Mine!

We've been meaning to go to Britannia Mine for a number of years now - it's on the way up to Whistler, a large, very obvious presence.  It operated as a copper mine, from 1904 to 1974. 
 

 The big building stepping up the side of the mountain is the processing plant, where the ore would start at the top, and get crushed and refined as it made its way down to the bottom.

 
A train took us through a small part of the 150 miles of tunnels inside the mountain.

 
Some of the drills and equipment were demonstrated for us - it's hard to imagine being in a pitch black, extremely noisy environment like that all day!

 
The guide turned out the lights for a little bit, before turning on her head-lamp.  Yeah, that was dark.
 

 
Coming out the other end was a relief!
 

 
From there, we went inside the processing plant.  This trolley was used to bring equipment to the upper levels of the building.  It, and the stair beside it, stretched WAY up, at a very steep angle!

 
The colours on the rock were beautiful, from the various metals and chemicals leeching out of the rock.

 

 
There was all kinds of old equipment on display, with corrosion and weathering making for some interesting visuals. 

 
Rows and rows of core samples, from drilling into the rock, used to determine if there was  enough metal inside to make it worth mining.

 

 

 

 

 
It was a fascinating visit, time well spent!