Practically, all the people in their 40's and 50's I talked to told me they had at one time worked in the Sg. Lembing underground mines.
Since the opening of the mines in 1886, Sg. Lembing had attracted waves after waves of Chinese migrants from southern China who were in search of a better future. My grandfather who was born in 1882 was one of them. He was a young man when he came here probably during the early 1900's. Because of the hardship in China, he chose to leave his young wife and children behind and travelled thousands of miles to this so called land of opportunity. I am sure that it was his original intention to return to China once he had made enough money. Somehow, for some unknown reasons, he left Sg. Lembing and moved to North Borneo. He married a local girl, raised a new family and never managed to return back to China.
During its heyday, Sg. Lembing underground mines was reckoned to be the largest and deepest underground tin mines in the world. It had a tunnel length of 322Km, reaching a depth of 700m - this is far in excess of the height of our Petronas Twin Tower which stands at 450m!
Sg. Lembing underground mines finally ceased operation in 1987 when the mining company found it no longer profitable to mine at such great depth.
Sg. Lembing underground mines finally ceased operation in 1987 when the mining company found it no longer profitable to mine at such great depth.
Today, the Pahang government has taken over the mines and refurbished it as a tourist attraction. The tunnels which are opened to tourists and visitors are all original tunnels but has undergone refurbishment mainly for safety reason. The obvious improvements are concrete ganiting around the tunnel wall and soil nailing to prevent collapse of the tunnel.
Brief history of the mine.
School children learning geography and geology on site. Entrance to the mines.
Inside one of the tunnels. Note the protruding soil nails
Some of the tunnels were fenced to prevent people from entering
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Besides this old mines, there are other tunnels dug all over the place. Even in the hotel where we stayed, there is a tunnel which is easily accessible. According to the hotel staff, there are still people going into the tunnel looking for unique mineral stones for sale.
During its heyday, Sg. Lembing's underground mines was reckoned to be the largest and deepest underground tin mines in the world. It had a tunnel length of 322Km, reaching a depth of 700m - this is far in excess of the height of our Petronas Twin Tower which stands at 450m!
In fact, we discovered from conversations with the local people that mining activities are still going on to this very day, mainly by individuals hoping to make a few dollars from selling the tin ores. This is done in ad-hoc basis using mostly hand tools.
Some gold were found among the tin deposit. Our guide related a true story of a Bangladeshi worker who was employed to build a bridge. He was digging to put some wooden stakes in the ground. Suddenly he encountered difficulty when he hit some rocks underneath. He dug further and worked around the rocks. Lo and behold ! He hit a large lode of tin and embedded in the tin deposit was a big chunk of gold! There was of course a lot of excitement among the other workers but the Bangladeshi immediately quit his job and left Sg. Lembing.
Some gold were found among the tin deposit. Our guide related a true story of a Bangladeshi worker who was employed to build a bridge. He was digging to put some wooden stakes in the ground. Suddenly he encountered difficulty when he hit some rocks underneath. He dug further and worked around the rocks. Lo and behold ! He hit a large lode of tin and embedded in the tin deposit was a big chunk of gold! There was of course a lot of excitement among the other workers but the Bangladeshi immediately quit his job and left Sg. Lembing.
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