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Archive for the ‘abandoned mines in Ontario’ Category

IMG_6100, originally uploaded by Mic2006.
This is jeff; his glasses all fogged up from the steam. This is what there was behind the waterfall. It is an old industrial undertaking whereby the water up top was at one time diverted though a sluice down through a tunnel into turbines. This particular spot was one of the [...]

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Under the waterfall at night

IMG_6094, originally uploaded by Mic2006.
This is quite interesting - it shows the junction of the Whirlpool Sandstone and the Queenstone shale layer. My good friend SNAFU and I had visited this place on a cold winter night. As we approached falls the noise was totally deafening and the spray and wind [...]

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A surprising abundance of karst features in what was otherwise belived to be a cave desert.

IMG_6818, originally uploaded by Mic2006.
As of late Jeff Mirza, Jeff Collins, myself and my regular caving partner have all been investigating off the caving radar in Southern Ontario - an area that is not generally recognized as “primo” caving ground.
The [...]

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Locals call him “old yellow mane”. 

IMG_1821, originally uploaded by Mic2006.
Though Doug Shier tells me that all roads in the area lead back to Cobalt, I am warned by an older gent in the Silver Load Hotel’s restaurant to be careful out there if I am exploring the ore piles. It was a little cryptic; you might [...]

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Aimsley, in his own wandering way, clarified the matter.

27, originally uploaded by Mic2006.
From amid the leafy screen I wandered into a field of heaped lumber, greying with age and collapsed in piles. I looked for a head structure that might indicate the location of the old shafts I could not see one. Somewhere within the [...]

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Is the rock oozing blood?

IMG_6799, originally uploaded by Mic2006.
Jeff examines the roof within and brings to my attention the oddly stained speleothems. We wondered as to whether the rock was this color due to natural iron pigments in the rock or was it some kind of pollutant leaching from the surface? I recall hearing of [...]

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What on earth is a glory hole?

IMG_1813, originally uploaded by Mic2006.
At the edge of Cobalt there is a deep open pit that is said to drop down 250 feet. The bottom is filled with cold, black water. A cable cuts across the top right of the picture. At one time there was a spider web [...]

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IMG_1905, originally uploaded by Mic2006.
Miro, a former Polish Mine worker got quite excited when he saw my photo. “We used to call those “gornicza tadowarka” (mine dumpers)”. They were powered from compressed air that fed from the surface. Apparently the pressure could vary quite considerably depending on how far you were from the main line [...]

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Me getting info for my article in Rock and Gem - Cobalt and the Tardis

IMG_1861, originally uploaded by Mic2006.
About two years ago I went up to the town of Cobalt in Northern Ontario - what a fantastic place, I keep meaning to return - it has a kind of time warp quality - a bit [...]

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IMG_1219, originally uploaded by Mic2006.
Much of what was once a flourishing mining industry is now forgotten. The remains are buried under development or overgrown by forest. On this particular day my father and I headed up to Moira Lake to see if we could find some fluorite crystals - remnants left behind and of interest [...]

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