homestake mine

We were there in June, 2014 on a bus trip, and the visitor center/museum was closed as they were preparing to build a new one. However, a very informative tour guide told us the informative story of the Homestake Mine while we stood on the observation deck overlooking the old open-pit mine. It was an incredible site to see and to visualize how difficult it was to mine such a vast area 100+ years ago. Well worth the stop now that the new visitor center/museum is apparently open.

When we were there they were just starting to build the vistor center and all we had to look at was a small temporary trailer. Not sure if they have tours of the mine or not. We were not offered any and didn't ask if there were. We just walked up to the fence and peered in the open pit of the mine. It's huge and deep. Just like a big hole in the ground. If you are going through Lead stop and take a look.

There's a cool store/ museum here too but make your way outside to the observation deck and take in the view of this old mine, the largest in the area.

Excellent, friendly staff at visitor center. Their trolley tour was over for the season, but the video gave an outstanding historical perspective of the area and mining industry.

This was an interesting tour learning about the gold mining region. Amazing learning about the size of the mines and their current use. This was a surface tour only, there was no access to any of the mines, but also got a small tour of the town. Guides were very knowledgeable, but I have to admit that viewing the "open cut" that they were so proud of made me mad. They completely ruined the mountain and it will never be anything but a complete eyesore from now on.

The tour is most likely good but unfortunately I was not able to view the mine as the staff decided they were not going to operate the 3pm or any later tours the day I drove 50 miles one way to visit. I had checked the website which clearly stated that tours were running to 8am to 6pm daily for the time of year I visited. The staff member that spoke didn't even try to offer an apology. When questioned about the website she said "I have no control over that". In fact they were arrogant and didn't have a clue about customer service.I later spoke to a local business person familiar with the mine and tour operator well and I was told that this was not the only incident and informed about a case where the operator cancelled a tour a late notice because she was tired right in front of a customer.Call before you waste your time driving there.

"Before its closing in 2002 Homestake Gold Mine was the oldest, largest and deepest mine in the Western Hemisphere, reaching more than 8000 feet below the town of Lead." This quote from the Homestake website is one of the reasons I was interested in taking this tour. It is a surface tour only. You will not go down into one of the mines. The tour starts at the Open Cut Mine right at the tour office site. The enthusiastic guide holds your attention even when information gets a bit technical. You will be driven to the top of another mountain and escorted into one of the buildings where the elevators are raised and lowered thousands of feet by cables. The 8000 foot shafts are now being used for scientific research on neutrinos and dark matter particles using Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL) by Sanford Underground Labratory. I was impressed with the size and scale of this operation and found the tour very interesting.Important: Homestake Gold Mine Tour is located at the east end of Main Street in Lead.

Interesting tour of the outside of the mine including the history of Lead. Lots of information about the underground laboratory which has moved in since the mine closed. The tour isn't overly long (about an hour) but is also inexpensive and our tour guide was very knowledgable.

A fascinating history and, although the mine tour bus wasn't running on the day that we were there, we received a very interesting talk from one of the guides at the viewing area of the original open cut, just behind the shop. There was also an informative video of the story of the mine. The original depth at its max was 8,000 ft down. the mining operation stopped in around 2002 and is now used at around 4,500 ft down for the study of dark matter & neutrinos. That area is not accessible to the public. The tours are only on the surface, but still very interesting.

This was an above ground tour of what was the Homestake mine - which is now owned by Barrick (sp?) Gold Corporation. Our guide gave us an in depth history of the miners, their home life, their work life, and an on site tour via trolley bus of the mining camp. We also got to go inside the head frame where the hoist operator runs the cable that controls the lift that goes up and down in the shaft. I loved the part where she explained about the science lab 4600+ feet down where they are trying to isolate dark matter. Note: the old visitor center was torn down - the downtown is undergoing street renovation to last the next year, and instead there is a trailer in a parking lot on Main Street by the visible open pit mine just as you enter town. In the trailer, you sign up for a tour ($7.50 for adults). There are cold drinks, snacks, souvenirs, and a 10 minute video (I highly recommend the video). There are port-a-pottys outside. Very nice staff - you can tip them - they certainly don't solicit it, but we just felt she did such a great job and had obvious pride in her work, that we wanted to. A must see in Lead, SD.

We stopped here and booked our one hour tour then went to Black Hills mining tour while we waited. Black Hills mining tour was a simulated underground mining tour packed with information from a knowledgable tour guide and very interesting for the kids and adults! Then we went to homestake mine tour for above ground tour of the actual mine and equipment via a trolley with some stops. Although the mining has stopped, the Sanford lab is now doing scientific experiments with neutrinos in 8000 foot deep mine shaft. Both tours in combination are good for 2.5-3 hour excursion.

We stopped here while in Deadwood. Did not take the tour, just looked from the parking lot. It is huge. They say the hole can be seen from space. Nice give shop and informative video.

So the best part of the bus tour was the elevator motor building. It may not appeal to everyone, but as an engineer, it was interesting. Equipment built 75 years ago still in operation to get the researchers to the lower levels of the mine. The story of several ethnic communities in Lead was also informative. I was in the area and since Gold was the driving force to create Lead and Deadwood felt that I had to take the tour. Not great, but not a bust.

Tour director did not seem to know her stuff. We knew more than she did at times. It was interesting to go to Yates and see how the elevator system worked,

We visited the Homestake Visitors Center. It was going to be closed the next week for a new building, so not sure what to recommend here. We enjoyed the trolley tour we took, about an hour or so, and a very reasonable cost. The pit is amazingly large, it was hard to fathom the size until we were told a tiny hole we could see was actually 8 feet high. Worth a stop, but they do not to panning here.