Meet the Miners
This is the place to read true-life mining stories, told by the miners themselves. Click on the minerals below to start your mining adventure! Click on small photos to see a full-sized image.
Meet Turquoise miner, Robin Reddick
Meet Crystal miner, Niki Mariskanish
Meet Zinc miner, 'Bud' Wisco
Meet Diamond miner, Jessica Mariskanish
Turquoise miner, Robin Reddick
by Jessica MariskanishJM- How long have you been mining?
RR- Well, I've been mining since I was little. But, not for turquoise. I used to prospect and go panning with my grandfather in Death Valley. He had claims to a gold mine and a silver mine.
I mined for turquoise from 1978-1987. It's funny. Death Valley is shaped like a horseshoe. And on one side I mined with my grandfather. On the other side I mined the turquoise.JM- How long do you mine in a day?
RR- We'd mine from about 11 in the morning until sunset.
JM- Death Valley sounds pretty scary. Is it?
RR- Not really. But, we always had the protection of a gun in a holster filled with "snake load". That's like a buck shot instead of a bullet. You'd have to be a pretty good shot to hit a snake with a bullet. And there are some ugly snakes out there. There are Rattlesnakes, and if they bite you, you have time to get to a doctor. But, the Mojave Green is very dangerous. And he'll look for you, too. One time, a Mojave green had his rear half shot off and the front half kept on coming. There are scorpions and all sorts of things out there.
JM- Is it hard getting the turquoise out?
RR- You have to be pretty careful with turquoise. You don't want to break it. So, you have to do it all by hand with chisels and hammer. You keep hitting the chisel and hitting the chisel. And the rock is pretty hard, so it's very tiring. Really nice big pieces are harder to find. You could be out there for a month and only get about a half pound of nice, beautiful stone.
JM- Why did you choose to mine turquoise?
RR- Turquoise is a very beautiful stone, some is pure blue, and some has a matrix. I really love turquoise. Also, it's very spiritual going out there in the places where you know pre-historic Native Americans also mined. These mines are 12,000 years old. We've found a lot of important artifacts...pottery and picture cliffs from many different cultures, including Mayan and Aztec.
JM- Was the turquoise close to the surface or deeper down?
RR- Well, turquoise runs in veins at varying depths. The turquoise deep down doesn't get radiated by the sun, so it tends to fade after it's exposed. If you use that turquoise, it has to be treated to look good. You can buy treated chalk that passes as turquoise. But, we use the turquoise that's closer to the surface. So, our turquoise is natural and holds its color.
JM- What is a normal day of turquoise mining like?
RR- I wouldn't really say it's normal, compared to other types of mining. It's in the desert. So, when you go, you have to take everything out there with you that you might need. There's no water, no stores, no electricity. Basically, it's very primitive. You take out your water and food and a battery-powered radio.
JM- Where do you stay out there?
RR- There's a cabin that was built from an old abandoned prospector's cabin.
JM- Thank you for letting me interview you.
RR- Any time!
Crystal Miner, Niki Mariskanish
by Ian Barnes
Interviewed by Ian BarnesIB- Where do you mine?
NM- In Hot Springs, Arkansas. There are a lot of different mines there, and I went to lots of different mines. The mine in Hot Springs was the best though.
IB- How do you mine crystals?
NM- I pay a mining fee to get in, and I'm only allowed to stay up on the hills where the heavy machinery that push the excess dirt with crystals inside of the dirt, is not where I am.
IB- How deep are crystal mines?
NM- The crystal mines are not deep at all, because crystals are found and dug up on the surface. The deepest crystals are probably about not even five feet under the ground. The mines I mine are open to the public, so the mines are not that deep.
IB- Why do you mine crystals?
NM- Because crystals are easy to find, and they are really beautiful.
IB- What do you wear when you mine?
NM- We have to wear beat-up, heavy blue jeans, so your skin does not get ripped up. You also have to wear heavy, leather gloves for the same reason. I remember when my friends came to mine with me, and they forgot to wear gloves. Their hands were messed up badly, because crystals are like sharp glass.
IB- What tools do you use?
NM- I used trowels, shovels, and metal picks.
IB- How long do you mine?
NM- I mine from the time I get there 'til they close...we're always last . Trust me. By the end of a day of crystal mining, you are dirty, wet, tired, and your muscles get sore for a week, because climbing all of the hills gets pretty tiring.
IB- Do you have any memories of mining crystals?
