The mining produced hundreds if not thousands of hand-dug holes across the upper plateau of Makatea. Each cylindrical hole is about in diameter and to in depth. An unsuspecting visitor could easily fall into a hole and die while walking in the thick undergrowth that hides these holes. The once active village where the miners lived had a school, bakery, first-aid medical centre, and all the things needed to make life comfortable. All that remains today has been destroyed by time and nature. The school and other places have been levelled to the ground and grown over by vines and jungle.