I'm glad you were in there with Karl, its a very dangerous mine and he knows what he is doing. It was a copper and lead mine from the 1960s through to the early 1970s, but parts of the mine date to the 1880s. The site is hugely contaminated, particular the tailings area outside - heaps of zinc and lead in the tailings.
What is with the blue PE pipe that was laid throughout much of the mine? That looks quite new. Was it part of the rehabilitation what was performed a few years ago, to stop leachate into the local streams, or something?
Very interesting! I had no idea that the once grand St James Theater had fallen into disrepair like that. Although it has been 27 years since I left Auckland; I can certainly remember going to the St James, and other Queen St. cinemas back in the day. (Usually on a Fri night). Back then, going to the cinema was the only way to see a movie! (That was even before VHS!) Thanks for posting!
Thanks @Aaron.Montrose, great video (new sub here also). I wonder if that small hole you climbed through might have been a hole dug to allow any guys behind it to be rescued after the adit collapsed. That heavy round plate with bolt holes in it that you found on your way out might have just been a blanking-off plate for a pipeline which was subsequently extended further as they continued the drive.
I worked in the mine 14 years ago we put the small dams in to stop the shaft flooding while we cleared out the blocked shaft. We abseiled down and spent good part of a year good to see the place again
Ive been waiting for you to put out this video for ages. Looks a lot wetter than when I went in. Youre totally mad walking out over that stope, no way I would have gone over there. One slip and youd have never survived. You probably would have made the news though. Even made it hard for me to fall asleep while thinking about it. It was good to see further down the other direction, I thought it was all collapsed. Hopefully Ill be back into things at the end of the month. Im thinking of doing a more thorough search in the Waiorongomai area
Yea I've been procrastinating too much, finally working through my footage now. it's dodgy but all good in the end haha. Yea, there must be loads more in that valley with the tramway going through there.
Hi Aaron, my name is Mark, I was previously a resident of NZ (Auckland) for 26 years from 1971 to 1997 and now reside in the US. I recently stumbled across your channel and really enjoy this type of thing. Thanks for posting, I will surely be watching from now on! Please keep it up!!
Cool video. It was good to see past where I got to. It looks pretty dodgy in a few places so Im glad theres no reason I need to go and have another look.
I have some plans from 1969 and was on Ruakaka No. 3 level, they show 4 and 5 below and I think they're 200ft apart. No proper shafts to the surface, but it is open in places - marked as old workings. There's a ~400ft crosscut joining the Ruakaka and Champion veins on No. 5, completely flooded but Champion 3 and 4 have their own entrances - videos to come of both.
The thrash room was used for many gigs including the band Hello Sailor, you can see the stage area, a viewer that saw my video told me this information a few years back
Nice 1 hello from Australia opal miner here. What you where walking along is called a main haulage adit hence all the ore shutes that transferred material from the higher levels this was one busy mine me thinks. New sub here, if going into a mine you haven't previously explored get a pack of sidewalk chalk and mark arrows in your direction of travel on the walls in case you get lost. Its not like tagging as the chalk is environmentally friendly and its better than looking around going holly shit which way did I come. Hint number two always and I mean always without fail trust your gut feelings when in abandoned mines if you think its 2 sketchy stop turn around and live to explore another day. Good idea to wear your multi air and gas meter low down on your waist as dead air pockets and most sulphides ect form near the floor I see so many explores wearing them high up on their lapels about the level you breath at bit late then. @ 27:11 bag through first with air monitor attached wise move , but I digress people tell me I do that. Last point when going in on your own which is not suggested let people know where you are going, the coordinates and time you intend to be back and get yourself a piece of orange or yellow tarp to lay at the entrance or portal held down by rocks and a cheap compact led strobe off ebay, helps the services find you at night or even during the day , first responder emergency services here. @31:48 calling it was wise decision , that is extremely nasty failed ground and highly unstable ,I would have called it when that timber failed and the gopro battery failed. Happy exploring stay safe.
Heya, thanks for the sub! I've got a couple more videos from this mine coming once I find the time to edit them - including one where I join a couple other explorers and we push further past that nasty bit, we separated ourselves in case something happened. Good tip on the chalk, I'll keep that in mind thanks. And yea, I do check in with someone before and after with my plan, coordinates, and a picture of the portal. Cheers for the tips!
Really cool video dude cheers. Me and friend have been exploring a few mines here in whangamata... nothing as cool as this yet. One question where have you found maps?
Thanks mate! I can't say publicly as I don't want to be responsible for others, but it sounds like you might have a bit of experience so flick me an email and we can chat. Email is in my channel details.
Watching your video right now. Its weird how much more water there is than when we went down. Also youre totally mad walking over all that false floor past the broken ladders. It looks really cool though😅
@@StevenAverage perhaps not the best idea in hindsight but at least I'd be on top of the rubble if it did collapse! Also there was a ladder at the first chute which had disappeared when we went back - wonder what happened to it...
I used to live about 5km from that factory down Kuranui Road. The old bloke that owns it wanted something in the region of $450k for it. Another mate of mine used to own it but suggested it was not a financially viable investment given the cost involved in disposing of all the asbestos. If you were to follow HWY 26 toward Hamilton and take the next road on your left 'Harbottle Rd' go the the very end, there is an abandoned quarry with some cool structures, weigh bridge etc and outstanding lake also an abandoned shearing shed at the gate entry ;-)
