Another post with zero moto content. I didn't even ride out. This morning, I had the opportunity to get a tour of a gold mine. We were asked not to mention the name of the facility when posting on the Internet. This is one of the medium sized ore trucks with a load capacity of about 250 tons. I think he mentioned that they move around 150,000 tons of ore per day either to the mill or to be put into storage for processing during the winter. The mill runs continuously year around. It was a pretty impressive operation.
This is the main pit. The darker material is stripped of and moved to the side. The grey material is what they were processing. It is very low grade ore and there is not "free" gold such as with placer mining. All of the gold is chemically extracted. The tour included an overview of the entire ore process. Mining is a major industry in Alaska and is one of the largest private employers in the state.
Yesterday I was riding over a canyon pass in the eastern part of my state. I got stopped behind (was the first one stopped behind) a movement of two enormous--and I mean HUGE--dump truck beds. It was slow-going for the few miles that traffic was affected, but it was interesting, and I was in no rush. All lanes in both directions were blocked, as the beds hung beyond the pavement on both sides of the highway.
ReplyDeleteFor the life of me, I cannot imagine where they were headed.
These tires were around 10' high and the trucks are around 30' wide. I guess that's around two lanes plus shoulder. I occasionally see these moved on the highway but usually disassembled.
DeleteNeedless to say, I'm always awestruck by the scale of such heavy, HEAVY equipment.
DeleteAt first I thought they might be headed for Kennecott's open pit on the west side of Salt Lake valley, but if that was the case, they were taking a real round-about route.
They were actually headed for Utah's coal country. But with recent EPA regulations and whatnot, coal production in Utah has been scaled back. Besides, Utah's coal operations are underground, not strip, and these beds were way too large for "tunnels".
Maybe they were making their way to Nevada, which reminds me (and I'm sorry for such a lengthy comment): Several years ago I was at a small truck stop in a middle-of-nowhere desert valley in Nevada (one of the many such spots in Nevada), and on a flatbed in the lot was an old-ish Coast Guard vessel... Talk about a creature out of its element. :D
Together with some other folks on flickr of all things, we determined that it was headed by back highways from somewhere along the coast of Texas (though it likely originated in Florida) to the coast of the Pacific Northwest.
What a treat that was to see.
A Coast Guard boat in the middle of NV. That is odd. There are some huge loads headed up to Prudhoe at times taking up most of the road. Lots of pilot vehicles getting oncoming traffic to pull over at any wide spot available. And three or four tractors pulling and pushing to get it up (and down) the steep grades.
DeleteInteresting stuff, Richard. Digging for gold still has an adventurous ring to it, even if it is done with huge machinery these days.
ReplyDeleteGold mining is still a big deal in Alaska. There are even a lot that placer mine as a hobby.
DeleteReminds me of the gold mine operation that Patrick, thing one, and I rode out to watch. The big even was the monster trucks hauling gold bearing dirt to wherever they process it. Apparently, there's about 1 ounce of gold per truckload.
ReplyDeletehttps://redlegsrides.blogspot.com/2010/08/uraling-to-victors-mining-district.html
I'm amazed that some of these operations actually make money. 1oz per 250 tons is a pretty small return.
DeleteLooks a lot like the copper mines Northeast of Phoenix, even the same type of vehicles.
ReplyDeleteI remember stopping at a huge mine west of Tucson 40 years ago. Also went to a moly mine north of Tonopah, NV. The Cu mine in AZ was huge. This was a mid-size dump. The large was just under 300 tons. They mentioned that the largest tires were on a loader. That one was wrapped in steel chain mail armor to extend its life.
DeleteWow, that mine looks huge.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen mining trucks like that since heading east on the Trans Canada Hwy. There were always a few of them by the side of the road around Fernie, BC.
I think that's a Cat 793, not Cat's biggest, but still pretty massive!!! 4210 cubic inch V-16.
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of heavy equipment!