Pics from my trip to far NW Alaska

[NightTrain]

In case anyone is curious, I took a bunch of pics of the operation and scenery up there.

Red Dog Mine is the largest Zinc mine in the world, it was discovered by a guy that was flying around that area in his plane and spotted a creek that was discolored by the minerals after flowing over the ore deposits. He had an Irish Setter with him in the plane and named the mine after his dog. I would have named it I'mFuckingRich Mine (IFR Mine has a nice ring to it).

A Canadian company operates it, and a large portion of the profits go to the Native corporation that owns the land (I think it was 25% of net profit).

Their focus is on Zinc, but there's quite a bit of Lead there, too. Since it's there, they grab it as well. I did the math during orientation when lead was $1 per pound and arrived at $1.4 million of lead per day extracted.

It's pretty remote out there, the communications are via Satellite (the entire operation shares the same link as what I have here at home - 8 meg. All electricity is generated by big diesel generators. Here's a pic of where it is on the map - I live just North of Anchorage.
http://www.picvault.info/images/537075295_100_2815.jpg

A view from the plane coming in.
http://www.picvault.info/images/537075269_100_2802.jpg
http://www.picvault.info/images/537075267_100_2794.jpg

How to unload luggage from a 737 in the boonies
http://www.picvault.info/images/537075270_100_2804.jpg

The satellite dishes - these will be moved down to the airport so they can actually hit all the satellites. As it is right now they're only able to get less than half of the channels available due to Line Of Sight issues from terrain.
http://www.picvault.info/images/537075274_100_2812.jpg

http://www.picvault.info/images/537075273_100_2810.jpg

This loader is parked next to a full-size Rig - the scale of these pieces of equipment is awesome, they're huge.
http://www.picvault.info/images/537075276_100_2819.jpg

A 777 Dump Truck converted to perform Water Truck duties - that's a full size grader parked to the left of it.
http://www.picvault.info/images/537075277_100_2820.jpg

One of the 777 Dump Trucks. These babies carry 100 tons at a time, they roll 24/7 unless they're getting worked on.
http://www.picvault.info/images/537075275_100_2814.jpg

[NightTrain]

We took a trip from the mine down to the port - we were bored stiff. So we grabbed our cameras and did the tourist thing. This is the tailings pond.
http://www.picvault.info/images/537075278_100_2833.jpg

A small herd of Caribou.
http://www.picvault.info/images/537075280_100_2840.jpg

Grizzly with her two cubs, they seek out patches of snow to escape the mosquitos which are absolutely unreal in sheer numbers out on the tundra.
http://www.picvault.info/images/537075292_100_2875.jpg

One of my apprentices at a creek crossing
http://www.picvault.info/images/537075283_100_2849.jpg

They paid a guy $8 million to install these fences that are designed to lessen snow drifts across the highway during the winter. Note the pole right in front of the camera next to the road - that's what the truckers navigate by when the snow is drifted. Both sides of the highway are lined by these reflective poles so they know where the highway is and don't drive the rig off the road.
http://www.picvault.info/images/537075282_100_2845.jpg

Look into the distance there and you can see the bump on the horizon - this is one of two buildings that are used to store Zinc and Lead in during the winter months when the port is frozen over. This pic was taken 6 miles away, the building is 1500' long and 300' wide and supposedly you can see the buildings from space.
http://www.picvault.info/images/537075285_100_2857.jpg

Front view of that building, note the man door up on the right for a sense of the scale of it.
http://www.picvault.info/images/537075287_100_2860.jpg

The port where they load all the ore onto lightering barges that ferry it out to the big barges that anchor 5 miles out. The water is too shallow for the big barges, so they make trips with small ones to load them up. From here, the ore gets shipped to the highest bidder, usually China and Vancouver.
http://www.picvault.info/images/537075289_100_2864.jpg

These are diesel tanks, each holds 2.5 million gallons. Since shipping traffic is not possible during most of the year, they need to have a good stockpile of diesel available - the mine requires 30,000 gallons of diesel per day to operate. Interestingly, the Coast Guard plans on establishing a base here soon because of the large amount of diesel storage already in place here.
http://www.picvault.info/images/537075288_100_2863.jpg

A shot of the Arctic Ocean. Nope, I didn't feel it necessary to take a swim.
http://www.picvault.info/images/537075291_100_2867.jpg

[Kathianne]

Rick, I'm asking this of someone that obviously loves the land there. Your opinions on ANWAR?

[Yurt]

awesome, thanks!

[Abbey Marie]

Love pics of Alaska. Thanks!

[NightTrain]

This is how I and 99% of Alaskans feel about it:
http://www.picvault.info/images/537075297_drill.jpg


ANWR should have been drilled a long time ago, I have pictures here that show what kind of terrain ANWR has, what the Greenies typically show is not ANWR, they like to show pics from other areas of Alaska.

Hell, I'll post a couple of pics of ANWR for you.

Most of the year this is what ANWR looks like - an Eskimo cemetary for something to look at:
http://www.picvault.info/images/537075298_inupiat_cemetery_370.jpg

ANWR during the brief summer :
http://www.picvault.info/images/537075299_pic_ANWR_133.jpg

This isn't what one pictures when reading 'Pristine Alaskan Wilderness'... at least I don't :
http://www.picvault.info/images/537075300_pic_ANWR_140.jpg

Yet more stunning wilderness with cute furry animals everywhere! /sarcasm
http://www.picvault.info/images/537075301_pic_ANWR_141.jpg


A shot of the existing Pipeline. Something that the Greenies don't mention is that when Caribou are in the area, they mosey to the downwind side of the pipeline to get out of the wind. The pipeline gets raised above ground and also goes under the ground to allow free movement of wildlife. The animals enjoy the windbreak since there's nothing else to provide shelter in that desolate area.
http://www.picvault.info/images/537075302_pic_ANWR_142.jpg

Existing Prudhoe Bay (next to ANWR) facilities. You wouldn't believe what kind of guidelines every person is subject to in order to maintain minimal impact. For example, at Red Dog Mine, (very similar rules), if you spill a cup of drinking water, you are required to report a spill, which launches a full scale response. Don't report that spill and you're on the next plane to Anchorage.

The reason? There's Chlorine in the water. It's pretty nuts, but every operation like this in Alaska knows there's Greenie groups waiting with bated breath to hammer them with national drama headlines and a possible shutdown over an incident. Every operation spends millions ensuring everyone follows the rules.
http://www.picvault.info/images/537075318_pic_ANWR_144.jpg

Granted that ANWR won't solve our oil needs, but it damn sure is a large step in the right direction. I used to work for Conoco-Phillips a couple years ago, and the estimates that are largely put forth are very conservative. I talked with the Oil Exploration guys quite a bit - there's a lot more oil in ANWR than the figures talked about.

[jackass]

Awesome pics! Thanks for sharing.

[darin]

VERY VERY VERY cool - thread of the day, IMO!! Thanks NT!

[Kathianne]

VERY VERY VERY cool - thread of the day, IMO!! Thanks NT!

Thread of the month!

[NightTrain]

Thanks guys :)

I probably should have started a new thread about ANWR, but feel free to use those ANWR pics next time you see an ignorant person spouting about Saving Pristine Alaskan Wilderness.

I have more pics of that featureless terrain if you need them... but to any thinking person, those pics sum it up.