In search of ethical gold - Mammoth Tusk Gold

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PRODUCTS | IN SEARCH OF ETHICAL GOLD

Mammoth Tusk Gold | Oro-Verde | Cotapata | 15 de Augusto

Mammoth Tusk Gold

In the summer of 2008 I learned of a sustainable gold mine in the Yukon Territory of Canada and was invited to visit. The Mammoth Tusk mine harvests alluvial gold in the Dominion creek valley, a two-hour helicopter flight from Whitehorse and was the first (of which I am aware) responsible gold mine in the world that was third-party certified by the Canadian and Territorial governments and the First Nations (native) people of the territory.

The Mammoth Tusk mine is a placer mine located on Dominion Creek in the Yukon Territory. It is an orderly, conscious operation with no mining activity taking place in Dominion Creek, located on the far side of the mining area shown.

The crew housing, cafeteria, sheds & shops are located here, along with the final separation of the gold nuggets and flake from the overburden.

Mammoth Tusk Gold owner Jon Rudolph is an entrepreneur, a contractor and road builder by trade who knows his way around moving earth efficiently and accurately. He gets things done well and puts the time into the necessary planning to have them run smoothly.

This is heavy equipment to be sure, but the care that can be brought into an operation of this scale by mindful operators is impressive.

The thin layer of topsoil (called black muck by the crew) that has accumulated over centuries is essential to the vitality of the ecosystem. Unlike “take & waste” mining operations, Jon Rudolph and his team carefully scrape the topsoil & save it (shown), dig down and mine the gravel layer that contains the gold, then replace the overburden, re-contour the land to it's original appearance and finally replace the topsoil. The ecosystem thrives from the disruption of the permafrost, roaring back more vibrant than before.

The sorting out of gold is performed entirely by gravimetric methods and there are no toxic chemicals used in the processing.

The concentrate is then processed through sifting trays and the heavier gold flake is captured on the slanted vibrating water table.

High purity alluvial gold flake typifies the gold from Mammoth Tusk mine.

The gold flake is then placed in a crucible to be melted and poured into an ingot or dore.

Opening the furnace to remove the crucible containing the molten gold

Pure gold melts at 1950º Fahrenheit and the graphite crucible reflects the yellow color of that temperature

Beginning the pour

Middle of the pour, billowing fire as the gasses hit the air

Good to the last drop

Sean Rudolph cleaning flux & oxides off the dore bar

Sean Rudolph displaying the dore bar

Jon Rudolph “giving me” the gold dore bar

Each dore is stamped with the mine and date before the it’s sent off to be refined

Ryann Rinker of Tivol Jewelers in Kansas City, Missouri holding a fossilized tusk of a woolly mammoth. These tusks are frequently found while digging down to the gold-bearing strata

Gold was discovered in the Yukon in 1896 and huge dredges began industrial scale mining around 1906. This dredging continued until 1996, leaving the course of rivers and creeks in the region forever altered and the landscape more of a moonscape

These floating behemoths could be built in a pond created on a tiny creek, then floated up the creek-bed in their continuous self-generated pond, churning up the side of a mountain leaving rubble in their wake and the site scarred eternally.

Ryann and Sean by a giant iron gear inside the derelict dredge.

Mining corporations built and operated these dredges in the Yukon until the early 1960’s and left their indelible mark

The scale of the destruction is immense and it's difficult to imagine the terrain ever recovering. Notice the relative size of the trucks and buildings in the background