I know it’s abroad, but maybe this might be of interest here. It’s a series of photos that I took on 2nd December 2011 of the zinc and lead smelter at Namtu, a town situated in northern Shan State, Myanmar (Burma).
The British colonial period in northern Burma began around 1883 and the Burma Railways line from Mandalay reached Lashio, not far from the Chinese border, in 1903. Construction of the 2 ft (610mm) gauge Burma Mines Railway began from the main line in 1907 and reached the mining area at Tiger Camp, more than 50 miles away, the following year. A 3 mile extension from Tiger Camp to Bawdwin was completed in 1909.
The primary reason of visiting the area was to see what was left of the railway, which was built to carry locally mined silver and lead ore to a smelter in Myanmar, until one was built at Namtu. At the time of my visit, only about 10 miles of line between Namtu and just short of Bawdwin were capable of being used. Steam and diesel locomotives in various states of repair were in the Namtu locomotive shed and our trains during the few days I was there were hauled by Kerr Stuart 0-4-2T No 13 and Bagnall 2-6-2 No 42.
The Namtu Bawdwin Mines were the world's largest source of lead and one of the world's largest sources of silver before the Second World War. In 1911, a smelter was constructed in Namtu. Total production from 1909 through to October 1915 was 66,000 tons of lead and 1,432,000 ounces of silver. The smelter was destroyed Second World War and a new one built afterwards to process lead, silver, zinc and copper from the Bawdwin mines.
There appeared to be no restrictions on entering the plant and no security either, although I was travelling with a small group and we did have a permit to be in that part of northern Myanmar. Based on evidence around the plant, it appeared to have become disused around 2009. A couple of locals were employed to keep the place clean and the hope was that the plant could be brought back into production at some point. Quite a few items of plant were built in UK by manufacturers including Avery, Metropolitan Vickers and Sturtevant, The smelter appeared to be largely intact when the photos were taken during a visit lasting a couple of hours. I could cheerfully have spent the entire day there.
The British colonial period in northern Burma began around 1883 and the Burma Railways line from Mandalay reached Lashio, not far from the Chinese border, in 1903. Construction of the 2 ft (610mm) gauge Burma Mines Railway began from the main line in 1907 and reached the mining area at Tiger Camp, more than 50 miles away, the following year. A 3 mile extension from Tiger Camp to Bawdwin was completed in 1909.
The primary reason of visiting the area was to see what was left of the railway, which was built to carry locally mined silver and lead ore to a smelter in Myanmar, until one was built at Namtu. At the time of my visit, only about 10 miles of line between Namtu and just short of Bawdwin were capable of being used. Steam and diesel locomotives in various states of repair were in the Namtu locomotive shed and our trains during the few days I was there were hauled by Kerr Stuart 0-4-2T No 13 and Bagnall 2-6-2 No 42.
The Namtu Bawdwin Mines were the world's largest source of lead and one of the world's largest sources of silver before the Second World War. In 1911, a smelter was constructed in Namtu. Total production from 1909 through to October 1915 was 66,000 tons of lead and 1,432,000 ounces of silver. The smelter was destroyed Second World War and a new one built afterwards to process lead, silver, zinc and copper from the Bawdwin mines.
There appeared to be no restrictions on entering the plant and no security either, although I was travelling with a small group and we did have a permit to be in that part of northern Myanmar. Based on evidence around the plant, it appeared to have become disused around 2009. A couple of locals were employed to keep the place clean and the hope was that the plant could be brought back into production at some point. Quite a few items of plant were built in UK by manufacturers including Avery, Metropolitan Vickers and Sturtevant, The smelter appeared to be largely intact when the photos were taken during a visit lasting a couple of hours. I could cheerfully have spent the entire day there.
