ShowCaveBlog

The show mine Soudan Underground Mine in Soudan, Minnesota, U.S.A., is temporarily closed after a fire on 13-MAR-2011. It is not clear what actually happened, but it seems the wooden frames of an elevator shaft catched fire. As a result the electricity failed and the pumps went out. The mine and the physics lab were inaccessible and are now closed indefinitely.
The lowest level, level 27 of the mine, is used by a physics lab. This laboratory contains equipment with a value of some 100,000,000 USD. So the first goal was to reestablish electricity for the pumps, which was done 23-MAR-2011. The laboratory is now save from water, but foam from the firefighting has reached the lab and it is unclear if it damaged the equipment.
Both the show mine and the lab tour are closed indefinitely. It seems there is a lot of work to do, to restore the mine. Also officials told they want to investigate the reason of the fire before they reopen the mine.

The Australian show mine Wheal Hughes Copper Mine is looking for engine drivers for their underground mine tours, also nearby Moonta National Trust Tourist Train, which seems to be managed by almost the same people.

For more info ring Ned Knight 0402 119 483.
 Engine drivers and miners needed

Datuk Mohd Fadzil Mohd Khir, the Director-General of Town and Country Planning, Peninsular Malaysia, presented a National Physical Plan to build a new High-Speed Train between Kuantan and Kuala Lumpur. This plan would be realized between 2004 and 2014, so the completion would be in 2015. As a result the whole area would turn Kuantan into an important center and would be accompanied by various developments. This would also include sustainable conservation of sensitive environmental areas, namely forest reserves, coastal areas, swamps, and lakes. Beneath the turtle landing area in Cendur, the former Sungai Lembing Mine will be developed as a tourist attraction.

According to Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Angelo Reyes, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is planning to convert seven abandoned mines into tourist sites. Those are

• Bagacay copper mine in Samar
• Basay copper mine in Negros Oriental
• Black Mountain mine in Benguet
• Thanksgiving mine in Benguet
• Western Minolco mine in Benguet
• Quick Silver mine in Palawan
• Consolidated mine in Marinduque

If the plan is possible, which obviously means the cost is affordable, they will be open to the public in five years. The development of the Bagacay copper mine in Samar alone will cost about P25 million.

Norway is a country of very old and diverse rocks, extremely interesting geology and a wealth of minerals. We recommend a trip to Norway very much for everybody who loves geology, minerals or overwhelming breakfasts. Norway is famous for its seafood too.
At showcaves.com we had a chapter for Norway for a very long time. Primarly interested in caves we listed some “show caves” around Mo i Rana. A new research resulted in numerous changes on the entries of this country: we removed all but one caves from the show caves section. They are not gone, just moved to the (wild) caves section, where spelunking tours are listed.
But also we improved the other listings for the country. We added 18 public mines. Two of them, together with a newly added spelunking tour are located on Spitzbergen, which belongs to Norway. (Jochens favourite for next years holidays).
Please have a look.