ABANDONED Old Mining Settlement and Carbonization Plant AMAZING! - New Zealand

Today we are exploring what is left of a long forgotten mining settlement and carbonization plant. Out of all the explores I've done over the years, nothing has truly compared to the beauty of this amazingly preserved abandoned location. Well off the beaten path, this once booming location now sits quietly rusting away, slowly being reclaimed by nature. Join us as we take a look at what was left behind. Twitter - https://twitter.com/UnchartedTraveI?l... Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/uncharted.t... Mining first began in Rotowaro by the Taupiri coal company began after a bridge over the Waikato river and railway to the area were constructed in 1915. The mine instantly saw success, and in 1928, it was producing an average of 11,000 tons of coal every month. Just west of the mine, a small community of about 500 houses was built so that miners could live within close proximity to the mine and increase efficiency.To reduce waste, a carbonization plant was constructed in the 1930's to convert any unusable or low quality coal into carbon briquettes. As the mine progressed, the carbonization plant ran smoothly until 1985 when a major fire on the complex caused a retort to explode releasing mass amounts of hazardous chemicals into the surrounding area. After the incident, the plants ownership changed hands several times, and with no one willing to do anything about the toxic wasteland that wast created, the plant was quickly abandoned. Now it lays completely derelict, slowly being taken back by nature, a nod to a now forgotten revolutionary mining period. Thanks for watching! If you enjoyed this video and want to see more awesome abandoned places like this one, don't forget to: LIKE, COMMENT, and SUBSCRIBE !! We will continue to release a new abandoned places explore every week, so stay tuned! Music - Memories by Sappheiros :    / @sappheiros