Headgear-a-plenty

One of the things as ubiquitous as mountains in the basin and range, are abandoned mines, here is a few pics of a mine on the way to the rig.

I was hoping for more sunlight on the far mountains (which I have to drive around to get to Winnemucca). The headgear of the mine stands out on the horizon as you drive by, a nice 4x4 trail leads up to it. I'm not too sure what was mined here, but from the spoils that are piled all around, I would judge some kind of sulfide ore, most likely cinnabar, I found several small pieces of the red ore around, mixed in with the hydrothermal alteration of the native rock, possibly a phyllite.

A view down the mineshaft, showing the rails for the carts, whoever mined here was not claustrophobic.