Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine

I love my Mother Earth. And I have always seen an open pit mine as an abomination. And yet, I have willingly moved next door to one.  (click on pictures to enlarge - the photos do not capture the immense size of the equipment being used or the pits being dug!)

Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine seen from the sky.
The towns of Cripple Creek and Victor are marked.

Someone once said that until mankind quits devouring minerals like they were candy, mining and open pit mines will be necessary. A very true statement.

Gold was discovered in a gulch outside of Cripple Creek in 1890. Within five years the town had grown to 8,000 people. The neighboring town of Victor was founded in 1894 . By 1901, at the peak of production, there were 500 mines in the District and $77 million in gold had been taken from the ground. 

Gold production continued until it tapered off in the 1920's, with a brief resurgence in the 1930's. World War II saw a halt to all gold production. In 1995 , a new process of gold leaching was developed and extraction began again at the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine. But this time the ore wasn't coming out of shafts, it was being mined in an open pit. 

I am not going to give a lot of details about the early days of gold mining here in the District. That is a story for another series of posts. What I am going to write about is the modern day mining which is currently taking place just over the hill. The current owner of the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine is Newmont Mining Corporation, a world wide mining company.

Pit located on northeast section of mining area. This pit is now used for rock disposal.

An open pit mine is just what it sounds like. A great big hole in the ground that keeps getting bigger because of the rocks (minerals/ore) that are being taken out of the hole. Blasting (with explosives) is done which loosens the rock near or just below the surface of the ground. Large heavy equipment then takes out the loose rock to be processed. This process of blasting and hauling rock is repeated over and over until the ore is all extracted. Roads are built around the sides of the pit to allow the heavy trucks to drive down to the bottom.

This hillside is being stripped down to bare ground and will soon look like the photo below.

The gold found here is not in the form of a nugget or dust. It is found mixed in with other minerals and must be separated from these other components via a leaching process. The ore bearing rock is sent to a crusher then on to a mill for processing. Once the rocks have been milled down to a more manageable size,  they are then taken to a leach pit where the precious minerals are extracted. A diluted Potassium Cyanide solution is sprayed on the crushed gold bearing ore in the leach pit. The cyanide trickles down through the rocks, binding with the gold and silver. At the bottom of the pit are carbon filters which trap the cyanide/gold mixture. 

Leaching area

Once the gold and other precious minerals are trapped in the carbon, it is then sent to another processing station where the gold, silver and other minerals are separated from the carbon and smelted down into bell shaped forms called dores. These dores are then sent to a refinery in Switzerland so the gold, silver and other minerals can be separated.

The rock which has no mineral value is loaded back on to dump trucks and taken to a part of the pit which has already been mined. There the rock is dumped and the mountain begins to take shape once again.

Disposal pit with roads running around the sides.
Dump trucks can be seen bringing rocks to be dumped.

Dump truck bed now being used for a viewing platform near the disposal pit

We frequently follow tankers carrying potassium cyanide up the mountain road to Cripple Creek. Never see the gold shipment leaving the mine though. Wonder who's riding shotgun on that stagecoach?

On Monday, I will write about the new exploration going on at the mine and its impact on the local community. I'll also write about the community involvement of Newmont and the most important part of the mining process - reclamation.

Mountainside near disposal pit that has been reconstructed.

The Round Towers of Ireland

The Round Towers of Ireland have been an enigma for centuries. Many researchers have mused that the towers were built by early Christian monks to be used for a variety of purposes; relic storage, belfries, lookout towers or even sanctuaries from raiders. While Christian monks may have utilized these towers for their own intents and purposes, the towers' true purpose may have been far from what modern day researchers believe.

Let's begin by looking at their construction. The round towers are built using a double wall method. This building style was common in ancient Rome but the Romans never made it to Ireland. At least no evidence has been found of Roman habitation in Ireland. The mortar used to hold the stones together is also of Roman design - a mixture of sand, lime, horsehair, and oxblood. A recipe not far from modern day mortar mixes but much stronger.

