For you rust lovers

[Richard Flanders]

For all you rust lovers, and I know you’re out there. These pictures show 4 generations of power production at this placer gold mine in Nyac that I’m working at, that date back to 1908. First there were 2 generations of Fairbanks Morse diesels, a 2-lung then a 6-lung bohemoth that is indeed impressive. I thought I had seem large diesels before but this one sets a new standard for me. This is one big engine.Then they went to hydro power. The third picture is the original pelton wheel which was driven from a penstock on a diversion ditch and flume pipe that drops 70' to the wheel. The generator used to sit on the iron mount to the right. Using this system they were able to continue operating throughout WWII because they were not using fuel for power generation. Very clever of them I think. Then came the 4th and final(or not) generation that has a large green paddle type pelton wheel in a round drum driven by a 4ft-diameter flume from the same ditch and driving the huge round inside generator shown, that has a capacity of 1.1megawatts. They ran it at .8mW and operated it through about 1987, running the camp and two electric dredges at the same time, both miles in opposite directions from the powerhouse, with this system. They ran standard hvy duty power transmission lines mounted on locally cut spruce tree poles to the dredges; most of the lines are still standing. There is talk of refurbishing this latest hydro system and putting it back into commission, along with one of the dredges, which was modernized to some degree in the 1980's. I’d like to see that! I am most impressed. There has been somewhere around 750,000oz. of gold mined here and there is, based on historic churn drill records, at least 130,000oz. left in the ground to mine, so there’s no need to give up yet I guess.

[C Roger Giles]

Richard;

How in God's name did they transport all that equipment into what was probably the bush back then.

You mentioned four generations so this mine started years ago ergo my transport question. I hope the mine is located near a nagitable water way or it was hell on mules and men.

Roger

[Richard Flanders]

They likely barged it all up the Kuskokwim into Aniak then dragged it in overland in winter with horses at first and Cats later. There's a Herc strip here now but not in 1908 when they started here. Unbelievable really what they did back then. And it's still the bush here. We fly in out of Bethel. There's no road within hundreds of miles except here at the mine.

[Dean Romig]

Man will stop at nothing where guaranteed riches are the prize. Some of the most obvious examples of this in our country are the skeletons left behind by the boom and bust of both the mining and logging industries. Machines of similar size and wonder can be found in the most remote parts of New England and other northern tier states where the logging industry extracted many millions of board feet of logs from the forests until there were no more forests worth the effort. They pulled stakes and left and left the machines behind, being far too expensive to bother with bringing back.

[Richard Flanders]

It is the same here. I'm certain no one will ever drag this iron out, though someone went to the trouble to clip a lot of the copper out of the windings on a couple of the old generators here. Never took it anywhere; it's just lying around in piles. Worth about .97/# at the scrap yard now. Maybe someone will refurbish the 2-cyl diesel sometime. For some reason the heads are off both engines so they're a bit of a mess. The large one has blown out water jackets around the cylinders but they can be welded. I'd love to hear one of these run!