Dan Regan retires after more than 50 years at SURF and Homestake

The Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) has a surface footprint of about 230 acres. This includes an extensive range of both new and historic buildings. Some of these building sites are just foundations today, others are still in full use, a few are new. 

Dan Regan can tell you a story about each one. 

There is the old Homestake Shop, located on the same spot as the new Rounds Operations Center, where skilled workers did metal fabrication off all types. The old High Building, where high-pressure air was once generated for use with the Ellison Shaft hoisting systems. The Iron House, where metal parts and supplies of all sorts were kept, from brass fittings to steel plates. The Ellison Boiler Building, which once heated the entire Yates Complex.

A trip around SURF’s property with Dan Regan brings buildings like these to life in the stories of those who worked at the former Homestake Gold Mine and who continue to work at SURF today. 

“It was such a privilege for me to have worked with so many amazing people,” Regan said during a drive around the property. “They were amazing in what they did and how they did it. I'm not the only one that's got 50 years in at this place. There were lots of others who spent their whole lives here.”

Regan started at Homestake in June of 1971 as a student summertime worker.  “In those days, there was close to 2000 employees that worked here,” Regan said. “I often worked  the graveyard shift Back then, it was hard to find a spot in the parking lot anytime—day or night—it was full.”

He was hired full-time at Homestake in March of 1972.  He worked straight nights – six days a week, while attending classes at Black Hills State College. He started underground running a locomotive on the 4850 Level hauling timber and supplies from the Ross and Yates Shaft to 4 Winze, an underground shaft that went down to the 6800 level of the former mine. After working seven months underground on the 4850, he transferred to the hoistroom to learn to operate the hoists.  “I started out as a trainee, and I got trained on all the hoists.  The hoist operator job was a good one. It was clean. But it was it was too boring for me,” Regan said. “It takes a special person to be a hoist operator, someone who does not let their mind wander. Mine tended to wander,” he added with a smile. 

“I was just infatuated with that big equipment,” he said. “Those hoists, they were just unbelievable to me. I liked the dirty jobs, crawling around in the hoist drums—reaching up into tight spots and fixing things. It was enjoyable.” 

Within a year, he transferred to the Surface Repair Shops.  Regan quickly found working with his hands offered the greatest job satisfaction. “They fixed everything. They didn't throw anything out,” he said. “One day you'd fix 10-inch water control valves the next day you were on to something else.”

He did an apprenticeship as a Machinist in the Machine Shop and spent time in equipment maintenance.  

Jobs on the surface at Homestake were generally less dangerous than those underground. In later years as a locomotive battery technician, Regan worked both above and below ground. 

In the early 1970’s, industry across the United States had a very different safety culture than today.  “In the year that I started, we had six fatalities of a variety of causes,” Regan said.  “There was so much of it, that you kind of got immune to it. But when you knew the person, or you knew of them, then it was more personal, then it got pretty serious.”

Regan served on the Mine Rescue Team for Homestake and recalls a time when a miner got stuck in a chute, surrounded by rocks. Regan was among those who responded to the call. 

“They were trying to keep the rocks from burying him, they pulled as many as they could back,” he said.  “We set up a rope retrieval system and they were able to get a chest harness around him. We set up a hoist rigging and we pulled him out of there. We got him on a stretcher and hauled him up out of the shaft. He was bruised up, but he didn't go into shock. The Mine Safety and Health Administration awarded the mine rescue team a certificate of life saving.”  

After the gold mine closed in the early 2000s, Regan’s deep knowledge of the facility and his experience working both above and below ground made him an asset to the establishment and eventual operation of SURF.

Early in the selection process for the site that would become America’s Underground Lab there were questions on the stability of the shafts. Regan joined the team that lowered a camera into the shafts, proving they were open and safe for operation. The effort included some on-the-fly engineering; 5000 feet of aircraft cable were attached to a lunch cooler with a hole cut in the side for a camera and lens to capture video. 

“We dropped it down the shaft, Regan said. “My job was connecting the computer cable to the hoist cable with wire ties about every 20 feet. And it was so exciting to see, we were just going nuts. We were thrilled to death to be able to see that the shaft hadn’t caved in.” 

That video captured by this team proved important in making the case for initial designation and funding for the establishment of the facility. Regan has continued to make an impact at SURF over the past 16 years of operation, serving as the building and grounds foreman and helping to ensure surface operations run smoothly. “I figure I have worked 110,000 hours without a lost time incident and driven 69,000 miles going to and from work while living in Lead and Deadwood,” Regan said of his combined time at both SURF and Homestake.  

“It is hard to think of Dan without thinking about dedication,” said Jacob Davis, the Dep. Director for Surface Operations and Utilities at SURF. “Dan has been dedicated to the lab’s success from day one.  His official schedule may not show it, but everyone knows that he has devoted hours toward the SURF mission seven days per week for many years. I’m sure that most people on the property have multiple instances when they’ve ran into an issue and have relied on Dan for help or guidance. He truly cares about the team that works here and has been an important part of the lab’s journey.” 

Davis’ comments were echoed by Tim Baumgartner, the Surface Operations & Utilities Director at SURF. “I have worked with Dan for over a decade and his dedication to our organization is hard to match. Dan has been instrumental in creating many of our processes. His experience and institutional knowledge will be missed. I am thankful for all his help over the years,” Baumgartner said. 

Wendy Straub, the Chief Operations Officer at SURF, added that she appreciates the long history Dan has on this property. “He has had many different roles throughout the years and has a vast knowledge of all operations. I value the stories and memories Dan has shared of the mining days, he should write a book!” she said. “Dan will be greatly missed, especially on a rare Saturday when I would come in to work to hear the music blaring and know I could count on him letting me into the warehouse. I wish Dan much happiness in his retirement.”

In the winter of 2025, Regan took a last trip underground to 4 Winze. The walk back down the same dark drifts where he ran a locomotive as a new Homestake employee 50 years prior. The trip brought to light many memories.  

“I didn't know how much this place meant to me. It’s like the old saying, ‘you don't know what you got till it's gone,’” he said, with a bit of a frog in his throat, while looking over the old cage at 4 Winze. “The emotion of being here today, it’s starting to get to me. It’s funny to get emotional about a bucket of rust,” Regan added with a laugh. 

“But it was the lives, it was the people, who risked their lives here for their families, that’s what this place is about. It's just overwhelming for me to know that I'm one of the last Homestake veterans still here, and how many good people went before me. It’s also heartening to know this place has an incredible future, in many more good people who continue to work here today,” he said.

In retirement Regan won’t be going far from SURF; he lives in the same house where he grew up in Lead.  He is looking forward to spending more time with his family while pursuing his passion for local history. He also plans to spend more time volunteering in the community—which might include the local search and rescue team. There is little doubt, his expertise, and years of experience and knowledge, will continue to make him a cherished member of the Northern Black Hills community in the years to come.