Tiny mine entrance leads to a dangerous discovery. 

My housemates dad was killed by a collapsing mine wall, 10 years ago. I remember when it happened. Its always on my mind that Im never really safe underground

Thanks for that. Youve solved two of my questions at once. Im pretty sure mercury would only cause me a problem if I somehow breathed it in, and surely its only a vapour when heated?

@@StevenAverage My Dad would tell me mercury was poisonous. He new it was used in the extraction process. The pipe you crawled through would have been placed in situ first. Then either concrete or rubble packed around it before fully blowing the entrance. Funny how the powers that be want to deny access. The same thing has happened on old logging Tramlines all the bridges blown and bulldozed. Anyway I enjoy your videos. I hope this helps. Tony.

@@AnthonyLeadley-v6s that is exactly what it looks like was done and would explain why the pipe didnt break when it was collapsed. Thanks again. One of the benefits I get out of these videos is that people like you comment and help me get a better understanding of what ive been looking at

Ive been told that the blue pipes were used to pump in lime to neutralise acidity in the water

He may be wrong, for all I know. He may be right : )

Yep, pretty much makes me want to cry when I think about the time Ive put into trying to make this channel work. I think I was getting better at it and I was starting to get a good number of views. On the plus side, I was being taken advantage of at work, so Im glad Ive put a stop to that. Sad to hear you have also lost your job. We are obviously destined for better things. Ill return as soon as I can, I really miss getting out into the bush. Kia kaha. Thanks for checking in on me

I havent done any proper trained abseiling since high school but am thinking of updating my skills. Its annoying that it looks like all the ladders have been broken on purpose. I guess to stop people like me climbing them. I filmed myself going up the pipe, leaving my camera on a rock outside, so had to climb out backwards to get my camera again. It definitely was a pain, even though i only was a body length inside

@StevenAverage ha ha the joys of filming 🤣. It really is worthwhile getting into the ropework. I used to rock-climb a bit so switching over to SRT seemed natural. If you need advice on the kit let me know.

@@MildaGoesWild thanks. Ill definitely run things past you when I think I might need to rope in anywhere. The more help I can get, the better

@@StevenAverage Those ladders have rotted out decades ago, if you send me a PM, i can provide more info.

@@nzoomed wow, I didnt realise you had gone through and seen and commented on so much. Its really cool. It might take me a bit to figure out how to pm you. Still have other comments I need to read. Ill get back to you

Hey, thanks for watching and subscribing. Im glad you got something out of it. I have plenty of new ideas to go exploring. Just having a little break while I try and find new employment. Ill be back soon

@@nzoomed I had seen that pipe a couple of times before but it never even occured to me to climb in it. It was only after a friend of mine told me it was the entrance, that I went in. That was a fun exploration

Sounds like good advice. I think I could have shuffled out backwards very slowly if I had to. I also knew from another explorer roughly what to expect

@@StevenAverage So kind of you to answer. I was really just expressing my own terror even thinking about being stuck in a tight place. All the best to you!

@@xyz12345457 thanks for watching. I really love engaging with the community around mine exploration so I also appreciate that you took time out of your day to comment. I will try to be as careful as I can : )

You may be right. I may be crazy. But it just may be a lunatic youre looking for : ) Having said that, i knew perfectly well what was down the pipe. Someone else told me

Explorers of natural caves go through even more dangerous situations

@@catherinefrench5128 you are right. Even other mine explorers will push things further than me. I know my limits. This isnt a hobby I want to die for, I just like a bit of danger to make me feel more alive

And thanks heaps for finding the video from comments on Franks facebook pag

I used to explore abandoned mines and knew that slow movement and very acute observations were needed, along with the right equipment.

Ive been told they are for pumping lime in to neutralise the water. I havent followed the other end of the pipes before. I just thought they must go to the tailings dam but maybe they go somewhere else

Thats a great explanation but then I dont understand why gold would be as near to the surface as it is. The mountains were never 5km high. If its just an uplift of the land it still doesnt make sense in my head. Surely the gold has come up a lot higher than 5km?

@@StevenAverage Yes it didn't make sense to me either and you got me searching for the video again, I found it and i have mixed things up with another video regarding porphyry deposits so WRONG! lol After watching the video again, epithermal deposits drop gold out closer to the surface down to 1km depth. Also looking at the video again and watching your videos looks like this is a low Sulphidation epithermal deposit commonly have banded and brecciated quarts veins. High Sulphidation epithermal deposits tend to be vuggy and massive due to the higher PH and mixed with ground water during deposition.

@@NebbieNZ Im going to have to look at some videos about that myself now. Its good stuff I can add to my dialogue as I walk along

I think what youre talking about is the rusty half fallen down shed? It has the remains of some kind of belt driven driven rotating device. Im guessing that it could be part of a ventilation fan. Not sure why they would have needed one but thats what it looks like

Thanks for watching. Yes, i yell at myself onscreen to get off that floor when I watch it back. I think the entrance to the lower area of stope is in the video I did called " new zealands most toxic minesite" or something like that. I didnt get as far as I wanted because I would have needed a rope to go further and to squeeze through a mostly collapsed tunnel. Maybe one day ill have another try at it

Thanks for the tip. I can certainly do that. I love getting feedback telling me how I can improve, without costing a fortune : )

Ive walked up to the mast a few times. Its enormous. Would have been a challenge to get a road to the top, let alone build the giant tower on top