{"id":25922,"date":"2023-12-06T12:32:13","date_gmt":"2023-12-06T17:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=25922"},"modified":"2023-12-06T12:35:47","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T17:35:47","slug":"fwd-episode-924-part-4-summer-1959-alaska-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=25922","title":{"rendered":"Fwd: EPISODE 924 PART 4: SUMMER 1959 ALASKA JOB"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Begin forwarded message:<\/div>\n


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From: <\/b><\/span>ALAN SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com<\/a><\/a>>
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Subject: <\/b><\/span>EPISODE 924 PART 4: SUMMER 1959 ALASKA JOB<\/b>
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Date: <\/b><\/span>December 5, 2023 at 5:09:42 PM EST
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To: <\/b><\/span>John Wardle <jwardle@rogers.com<\/a><\/a>>, Marjorie Skeoch <marjorieskeoch@gmail.com<\/a><\/a>>, Pam G <pamlikestokayak@gmail.com<\/a><\/a>>
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EPISODE 924   PART 4  \u2014 SUMMER 1959   ALASKA JOB<\/p>\n

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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
dec. 4, 2023<\/div>\n

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NOTE: OUR EXPLORATION OCCURRED IN 1959\u2026THE PEBBLE MINE WAS DISCOVERED IN1987.<\/div>\n
Secrecy was common with most of the mining jobs.  And often controversy.  Mining is a dirty business.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 iStock prices go up and down. Investers in and lose millions.  One of the largest mine proposal in the world today<\/p><\/div>\n

is the Pebble Mine plan for SW Alaska. Our survey was on the NW flank of the Pebble mine proposal to construct <\/div>\n
a giant open pit one mile square.  Hundreds of millions have been invested but, so far, no mine will be allowed because<\/div>\n
enviromentalists believe a mine that large would destroy this pristine wilderness.  <\/div>\n
streams would become polluted with mine waste…  Salmon <\/div>\n
couldn\u2019t reproduce.<\/div>\n

Was our work in 1959 linked to the Pebble mine controversy?  I have no idea. READ ABOUT THE PEBBLE MINE..SEE POSTSCRIPT.<\/div>\n

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\u201cFellows, our contract with  Humble Oil of Texas is to see if this huge iron ore body<\/div>\n
has some chalcopyrite (copper) to make mine feasible.  The Japanese are interested.\u201d  Was this a  lie or the truth?
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TO START the Alaska job we got instructions from Bill Morrison who would <\/div>\n
be my partner for he summer.   Don and Ian were the other field crew while Mike Chinnery pllotted<\/div>\n
and interpreted the data.   Basically we searched for anomalies\u2026.blips on our consoles..<\/div>\n

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TO SET UP the motor generator was the first ask.  More than a mile of single strand shielded copper<\/div>\n
wires laid out in a straight line grounded at both ends with heavy grounding rods,  The generator crested an<\/div>\n
electro magnet field that coulld be detected by heavy coils of copper wire hung on our belts.  If an ore body existed below <\/div>\n
ground\u2026deep below\u2026we would find unexplained bias\u2026anomalies..  Examining these blips was Mike’s job.  <\/div>\n
The diamond drill crews were sent to places we directed.<\/div>\n

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TO LAUGH every morning when our pilot awakened on loudspeaker wit \u201cLet\u2019s get fucking sir born.\u201d<\/div>\n

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TO BE OVERWHELMED by the pure untouched wilderness inland from Bristol Bay<\/div>\n
and the shallow Bering Sea.   This  became the land bridge to North America during<\/div>\n
the ice ages \u2026.. today a vast open expanse of tundra cu by river valleys choked <\/div>\n
with tag alder an Beaver Dams \u2026.cut off from Siberia by the Bering Sea.<\/div>\n

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TO FLAG DOWN a helicopter among age old stunted spruce .<\/div>\n

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TO BE DROPPED miles from camp on the open tundra which had been marked with pickets or bright red plastic tape.<\/div>\n
 \u2026base line 6,000 feet long  made of grounded single strand<\/div>\n
shielded copper wire tethered to our motor generator.<\/div>\n

