forget that.;>

Rule of thumb, mines and caves had stable temperatures at any give depth. With the Copper Country mines, especially where there were multiple interconnected shafts, each shaft might act differently. Quincy #2 was an "upcast" shaft meaning the mine exhaled through it. Another mine my Grandfather talked about was the "Ice mine" up the hill from Eagle River (actually a Garden City Mine shaft). As a boy, he and his brothers & cousins would be sent down the shaft (the dip wasn't very steep) to gather ice for summer use like picnics on the beach or at Crestview. This sounds like child endangerment by our 21st century standards, but it was normal 100+ years ago when children over 8-10 were expected to do something useful.

All mines at depth get warmer as one goes deeper. For example, at the East adit level of Quincy (7th level) the air temperature stays a relatively constant 42-45 degrees, year around. But, at the deepest levels of Quincy, that temperature rises to around 100 degrees. It is the same for the Homestake Mine in South Dakota where rock temperatures reached up to 130 degrees at 8,000 ft. deep. And we won't even talk about the Witwatersrand gold mines that are down almost 13,000 ft.!

This rise in temperature has to do with something called the geothermal gradient, which is the rate of increasing rock temperature with respect to increasing depth in the Earth's interior. On average, the rock temperature increases approx. 1 deg. Fahrenheit per 70 ft.

At near surface levels, mines and caves will have a constant temperature that is the same as the average temperature on the surface. Average surface temperature takes into account seasonal variations and daytime/nighttime variations. This is why if you visit caves or mines in Michigan and Wisconsin, the temperature is usually in the upper 40s Fahrenheit. The cave in Texas I take my students to visit is about 68 degrees Fahrenheit. This is simply because the average surface temperature in Texas is much greater than that in Michigan.

This does not hold true in the lower levels of mines due to the geothermal gradient, which Capt. Paul already explained.

Thanks to all of the experts for the explanations. We're lucky to
have you to answer our queries.

Nice pictures, but I feel so badly for you guys.
We haven't had snow on the ground in over a week.
Hope yours is gone soon.

Before hoists were put into service the miners had
to, of course, climb down and up on long ladders.
After taking the Quincy Mine tour, the most
striking factoid I learned was that their hourly
pay did not start until they reached their working
level and ended before their climb out began. Just
part of the unpaid commute to work. I can't
remember how deep Quincy was before the hoists.

D. A....interesting fact about the commute to work. Consequently, if one claims business miles on their tax return, commuting miles to work are not allowed either. I wonder if the IRS got that idea from the mining industry.

I love this comment by Paul,
"This sounds like child endangerment by our
21st century standards, but it was normal 100+
years ago when children over 8-10 were expected to
do something useful. So much has changed in the
last one hundred years."
At the age of ten we had a hatchet and axe in
hand. We split kindling and wood for the stove
that heated our home. Our parents would have
likely been arrested for the list of duties we
had. It made us strong and we knew we were
contributing instead of claiming an entitlement
philosophy that so many have these days.
The photos are GRAND. I love that a family is out
on a journey together, enjoying nature and the
history there in God's Country.

I agree with Paul and you, Brenda. Oh my, how times have changed. Seems we need to be protected from ourselves anymore!:<

Great pics. That is such a neat area to walk around.