It’s Collapsed Further... Revisiting NZ's Most Toxic Mine

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:08]All righty, let's make our way back down. Go and check out uh Ruer Kaka number three. I think I'm just going to follow the pipe this time rather than going down there cuz the uh pipe does end up at ruaka number three anyway.

[00:00:26]God, it's been a bloody mission getting down here.

[00:00:30]It's all just vines and things. That's right. I think this is the uh track here. So, can't be too far away now.

[00:00:40]And there she is.

[00:00:43]Oh, hell yeah. Nice to see you again, old friend. We'll uh go have a nosy round at the other door here. This one's got the cool uh danger do not enter on it.

[00:00:57]All right. Danger. Keep out.

[00:01:00]Ah, that's so cool, man.

[00:01:03]Oh, time to get geared up and we'll uh head on in. Oh, and of course, another stunning view.

[00:01:13]All geared up and ready to go. Sent off my coordinates. So, let's head on in.

[00:01:22]Oh, yeah.

[00:01:24]Sweet as.

[00:01:27]All right. see if anything's uh changed in here since I was out here last probably just over a year ago at this point.

[00:01:35]I'm definitely getting wet feet, that's for sure.

[00:01:38]I seem to recall it dries out uh not too far in.

[00:01:55]It is uh nice to be back here. See something uh for a second time. Here's the uh start of the or shoots.

[00:02:03]Oh, and of course, somebody has left their bloody beer can in here.

[00:02:08]Why do people do that?

[00:02:10]It's a little bit deeper than I remember it. Maybe I'm misremembering though.

[00:02:24]Oh man. Wow. Look at the uh blue on the wall there. That's really cool.

[00:02:30]Certainly didn't stand out that much last time I was in here. I think it's cuz I've got better lights this time.

[00:02:38]There's the old tag. Roraka three level.

[00:02:43]Sweet ass.

[00:02:49]Certainly remember the massive line of oreshoots.

[00:02:52]There's the ladder.

[00:02:54]Suck.

[00:02:56]The ladder that seems to move. Oh no, maybe that's not it. Maybe it's a different one. I remember the very first time I came in here, there was a ladder right near the start of the orshoots.

[00:03:09]And the second time I came in, it had moved somewhere else. Oh wow.

[00:03:14]Oh, this is cool.

[00:03:17]Actually, you know what? Last time I was here, there was a ladder here, and now it's gone. Unless maybe it was just gone the second time, and I was looking at that one back there.

[00:03:28]Here we go. Here's the first shaft.

[00:03:31]Actually, this isn't a shaft. Well, it kind of is. on the plans. This actually goes down at about a 45 degree angle down to level four. Of course, it's all filled in now though, so you can't go down there.

[00:03:49]Still following our old uh friend, the blue pipe.

[00:03:59]Oh, that's cool. Even on the uh water there, all the blue, presumably some sort of copper substance.

[00:04:08]Oh, wow. Look at that.

[00:04:11]It's just a big wall of blue.

[00:04:14]That's cool, man.

[00:04:23]It's all falling down.

[00:04:34]I don't really remember it being this flooded back here.

[00:04:38]Obviously, it's changed.

[00:04:43]There we go. Another ladder.

[00:04:45]Very good.

[00:04:53]I think we're coming up on the next shaft here.

[00:04:58]Oh, that's right. There's an old stick of uh dynamite or perhaps gelignagite in there. I don't know if you can see that.

[00:05:07]Hopefully, it's coming across on camera.

[00:05:09]But yeah, back in there, that sort of uh papery stick thing. Uh yeah, don't touch it, that's for sure.

[00:05:24]Yep. And that's the shaft that goes down to number two as well. Uh, sorry, to number four. Not going to lean too far over it, but uh, I think you get the idea. It's pretty bloody deep down there. Probably another 200 ft to get down to the bottom of that one.

[00:05:42]Nice echo.

[00:05:50]Was this here last time?

[00:05:54]I don't remember this. I certainly don't remember that red cap. I suspect this has fallen in since. I'll have to check my old footage and see.

[00:06:03]God, I wonder how old some of these footprints are. E.

[00:06:07]Um, I've seen some graffiti from like 2000. So, h be very careful what I touch here though.

[00:06:21]Yep.

[00:06:23]And on they go. Warhoots forever, man.

[00:06:33]And of course a uh another MV tag or made with uh the old carbide lamps. It's pretty cool, eh?

[00:06:46]Oh, wow. Look how vibrant orange that uh water is down there.

[00:06:51]Suppose it's just so still.

[00:06:54]Try not to step in that one too much.

[00:06:58]Was this one falling down? I don't think that one was falling down either.

[00:07:03]Very curious.

[00:07:06]Yeah, I'm definitely going to have a look at my uh old footage when I get home cuz I'm pretty sure that wasn't there.

[00:07:14]Did you make it past uh that bit?

[00:07:18]I'll >> show you where we got from.

[00:07:22]All right, this is the fun part. Got to get up and over this.

[00:07:27]Not too bad, though.

[00:07:28]>> So, hopefully there's an animal about to attack. I need to go for him first.

[00:07:35]>> But there was definitely >> Just trying my best not to touch the uh ceiling above me as well.

[00:07:44]Go as slow as I can. Damn.

[00:07:50]I certainly remember this massive pile of wood. The manway going up somewhere up there will be the level that we were just at earlier. Level two, number two.

[00:08:07]All the old uh ventilation pipes.

