Kitsolt ( Eng. Kitsault ) is a non-residential mining town ( ghost town ) on the northern coast of British Columbia in Canada , a few dozen kilometers from the border with the United States ( Alaska ) and 1,440 kilometers from Vancouver , the largest city in the province. The nearest settlement is located 200 km to the south. Nearby is the Indian reservation number 24 Gits'oohl . The name Kitsault comes from the Indian Gits'oohl , which means something like a “way back” [1] .
| Kitsolt | |
|---|---|
| English Kitsault | |
| A country |  Canada |
| Region | British columbia |
| History and geography | |
| Based | 1979 |
| Timezone | UTC-8 , in summer UTC-7 |
| Population | |
| Population | 0 people |
Content
Climate
Thanks to the open Pacific Fjord, Kitsolt has a very humid climate with about 1500 mm of precipitation per year, which falls mostly in the winter in the form of snow. Temperatures range from −4 ° C in January to 15.5 ° C in July.
History
In the late 1970s, a tenfold increase in molybdenum prices was observed on the world market for a short time. One of the main reasons for this was that the United States , at that time the main producer of molybdenum, restricted the sale of public resources [2] .
The new owner, the mining company AMAX of Canada Ltd., has decided to resume mining. Since the area is relatively remote, in the period from 1979 to 1980 it was planned to build a settlement for 1200 miners and their families. About 50 million dollars were invested for this. Were built 100 single-family homes and seven apartment buildings with approximately 200 apartments, as well as comprehensive infrastructure with a hospital, school, library, shopping center, community center, theater, gym, swimming pool, power line, asphalt roads, etc.
Already in the early 1980s, the market reacted to high prices. Molybdenum, which in any case was obtained in the process of copper mining in huge porphyritic copper deposits, was now mined as a by-product. In addition, the element used for the processing of steel and catalysts was used more efficiently, processed and replaced with other raw materials. As a result, prices on the world market fell a few years before the previous value to a boom [2] . This made mining uneconomical, and mining was discontinued in 1982. For a short period of operation from 1981 to 1982, about 4000 tons of molybdenum ore were mined.
Although the residents did not leave the settlement on their own, Amaks bought the houses. In the fall of 1983, Kitsolt became uninhabited again. However, Amaks continued to use the guard in the desert. Energy and power supply were not turned off. In 1999, Amaks was acquired by Phelps Dodge , which acquired the land, but in 2004 sold it.
In 2005, Indian entrepreneur Krishnan Sutantiran acquired a settlement, industrial facilities, forest and coastline for $ 5.7 million from Phelps Dodge. The mine concession remained in the hands of the mining company. Sutantiran invested another $ 2 million, repaired buildings, repaired the sewer system and water pipes and continued to hire guards. He planned to turn Kitsolt into an ecovillage , a kind of “refuge for the best and brightest minds on the planet” [3] .
However, since 2004, molybdenum prices have again increased significantly [4] . Avanti Mining Inc. acquired mining rights in October 2008 [5] and planned to resume production, but prices collapsed again due to the banking crisis [6] . This led to court proceedings, as the mine needed access to the sea, but Suthanthyran’s idea of an ecovillage, on the contrary, prevented this [3] . In 2014, Avanti owned all the necessary concessions. However, prices on the world market fell below the limit of profitability in the long term, so that the company, which from the end of 2014 became known as Alloycorp Mining Inc. [7] , again turned the project down [8] .
Sutantiran followed a new plan. In 2013, he founded the company Kitsault Energy Ltd. Its purpose is to use a strategic location near the Pacific Ocean for the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) loading station. Hence, gas must first be supplied to the Far East market, especially to China . The pipeline infrastructure from the Fort Nelson and Dawson Creek gas fields requires an investment of $ 20–30 billion [9] . He received the necessary approval in January 2016 [10] .
In the summer months, he hires more than a dozen people, and has now invested about $ 25 million in maintenance [1] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Meret Steiger Die Geisterstadt, in der noch Licht brennt (German) (29. Januar 2017). The appeal date is April 30, 2018.
- ↑ 1 2 Peter Kausch, Jörg Matschullat, Martin Bertau, Helmut Mischo. Rohstoffwirtschaft und gesellschaftliche Entwicklung: Die nächsten 50 Jahre. - Springer Spektrum, 2016. - 31 p. - ISBN 978-3-662-48854-6 .
- ↑ 1 2 Repurposing BC's Ghost Town (Him) (5. November 2012). The appeal date is April 24, 2018.
- ↑ Molybdenum's Perfect Storm (German) (1. März 2005). The appeal date is April 30, 2018.
- ↑ Avanti delivers positive preferences for Kitsault . - 2009-12-21. - T. 55. - (The Northern Miner).
- ↑ Stuart Burns Molybdenum Market Crashes (German) (13. November 2009). The appeal date is April 30, 2018.
- ↑ Avanti Mining Inc .: Namensänderung (German) (1. Dezember 2014). The appeal date is April 24, 2018.
- ↑ Plan to take it (4. Juli 2016). The appeal date is April 24, 2018.
- ↑ Website von Kitsault Energy
- ↑ Kitsault LNG (26. Januar 2016). The appeal date is April 30, 2018.
Literature
- Kitsault: The Geology, Ecology, and History of Kitsault, BC . - 2011. - ISBN 978-0-9869313-0-7 .