Hoodoo

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Hoodoo Mine. Goodsprings, Nevada.

35°47'29.04"N 115°33'9.14"W
USGS Full Report

Primary Mining: Zinc
Secondary Mining: Silver, Vanadium, Lead

Hoodoo Mine is located South of Las Vegas, Nevada. Nearest towns are Jean, Nevada, Goodsprings, Nevada and Sandy Valley, Nevada. Primary mining in the area included: copper, lead, silver, gold and zinc.

Hoodoo mine rests at the valley below Copper Flower Mine. Features of the mine include a collapsing ore hopper and interior tracks still in place. It's not a very deep mine and there isn't much to see worth a special trip, but if you find yourself on the south end of that range, it's worth a stop.

We first visited Hoodoo mine in early 2011 and noticed a strong decomp odor coming from one of the exterior shafts. There were also signs of recent camping activity. Fearing that someone may have lost their life there, I geared up and rappelled down. Luckily, no human body, but there was a young mule deer that fell and died from injuries or starvation.

We returned to the site the next year in the hopes of retrieving the horns. When we arrived, we could again smelled decomp and it was clearly worse. The hide should have dehydrated well enough in a year to be odorless. When I rappelled down to the carcass, I saw someone else came before me and took the entire head. I don't know why someone would want the entire head of an animal over a year dead. It's useless as a trophy. The dehydrated hide, sealed, and slowed the decomposition process, but when they opened the carcass, they released over a year of contained, wet decomp. There are no words offensive enough to describe the smell.

Hoodoo Mine is also one of the mines we've felt shift while inside. The experience is difficult to relate because there's nothing to compare. There was a loud pop with a deep vibration. The vibration is almost like deep bass from music that passes through you. We felt sudden movement, but we couldn't sense a direction. Dust within the mine was immediately suspended in the air. It was a shock to our senses and extremely disorienting. Aside from the airborne dust, inside and out, the mine looked the same. This wasn't a collapse. The whole mine moved. Obviously, this mine should be considered unsafe.