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In the previous episode the miners lost power, got stuck in the dark tunnels and Kristen heard the Native American stories about the Dredge and how it may have brought a curse to the entire town. The Native Americans think there is a source of danger that is associated with the mining and that it won’t go away until they stop. But the gold is starting to reveal itself and the miners are digging in deeper in the hopes of some real profits.

It may not have been a curse, but it’s certainly back luck that Sumpter burnt to the ground in August of 1917. A fire broke out and in three hours the entire city and all it’s records were gone. This area isn’t new to tragedy and Patrick heads out the cemetery to see if he can find groupings of headstones that might reveal other disasters that took place in Sumpter. As he looks around he finds Joseph Young, a mason and one of the original Founding Fathers of Sumpter. Is this the Joe they’re communicating with?

Back at the mining camp the guys are sitting around playing cards when there is a massive bang or explosion right outside. It almost sounds like someone lit off some dynamite in the mine. They rush outside to investigate but see nothing. Kristen calls for help, but after checking around her cabin they don’t see anything. Even the thermal imager shows all is quiet. As Kristen does an EVP session asking questions if someone is trying to warn them, there is another loud and distinct bang.

It’s pretty clear these have nothing to do with wood creaking and settling or mistaking a small animal wandering around. It would seem logical that rocks smashed into the cabin, but there are no signs of damage or of loose rocks. Two massive bangs in a row? That’s a new one.

While the miners aren’t going to stop digging for gold they do feel like someone is watching them from time to time. Are they now giving in to the idea of the paranormal or is something actually out there? They’re superstitious to begin with so let’s hope they aren’t letting their imaginations get the better of them.

After the raucous night, Dick and Jamal head back into the tunnel, but make a hasty retreat when they feel cold blasts of air. They’re in a closed tunnel so there shouldn’t be any air flow. Patrick and Kristen discover air blowing in from another tunnel, one that appears to have been sealed off. Are they right next to another mine shaft? It certainly sounds hollow and the air is coming in through small vent holes. You have to wonder, why was it sealed up?

Patrick asks that same question during an EVP session and gets an answer of "Danger". Is this the voice of a miner giving them a warning? Are they simply hearing something in the very faint static of the recording? Either way the miners are actually excited to break that wall down and see what’s on the other side. Stan, the foreman, has to keep them focused on the job at hand of digging for gold.

So there were two massive, unexplained bangs and now a tunnel that looks like it might have been closed off for reasons unknown. The plot is certainly getting thicker isn’t it? Are they on the trail of some deeper mystery or does the potentially sealed off tunnel have a simple explanation? Now that they’re raking in gold and perhaps a profit is something out to spoil their plans? As they remove tons and tons of earth and cast it aside like the previous miners, is the curse being stirred and they’ll be stopped?

Other Articles of Interest:

• Ghost Mine – Shadows in the Drift – S02E11
• Ghost Mine – Secret Passage – S01E05
• Ghost Mine – Vengeful Spirit – S01E03
• Ghost Mine – Wandering Spirit – S02E04
• Ghost Mine – Supercharging the Supernatural – S02E08
• Ghost Mine – Return to Darkness – S02E01
• Ghost Mine – S01E01
• Ghost Mine – Ghosts of the Geiser Grand – S02E05
• Ghost Mine – Town Wide Terror – S02E09
• Ghost Mine – The Final Barrier – S02E12 Season Finale

When we last left the gang there were problems at the town Inn. The families were experiencing activity by seeing shadows and feeling uneasy as they spent the night. Patrick and Kristen went to investigate and had some odd experiences of their own. They didn’t feel there was any danger at the Inn, but they did feel that there was some activity. Meanwhile at the mine, it looks like they might have struck gold. The guys pull out some rocks that look very promising. A vein of gold could be right in front of them.

As they dig deeper into the mine there is trouble with lights and the air compressor. One minute everything is working fine, the next everything shuts off and the miners are plunged into darkness. The miners manage to get themselves out of the darkness and Kirsten and Patrick head in to investigate. They notice the K2 meter is spiking as they ask questions and the temperature has dropped to 39 degrees. Patrick swears he hears the name Joe come through, but when he reviews the tape the name isn’t there.

As a side note there appear to be some camaraderie forming between the miners and the investigators. After jumping in to make the families feel at ease there is a bit more respect between the two groups. I’m sure they’ll share a campfire, but don’t expect any sharing of the gold.

Patrick and Kristen review the video footage of the power outage and notice a large black shadow figure standing behind Eddie. Interestingly, Eddie keeps looking back as though someone is there. For the moment they keep that information to themselves and Kristen goes to speak with a Native American Historian about the land and the mining. He doesn’t have too many kind words to say. In fact, the says there is a curse on Sumpter because of the mining. The land used to be beautiful and full of wildlife. Now it has massive scars from having holes dug and the use of a machine called the Dredge. In his words the Dredge is the source of the problem around here. Without delay Kristen and Patrick go to investigate.

