Myanmar

Busy scenes outside the control office at Namtu on the Burma Mines Railway.

The ore loading bunkers form the backdrop as Kerr Stuart 13 arrives at Wallah Gorge on the Burma Mines Railway.

Kerr Stuart 13 arrives at Wallah Gorge on the Burma Mines Railway with the ore loading bunkers forming the backdrop.

No.2 winder for the Marmion Shaft at the Bawdwin mine in north-east Myanmar. This was manufactured at the Siemens Works of English Electric at Stafford in the UK in 1925 and has been continuously in use since. The motor drive is rated at 295hp using 550 volts and drawing up to 436 amps. The No.1 winder is situated below and in front within the same building. Both units wind from a single shaft that is 1700ft deep and serves 14 levels. Currently the workings are flooded up to the sixth (adit) level at c700ft due to the pumps being switched off. The mine produces high grade ore containing silver, lead, zinc, and a little copper and gold.

The passing of a steam train does not distract the local kids from their kite as it passes the workshops at the Namtu depot of the Burma Mines Railway.

Kerr Stuart 13 on arrival at Wallah Gorge on the Burma Mines Railway. The corrugated iron structures house a variety of shops and workshops.

Crossing the river bridge at Namtu on the Burma Mines Railway.

The new smelter at Namtu was constructed after the Second World War during which the old smelter was destroyed. It processed lead, silver, zinc and copper from the Bawdwin mines but has been out of use for some time. It was suggested that it would reopen in 2012 but I have not heard anything of this since my visit. The chimney in the background is at the end of a long flue from the smelter and is intended to carry the noxious fumes away from the works. The poisonous nature of these emissions is evident in the lack of vegetation on the hilltop.

A long flue leads to the chimney from the old lead/zinc smelter at Namtu, Myanmar. The lack of vegetation on the hillside around the chimney is a good indication of the heavy metal fallout.