The Oro Denoro Mine
The Oro Denoro Mine is located south of Eholt. Development began at Oro Denoro in 1896 and by 1900 the underground workings consisted of a shaft 229.6 ft deep, and 787 ft of crosscuts and drifts. By 1908 an additional 131 ft of sinking and 65.6 ft of crosscutting was completed.
The most recent excavation, which is located immediately west and south of the old quarries, is an open pit, 492 ft long and 147.6 wide, developed mainly in garnetite skarn at the summit of Oro Denoro's 'Mine hill'.
Production from Oro Denoro, in the period 1903 to 1917, totals 13,6474 tons containing 256.5 lbs of gold, 2100 lbs of silver, and 1864 tons of copper; this does not include several thousand tons of ore shipped to the Phoenix Mill in 1978.
          
 
The main adit
Rail tracks in the lower level
Drilled holes for blasting
View from Mine Hill
Calco Pyrite
Ore cart rusting away
  Stalactites
Dead man's Gulch (Glenside Tressel #66)
Dead man's Gulch is at Mile 18.1 on the Phoenix Line. This Tressel was
672 ft long, 192 ft high with a 14% curve. Abandoned in 1919.
Glenside was a water stop
A couple of cabins not far                                                                                                                                  from the tressel
Great Northern Railway Construction Camp
This GN Rail Construction Camp was located near Bridge #72 (168 ft long) and Bridge #73 (420 ft long) at mile 19.5 on the Phoenix line. Not much in the way of buildings left, but the most interesting site was a Rock Oven, which was completely intact, amazing considering it was built 100 years ago.
Powder kegs
View from bridge # 73, highway #3 below
Rock Oven
Bridge #73
A video of Oro Denoro Mine and Deadman's Gulch
Making Homemade Fire Logs
Double click to edit
Top one has coffee grounds/bottom newspaper and sawdust
I took an ammunition box and cut the bottom out. Cut a plate to fit inside the box, mounted it to the car jack, welded the car jack onto a rotor, and mounted the ammunition box to fit overtop. Then I drilled holes into the ammunition box, so that the water can be squeezed out. The press cost about $20.00 to build.

I filled about one half of a five-gallon pail with cut strips of newspaper. I then filled the pail with water to submerge the paper. I let it soak for a day or two, and then mixed it up. After mixing, I added about the same amount of sawdust and mixed it together. Then I added coffee grounds that were soaking in water. The mixture would be 1 part newspaper, 1 part sawdust, 1 part coffee grounds.

After pressing this mixture, I let it dry for a few days until completely dry. These fire logs can be packed in a box and taken camping in areas where there is no firewood available. Compared to buying firewood these fire logs cost nothing to make.
  Here is a video on making Fire Logs
The War Eagle is just south of the Phoenix pit about 3000 feet.

The War Eagle Mine was first developed by a two compartment vertical shaft sunk to the 100-foot level, which is also connected to the surface by a 329-foot long adit. The ore was delivered from the property by gravity tram to a spur line of the Canadian Pacific Railway just west of the Hartford junction. The Consolidated Mining & Smelting Company of Canada did this work in 1909. Then in 1928, the Hercules Consolidated Mining, Smelting, and Power Corporation Limited held the War Eagle and other surrounding claims. No documentation of production exists for the War Eagle. Production may be included with the Snowshoe or other adjacent mines.
This was the anchor building that held the cables for the tramway
The core sample building
The building where explosives were held
Rooming house
  A video on The War Eagle Mine and Camp  
The War Eagle Claim and Camp



Making Charcoal
Here is a video on how I made charcoal
found near the rock oven
Rock & Mineral Collection-Photo Gallery
Click photo to view
Agate Agate 1 Agates Amethyst
Azurite Basalt Bornite Calcopyrite
Calcopyrite vein Chromite Clorite
Dunite Galena Granite
Granite Prophyry Hematite Hornblend
Jasper Malachite Malachite
Marble Nickel Petrified wood Prophyry
Pyrite (fools gold) Pyrite Pyrite Pyrite
Pyrite Pyroxene Quartz Quartz
Qurtz crystal Sandstone Serpintine Serpintine
Shale Shale Shale Slag from Smelter
Sodalite Sylvinite (Potash) Tigers eye (Quartz)
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Charcoal is produced by  pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the  
absence of oxygen. The indirect method uses an external heat source to "cook"  
organic matter contained in a closed but vented airless chamber (retort). This is  
usually carried out in a metal  chamber (furnace). The indirect method results in a  
higher yield of high quality charcoal with less smoke and pollutants and requires less  
skill and attention than the direct method. The direct method uses heat from an  
incomplete burn of the organic matter. The rate of combustion is controlled by the  
amount of oxygen allowed into the burn and is stopped before the charcoal begins to  
burn. This is the old method used to make charcoal in a pit.
You can cook with charcoal and it will burn better, cleaner and hotter than wood, with  
almost no smoke. Charcoal is used in water filters, air filters, and respirators. Stinky  
water can be purified by boiling it with some charcoal.
Charcoal may be activated  to increase its effectiveness. Activated charcoal  
absorbs  toxin compounds which may be dissolved in gasses or liquids. The medical  
use of charcoal is to absorb poisons from the body. So if you ever happen to eat  
some poison by mistake, take a teaspoon or two of charcoal per day, it may saver  
your life. Charcoal can also be used as a dressing on wounds to take out the  
infection. Compressed charcoal is used in art for drawing. Charcoal is used in  
gunpowder and blasting powders. These powders are made from specific hardwoods  
chard at low temperatures. Charcoal can be made into automobile fuel, charcoal  
burns at intense temperatures, up to 4500 degrees F. The melting point of iron is  
approximately 2200 to 2800 F. Due to its porosity, charcoal is very sensitive to the  
flow of air. The heat generated can be moderated by controlling the air flow to the  
fire. For this reason charcoal is an ideal fuel for a forge and is still widely used by  
blacksmiths. Charcoal is also used in the production of iron Adding charcoal to the  
soil, raises the soil’s pH, improves air circulation and increases the soil’s ability to  
retain water and nutrients.  
The main reason we make charcoal is for fuel and to add to the garden.

Briquettes, typically made from sawdust and other wood by-products, with a binder  
and other additives. The binder is usually starch. Some briquettes may also include  
brown coal, mineral carbon, borax, sodium nitrate, limestone, and other additives. I  
personally don’t like to eat some of this stuff.

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All Photos and text by: ©Vic Boychuk except when noted
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