It’s a nasty looking piece of machinery and of course there are stories of workers being killed by it. Miranda the Park Ranger tells the story of a man being pulled into the machine while oiling it. There is another story about two workers who heard footsteps, but when they investigated the source they couldn’t find anyone. She also talks about "Joe" who is responsible for moving tools inside the Dredge. This is the same name Patrick says he heard in the mine. They get permission and set up a full blown investigation in the Dredge. The night is filled with bangs and footsteps. Now, this is an old building that is sitting on water. Let’s not forget that animals of all sorts would be happy to make this place home.

But there is some evidence that may contradict that. They ask lots of questions and get a great deal of activity on the K2 meter. Patrick keeps asking if it’s Joe. While climbing the stairs he runs into what he claims is a full bodied apparition. They don’t capture it on tape and there is a large window right in front of where Patrick is standing. Is it simply his reflection?

On the thermal imager they get a large white figure that appears for an instant and then is gone. Unfortunately Kristen loses her cool here and lets out quite the girlish scream. She was coming across as sturdier stuff than this. But at least she didn’t go running, or fall down the stairs or let out a slew of vulgarities.

So now that they’ve had some experiences they take the footage and show it to the crew. Is it me or does Eddie seem slightly defensive about the shadow figure behind him? Did he sense something was there and he just doesn’t want to say anything? They also show off the thermal image which gets quite a reaction. They even have audio of Patrick asking if it was Joe and a long drawn out "yes" as a response. It seems like they might have caught some interesting evidence. Did Patrick capture his own shadow or is that the real deal?

The miners aren’t quite scared of what they’ve seen, but they aren’t discounting it either. There is a consensus that something could be going on up there. It won’t stop them digging for gold, but they aren’t dismissing or scoffing at the idea of paranormal activity in the mine like they did when the team first arrived.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Ghost Mine – Return to Darkness – S02E01
• Ghost Mine – Secret Passage – S01E05
• Ghost Mine – Shadows in the Drift – S02E11
• Ghost Mine – Supercharging the Supernatural – S02E08
• Ghost Mine – The Final Barrier – S02E12 Season Finale
• Ghost Mine – S01E01
• Ghost Mine – Phantom Wind – S01E04
• Ghost Mine – The Lost Chamber – S02E02
• Ghost Mine – Wandering Spirit – S02E04
• Ghost Mine – Town Wide Terror – S02E09

So we head back into the Sumpter mine to continue the investigation and try to determine what caused the previous cave-in. Was it simply loose rocks or is there something to this Tommyknocker theory? The men are a bit spooked from the previous evidence of what looks like a figure walking across the laser grid as well as the recordings of voices. They aren’t finding gold and tensions are starting to run high.

Because of the dangerous location, Patrick brings in a new device called the RIPA 2 which is an ROV equipped with IR cameras, headlights, video camera and microphone. It’s actually a pretty cool piece of technology. I wonder if we will see more RIPA style devices make their way into investigations. It’s like an additional team member than go into the more dangerous areas.

Patrick maneuvers RIPA into the location where the cave-in happened. They set up to do an EVP session when everything goes dead. The IR cameras go off, the headlights go out and the car begins bucking. Patrick claims he has no control of the unit and none of the controls are working for him. Suddenly, the car kicks back on, the lights come up and it responds to the radio control. Did the vehicle short out? Did something interact with it? Did it simply go out of range? Are there minerals in the rock affecting the signal?

As Patrick is driving RIPA back to base, they notice a shiny object in the dirt and call in the mucker. As they sift through the dirt they find and old miners oil can. They also discover bones. They looks like rib bones. Are they human or animal? That remains to be seen, but they have been sent out to be analyzed.

To try and improve morale, Larry, the mine owner has brought in the families of the crew to spend a couple days at the local bed and breakfast which used to be the local hospital and Masonic lodge. Everything is going well until Jay comes to Kristen and Patrick in need of help. His wife Kate and their son Ashton have seen a dark figure in their rooms. They both claim it was a black mass that looked like man. None of them wants to stay there any longer.

Patrick and Kristen start an investigation with motion detectors on the stairs. They almost immediately go off as though someone is walking up and down. Upstairs is a common area with chairs and TV. The investigation continues as the TV repeatedly turns itself on. Patrick find multiple remotes, but none of them seem to work. EMF levels are spiking in this same area. Is the TV just shorting out or is there something more to that? We’ve seen TVs come on in other investigations. Considering the amount of radio noise today, it may not be that big of a deal.

It is interesting to note that Kristen asks for a sign of someone in the room and the TV coming on is the response. So they have high EMF without a source and a TV going on. Are there simply power surges in the room? Is this just the sign of faulty wiring?

Patrick and Kristen have also set up some letter tiles outside and ask for a name. As Patrick goes through the alphabet he seems to get a blip on the letter J. He does it a second time and sees a blip on J. Interestingly, they don’t try to get any more letters of the name. Perhaps that is simply missing from the footage, who knows.

