Meet Joe A Hard Rock Miner
I found an internet cafe where I was finally able to post photos to the blog. While working I met Joe next to me. Not only is Joe the state champion of power lifting in Alaska, he mines hard rock gold for a living. He flies into a remote area, works for a week down in a dark tunnel and then comes back to Anchorage for a week off. He gave me some gold ore when I showed interest in his work. This ore yields 12 oz of gold per ton of rock. Its heavy! The green color is copper which they don't use because of the cost of transporting material from the mine. Joe said that this ore came from 2,132 feet below the surface! That's deep!! His job is to drill 50 one-and-a-half inch holes 12 feet deep into the face. The holes are then filled with amodium nitrate and fuel oil. About 1,000 pounds of explosive material is used each blast. Joe wants my class to know that the ceiling of the mine is called the back, the sides are ribs, and the floor is the sill. Each week the mine produces two 22 pound gold bricks! Meeting Joe was a unexpected treasure.