Holloway Bar Placer Mine - Picture of the Week

It's not unusual to hear the distinctive honking and see rare trumpeter swans swimming around Lakelse Lake during the winter. In 1933, there were only 77 trumpeter swans breeding in Canada and 50 in the US - but they've rebounded and although still endangered, now number in the thousands. This family has just arrived from their breeding grounds in Alaska and spends their winters along the west coast of BC. Trumpeter swans have an unusually thick layer of down some 5 cm thick that make it almost impervious to the cold, allowing them to survive quite handily in temperatures reaching -30 C. If the lake freezes this winter, they will move to the coastal estuaries some 50 km further west as they do need open water to feed. These swans are huge birds, with males weighing an average of 12 kg with a wingspan of up to 3 meters!

Wilderness living means being prepared for anything that might arise. Holloway Bar is probably one of the better prepared small placer mining operations currently working in the North. One example you will see when touring the camp facilities is the fire station, conveniently located in the center of camp next to the main communications post. In the event that a fire does break out, all of the needed fire fighting implements are located here - shovels and rakes to break up any fuel sources, along with buckets, hoses and a barrel of water to allow quick thinkers to put out the fire when it is still small and easy to handle. Although camp water is gravity-fed and not dependent on electricity to flow, there's also a small gravity-fed self contained water supply just off to the left to use in case the camp's main water supply is cut off.

One of our goals when embarking on the Holloway Bar project was to explore the advanced communications possibilities now available to those living and working in remote areas. For the first few years at the mine, communications to the outside world was available only by using a radio-telephone or ham radio which was either expensive or not very private. Now, the wave of inexpensive communications sweeping over the Internet, VOIP (Voice Over IP) has reached out to Holloway Bar via our Xplornet satellite Internet system, which provides high-speed Internet access throughout the mine property. In addition letting us upload webcam images from our "off the grid" location throughout the summer, the Internet also allows for reliable, private telephone communications as well as enabling 24x7 live video surveillance on the mine property, which is critical to security and safety. The Internet has truly changed life for many in the North.

Most of the pictures you've seen of 'The Wizard', the gold plant at the heart of the Holloway Bar placer mining operation, have been of the sluicebox side of the plant. However, looking at it from the back side uncovers some of the safety features of the plant. Scott built the entire plant from recycled materials in less than two months before starting to mine. Other than being able to extract gold, there were two main concepts behind the plant - it had to be able to be hauled without a pilot car, and it had to be safe. The red pipes clearly visible in this picture demonstrate one of the many safety features. Water is pumped up from the river under high pressure through these bright red pipes. Although the plumbing hasn't let us down yet, a burst pipe is bad news that requires quick thinking and fast action - and having all of the waterworks clearly visible will certainly help any miner that has to quickly spring into action to control any leaks.