DarkPlace
Member
Visited this in New Zealand, approx 30km north of Whakatane on the North Coast.
History of the place and other info can be found here and here.
This place was spectacular, cliffsides of the crater spewing thousands of cubic metres of steam, mist that stings your skin, churning mudpools with boiling liquid, an entire lake of sulphuric acid at PH-0.5, the list is endless. The hard hats were a hinderance, where as the gas masks were a necessity in parts.
The mining operation suffered multiple deaths, setbacks and accidents before the mining was discontinued in the 1930s.
Anchor from one of the transport ships
Sulphur crystals
Breathing is impossible without gas masks in parts
Dramatic river
The reason the miners were here
One of the old buildings
An old boiler used to extract the Suplhur. This method was used up until a boiler exploded killing a miner. They had not anticipated how corrosive the mixtures were.
Another Boiler
Machinery of some description
The gases in the air cause metals to corrode extremely quickly. Watches and jewelery tarnished in the 2 hours we were on the island, below indicates the long term effects
On the boat ride back we were treated a show from the local dolphins!
Fantastic day out!
History of the place and other info can be found here and here.
This place was spectacular, cliffsides of the crater spewing thousands of cubic metres of steam, mist that stings your skin, churning mudpools with boiling liquid, an entire lake of sulphuric acid at PH-0.5, the list is endless. The hard hats were a hinderance, where as the gas masks were a necessity in parts.
The mining operation suffered multiple deaths, setbacks and accidents before the mining was discontinued in the 1930s.
Anchor from one of the transport ships
Sulphur crystals
Breathing is impossible without gas masks in parts
Dramatic river
The reason the miners were here
One of the old buildings
An old boiler used to extract the Suplhur. This method was used up until a boiler exploded killing a miner. They had not anticipated how corrosive the mixtures were.
Another Boiler
Machinery of some description
The gases in the air cause metals to corrode extremely quickly. Watches and jewelery tarnished in the 2 hours we were on the island, below indicates the long term effects
On the boat ride back we were treated a show from the local dolphins!
Fantastic day out!
