They found what they were looking for. Earlier interpertations say the entrance in the top was a defensive action.
I couldn't force myself to post this one.
As a retired miner who worked for Newmont Gold (Carlin Gold), I understand just where this idiot is coming from. The environmental assessment done before the Gold Quarry Pit was opened traced the local plants and animals back some 20,000 years through varied climates and conditions. The Native Americans impact was minimal because the environment was generally harsh and difficult.
The impact of the mines (and there are a lot of them) is minimal except in the actual pits and mill sites which comprise a tiny percent of the land. However there was a constant stream of environmentalists photographing the open pits and the supposed poisoning of all with cyanide. You repeat something long and often enough and it becomes fact.
The height of absurdity was reached when the EPA turned down another company I worked for, Magma Copper's application to mine and restore the old Ruth Pit on the grounds that it would due irreparable damage to the landscape of the area. Ruth Pit is yet an empty hole in the ground that will never be reclaimed because it was closed prior to the reclamation laws.