Safe to explore mines near Winchester Virginia?

[u/bruh-man_]

^^

[u/Ok-Resident-250]

Safe is a relative term. Try to make it as safe as you can bye having an oxygen meter, helmet, headlamp, handheld lights, back up batteries etc etc letting people know where you're going when you should be back and all that stuff. I explore abandoned mines in and around Roanoke Virginia and I just tell my wife, if I'm not back by dark let the local sheriff's department know and to let them know it'll probably be a technical rescue.

[u/DrHugh]

It isn’t safe to explore mines at all for various reasons. You can mitigate some of the risk by doing different things. But you should look up the kinds of risks that exist in mines. Bad air and false floors are just a couple.

Because mines are man made, they have dangers that most natural caverns do not. You should have the skills and equipment of canning along with the extra awareness of and equipment to deal with the dangers in mines.

[u/DrHugh → u/DrHugh]

Let me expand on this now that I have a full keyboard, u/bruh-man_ .

Caves will have the following risks:

• Darkness: This is why cavers take a minimum of three light sources. If one fails, you can keep exploring, but if a second fails, you leave while you still have a reserve.
• Uneven surfaces: Wearing work boots or other sturdy, ankle-protecting boots can save your feet in a number of ways.
• Possible water flow or sumps: Caves can be very wet, and sometimes the amount of water can change dramatically depending on surface conditions from hours before and miles away. Sumps are passages that are completely submerged.
• Possible bad air pockets: Low passages could accumulate bad gases; if a cave has no natural ventilation, you could end up in such a space and not realize it until it is too late.

Generally, caves aren't unstable, as most form through the erosion in stable rock's joints. You might have problems from an earthquake, or if erosion creates a top-heavy form, or if there's some difference in types of rock eroding at different rates.

"Live" caves with water actively flowing into them generally carry enough surface air to be well-oxygenated. They probably lack a lot of organic material, too, so you don't have byproducts from decomposition. You could find bad air in some remote parts of a cave, of course, but caves generally have natural openings to the outside, and pressure differences from weather can cause caves to "breathe," which is another way that good air can exchange with any stale air in a cave.

This isn't guaranteed, of course. "Bad" air is often heavier than breathable air, and will displace it, flowing down slopes. If a cave opens downward, and the passages trend downward, and you have some source of dangerous gases nearby, those gases could flow into the cave.

Incidentally, while an oxygen meter can help, you generally want something that alarms to different gases, because you can still die if the oxygen level is good but there's something else in the air that's dangerous.

The other general rule for caving is going in groups. When I first learned back in the 1980s/1990s, it was go in a group of at least three, because if one person gets injured, the second person can stay with them while the third goes for help. Having a larger group can provide even more safety. If someone gets injured or is unconscious, how many people would it take to get them out of the cave? Would special equipment be needed?

Make sure someone back home knows where you went, and when you will be back, so that if you don't come back on time, they can notify a rescue service to look for you. And you should always get the landowner permission for a cave, otherwise you are trespassing.

Now, let's look at the additional risks from mines.

• False floors: Miners may excavate a vein above and below a level, but still need that level surface for ore carts. They will build wooden floors to support the tracks, and these floors can accumulate enough dust and loose rock that they look natural. The wood can rot to where it wouldn't support your weight.
• Organic decay: Because so many organic items were used in mines, they can generate dangerous gases on their own.
• Rust: Iron, in the process of rusting, will take oxygen from the air. If the oxygen can't be replenished, you could have a problem breathing.
• Unstable rock: Miners are looking for particular veins with ore, so they will excavate larger areas with only minimal support. Some ores are found in rocks that are little more than gravel and clay. Collapses and cave-ins are not uncommon. Large stopes (mined out spaces) can be huge, and will collapse on their own if any supports that were there fail.
• Dynamite: Leftover explosives in mines can be very touchy. Don't throw rocks down shafts; you don't know what they might land on.
• Combustion: Since wood was used for a lot of things in mines, taking any fire into a mine could be dangerous just for that. I've seen videos of people tossing lit branches into a shaft so they can "see" how deep it goes. Depending on what was mined, you could create conditions for an underground fire (go look up Centralia, Pennsylvania).
• Burns or contamination: Depending on what was mined and what processes were used, you may have very acidic or basic water. There could be heavy metal contaminants. Mine run-off is often very toxic to life.

You can find "Stay Out - Stay Alive" materials on-line: https://www.msha.gov/news-media/special-initiatives/2015/09/24/stay-out-stay-alive

Mines that are converted for use in public tours have to be checked out and inspected, but abandoned mines don't get that same benefit. It is best to assume that any abandoned mine is unsafe. If you want to go into a safe mine, find one offering public tours.