NM- I remember when my cousin and I were down over the hills where the heavy machinery pushes all of the excess dirt out of the way. We saw lots of lizards and salamanders down there, and we thought there were barely any good crystals down there. I found this small crystal in the ground that I thought I could keep for jewelry, because it was so small. I kept digging and digging for it, and when there was clay all around it, I knew it had to be bigger than what I saw in the ground. Clay in the ground is a good sign for lots of good crystals. I pulled the crystal out, and this huge crystal bigger than my hand came out! I used picks and trowels to get it out. It was great.
IB- Thank you for the interview.
NM- No problem.
Zinc Miner, 'Bud' Wisco
by the team, JANIL, Alex Bunte, Jessica Mariskanish
Ian Barnes, Louis Nzegwu, and Niki Mariskanish
© Bud Wisco
E- What did you mine?
BW- I mined zinc in Wisconsin. Of course I'm retired now, but, I was the Superintendent of Mines in the Schullsburg Mine. That mine is now closed though.
E- Where did you mine?
BW- At Eagle Picher Mine, in Schullsburg, Wisconsin. And after that mine closed, I mined copper in Arizona for about a year.
E- What kind of tools did you use?
BW- Well, I used just about every piece of machinery there was. There was a lot of it too. At first, I started out drilling, I did that for a while, and then I was above ground. But some of the equipment we used was Jacklegs, core drills, transits, jumbos, compo compressors, explosives, tree trimmers, (or cherry pickers), cat end loaders, drill holes, throver pumps, roof bolts, torpedoes, trucks, crushers, jigs, lamps, and a whole bunch of other stuff.
E- How deep were the mines?
BW- The mine that I actually mined were around 350 ft deep. But the inclines down to them were 850 feet long, with a ten percent grade, so the jumbos and other big machinery could be driven right down to the mine. Incline floors were about 14 feet high, and about 16 feet wide.
E- What were the dangers of mining?
BW- We had an excellent safety record. But, a few accidents did happen. Once one of the huge hauling trucks rolled back down the incline and a man panicked. He ran right in front of it. Another common accident was when people were using jumbos to move the wall, and made the roof fall. If the guy had stayed on the jumbo, he would have been okay.
E- What was it like in the mines?
BW- It's pretty chilly and wet. But, it wasn't too bad. It was pretty dark down there too, before we had the lights in. I always loved going down into the dark mines. The mine was really large. Now that it's closed, it's full of water and all the access areas are filled in with rock and gated, too.
E- What would you wear in the mines?
BW- Well, you'd just wear everyday work clothes that you'd expect to get dirty later. You'd basically wear pants and a dirty shirt, and a hard hat.
E- What was a typical work day like in the mine?
BW- Well, first, you went into the Doghouse, that's where we'd change into our mining clothes and eat, then you'd go down. Before they built the incline, you'd get lowered down a shaft. Then you'd do your job, and come back up. After every shift, we put our mine clothes on a chain in the doghouse. Then you'd hoist them up high to the ceiling to dry. And they'd be nice and dry by the time you went down again.
E- Thanks for letting us interview you.
BW- Your welcome.
Diamond Miner, Jessica Mariskanish
by Louis Nzegwu
interviewed by Louis NzegwuLN- Where do you mine diamonds?
JM- The only diamond mine in the United States is Crater of Diamonds in Murfreesboro, Arkansas.
LN- What's the mine like?
JM- I thought it would be an underground mine. But, it wasn't. It was a big, plowed dirt field.
LN- How do you mine for diamonds?
JM- First you have to get ready for the day. You need to wear jeans, t-shirt, sneakers, gloves, a hat and sun block. Because, unless you're sluicing or it's cloudy, you're always in the sun.
You can either walk around the field (I think the Star of Arkansas was found that way), looking for the shine, or you can dig for them. We did both. But, mostly, we dug.
We dug up dirt into a five gallon bucket. Then, we took it over to the sluice to wash it. We got really wet! ...and really dirty, too. Then we dumped the cleaned ore onto the table and look for the diamonds. Whenever anyone finds a diamond there, a siren goes off.LN- What do diamonds look like?
JM- Well, they're kind of dull looking, and they don't have any sharp points.
LN- What tools do you use to mine diamonds?
JM- I used a trowel, a pick, gloves, water, bucket, and a sluice pan.
LN- When do you dig?
JM- They plow the fields about once a month, so the best time to go there is just after they've plowed. Because more diamonds may be on the top.
LN- Thanks for letting me interview you.
JM- You're welcome!
