DELAWARE -- It's an underwater adventure inside the depths of the Delaware Mine.
John Janzen and Tamera Thomsen are cave divers; between the two of them, they have over 40 years of experience, and they're looking for artifacts that might have been left in the mine.
"As far as artifacts, not much, a few buckets, things like that. We haven't found any tools or shovels. There are a lot of tram tracks on the floor of the tunnels, of course, and we see some wooden structure, pillars, beams," said Janzen.
When it comes to moving around underwater, the divers say it's much easier than cave diving.
"A lot of times, mining engineers produced exit maps; maps that were created when the mine closed, so we know pretty accurately where the drifts in the tunnels go to. What's been left behind is sort of the mystery," said Thomsen.
That mystery is something mine owner Tom Poynter is also interested in seeing.
"If our divers find anything small enough to carry up, a tool or an old bucket or something, we would like to have that and actually put it on display," said Poynter.
Once the divers are suited up, it's time for the exploration to begin. The first level of the Delaware Mine is open, but the other nine levels are filled with water, and the divers are exploring areas that people haven't seen in 120 years.
The buoyancy of the water helps support the ceilings of the mine, and so far the divers have traveled 105 feet.
Janzen and Thomsen say they enjoy the challenge of diving, and you never know what you might find.
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