Cobar, NSW Open Cut Mine

On the way out of Cobar driving south we decidsd to take a short detour to the lookout. It was a fairly easy drive up a bit of a hill.

At the top we parked the car and walked up a little further to a viewing platform. It was completely fenced and fully enclosed by wire mesh.

We soon found out why. This structure was perched right on the very edge of the huge open cut pit. Around a hundred or so meters sheer drop to the bottom. It offered an unbeatable view of the mine.

Over the years many tunnels had been dug in the area in the search for copper ore. Eventually big mining companies dug a huge hole taking the copper rich ore away for processing. The old tunnels from the past can be seen in the faces of the huge open cut pit.

Eventually the huge plug of ore was all mined out so the mine has followed the seam with a new underground shaft. We watched as a huge haul truck emerged from the drift tunnel. He stopped for a moment to tag out and began the long haul up to the top. The diesel engine growled and protested all the way.

In a few minutes he had dumped his load of ore and ground his way back down. He tagged in and quickly disappeared down the tunnel.もっと詳しく