This core section was created in 1934 while boring an air and service shaft for the Idaho-Maryland Mine in Grass Valley, California. The overseer of this demanding project was mining engineer J.B. Newsome. Reputed to be the largest drill core of its type at the time, each 5 ft. diameter by 7 ft. long solid serpentine section weighs around 9-1/2 tons. The drilling was accomplished with a sophisticated combination of core barrel cutter and core puller. As the barrel slowly advanced, every seven feet, the core section would be broken off and removed with the puller. The power for this came from a 100 hp electric motor driving a shaft through a noiseless link belt and reduction gear. The entire machine, including the operator, was continually raised and lowered with its hoisting gear until it reached the final depth of 1125 ft. In 1954 this core section was transported here by the California Forest Service after it was donated to the museum by M.E. Hammill of the Idaho-Maryland Mine Corp., and at the same time a similar specimen was donated to the Calaveras County fairgrounds, where it remains to this day.