A miner, a physicist and an astronaut walk onto a cage…

“When I started at Homestake in 1975, they still had hitching posts for the donkeys on the upper levels,” Charlie Roth says as he walks through my office door.

“What?” I ask, believing I had hit the jackpot.

Charlie laughs. “Yeah. Just kidding.”

“What do you mean you’re kidding?” I say. “That would be a great opening for this story!” We both laugh.

It’s just like Charlie Roth to start the day with a joke.

Roth is in my office for an interview—but he doesn’t really want to be here. He’s a quiet, humble man who doesn’t like to talk about himself. He just wants to get to work. But he’s also been with Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) for 12 years and, before that, 28 years at the Homestake Gold Mine, and he’s retiring in April. And I want to write about him. So, I ask him very nicely for an interview, and he agrees.

Roth began working at Homestake just two days after graduating from Lead High School—a month after turning 18. Working at Homestake was kind of a family tradition—his father had been a shaft boss, four of his brothers worked at the mine and two sisters married miners (he comes from a family of 10 children).

He started as a crusher operator in May 1975. Over time, he transitioned to skipper then shafts man. That’s when he met Dr. Ray Davis, whose Solar Neutrino Experiment resided on the 4850 Level—in the cavern that now houses the LUX-ZEPLIN dark matter experiment.

“The only time I ever talked to Dr. Davis was on the cage,” Roth says. “He asked me my name and then he said, ‘Charlie, what is the atmospheric condition on the surface?’ What he meant was ‘What is the temperature?’ Yeah, I had to think about that for a minute, you know. Everyone else would just ask, ‘What it’s doing outside?’ but he wanted to know about the atmospheric condition.” Roth laughs as he relates the story.

“He was real nice. The first time I took supplies back to him, he took me around and showed me the tank and everything,” Roth says with a bit of wonder. “There’s this huge experiment in this secluded spot. It was amazing.”

When Homestake closed in 2002, Roth didn’t expect he’d ever be back. But just six years later, he went to work for RCS, a construction firm working to reopen the facility. Then in 2010, he moved to SURF where he became an infrastructure technician in the Yates Shaft and, a few years later, a motorman on the 4850 Level. But he steps right back into shaft work when needed.  

Nowhere was his readiness to help out more evident than when the Yates Shaft was out of commission for maintenance. The Yates Shaft is a timber shaft and few people on the property have more experience in that type of shaft than Roth.

“I asked him to oversee the work and share his knowledge to train the shaft crews. He rose to the occasion,” says Pat Urbaniak, Yates Shaft foreman. “Charlie’s vast knowledge about timber, guide and divider replacement proved invaluable. In a couple of weeks his help paid huge dividends. I cannot thank him enough.”

Urbaniak pauses, then adds, “Charlie has been an excellent employee and an even better person. I truly believe if the world had more Charlies, it would be a better place.”

In his role at SURF, Roth moves equipment, supplies and people—and he’s met a lot of scientists and others from all over the world.

“It’s interesting to be on the cage and see this interaction with the scientists from different places,” he says. “I’ve asked them questions about their experiments, but it’s way above my head, so mostly I just listen.” He laughs again, something he does a lot.

One of Roth’s most memorable experiences at SURF occurred on July 10, 2015. It was the day before Neutrino Day and SURF had a surprise visit from Buzz Aldrin. Yup, that Buzz Aldrin. The second man to step onto the surface of the moon. Roth, who had followed the historic Apollo 11 mission on national news, just happened to be the cage operator that day.

“It was surreal,” he says, shaking his head. “I mean, here’s a guy that was on the moon and now I’m shaking his hand, you know? It was just surreal.”

Roth looks at the clock on the wall of my office. It’s 7:12 a.m. and he needs to catch the 7:30 a.m. cage. It’s my cue to bring this conversation to a close. So, I ask him about what he’s going to do when he’s retired.

“I tell everybody, ‘Whatever I want!’ I’ve been working since I was 13. I was a dishwasher at Cedarstrom’s Café in Deadwood, and I made fifty cents an hour. I still have that first pay stub. I don’t know why I kept it.”

I ask him what he will miss most about SURF.

“The people. When people work together, things come out better.”

Roth looks at the clock again. The minute hand hits 7:15 a.m. He looks back at me and I thank him for his time.

“Yup,” he says, standing and moving toward the door. He looks back, waves, then disappears around the corner.