[00:08:11]Assuming that's what they are being so uh big.

[00:08:15]Again, that sulfur smell.

[00:08:22]This really isn't easy when I'm holding a camera, by the way.

[00:08:26]Don't like it when that happens.

[00:08:32]Right. Very good.

[00:08:37]Definitely remember this one.

[00:08:40]Yeah.

[00:08:43]Must just be like a uh an offshoot vein.

[00:08:48]Really see the vein there in the ceiling. It does look the same as that vein I was looking at in uh number two level.

[00:08:58]And I think around the corner here should be our old buddy.

[00:09:07]Hey, and there she is.

[00:09:13]Awesome old or cart, man.

[00:09:16]So cool.

[00:09:19]Then off to the right is a another passageway.

[00:09:23]Might go have a look at that in a second. Let's have a closer look at this all cart first though. And of course, Tui anyone, which actually is the uh background on my phone there.

[00:09:36]Hopefully, you can see that. But uh yeah, that was the first time I came out here.

[00:09:43]Oh man.

[00:09:45]Yeah. Look at this old thing.

[00:09:48]It's actually It's bigger than the one that we saw in the number two level.

[00:09:53]It's like way bigger.

[00:09:56]God, I wonder how many tons of ore that thing's moved.

[00:09:59]Probably quite a lot.

[00:10:03]And an old bottle.

[00:10:05]Not sure how old. Probably somewhat old, though. You see the buildup on it?

[00:10:10]That's like silica or quartz or something.

[00:10:15]Schweps.

[00:10:19]And over this way we have ah what I like to call the uh the hell hole.

[00:10:33]God. I've been through there twice. the first time just made it over to the other side and I just barely touched a piece of timber and it fell down. So after that I ran out of here.

[00:10:54]I'm not sure how much further I'm going to get down here anyway.

[00:10:59]Oh And uh I haven't posted the video yet, but I did actually uh come back here with Carl and Dan and we managed to get all the way to the end. Maybe I'll post that as my next video actually.

[00:11:19]Go have a quick nosy down that one since we're here. Be rude not to, wouldn't it?

[00:11:27]Actually, I think somewhere back here is where we found the crystals that were growing out of the ground. At the time, we thought they were like asbestos or something, but uh I think they are just silica.

[00:11:49]Although asbestos is a type of silica, I think anyway, isn't it? Oh, maybe they were gypsum actually. Might have been gypsum crystals.

[00:12:01]Not sure what uh that thing there used to be. Looks like a wheel, doesn't it?

[00:12:06]Maybe it was a wheelbarrow or something.

[00:12:11]And yeah, that's the end of this one.

[00:12:14]Ah, I'm not seeing the crystals here this time, though.

[00:12:18]They were just uh sprouting up out of the floor.

[00:12:24]Lots of uh pieces of quartz.

[00:12:27]None of them looking particularly amazing, though.

[00:12:31]Other one's not too bad. It's all covered in mud, though.

[00:12:36]Oh, there we go. There's the crystals.

[00:12:38]They're just growing from the uh bloody ceiling this time. Wonder how fast they form. Maybe it's like a seasonal thing.

[00:12:45]They can only form when the uh air is humid enough.

[00:12:50]Yeah, I'm sure it was. Oh, there we go.

[00:12:53]Right there. There's some crystals.

[00:12:56]really does look like a speestos, doesn't it? It's not, though. Although, I'm sure it's probably still not a good idea to uh inhale it.

[00:13:05]Oh, that's right. Also, when I went through that hell hole, right at the back of that, there was so many of those crystals that almost look like snow on the sides of the walls. It's crazy.

[00:13:20]Bit of an old ladder there as well.

[00:13:23]Just a piece of one.

[00:13:31]All righty. I think I'm just going to spend a bit of time here getting some nice photos of the uh or cart. Wasn't particularly happy with the ones I got last time. Uh so yeah, I'll see you again in a minute.

[00:14:15]All right, I better get a nice film photo of the uh war cut here, I think.

[00:14:41]God, I love that sound. Pop. Guess we'll say goodbye to our old friendly orcart over there. See you again another day, pal. Start making our way out.

[00:14:59]Yeah, does keep going that way for a bit before you reach a collapse. That's why you have to go down that way and go through the little hell hole to get past it in order to continue going down this vein.

[00:15:14]Oh god, it's cool though, isn't it?

[00:15:26]Oh, bloody hell. That's not what I wanted to happen, but it happened.

[00:15:37]Right.

[00:15:46]Here we go. Of course, back to the uh back to the beautiful shaft.

[00:15:51]I think all that's a false floor over there as well.

[00:15:56]Not on this side, though.

[00:16:03]Yo, anyone down there? Sure hope not.

[00:16:07]Probably did if they are right.

[00:16:21]I think we're nearly out of the orshoots.

[00:16:23]Maybe one more corner and that's the oreshoots.

[00:16:30]I see daylight.

[00:16:34]There it is.

[00:16:44]Oh man, look at that sun beaming in.

[00:16:48]Holy Oh, hell yeah. Look at that.

[00:17:00]What a way to end it, man.

[00:17:03]And I think we will end it there, actually. So, as always, I hope you guys enjoyed that one. And if you did, I'll catch you on the next one. Sweet as.

[00:17:19]Can I squeeze one more out?

[00:17:22]I can. This will definitely be the last one, though.

[00:17:29]Right. Yep. It's definitely it.

[00:17:32]Sweet ass.