Coal Mine Shaft in Nanaimo
Location of another old coal mine and shaft is where the townhouse strata complex was built on Highview Terrace (off south end of Haliburton St.). Doubt that anything was done prior to construction to fill up the shaft. Construction of first phase of the complex began in 1990.
the 2 kids were found in the late 70's early 80's in the furance portal mine by the bolt brothers the trail to the mine is right across from the animal shelter on harewood mines rd it made the paper and if someone knows of newspaper archives to access you will find the story there
there are tons of mines around and i myself have ventured into the wolf mountain one years ago and spent hours in there exploring it is a recent one for around here and is full of cave ins and disrepair it also fills with water to the ceiling every winter so the mine is very unsafe and only closed in 87 or something so the other ones would be insane to go in at one part half hour or so in the mine the roof had came down and the only way to carry on to the next tunnel was to climb up and squeze between the cave in and the roof , we did it and now i look back stupid stupid stupid but you get caught up in the moment and before going in the mine i was the big hipocrite to stay out of the mines til i tried it so try to have some self control !!! easier said than done LOL , stick to rock mines up island !!!
one of the old mines around here a buddy of mine went in years ago probley 15 years and he said wow take a 6x6 wooden beam support and ring it out like a wet sponge like most nanaimo mines they are deep and you never know what your walking on . the floor in the one mine was wood covering an extremly deep elevator shaft and the roof has caved so much you would never know til you fell there are still many open entrances to mines all over nanaimo and casidy so if you do find one just admire it and stay out there to old ! cheers
I was looking at the 1955 map that riverrat provided and found there were a few abandoned mine shafts marked on the map.
An example of this is in this picture. I have been in this area and im sure lots of people have seen what I think is a air shaft or elevator hole. The map shows a different location for the entrance which is closer to the lake.
The hole I saw was on the right of the power lines in the trees and is almost near the exit of the trail which is to the right of the big "I" on the map. It was about 5 or 6 feet around with big logs lining the walls and filled with water. You couldn't see the bottom of it.
Thanks AceMcCool - yeah, I've seen that too.
I would love it if somebody sent their submersible, motile camera unit into some of these flooded shafts. It would be an expensive unit to lose, but I think it could be tied to a very long rope in case it lost power or something.
Imagine several hours of this footage, from several locations, cut together into a 20-min documentary - that would be a cool heirloom for Nanaimo.
Talking about mine shafts, I may have a new one for you all.
On the corner on Milton and Haliburton streets, there used to be an old pawn shop. They have torn it down, now, and the entire place is fenced off. According to someone I just spoke with today, they were in that pawn shop and the owner of the pawn shop showed them something under the floor boards. He lifted up part of the floor and threw something down a hole. It never made a sound as it went down the hole, suggesting the hole was very deep. That could have been an abandoned mine shaft and perhaps this explains why that now vacant lot is so well fenced off. I suppose it is a safety concern.
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TH
There were actually 4 kids who found the bodies. The two Bolt twins and two of their friends. One of them stepped right on one of the dead bodies and sunk right into it. After 10 years in that cold shaft, the bodies were, for whatever reason, still well preserved. They all got pretty frightened when they discovered what was stepped in was a dead body. And they high-tailed it outta there and jumped in one of the Bolt brothers' purple Gremlin car and drove at about 75 miles per hour to the Nanaimo RCMP station.Originally Posted by tub703
Search and rescue got the bodies out of the mine and shortly after they were identified as two kids who went missing in about 1969. They lay dead in that shaft for 10 years. The parents had no idea where they went. They figured it was coal gas that killed them. The kids were found in their sleeping bags. It looked like to investigators that the kids were planning on staying the night in the mine shaft. Little were they aware of the dangers, I suppose. The parents were very distraught, so I was told. I suppose they had hoped to one day discover their kids alive. But that was not the case.
That particular shaft was blasted shut after the investigation was finished. You can no longer go in there.
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TH
TH2008 I live close to that corner[milton and haliburton] and in my driveway are two air shafts to the flooded mines below. You can drop a rock down these shafts and they are deep, it takes a while for the rock to hit the water. Estimates are between 30 and 40 feet deep. I will measure one and get a more accurate reading.
A length of string and a rock will work. Mark the string before you pull it out of the hole. Then measure the string. Don't fall down the hole! And thanks for the info. That's pretty cool.
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TH
28 feet till it hits roofing debris. If I dropped a rock down it, it used to hit water. I am working on replacing the roof so now I hit debris due to shakes and such falling in the hole. The interior measurement is 6 inches to the shaft.
The story is that mines were on either side of my property and as the slack[slag] was excavated from the mines it was infilled over air shafts that needed to be extended. First the miners wanted a job, then they asked for air to breath. Those coal barrens were very giving people.
That is a cool picture. I'm sure it has drawn many looks, and questions.
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