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Mining Tourism

Discover the History of Place Vendôme in Paris – by Laura Beaney (Tatler Asia – October 31, 2019)

https://www.tatlerasia.com/

Few destinations stir up a sense of unparalleled luxury and cinematic history like Place Vendôme. From its seminal maisons to its storied clients and the magnificent jewels they covet, we pinpoint the exceptional moments that left a lasting imprint on the legacy of high jewellery

At the epicentre of exceptional jewellery lies one Parisian address: Place Vendôme. Its history, punctuated by war, revolt and the rise and fall of dynasties is almost as dazzling as the pieces its workshops produce. Completed in 1699 by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, whose design stamp can be traced across France’s architectural high points, from the Palace of Versailles to Notre-Dame, the ambitious feat of urban design was initiated to frame the statue of then ruler Louis XIV.

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Like Jewels, Will Travel – by Amy Elliot (New York Times – April 2, 2024)

https://www.nytimes.com/

Gem- and jewelry-themed tours and excursions mix treasure hunting with adventure and cultural experiences.

Last year, when Roberto Ruiz visited the Carbonera mine in Querétaro, Mexico, he cracked open a grapefruit-size piece of rhyolite with a hammer. When he looked inside, “it was like finding a fire fossil,” he said during a recent phone interview from his home in San Antonio. Inside was an orangey-red fire opal that he likened to a flame, forever preserved in the sphere of igneous rock.

Mr. Ruiz and his wife, Erika Rodriguez, are among the few people who have traveled to the mine, a desolate spot located in Carbonera in central Mexico, a destination that’s well off the beaten tourist track, some 20 miles from the nearest city.

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This refurbished mine in Wales is the world’s ‘deepest’ hotel – by Vibhuti Pathak (Eastern Eye – March 22, 2024)

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The mine where the hotel is built was shut down and left empty in the 1900s.

The rugged peaks of Snowdonia National Park in Wales are a haven for hikers and nature enthusiasts. Lush valleys unfurl beneath dramatic mountains, promising breathtaking vistas and crisp mountain air. But for the truly adventurous, a different kind of escape awaits—an escape not into the wild, but deep beneath it. Nestled a staggering 1,375 feet underground, the Deep Sleep Hotel beckons slumberers with a unique proposition: the world’s deepest sleep experience.

You will forget the usual hotel lobby hustle. Here, check-in transforms into an Indiana Jones-esque prelude to your slumber. Helmets, headlamps, and sturdy boots replace room keys.

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Science North CEO says changes made to manage capital projects after audit of Go Deeper project – by Kate Rutherford (CBC News Sudbury – December 08, 2023)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/

Provincial auditor general says cost of model mine project has tripled from original $5 million

The CEO of Science North said changes have been made at the science centre to take into account recommendations from the provincial auditor general’s probe of their Go Deeper project at Dynamic Earth.

Ashley Larose wants the public to know that while the budget has grown, the project is not operating at a deficit and all policies were followed in the development of the model mine at Dynamic Earth in Sudbury, Ont. Larose said the auditor’s report is based on information provided by the organization.

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How to Eat Like a 19th Century Colorado Gold-Miner (Atlas Obscura – June 3, 2022)

https://www.atlasobscura.com/

A confluence of cross-cultural foodways fed a series of Colorado’s mining booms, and can still be tasted across the state today.

In 1857, newspapers from Texas to Maine resounded with breaking news from the Mountain West: the Rocky Mountains boasted “immense quantities…[of] gold, silver, and precious stones,” read the New York Herald. There was gold and silver to be won, and prospectors with dreams of striking it rich headed west.

Dozens of ”boom-towns” sprang forth almost overnight to accommodate the Gold Rush of 1858 and the Silver Boom of 1879. These mining towns developed their own distinct culture, with rules (often broken), customs (sometimes violent), and an aesthetic still visible in much of the state’s historic architecture.

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Gold Rush California: How & Where To Pan For Gold In The Golden State – by Maria Bou Ink (The Travel – May 23, 2023)

https://www.thetravel.com/

There are not many profitable vacations, but if tourists go prospecting for gold, they never know.

The Golden State has everything, from Redwoods to Hollywood, from mountains to deserts, from wild natural experiences to coastal road vacations. Without some unexpected hidden wonder, tourists’ journeys would not be complete. They may have visited well-known tourist destinations and sites like Yosemite National Park, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the eerie Winchester Mystery House, but California has a lot more to offer.

California is full of unexpected surprises, from its odd attractions to its unique and distinctive landmarks. One of its unusual things to do is gold panning. When James W. Marshall discovered gold flakes in 1848 at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, the California Gold Rush officially got underway.

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‘It’s still standing today’: B.C.’s iconic Mill No. 3 celebrates 100 years of history – by Melanie Nagy (CTV News – May 2023)

https://www.ctvnews.ca/

Off British Columbia’s busy Sea-to-Sky Highway just north of Vancouver, is the Britannia Mine Museum, which is now commemorating 100 years of Mill No.3. The towering structure, built from concrete and steel in 1923, sits on a mountainside slope next to Howe Sound. Britannia Mine Museum curator Laura Minta Holland says it is not only a provincial landmark, but a place steeped in history.

“It’s just so impressive when you walk in and it just prompts you to try to imagine what it would have been like when it was a working and operational mill building.” Minta Holland told CTV News. “I really feel it has that sense of a cathedral almost, and sometimes we refer to it as a kind of cathedral of engineering.”

