Text 17884, 115 rader
Skriven 2008-12-15 08:30:20 av Glen Jamieson
     Kommentar till en text av Jim Weller
Ärende: NPR FEATURE ON YK 81215
===============================
 -=> Quoting Jim Weller to Dave Drum <=-

 -=> Quoting Dave Drum to Jim Weller <=-
 
 DD> National Public Radio had a nearly 8 minute feature on Yellowknife and
 DD> the diamond mines this morning. Fascinating stuff.
 DD> http://tinyurl.com/Icemining 

That is something I will have to look up.

 JW> Nice article. Unlike Ice Road Truckers, completely factual.

You mean the IRT isn't like that?  (I saw an episode once.)

 JW> Some comments:
 
 > Diavik Diamond Mine
 JW> That's the one my stepson Ray works at.
 
 > Charles Fipke discovered diamonds

 JW> He is the publicity hound. His partner, shy and retiring Stu
 JW> Blusson, had an equal hand in it. They found Ekati, which is now 50%
 JW> owned by BHP who spent $800 million developing it, 30% by Diamet the
 JW> junior who put up the first few million for a diamond drilling
 JW> program and 10% each Chuck and Stu.

Has Rio Tinto got involved?
 
 JW> I first met Stu when he wanted a 6 month staff rental for one
 JW> season; he choose a tiny 3 bedroom 4-plex unit in a semi-slummy
 JW> building for himself, a helicopter pilot and a GIS tech. They
 JW> complained about the size and quality but he said, "If it's good
 JW> enough for me, it's good enough for you." and that was that. He

 > I was a banker at the time. There were people trying to finance
 > more and more helicopters and airplanes and things," he says.

 JW> I was one of the other 4 bankers at the time. I saw Air Tindi go
 JW> from 1 twin Otter to a fleet of 22 aircraft (which sold out last
 JW> year for several tens of millions). We also watched expediters and
 JW> hot shot operators go from a pickup truck and five tents to
 JW> companies listed on the stock exchange which built their own air
 JW> terminals.

And bankers go from small town operators to rich Estate Agents?
 
 JW> The ice road handles up to 15,000 B train loads in 75 days. The fuel
 JW> delivery alone is awesome in scope. The trucks back up into the
 JW> suburbs from the highway as they get marshalled; I went by Wal-Mart
 JW> one morning and saw 128,000 pounds of Ammonium Nitrate on trailers
 JW> in the parking lot (that 23 times as much as McVeigh used in
 JW> Oklahoma City). Can you imagine the fuss at an American Wal-Mart?!?
 JW> There was another 128,000 pounds at Canadian Tire too.

I am envisioning a B-double fuel tanker and a similar sized nitrate
truck simultaneously crashing through a bridge, bursting open and
mixing.  With luck something would ignite the mix, and you would be
treated to good fireworks.
 
 > Diavik Diamond Mine, which opened in 2003, also had to drain a lake
 > and then build a 2.5-mile dike in order to create an open-pit mine.

 JW> Ray is the water manager. That dike is his baby.

Sad about the upset to the lake fishing.
 
 JW> The mines guarantee 50% of the jobs to Natives and have promised 33%
 JW> Native filled management positions in 5 years (if the Natives take
 JW> the required courses... which the company pays for). Ray is getting
 JW> a free upgrade from a community college tech diploma to Professional
 JW> Engineer; he is studying mining engineering at UCLA part time.

Your family's involvement in all that development would be quite
exciting.
 
 JW> 6 other of Roslind's relatives work there too. The mines have been
 JW> good to our family. Most qualify for all that affirmative action,
 JW> being Metis, and most are taking advantage of it to get training and
 JW> education and move up the ladder.

And I'm sure that Roslind and her supportive husband have a major part
in encouraging that training and upgrading of the extended family.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
 
      Title: Foil-Baked Lake Trout
 Categories: Fish, Bbq, Jw, Mushrooms, Trout
      Yield: 6 Servings
 
      1 md Onion; sliced
      1 c  Fresh mushrooms; sliced
      2 tb Fresh parsley; chopped
      2 tb Vinegar; white or wine
      2 tb Olive oil
      1 ts Tarragon
    1/2 ts Dill seeds
    1/8 ts Pepper
      2 lb Lake trout fillets; cut
           -into 6 portions
 
  Combine first 8 ingredients in a bowl. Spoon half the mixture onto 6
  pieces of foil large enough to enclose each piece of fish. Top with
  the fish and spoon on the rest of the mushroom-onion mixture. Wrap up
  parcels and bake over coals 30 min or until tender.
  
  Jim Weller
 
MMMMM
 

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