Keane Wonder Mine

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Keane Wonder Mine

Postby BoraxBill » Tue Feb 18, 2014 8:19 pm

Popular Abandoned Mine in Death Valley Closed :curse:
This article is from back in 2008. It was arguably reasonable to close the mine site back then, but now it's six years later and to my knowledge the site is still closed. The situation should have been dealt with in a matter of months and yet it's dragged on for years. What is wrong with the park service? Why can't they get things taken care of in a timely manner?
The closure of the Keane Wonder mine coincides with a recent Department of Interior report on abandoned mines in the western states. The report cites many deaths at abandoned mines that have occurred over the years as people fall into shafts or are asphyxiated in mines with bad air. According to the DOI report, 33 people died in abandoned mines across the West between 1999 and 2007. Many deaths occurred when people fell in to vertical shafts that the DOI calls ant traps.

LINK: http://www.sierrawave.net/1183/popular-abandoned-mine-in-death-valley-closed/
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Re: Keane Wonder Mine

Postby CrustyOldFart » Wed Feb 19, 2014 7:26 am

BoraxBill: Good question! The park is supposed to be open to the public and the Keane Wonder Mine is one of the most interesting sites to visit in the park. It doesn't seem reasonable to make that area off-limits. As I recall it's just not the site, but a couple square miles all around the site that is closed to the public. That's a lot of real estate to just close for such a long period of time!
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Re: Keane Wonder Mine

Postby mrfish » Thu Feb 20, 2014 8:31 am

Keane Wonder Mine is one of the most impressive attractions in all of DVNP. To keep it closed to the public for this long is just plain wrong. I haven't seen a map of all that is closed, but I think Chloride and Big Bell Mine are also off-limits. That's a lot of interesting stuff no one gets to see. The latest Morning Report I could find just says that Keane Wonder Mine is closed due to mine safety hazards.
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Re: Keane Wonder Mine

Postby sandman » Thu Feb 20, 2014 7:03 pm

Why is the Keane Wonder Mine Area TEMPORARILY CLOSED?
Sounds to me that the total area of this closure might cover as much as four square miles. The area on the map appears to be more or less square and it's described as a mile south and a mile north of Keane Wonder Mine. That would be four square miles. That's a huge amount of real estate to close off to the public.
Until the site can be made safer—while also preserving the historic features of the site and protecting those areas used by wildlife—the National Park Service has decided to close the Keane Wonder Mine and surrounding area to public access. The closed area is from the junction of Keane Wonder Road and Beatty Cut-off Road east to Chloride City, and approximately one mile both north and south of Keane Wonder Mine, including Keane Wonder Mill, Cyty Mill, Big Bell and King Midas Mines :king: . For questions or a map of the closed area, ask at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center.

LINK: http://www.nps.gov/deva/historyculture/keane-wonder-mine.htm
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Re: Keane Wonder Mine

Postby wildrose » Fri Feb 21, 2014 7:16 am

sandman: Four square miles is a lot of park to close! Considering that the area has been closed for about six years, I'd have to say that the closure falls into the category of another ridiculous failure of a publicly financed bureaucracy. Oh, well, what's new? When did we ever get what we pay for anyways?
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Re: Keane Wonder Mine

Postby BoraxBill » Fri May 04, 2018 7:55 am

I know that this issue was updated in the Death Valley News thread, but it looks like this thread has been overlooked. So, just to bring this thread up to date, Keane Wonder Mine was reopened awhile back. Has anyone visited the site? What changes were made?
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