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TO SPEND each workday taking readings at 100 foot intervals at right angles to the base line.  The Turam was a Swedish<\/div>\n
invention thst coould detetect mineralized rock deep below the overburden.  <\/div>\n
(Note: This training in Alaska served me well.  In subsequent summers I was the only one available which led to<\/div>\n
fascinating jobs in Southern Ireland and he Yukon Territory.  Lucky\u2026very lucky.<\/div>\n

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TO CO EXIST with millions\u2026billions?..of blood sucking insects the worst of which were the \u2018white socks\u2019 as Alaskans called<\/div>\n
the black flies that chewed away at us. They had little white feet hence \u2018whitesocks\u2019.   These creatures liked to worm their way<\/div>\n
into places where clothing was tight like our waists\u2026.or worse, they tried to get in our ears en route to our brains.<\/div>\n
We wore loose fitting clothes and mosquito nets.  Blood sucking bugs of all kinds made our lives miserable.<\/div>\n

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TO SEE one Ameericsn diamond driller flown out to hospital.  His body bloated from bites after an 8 hour shift with<\/div>\n
no insect protection.  He never returned.<\/div>\n

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TO SPEND our leisure time hooking Pacific salmon as they made their way up our river (stream) to nesting grounds.<\/div>\n
Huge fish often too heavy to lift and close to 2.5 feet long.  Ugly mouthed creatures that were turning red as they\u2019re<\/div>\n
about to die and clog our trees with their bodies  much to the  joy of feasting Kodiak beas. This was one of North Americas\u2019<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

last stretches of  pristine wilderness.  Shoudl it be turned over to a mining company noted for poisonous wastewater?  That issue<\/p><\/div>\n

was up for debate by the Alaskan people.
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TO ABANDON our 30,06 rifles each day at the S52 drop points.  To stack them on top of the big red blankets laid<\/div>\n
out on the tundra spot pilots could find us for return trips.  Canadiansurvey crews did not carry guns \u201clest we shoot each other\u201d Floyd Faulkner<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

said on a previous job. \u201cLiving together can get tense at times.”
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TO JOIN Bill Morrison and take a few practice shots with the rifles which were far too heavy to carry along with our<\/div>\n
Turam harness, cable and copper coils.<\/div>\n

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TO STRAP us together like medievall warriors.   Two man 100\u2019 apart bound together by a 100 foot heavy cable which<\/div>\n
was hooked to two heavy copper piled tube and a battery pack.  One man was outfitted with a receiving<\/div>\n
console on his chest snd a large battery pack on his harness backside\u2026and a notebook to record the readings<\/div>\n

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TO KNOW that any contact with a kodiak bear would be bad news because the Tursm Harness was impossible to quickly remove..<\/div>\n
\u201cNo worries\u2026Kodiak bears think we stink and avoid us unless startled.   They have lots of dead and living Pacific<\/div>\n
salmon that must taste better than us,:\u201d said Bill.<\/div>\n

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See Bill deep down in the river valley near our camp.   Perfect for wanderingg Kodiak bears.<\/div>\n

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TO MEET one kodiak bear boy accident wile wing upstream when i should have been wading downstream<\/div>\n
\u2026Bill was100 feet ahed of me and i interpreted te swiping mud spots in the water as cased by his feet.<\/div>\n
Not so.  A kodiak bear appeared in the tag alder brush.  He or she was not interested in me.   I back off<\/div>\n
and found Bill.   Sounds moe dramatic than wss the actual case.  he bear was distant and disinterested.<\/div>\n

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TO PLAY with<\/div>\n
Aleut native yo-yo\u2019s at midnight because there was nothing else to<\/div>\n
but go fishing if the yo-yos failed to amuse.   Camp life was boring.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Perhaps dangerous as many of the Americans had hand guns for target practice.<\/p><\/div>\n

