Today was an informal gathering of IronMiners Mike, Greg, CT Mike and Marc and new member Miner Christina and me as Semiminer to locate and explore the territory of the Augusta Mine in Harriman State Park... Though it was a bit chilly, the hike up kept us warm, and the excitement of discovery kept us motivated! We were able to discover a few water (now ice) filled open cut workings that seemed pretty deep and one small tunnel. It was an auspicious beginning to a new year hoping to be filled with new mine discoveries and good times!!

first mine of the new year and what a great trek, trailblazing straight up that icey hill was pretty tiring but finally seeing the tailings at the top of the mountain made it all worthwhile! the adit made a for a great place to duck out of the wind and cold. there were some areas that made me wish i brought the ice climbing gear too!! maybe we should make ice axes and crampons part of our regular cold weather mining gear -Ct Mike

Yes, this was an exciting find so close to home. Apparently this is one of two Augusta Mines with the other located in Sterling Forest. Its proximity to the site of the Augusta Furnace seems to suggest that the two are connected. The Augusta Furnace was built in 1783 which could date this mine as far back as well.

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to me the larger drill holes in the adit would have suggested a later date for this mine but if the furnace was built in 1783 this must have been mined for a long time there must be many more early mines in the area that supplied it too we need to research this area more.

Yes, this was an exciting start to the New Year. I would have to agree with Miner CTMike about the larger drill holes we found in the adit, however it is always possible that the adit was drilled at a later date to the cut. Unfortunately we didn't attempt to date any of the cuts. Many times areas of known ore are reexplored at later dates to look for additional deposits. It is still very possible that this mine was connected to the Augusta Furnace.

Miner Greg

I have just posted Greg's and my photos of the Augusta Mine at http://www.ironminers.com/mineforum/viewtopic.php?p=108418

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"If you thought old, abandoned mines were only in the west, then you haven't been to IronMiners.com!"

A friend and I were able to find this mine yesterday. I will admit it was quite the lungbuster hoofing it up from the road. I had two questions. One, does anyone have any historical references for this mine? I can't find any. Ransom makes reference to the Augusta Mine in Sterling Forest AND the New Augusta Mine. Don't know what the New Augusta Mine is.

The other question I had was you folks were talking about the age of drill marks. Here is a shot of a drill mark on a piece of ore I found on the mine road that goes off in the direction of Daters Mine (where we walked to next). Is this an old mark or a new one?

It's kind of tough to tell from that photo. Generally the easier to tell drill marks are complete holes in the rock. Usually older hand drilled marks would be a smaller hole and they may not be a perfect circle. Sometimes if you can see the end of the hole you can see a hand drill mark at the end. A pneumatic drill hole would be closer to a perfect circle because of the repetitions of the hammer in the drill.

Miner Greg

Jackstraw, I usually try to look directly into the drill hole in the direction it was bored. From this vantage point, I look to see if it is a consistent straight and smooth bore. This will indicate that is likely pneumatic. If the bore appears to waver slightly and has a rougher texture, it is likely hand bored. Sometimes poor lighting conditions, mineral precipitation and other factors can make it difficult to tell.

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"If you thought old, abandoned mines were only in the west, then you haven't been to IronMiners.com!"