Welcome to the town of Asbestos, Quebec.
These days, 'asbestos' is a word with a sense of doom attached to it.
But when this mine was opened in the late 19th century, that really wasn't the case.
Which is why they named the town after it.
This pit just here was the biggest asbestos mine in the world.
Asbestos is a mineral, easily mined in pits like this.
It can be turned into strong, cheap, fire-resistant insulation, and it was used in a huge number of building projects in the 20th century.
Either as big insulation blocks, or in ceiling tiles, or just sprayed on as cladding.
It was a miracle substance: it could even be woven into clothing, like military uniforms or firefighters' gloves.
The catch is that it's made up of microscopic little fibrous crystals.
