Last year I had the rare opportunity to do some photography work in the underground astrophysics laboratory SNOlab. My trip down was to take a series of images to be used for marketing material for SNOlab and CEMI (Center for Excellence in Mining Innovation).

If you’re unfamiliar with this lab, then here is the tagline: SNOlab is a Canadian underground physics laboratory at a depth of 2 km in Vale’s Creighton nickel mine in Sudbury, Ontario.  -  wikipedia

Getting there was no picnic which is why tours are difficult to arrange. Before going down the mine cage we had to dress in full mining protective gear including headlamps and mucker boots. Upon arriving at ‘6800 level, we had to walk about a half a km in the mine drift just to get to the lab. Because this is a clean facility we cannot enter in our current mining gear or bring anything else in for that matter.

Therefore I had to hand over all my camera gear where they undergone professional cleaning by SNOlab staff. While that was being done I and the others had to go into separate rooms to shower and change. They provided us with new clothes, including socks and underwear! 

The experiments taking place were interesting and mind boggling to behold. It’s great to see stuff like this taking place in my local city. Everyday and all below our feet while many above have no idea it’s even going on. 

Check out the gallery below for a peek inside the famous laboratory.