Professor Bruno Courtemanche and Dr. Elizabeth Levac along with students Henry Mitchell and Rhodric Anselmo Mendoza Hayward from the Department of Environment, Agriculture, and Geography (EAG) at Bishop's University are travelling to California to map the historical mines of Cerro Gordo.
Located in the mountains above Death Valley, California, Cerro Gordo Mines include 48 km of underground galleries surrounded by three chimneys (spaces completely mined to remove silver ore). The multiple levels are accessible through a 900-foot vertical shaft with an old mining elevator. Currently, Level 86 is the only level easily accessible directly from a surface opening. Historical accounts suggest there were multiple access points.
American entrepreneur and Cerro Gordo Mines owner Brent Underwood purchased the historical ghost town to preserve the past and create a tourist attraction. His efforts have brought awareness to the site through his YouTube channel: Ghost Town Living and his New York Times best-selling book with the same name. Underwood will feature this expedition in a future episode of Ghost Town Living dedicated to mapping the mine.
With this trip, Professor Courtemanche and Dr. Levac are providing an experiential learning opportunity to students Henry Mitchell and Rhodric Anselmo Mendoza Hayward allowing them to apply their knowledge from their Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing course.
The small team of Bishop's EAG supported by other students from the campus, will create a 3D model of the landscape outside the mine using drone photogrammetry associated with a 3D model of the mine using a lidar (a 3D laser scanner).
The objectives of this project are:
1. To make a site virtually accessible to the public via a web portal.
2. To map the galleries to digitally preserve the past.
3. To determine if any of the 48 km of galleries are close to the surface, potentially creating new secure access points by opening a gallery from the surface
The data collected during that field data acquisition mission will be used in multiple course projects throughout the academic year.
