It is possible that water could be a concern, if they open the lid of the mine it may be susceptible to water. My understanding is that placer claims are where large water sources deposit gold as they rush by, so by virtue of being a place water would want to naturally occur then you probably wouldn't want to expose it to more water.
I have no mining experience, I am just making a conclusion. I more than likely am wrong. Spit balling here.
Isn't that what the Lawry shaft is? It's quite a distance from the mine entrance. If you read the article the lateral shaft is, in some places, 9000' under the surface.
Have you viewed the mine site in Google Earth? It would be awfully difficult and expensive to build a surface road on some of the mine property in the direction of where the gold is. IMO, there is nothing wrong with this picture. NBRI is in good hands.
The mine entrance is located at 39°31'6.51"N/120°50'48.71"W
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