But they do collect some evidence of EMF spikes, the TV going on and then they have what appears to be a black mist covering a chair in one of the rooms. Kate says that’s what she saw in her room when she woke up. It sure as hell looks like a fog rolling in across the room that’s for sure.

So now they have two locations for their investigation. The Bed and Breakfast seems to have it’s own activity as well as the mine. The B&B makes sense, since it was originally a hospital and certainly many miners lost their lives in there.

Is there something to these events? Is the demolition as the mine causing the spirits to stir? Is there energy trapped in the rock? Does the old hospital have it’s own ghosts independent of the mine?

A lot seems to be going on and Patrick and Kristen seem to be doing a good job with their data collection. I personally don’t think they’re doing enough debunking of the claims and may be jumping to paranormal conclusions a little soon. But overall they seem to be handlings things pretty well and they have a lot of questions that need answering.

I like this more long term investigation.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Ghost Mine – Town Wide Terror – S02E09
• Ghost Mine – Supercharging the Supernatural – S02E08
• Ghost Mine – Phantom Intruder – S02E03
• Ghost Mine – The Lost Chamber – S02E02
• Ghost Mine – Wandering Spirit – S02E04
• Ghost Mine – Return to Darkness – S02E01
• Ghost Mine – Secret Passage – S01E05
• Ghost Mine – Shadows in the Drift – S02E11
• Ghost Mine – S01E01
• Ghost Mine – Ghosts of the Geiser Grand – S02E05

There is no shortage of shows about gold mining and there is no shortage of shows about ghost hunting. So what do you get when you go out on a limb and combine the two? Quite right, you get Ghost Mine.

So what’s the premise? Well, a newly purchased mine is expected to have a last few veins of gold that need to be retrieved. It could mean big money for the owner and for the work crew. However, there is a slight snag – the mine is said to be haunted. The last crew up and left without warning. They were spooked by something and decided now is the time to get out. The new owner still believes there is gold in them thar hills and has hired a new foreman who has hand picked a crew who will brave the spirits and pick out the last remaining bars of gold. But, to be on the safe side, he’s brought in a couple of paranormal investigators to keep an eye on things and determine if the mine really could be haunted or if there are other more worldly explanations. It’s an unusual premise, but it might be world riding along for a little while to see how things go.

Right off the bat there is tension. While the miners are superstitious, they don’t want someone investigating the paranormal while they try to work. Even though the investigations will take place at night, it distresses the miners.

Then there is fact that a woman, and a redhead at that, has been brought on site. We’ve heard multiple stories about miners who said it was a bad to work when you saw a redhead in the street. They show their distress with a multitude of "bleeps" at seeing her. Stay Classy!

But this is what the owner wants so the two teams need to work together. The accommodations suck, the food sucks, the conditions suck and everyone is on edge and hostile right off the bat.

Patrick and Kristen begin by taking readings of the mine before any work starts. They want their baseline reading so they can see if things are getting "hot". Overall, it looks pretty quiet. They do make the comment that the dirt is full of quartz and this might hold on to residual spirit energy and as the miners blast and pick away at it, that energy could be released and activity will increase. Any validity to that?

Shortly after things get going, two of the miners, Duck and Jay begin to hear odd noises from in the mine. Duck, who is actually superstitious and fearful of "tommyknockers" decides it’s time to get out of there. Patrick and Kristen have been watching on their monitors and meet up with him to hear what happened. As they venture into the mine the see a small cave-in has occurred not to far from where Duck and Jay were working.

Patrick and Kristen explain their finders and there is nothing left of Duck but a vapor trail as he hauls ass off the mountain. That’s it for him, he takes it as a bad omen and wants nothing more to do with the place.

The rest of the miners want to know what’s going on and ask Jay and Kristen for some evidence, which they provide. They show the dark figure they captured moving over their laser grid, they play the couple of recordings they have of voices in the mine and explain that Duck and Jay heard tapping right before the cave-in.

It’s not looking too good here. So what are they going to do? Even though they’ve lost a man, they don’t like the investigators and they’re falling behind on the work, they decide to press on and see if they can come up with some gold. They all need the money and while they seem a little edgy, there isn’t enough of an incentive to quite. Families need to be fed and work needs to be done.

I guess we’ll see what happens next week as they go back into the mine and clear the cave-in and make the best of the situation. Is there digging stirring up the spirits or is this mine just a little too old and little too unstable for excavation?

Other Articles of Interest:

• Ghost Mine – Shadows in the Drift – S02E11
• Ghost Mine – Massacre at Hell’s Canyon – S02E07
• Ghost Mine – Return to Darkness – S02E01
• Ghost Mine – Wandering Spirit – S02E04
• Ghost Mine – The Final Barrier – S02E12 Season Finale
• Ghost Mine – Secret Passage – S01E05
• Ghost Mine – Supercharging the Supernatural – S02E08
• Ghost Mine – Disturbance at the Inn – S01E02
• Ghost Mine – Vengeful Spirit – S01E03
• Ghost Mine – Season Finale – Final Thoughts