One of the crew shot a beaver for no reason.  Camp seemed more dangerous than<\/div>\n
the tundra wilderness.
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TO EAT on one occasion a piece of moose here with ventricles apparent. Yuck!<\/p><\/div>\n


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TO BE CHASTISED after  foolish decision explore the tundra alone.   We  had finished our survey<\/div>\n
and would soon be flying home.  Nothing to do but sit in camp . One of the S52\u2019s was about to pickup <\/div>\n
a drill crew miles from our base.  I hitched a ride and figured  it would take four or five hours to hike <\/div>\n
back to camp.   The land was flat and treeless . Undulating so I could duck out of the wind<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

and red a few pages of East of Eden by Steinbeck,
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As the helicopter<\/div>\n
lifted off I thought \u2014 \u201cThis is not A good idea\u201d  but it ws too late so I walked back to camp.  <\/div>\n
 And I Got scared.   I was all alone and the camp <\/div>\n
was distant.  We had never seen a Kodiak up on the tundra  but I begsn to feel uneasy. <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n


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Occasionally an S52 flew overhead but could not see me.  A search had been organized.  <\/div>\n
 When I reached camp<\/div>\n
the reception ws not pleasant.  \u201cThat was stupid , Alan\u201d . I agreed\u2026very stupid. <\/div>\n

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TO RETURN to Anchorage where Don and Ian got into a spot of trouble.   Could have been<\/div>\n
big trouble.  They decided to checkout an American jet fighter parked on the tarmac with no one around<\/div>\n
I believe it was an F – 104.  There was a metal ladder for th pilot to access is his seat..   Ian and <\/div>\n
Don wanted to look at those controls.  As they were doing so a military jeep moved in fast.  Two or three<\/div>\n
MP\u201ds took the boys away… Sort of arrested ?.  No drawn guns..  drove the boys away.  <\/div>\n
  Later they were returned to our hotel after, I believe, a phone call to Toronto but I am not sure.<\/div>\n
What did i do?  I walked off the base and home to our hotel.   So much for US security at Elmendorf<\/div>\n
air base in 1959.<\/div>\n

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TO FLY HOME SLOWLY when our regular flight was cancelled due to landing gear problem.<\/div>\n
Don, Ian and I were rebooked on a military flight from Japan.   Officers aboard it seemed<\/div>\n
Very serious\u2026no smlles\u2026no drinking.  We were the reverse.  We were ready for a good time as were <\/div>\n
the stewardesses who gave us free drinks as we laughed and joked our way down the rocky Mountain<\/div>\n
coast to Seatle.  Bit of a blur really.  We booked into a cheap hotel and were a little surprised that <\/div>\n
the three of us were wearing Japanese kimonos.  Mine is still around the house somewhere.<\/div>\n
Noody was hurt.  Just silly 20 year old boys.<\/div>\n

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Ian and I  then flew to Vancouver where a relative had arranged a tour of old mines<\/div>\n
in British Columbia.  I was included in the tour but felt a little embarrassed.   Freeloading. The result <\/div>\n
of the later  flight meant I was a little late starting my new life st  the University of Toronto, Vctoria<\/div>\n
College.  Did I know where my life was heading?  I had no idea.<\/div>\n

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I suppose someone  had to hold up the Golden Gate Bridge to Vancouver Island.<\/div>\n

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next episode 925    part 5   SUMMER 1959 MOST EXCITING YEAR OF MY LIFE\u2026.I FIND MARJORIE HUGHES<\/div>\n

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Post Script:  the PEBBLE MINE CONTROVERSY<\/p>\n


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The choice is simple:  Pacific Slmon or copper and gold
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EPISODE 580    PEBBLE MINE<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
may 9, 2022<\/div>\n

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It seems strange to have the largest gold and copper discovery in the world named after a golf course.<\/div>\n

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The Pebble mine site in south west Alaska (Bristol Bay drainage basin) contains 57 billion pounds of copper,<\/div>\n
71 million pounds of gold, 2.2 billion pounds of molybdenum, 170 million ounces of silver, 4.2 million kilograms of rhenium<\/div>\n
then palladium and 31 other minerals.<\/div>\n