The stones are not always from local sources. All the towers which have been studied are constructed from paramagnetic stone.

Be sure to check out the February issue of Alternate Perceptions magazine to read the complete article!

Weird Wednesday ~ Plastic Eating Fungus!

A fungus has been discovered in the rain forests of Ecuador that consumes polyurethane, a polymer that is used in the making of everything plastic and synthetic. And it can do this in an environment which does not contain oxygen!

Every year more than 33 million tons of plastic is discarded every year by Americans! Of that, roughly 6.5% is recycled and 7.7% is combusted in waste-to-energy facilities. This fungus, Pestalotiopsis microspora, may very well be the answer our society has been needing.

Link to various articles - read more!

Contemplations

I have read several posts and articles of late about disconnecting from the grid and from the mind set of our current society. 

I'm first going to point you to a great post about a woman who for the course of more than 3 months disconnected herself from the interwebs. Click here to read what Chris Holly wrote!

Next is an article about staying connected. But not via technology, but the old fashioned way -  by spending time face-to-face with other humans. Click here to read what Michelle Nijhuis wrote about living in an off-grid community.

In the September 28th edition of The Sunday Stew, The Good Green Witch wrote about the disposable world we now live in. And how this 'disease' is spreading in great leaps and bounds.

And finally, I ran across a book entitled, "As In the Heart, So In the Earth" by Pierre Rabhi . I haven't read the book but the synopsis sounds right on the money - ecology can only flourish where there is spirituality. A desert in the mind and soul of humanity will subsequently cause a desert on Earth.

I wondered if these ideas were all connected. Maybe. 
I could get into a long complicated theory of isolationism, consumerism, and probably half-a-dozen other "isms". But I'll spare you my soapbox speech and just say, it is NOT healthy for us or the planet to become isolated from each other and what is happening in and to the World around us is certainly not healthy.  Limit that 'screen' time and get outside more! Spend some time talking to your neighbor - face to face! Go hug a tree or walk barefoot through the grass (or sand or dirt). Practice a deliberate way of Life. And your soul will be nourished - and so will Mother Earth's! 

Cave Digger

The Art of Ra Paulette

Babes In the Woods

A new type of daycare has opened in the heart of London - an outdoor nursery located within Highgate Wood. At Into the Woods Outdoor Nursery, the children spend most days outside enjoying fresh air, imagination and a unique education. 

The benefits of outdoor play have a positive impact on children's lives - 

1. There is a certain freedom in outdoor areas. Children playing and learning in an outdoor environment are more active, more motivated, and have a more motivated attitude towards learning. 

2. Children are less inhibited outside. They are more willing to join in discussions and play and come out of their shells.

3. The Out-of-doors is the perfect learning environment. It lets children utilize all four of the means by which they learn - movement, play, talk and sensory exploration.

4. The outdoors allows children to receive the physical exercise which is so crucial to healthy bodies and minds!

The daycare is for children between the ages of 2 1/2 and 5. They spend the majority of their time outside, even in inclement weather! The only time the children will be inside is if there is high wind or extreme cold. 

I saw first-hand how outdoor classrooms assist children in learning. When we lived in Arkansas, we lived next door to a small country school. The school owned 10 acres which they utilized as an outdoor teaching aid. All teachers - math, history, science, english - would bring their students outside to experience Nature. The teachers all said how the kids retained the knowledge learned while outdoors and the lessons taught indoors would sometimes go in one ear and out the other side.

I wish more schools would follow the lead of the Into the Woods School.

Weird Wednesday ~ Earth Songs

Ever wonder what songs the Earth sings? 

Below is a recording made with sensitive recording equipment at the deepest accessible hole in the world which is located in southern Germany.

This recording was made by Dutch artist, Lotte Geeven with the help of National Geographic. The hole is estimated to be over 9000 meters deep - that's over 5 1/2 miles!

Click here to read more! 

