An underground vehicle bay in the N'Chwaning II mine The rock face





Finally, the vehicle stops and people begin climbing out and grabbing tools - After a second inspection for rock stability and safety. Suddenly it hits you - You're going to be allowed to dig! The rock face shows many small cavities with what looks in the underground light to be specimens, sitting in hard manganese ore. You heft your crowbar, wondering if you'll get anything out. Determined to try, a closer inspection of the possibilities is needed. The small pockets of minerals extend deep into the sheer face, requiring heavy equipment and hours of work to extract sucsessfully. The heat hammers down on you, and sweat pours from every pore on your body. Cooling down is next to impossible with the high humidity - Even the rock feels warm to the touch! In this environment, even the fittest of young men struggle to work, yet the highly experienced team that extract mineral specimens from the mine brave these extreme conditions daily. Minerals, minerals.. Minerals everywhere! Finds within the mine are carefully packed using old cloth into plastic containers, to be inspected at the surface. Every specimen that comes out is inspected and evaluated before deciding where it goes - Minerals extracted from N'Chwaning II are done in such a way as to benefit the miners and the local community.



The majority of the minerals extracted on this trip were stunning Manganocalcite pieces, often with sprays and tufts of Kutnohorite. In the warm sunlight gasps fill the air - The washed out lighting of the mine makes the minerals seem less than they are. Only in bright daylight, the first time sun has ever shone upon these specimens, does their true beauty become clear. Made even more precious by the sweat and blood that goes into extracting them, it's obvious how one remembers the exact year and pocket, if not the day, a specimen you have found came from - Finding them yourself makes the experience of collecting so much sweeter! Special thanks to the team at N'Chwaning II that made this once in a lifetime trip possible!