IN THE WAKE OF THE RED DOG…AQQALUK
LOOMS
by Kathryn G. Arlen
One hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle, reaching
towards the Chukchi Sea, a hamlet of miners methodically, year round
produce 80% of our nation’s zinc ore supply plus 30% of all lead
concentrate. Not for its glamorous but its industrial reputation does
the Red Dog Mine operating continuously in remote Alaska serve its state
(and its country) well.
Boasting status as the world’s largest producer of
zinc concentrate, the Red Dog deposit near Kotzebue was discovered almost
as an after thought by a curious, observant bush pilot/prospector who
lived in the region back in the ‘50’s and 60’s. Bob Baker
had been flying over the area and noticed the odd coloring associated
with iron, often co-existing with lead and zinc. Since he couldn’t
land himself, he notified a friend, Irv Tailleur, with the USGS suggesting:
“Go look at this place.” Tailleur complied, submitted a report
claiming the land held “something of interest,” and more complete
investigation followed. Eventually intense federal agencies’ analysis
indicated the area’s possible potential, and once that information
was released, mining companies started to gather. But it is Teck Cominco
Ltd. based in Canada who eventually became the mine’s developer,
operating since 1989 in partnership with NANA (Northwest Arctic Native
Association) who owns the land. A majority of the mine’s 400 plus
fulltime employees are also NANA shareholders.
The mineralization area presents some staggering challenges.
An open-pit truck and loader operation, the mine is active year round,
while concentrate is stored at the port facility during the arctic winter
awaiting customer delivery during a brief, intense 100 day shipping
season—July through October. As Jim Kulas, Public Affairs Director
for the Red Dog Mine, explained, “We have a short season, and some
items (like huge truck tires) will not fit on an airplane so we have
to do a lot of planning to make sure we have sufficient quantities of
necessary items that can only come in by sealift. Sealifting is an economical
way to get freight to Red Dog—air freight is not.”
Another logistics issue is the absence of a smelter process
in the United States. Concentrates are exported to smelter customers
overseas, both in Asia and Europe, then shipped back in final metal
form to the United States.
Twenty years have passed since the Red Dog began production,
providing over $540 million in benefits to the regional economy. But
the original Red Dog mineralization supply will reach its end within
the next year or two, and developing the overlapping Aqqaluk deposit,
discovered in ’95, must begin to keep the mine’s production
extended for another twenty years. Kulas emphasized: “We would
like to be stripping waste next year to make the ore available out of
the Aqqaluk deposit. What’s important for people to know right
now is the effort we’re going through to develop Aqqaluk. That
is the most important issue; that is our future. In two years we will
have exhausted all the ore in the main deposit, and we need the Aqqaluk
to continue our operation.” And to continue economic benefits for
region, state, and country.
Zinc does not hold the glittering allure of gold and silver
or offer the multiple ornamental/technical uses of copper, but it is
a part of everyone’s ordinary everyday life, both here and abroad.
(“Every American born will need 773 lbs. of zinc in [his or her]
life.” --Mineral Information Institute, 2007.) In the U.S. over
half of the Red Dog’s eventual zinc export is used for galvanizing
(coating iron or steel to prevent rust,) and an additional 37% is used
for alloys, including bronze and brass.
Important international customers include China and “several
other of the emerging economies who are becoming like we are,”
Kulas described, “and their desire for goods we may take for granted
here is driving the markets, whether it’s cars, or washing machines,
or any other of those sort of consumables…That’s where much
of the zinc consumption is, and that’s what’s kept the price
where it is, as good as it’s been.”
Aqqaluk’s development is critical and depends upon
successful approval of the proposed closure and reclamation plan for
the Red Dog, including the Aqqaluk deposit. The final Supplemental Environmental
Impact Statement (SEIS), addressing environmental protection, subsistence
resources, and water quality has been completed, yet a thirty day appeal
process lies ahead. As Kulas elaborated, “We’re concerned.
We need that ore to keep the operation running. Do we expect opposition?
No, but it might be there. There is an appeal period starting in the
month of November, and there’s no way of predicting. That’s
when the agency submits their final decision, and anybody can challenge
that.”
Question: If we did not have the Red Dog Mine, what would
the rest of the country do when it comes to our need for [industrial]
zinc? “Without the Red Dog in production, that zinc would be off
the market,” Kulas emphatically concluded. “The supply would
decrease, the demand would stay where it’s at, and the price of
zinc would go up. The impact on the global market would be significant.”
And one more precious natural resource and commodity essential to our
daily living needs, habits, and wants would slip out of our hands and
our bargaining position.
Kathryn G. Arlen is a communication consultant and freelance writer
in Fairbanks, AK and can be reached at: mindmerger@hotmail.com.
