Lake Jeannine - Mine Pit, Overburden and Tailings

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Click on Photos for larger view.

Gary cautiously walks over the loose rocks to view the water in Lake Jeanine mining pit. Gary is 6'2" (187 cm) tall; therefore, that gives a reference point to grasp the size of this large mine pit. It's difficult to believe it was once a mountain of ore, slowly leveled by removing ore and eventually a huge pit in the ground.

Between the natural mountain on the left and the man-made mountain on the right you can see the tailings pile in the distance. If you look closely at the right hand side of the photo, you will see part of the road system used for transporting overburden (waste).

A close-up of the above photo taken from a different angle, and at a different season, which gives a better view of the tailings pile (the light material in the center background). Many roads criss-cross this area where once huge trucks toiled carrying crude ore to the processing plant. Now the tailings dunes are used as ATV runs.

A closer view of the tailing pile capped with a C-shaped snowpile. The mountains in the background are still snow-capped even though these were taken on May 21, 2005.