Red Dog Mine is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...

(CDP) in the

Northwest Arctic Borough Northwest Arctic Borough is a borough located in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,793, up from 7,523 in 2010. The borough seat is Kotzebue. The borough was formed on June 2, 1986. Geography According to t ...

of the U.S. state of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

. The population was 5 at the 2020 census, down from 309 in 2010.

Economy

The

Red Dog mine The Red Dog mine is a large zinc and lead mine in a remote region of Alaska, about north of Kotzebue, which is owned and operated by the Canadian mining company Teck Resources. It is located within the boundaries of the Red Dog Mine census-des ...

is the only economic activity and the mine is the only inhabited site within the Red Dog Mine CDP.

Mining

The Red Dog Mine CDP derives its name from the

, the United States' largest source for

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

and a significant source of

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

and germanium. Construction of the Red Dog mine began in 1987, after exploration revealed that the area was rich in metals. The Red Dog ore body is one of the world's most significant zinc deposits, containing a number of ore bodies. The mine is located in Alaska's Northwest Arctic Borough, in the DeLong Mountains of the western Brooks Range, 90 miles north of Kotzebue and 55 miles from the Chukchi Sea. At the end of 2007, the site's proven and probable reserves plus indicated resources amounted to 77.5 million tons, containing 17.5 percent zinc and 4.8 percent lead, as well as 2.8 ounces per ton of silver. In addition, Red Dog also contains 36.6 million tons of inferred resources. The entire deposit lies inside a relatively small area (one mile by one-half mile). The deposit is essentially flat-lying at the surface, making open pit mining the extraction method of choice.

Geography

Red Dog Mine is located at . It is in the DeLong Mountains in the remote western

Brooks Range The Brooks Range ( Gwich'in: ''Gwazhał'') is a mountain range in far northern North America stretching some from west to east across northern Alaska into Canada's Yukon Territory. Reaching a peak elevation of on Mount Isto, the range is belie ...

about north of

Kotzebue Kotzebue ( ) or Qikiqtaġruk ( , ) is a city in the Northwest Arctic Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the borough's seat, by far its largest community and the economic and transportation hub of the subregion of Alaska encompassing t ...

and from the Chukchi Sea. Red Dog Mine is very isolated. It is located within the Northwest Arctic Borough, an area approximately the size of Indiana with only 11 communities, none connected by roads, with a total population of only 7,523 people at the 2010 census. The nearest of those communities are Noatak, population 514, roughly south and Kivalina, population 374, roughly west at the 2010 census. Although native populations have historically used the nearby area for seasonal food-gathering, there are no permanent residents at the mine or the port site. The mine's workforce consists of about 460 employees and contractors, of which somewhat more than half will be on-site at any given time. At the mine, everyone stays in the single large housing unit, tucked in among the process buildings near the edge of the open pit, while a small portion of the work force stays at the port site. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

, the CDP has a total area of , all land.

Climate

Demographics

Red Dog Mine first appeared on the 2000 U.S. Census as a census-designated place (CDP). As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2000, there were 32 people, 0 households, and 0 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 0.5 people per square mile (0.2/km²). There were 0 housing units. The racial makeup of the CDP was 31.25%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 65.62% Native American, and 3.12% from two or more races. In the CDP, the age distribution of the population shows 18.8% from 18 to 24, 62.5% from 25 to 44, and 18.8% from 45 to 64. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 700.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 700.0 males. The median income for both males and females in the CDP was $0. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the CDP was $34,438. 37.9% of the population were living below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

Transportation

A haul road connects the mine pit to its seaport on the Chukchi Sea. Concentrated lead and zinc powder are trucked year-round from the mine to a storage area near the port, but vessels are only able to reach the pier about 100 days a year when the area is ice-free. The rest of the year, the area is only accessible only by air, served by the Red Dog Airport. Mine workers from remote villages in the region are ferried to the mine on small aircraft.

Alaska Airlines Alaska Airlines is a major American airline headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, within the Seattle metropolitan area. It is the sixth largest airline in North America when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and the num ...

is contracted by the mine to fly other mine workers out of Anchorage.

References

External links

NANA Regional Corporation

Red Dog Mine
{{authority control Census-designated places in Alaska Census-designated places in Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska Mining communities in Alaska Populated places of the Arctic United States Brooks Range