Sunday 7th June 2026

Morning Session. Mike Kushy and Hollie London. 25 loads cleared with HL at the bottom and 25 with MK at the bottom. Sam Hill and Callum Symmonds arrived for Templeton whilst we were having lunch and HL left for The Hunters'. 2 hours. Mike.

Before clearing. Photo HL.

Before clearing. Video HL.

Afternoon Session. John Cooper, Trevor Hughes, Mike Kousiounis and Lee Venning. John arrived about 13.30 to find the morning team having a lunch break having hauled 50 loads out. Sam Hill and Callum Symmonds departed for Templeton South Pot. Mike went to the bottom of Templetwin to load with John hauling and emptying. When Lee and Trevor arrived Mike came out and was replaced by Trevor with Lee emptying. Mike went off to Templeton South Pot to fire the charge for them. We heard this at 15.48 and soon after Trevor came out having reached 100 loads for the day. Lee took his place and hauling continued. Mike rejoined the emptying team and we called it a day at 126 loads. 4 hours for the afternoon session. John.

After clearing, looking North. Photo MK.

After clearing looking South. Photo MK.

42 times 3. Photo LV.

After clearing. Video MK.

Sunday 31st May 2026

John Cooper, Trevor Hughes, Mike Kousiounis and Lee Venning. Spoil clearing session, started around 2pm. Trevor started by sorting out some pipe for use with his extractor fan. Meanwhile Kushy was at the bottom loading, John hauling and Lee emptying. After 30 loads Lee went down with his breaker and Trevor took over emptying the buckets. At 56 loads hauled out Mike and Lee took a break. They reported loads more to come out. John then left. John.

Bottom, looking South. Photo MK.

Today's haul. Photo LV.

After a break we measured the depth at 13.7m (we haven't cleared the floor in weeks). A small ladder was lowered and 5 holes drilled to trim the wall in various places. All 10mm holes, 3 x 1m and 2 x 500mm. The objective was to give better ladder placement and fewer places for the bucket to snag when raising and lowering. Task completed and finally the extractor fan was tested with a successful result. Supervised setup for LV, cold and draughty for MK supervising. Finished just after 6pm. Mike.

Lee drilling. Photo MK.

Fumes being extracted. Video MK.

Monday 25th May 2026

John Cooper, Mike Kousiounis and Lee Venning. 10am start but it was was already hot and sunny, 25°C and increasing. Kushy to the bottom with John hauling and Lee emptying. Stopped at 58 loads removed to reach 100 for the last bang. Mike came out for lunch break at 12.30. Lee’s new counter was used and it agreed with the rock abacus. John left to go and drill in Frog Pot. John.

(Mike mentioned that it was very cool and draughty down below. Same set up as previous, loud noise made).

Lee's new counter. Photo LV.

End of clearance - looking South. Photo MK.

PM session. MK and LV drill and bang.

Ready for next clearance session. Photo LV.

Thursday 21st May 2026

Harley Bennett, John Cooper and Hollie London. Warm sunny evening. Hollie down for a before photo and the first session. Harley took over for the second session and finally John did the third. Hollie down at the end for an after photo. 42 loads hauled out this evening. Still more loose debris to come out. 2½ hours. John.

Before Clearing. Video HL.

After clearing. Video HL.

Looking North. Photo HL.

Looking South. Photo HL.

Harley hauling. Photo HL.

Sunday 17th May 2026

Mike Kushy and Lee Venning. LV down the hole with the breaker to start, 11 loads cleared. MK then went down with LV winching, 32 buckets cleared in total. 5 holes @ 30x450mm drilled, noise made. 4.5 hours. Mike.

Tuesday 12th May 2026

John Cooper, Mike Kousiounis and Lee Venning. Kushy down the hole with John hauling for the first hour then Lee arrived and helped with emptying. Lee then went to repair the generator connector. Kushy came out after 48 loads and John went down. Total of 60 loads for the session. More can be removed, especially with a breaker. The floor is 3m below the bottom of the ladder! Finally cemented in the top scaffold bar. 3 hours. John.

Cemented bar. Photo MK.

Sunday 10th May 2026

Mike Kushy, Lee Venning and Sam Hill. Sunny warm morning. MK got started with the breaker around 1030 with SH and LV hauling, 20 buckets cleared. Loads more breaker work could have been done. Drilled 5 holes and loud noise made around 1300. After the initial charge the fumes were draughting out really well. John Cooper came to site around 1400 (the clouds had gathered a lot by now) and took some photos. Mike.

Fumes sinking back down the hole. Photo JC.