Seed Library

A decade ago, a librarian in New York had a wonderful idea to add seeds packets to the library where he worked. People can 'check out' the seeds in the Spring and then return them in the Autumn after harvest. Since then the idea has taken off and now there are more than 150 similar programs in place. 

The purpose is to connect people with heirloom plants which will grow in a regions specific climate. People take the seeds in the Spring, plant them, and then once the plant has gone to seed the gardener will return the seeds to the library. 

And I'm lucky enough to have a Seed Library located very close at hand! 

Check these links to see if there is a Seed Library close to you.

Hudson Valley Seed Library

Sister Seed Lending Libraries

Talking to Plants

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Do you talk to your plants? I do.
Do your plants talk back? They will if you listen closely.

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George Washington Carver discovered over 300 uses for the peanut plant. He said that he was told of these uses by the plant itself! Some people may feel this is quite far fetched but to those who are in tune to Nature, it is quite normal to have a conversation with a tree or flower or bush. Perhaps if we slow down and listen with our heart and soul rather than our ears and our mind, we will hear what the Flora is trying to tell us.
Experiments have been conducted on a plant's ability to communicate and the response of plants to Human interaction. These experiments have been performed by a variety of scientists worldwide as well as by 'lay people' like the Mythbusters. It has been proven again and again that plants will respond to certain types of noise better than others. Is it the actual noise or is it the vibrations created by the noise to which the plants respond? 
Scientists in China discovered that crop plants will increase their yield when sound waves of certain frequencies are broadcast to them. The frequency levels at which plants respond are well out of the range of human hearing. 
Plants also communicate among themselves, usually by scent. This has been proven again and again. But do they 'talk' to each other? In some sort of way that resembles human conversation? Maybe. A team of researchers are currently studying if some plants have specific requirements for sound and if some plants are more talkative than others.

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Plants having the ability to communicate brings about another question. Do they have an intelligence? Do they have a soul? This is a topic that could cause quite a stir.

For over a 100 years, botanists have documented similarities between plants and animals. Which leads to the conclusion that plants are intelligent beings who can communicate not only with each other but with animals and humans. In fact the bond between a plant and a human can be so strong that the plant can sense things about its human, even if the human is many, many miles away.

Kinda gives a whole new meaning to "Tree Hugging".

Click Here to Read More about Plant Communication!

And Definitely Click Here to Read about Plants and their souls!

Weird Wednesday ~ Dog Poop and Magnetism

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Researchers from the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague recently spent a two year period observing 70 canines while they 'did their business'. After watching 1,893 defecations and 5,582 urinations, the researchers came to the conclusion that dogs prefer to do their No.2s along the North-South axis under calm magnetic conditions. When the magnetic field was in flux, any directional behavior by the canine was absent. 

This would explain why sometimes it takes forever for your Pooch to find just the right spot to relieve himself.

The results of this study prove that magnetic fields can impact animal behavior causing scientist to take the magnetic field into consideration when performing experiments. Biologists and Physicians will also have to consider the effects of magnetic storms and magnetic fluctuations on living organisms.

Read the whole article Here!

Cat Tales ~ Early Domestication of Humans

Mommy read Me a story off the Interwebs the other day. It was about the early domestication of humans by felines in China. Of course the article wasn't written that way. The article said that Cats had been domesticated by peoples. But We all know Who Domesticated Who!

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New evidence has surfaced showing that Cats in China were possibly domesticated as far back as 5,300 years ago. Over 3,000 years earlier than originally thought. The bones found were the size of modern day house cats and smaller than the wildcats of the region. Scientists did tests on the feline bones and found that one of the cats ate food high in agricultural content - like the food people eat. {Or the nasty cheap cat food that Daddy sometimes gets when Mommy sends him to the grocery store - Me gets even with Daddy when he does that by laying smack in the middle of his favorite spot on the couch! Daddy then bribes me with Catnip so I'll move}
A jaw bone had well worn teeth which indicates death at a ripe old age. Something that couldn't have been achieved without a warm safe place to sleep and food to eat. 