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Steel & Coal: 10 Historic Mining Towns To Visit In Nevada – by Melody Beck (The Travel – May 2, 2023)

https://www.thetravel.com/

Nevada is a land of contrasts – from the glittering lights of the Las Vegas Strip to the serene beauty of Lake Tahoe. But beyond the flashy casinos, there lies a rich mining history waiting to be explored. The history of mining in Nevada is extensive, with the presence of many historic mining towns still standing today, which give visitors a glimpse into Nevada’s past.

From the famous Comstock Lode to lesser-known but equally fascinating sites, Nevada’s mining towns are worth exploring. The following are ten of Nevada’s most historic mining towns, each of which has a distinctive past and allure. Whether tourists are interested in learning about the state’s mining past or simply looking for a fun day trip, these old Nevada mining towns are sure to impress.

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The Drift: Sudbury’s Dynamic Earth aims to tell a ‘modern mining’ story – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – February 27, 2023)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

$10-million Go Deeper expansion project will be ‘transformational’ for Sudbury tourist attraction

A premier Sudbury tourist attraction is undergoing a major renewal this year, one that its CEO calls “transformational,” both for the city and for the mining and tourism industries.

Go Deeper is a $10-million, multi-year construction and development endeavour to modernize Dynamic Earth, the sister attraction to Science North. The plan involves new construction at the Big Nickel Road site, as well as additional programming and educational materials that will be accessed by users across Northern Ontario and Canada.

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One Way Ore Another: Abandoned-Mine Hunting in Arizona by 4×4 – by Jay Kopycinski (Motortrend.com – January 2, 2023)

https://www.motortrend.com/

The Route 66 area in northwestern Arizona is rich in mining history, so we took five 4x4s on an off-road adventure to visit a few old mine sites.

Here’s something you might not know: The Route 66 area in northwestern Arizona is rich in mining history. Something else: 4x4s are required to access some of the old, abandoned mine sites.

With that in mind, we set out to explore a few old mine sites that were prolific in the past. Our method of conveyance was five well-equipped 4x4s. Our group consisted of three modified Lexus SUVs, a trick Toyota Tacoma pickup, and a modded Jeep Wrangler.

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Science North selects a Thunder Bay waterfront site for regional expansion – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – August 5, 2022)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Former grain elevator site is the ‘preferred’ location for science attraction

A Thunder Bay waterfront location is the “preferred” spot for a permanent home for Science North’s expansion into northwestern Ontario. In a news release, the Sudbury-based science centre announced that the Pool 6 site in the city’s harbour will be the location to build its 34,000-square-foot attraction.

The property is the former site of the Pool 6 grain elevator, which was demolished and the land repurposed as part of the Marina Park redevelopment years ago. The site also hosts Great Lakes cruise ships.

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The pick of Ontario. A story of amethyst and adventure – by Bill Steer (Sudbury.com – June 22, 2022)

https://www.sudbury.com/

This week, Back Roads Bill stops at an amethyst mine on the way to the most westerly point in Ontario

It’s road trip time, again, and this time we are headed west, not to the oil patch, but to stand on the most western, surveyed boundary of Ontario. The outcome of this trip and the subsequent story remains to be told.

Along the way will gather more day trip information from provincial parks and nearby communities for another travelogue. On the way, though, there will be a stop for a cool souvenir from a Northwestern Ontario back roads repeated destination. So many times a story was warranted but this is the time one was written.

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Science North’s Go Deeper campaign gets major financial boost – by Staff (Sudbury Star – April 2, 2022)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Science North on Thursday launched a capital campaign for its $7.4 million Go Deeper expansion project at Dynamic Earth.The project represents the largest investment in mining and earth sciences experiences since Dynamic Earth’s inception in 2001.

Go Deeper will provide memorable experiences that portray modern mining in a realistic way and showcase this rapidly changing and dynamic industry, Science North said in a release. The capital campaign aims to raise $3 million.

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Secret Cities and Atomic Tourism – by Tim Leffel (Perspective Travel – No Date)

https://www.perceptivetravel.com/

In the race to develop the atomic bomb that would end World War II, scientists toiled in instant cities hidden from maps and public view. Our editor dives into the world of experimental reactors and prefab housing to revisit a time when secret places could really stay secret.

Imagine you work in a city that isn’t on any map, in a house that has no postal address. You go to work each day not really knowing the purpose of what you are doing or how it fits into the jobs of the thousands of other people going to work each day around you.

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125 years after gold was discovered in the Yukon, we ventured up to Dawson City. Here’s what it looks like now – by Brendan Kiley (Seattle Times – September 10, 2021)

https://www.seattletimes.com/

DAWSON CITY, the Yukon Territory — The first tourists to Dawson City arrived in July of 1898, a few weeks before the boomtown’s second birthday.

Mrs. Mary E. Hitchcock (widow of a U.S. Navy officer) and Miss Edith Van Buren (niece of the former U.S. president) swept into the new gold-mining settlement, 170 miles south of the Arctic Circle, with opulent cargo: a zither, a parrot, canaries, a portable bowling alley, crates of fancy foods (pâté, truffles, olives), a movie projector, an exhaustive wardrobe (silks, furs, starched collars, sombreros), two Great Danes and a 2,800 square-foot marquee tent for their lodgings.

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