Wednesday, July 9, 2003

Hi Gang:

I'm doing bookkeeping today and have finally got a chance to sit and write before I have to go off to the bank and few other places. Bill water gunned and I sawed all day yesterday, and we got a fair amount done. Dave R. came by to take a look at the weekly haul and went away with a few pieces.

Byron, Dave and Rob have been cleaning and installing timber all week. The tunnel from the east tunnel to the west tunnel is complete. Dave has spent a great deal of time and energy getting the tunnels connected and it looks like he did an excellent job. We now also have two solid exits from the mine. The Northwest cross cut is coming along as well. That will give us two ways out of the mine when the tunnel is complete. If one portal goes, we will have the second. The Dipper dropped a few tumblers so it has been decided that it has to be timbered before any one goes in again. Hopefully by the end of today all areas will be as safe as possible. Even though we have areas in development, Byron uses the clean up time to explore new areas. It keeps him busy and the mine is constantly giving us new areas to explore. We spent Sunday (my birthday & our anniversary) at the mine trimming and cutting up all the big bits and pieces around the mine. Except for the three great big pieces, the mine was clean when we left. All-in-all, it was a very productive day. I also got to dig a small pocket in the Northwest cross cut, which produced a few knobs and a lot of gravel. Just a hiccup in the rock, really. We saw Rob in the pub later and I told him we had made a great big mess for him to clean up. He said that he was going to be busy on Monday and we would have to clean it up ourselves. Tee Hee. He has a dead dry sense of humor. I think he is enjoying the mine much more than sawing specimens every day. Thanks to David's saw that isn't a problem either. I love it.

We are going on a trip to Wales next Friday - Monday. This will be our semi-annual getaway weekend, so I am trying to put a dent in the bins outside. Cal and Kerith arrive on Saturday. All in all not a great amount going on, but we are going. I have to go to the bank and a few other places, so will sign off for now. Stay safe and happy.

Cheers,

Bill, Byron and Jonina

You see what we saw.

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