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Price 2022<\/div>\n
(),<\/span>$3 per lb.<\/b> <\/span>Copper, <\/b><\/div>\n
$17.5 per ounce Silver,<\/b><\/div>\n
$1450 per ounce Gold)<\/b><\/div>\n

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Uses of palladium What are 5 uses of palladium?  electronics, <\/span>dentistry, medicine, groundwater treatment, chemical applications and <\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
jewelry, fuel cells. catalytic converter,<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
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<\/path><\/svg>“); display: inline-block; height: 24px; width: 24px; margin-top: -1px; transform: rotateZ(-180deg);”>
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So many minerlals that the Pebble Minesite has been declared \u2018essential to the security and prosperity of the Unired States\u2019 *<\/div>\n
(*US Department of the Interior, 1918)<\/div>\n

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Pebble is a \u2018mine site\u2019\u2026not a mine.  It may never become a mine.  Even  If Pebble Minesite would be the largest open <\/div>\n
pit mine in the world.  But it looks like it will never become a mine.  As of 2022 the Pebble Mine project <\/div>\n
has been cancelled by the American EPA.<\/div>\n

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How unusual?  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Pebble Mine<\/b> is the common name of a proposed copper<\/a>-gold-molybdenum<\/a> mining<\/a> project in the Bristol Bay<\/a>region of Southwest Alaska, near Lake Iliamna<\/a> and Lake Clark<\/a>.[1]<\/a><\/sup> Discovered in 1987, optioned by Northern Dynasty Minerals in 2001, explored in 2002, drilled from 2002-2013 with discovery in 2005. Preparing for the permitting process began and administrative review lasted over 13 years.<\/p>\n

As of November 2020 the mine developer, Northern Dynasty Minerals, still sought federal permits from the United States Coast Guard<\/a>[2]<\/a><\/sup> and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement<\/a>. State permitting would then follow, which the developer expected to take up to three years.[3]<\/a><\/sup> In November 2020, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers<\/a> (USACE) denied a permit for the proposed mine discharge plan.[4]<\/a><\/sup>[5]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

On September 9, 2021, it was reported that the United States Environmental Protection Agency<\/a> had “asked a federal court to allow for Clean Water Act<\/a> protections for parts of the bay.”[6]<\/a><\/sup> On January 31, 2023, the EPA effectively vetoed the project, using a rarely invoked power to restrict development to protect watersheds.[7]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

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Background<\/font><\/span><\/h2>\n

Geography<\/font><\/span><\/h3>\n

The Pebble prospect is in a remote, wild, and generally uninhabited part of the Bristol Bay<\/a> watershed in Southwest Alaska. The nearest communities, about 20 miles (32 km) distant, are the villages of Nondalton<\/a>, Newhalen<\/a>, and Iliamna<\/a>. The site is 200 miles (320 km) southwest of Anchorage, Alaska.[8]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Pebble is approximately 15 miles (24 km) north of, and upstream of, Lake Iliamna<\/a>, and near Lake Clark<\/a>. The deposit area is characterized by relatively flat land dotted by glacial ponds, interspersed with isolated mountains or ranges of hills rising one or two thousand feet above the flats. Pebble is under a broad flat valley at about 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level dividing the drainages of Upper Talarik Creek and the Koktuli River.[9]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Begin forwarded message: From: ALAN SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com> Subject: EPISODE 924 PART 4: SUMMER 1959 ALASKA JOB Date: December 5, 2023 at 5:09:42 PM EST To: John Wardle <jwardle@rogers.com>, Marjorie Skeoch <marjorieskeoch@gmail.com>, Pam G <pamlikestokayak@gmail.com> EPISODE 924   PART 4  \u2014 SUMMER 1959   ALASKA JOB alan skeoch dec. 4, 2023 NOTE: OUR EXPLORATION OCCURRED IN […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25922\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}