Yes, domesticating humans was a good thing.

 Click Here to read more!

Purz and Catnip Dreams .......Gomez

There's a Little Witch

Florissant Grange

In September, I attended a class about home remedies using native plants and things found in the kitchen. The instructor was Mari  Marques, a certified herbalist. Mari is also known as The Thymekeeper .  She attended school in Boulder and practiced for many years to obtain the knowledge she has about herbs, oils, tinctures, and native plants. And her mental encyclopedia is quite vast. I am hoping she'll have more classes as time goes by. I would love to soak up some of the knowledge she is so willing to share.

She made cough syrup during the class and kept up a constant dialogue about herbs and their uses while she was cooking the concoction. I could see in my mind's eye how this very scenario may have occurred so many times throughout history - a Wise Woman teaching her pupils the ways of healing.

As I glanced around the room of the old Grange, I saw an assortment of people taking notes and absorbing the knowledge that was being given. And I was reminded of a saying from one my favorite movies (and probably one of yours as well!), 
Practical Magic. 

There's a Little Witch in All of Us.


Cough Syrup
**This is meant for information purposes only**

Hibiscus Flowers  - 1/4cp (vitamin C source)

Anise Seed - 3/10 oz (healing to lungs)

Cramp Bark - 3/10 oz (anti-spasmodic)

Ellacampane - 3/10oz. (anti-spasmodic)

Wild Cherry Bark - 3/10oz (reduces fever)

Grindelia - 1 1/2oz (helps relieve phlegm build-up)

Osha Root tincture - 1 oz (all purpose healing agent, promotes sweating & expectoration, antiviral)

Echinacea tincture - 1/2oz

Honey - same amount as water used to boil bark/root/seed mix

Marshmallow Root Powder - 1 TBLSPN (relieves sore throat, good for mouth ulcers)

Brandy - non-flavored 1/4cp (used for a preservative)

1. Steep Hibiscus flowers & 1/2oz Osha Root tincture in 1 1/2cp boiling water. Let steep while making the rest of the syrup.

2. Place Anise seed, Cramp bark, Ellacampane (root), Wild Cherry Bark, & Grindelia in pan. Cover with 2 cps water. Bring to rolling boil, reduce heat and simmer for approx. 15min - 20 min. Strain through a cofee filter or very fine wire mesh strainer. 

3. Add Osha Root tincture (1/2oz), Echinacea Tincture. Stir well. Whisk in Marshmallow Root powder until dissolved. Measure amount of liquid. Add equal part Honey.

4. Strain Hibiscus flowers through coffee filter or strainer. Add Hibiscus flower water to honey mixture. Stir well.

5. Add brandy. stir.

Store in bottles or jars in refrig. until needed.

Tree or...

Take a good look at the photo below. Do you recognize what the scraggly tree in the center of the photo is?

It's a cell tower. Now why can't they all look so unassuming?

Weird Wednesday ~ The Great White Whale

Migaloo the White Humpback Whale

To learn more, Click Here!  Or Here!

Roliquery

The Art of Amy Brier

Weird Wednesday ~ Glass Beach

A beach located outside of Fort Bragg, California was used as a dump site by local residents in the early 20th century.  Everything from household trash to cars were thrown over the cliffs onto the beach. Fires were lit to reduce the size of the trash piles.

It wasn't until the 1960s that local leaders closed the beach to dumping and began clean-up programs. The worst and largest of the discarded items were taken away but years and years of wave action had broken down the glass and pottery, leaving them with smooth, rounded edges.

Today the beach is part of a California State Park and people are not allowed to remove any of the glass.

Click Here to Read More!

Pendle Witches' Sculpture Trail

In 2012, on the 400th Anniversary of the Lancashire Witches' Trials, an exhibit opened to remember those who were hanged in the biggest witchcraft trial in the United Kingdom. It is the Pendle Sculpture Trail.
To Read More, CLICK HERE! Or HERE!

***No trees were harmed in the making of this sculpture trail!***

witchfinder