I had originally thought to call this piece “Chuck’s Amethyst Mine”. But I changed my mind.

This sculpture is named for Chuck McBride, a fellow in California who seeks out and explores old gold mines from the California gold rush days (1848-1855). We first corresponded when I was seeking reference material on old mining carts for my “Billy Miles Mine” sculpture. Chuck had discovered an old abandoned ore cart in one of the mines he was exploring.

Previously, I created “McBride’s Mountain“, a rendition of a beautiful amethyst geode pictured with an old prospector and a bronze cast ore cart. “Chuck’s Bonanza” is a new sculpture that is a sister sculpture to “McBride’s Mountain”. Both pieces recognize Chuck’s contribution to my work.

I made a new ore cart. This is the same as the last ones I have done. It again is scaled properly for the miner based on Chuck’s original pictures of the cart he found. These carts were of a reasonable size and would come up to a man’s chest when being pushed.

As can be seen, the ore cart in this sculpture can be tipped and opened so as to dump the ore on the ground. The original carts would typically swing to the side so as to dump the ore beside the tracks.

The ore cart has a heat patina to maintain a old worn look. A heat patina is provided by a torch which heats and oxidizes the metal.

The miner requires a brown ferric nitrate patina. The walnut base will be finished with Tung oil.