Saw a entry level job at a gold mine near Fairbanks

Alex Burke

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Apr 3, 2013
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I have been planning on possibly heading up to Alaska at some point but it's at least a few months or longer off but I saw this job which looked cool if anyone was planning on relocating like me but sooner might want check it out. Many jobs in the industry obv require relevant experience or a degree but this one is pretty entry level and interesting:) https://jobs.kinross.com/job/Fairbanks-EI-Laborer-Alas/311165800/?feedId=4&utm_source=Indeed
 

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I have been planning on possibly heading up to Alaska at some point but it's at least a few months or longer off but I saw this job which looked cool if anyone was planning on relocating like me but sooner might want check it out. Many jobs in the industry obv require relevant experience or a degree but this one is pretty entry level and interesting:) https://jobs.kinross.com/job/Fairbanks-EI-Laborer-Alas/311165800/?feedId=4&utm_source=Indeed

For a young guy like you...if your looking for a job, able to relocate...I'd say...go for it.

If you don't, you might regret it. If you do, you might regret it...which would you rather regret?
 

If I had the money to get there now and interview, relocate etc I would in a second:) I posted it hoping to help a desperate Californian escape like myself;)
 

Go for it before you are tied down by women or children; if it wasn't for the former I'd probably be in Alaska or New Zealand right now. Life is short.
 

Spent a lot of time at Eilson AFB outside of Fairbanks...gets mighty damn cold up there.

Best to migrate in the spring and acclimate slowly...

Its not for everybody...talk with people that live in the region...go when prepared...

In fact fly up for a weekend in the winter and get an idea of the conditions...do it now

Cars need to be winterized...head heaters and the like...do some research...kinda costly

And remember the State Bird is the Alaskan Mosquito...
 

I have spent thousands of hours working in freezers and refrigerators not as cold as AK but I think that's the least of my worries personally. If I had money to fly places and check them out I probably wouldn't be considering relocating in the first place I'd just stay at my job that let me afford plane tickets to places and hotels food etc:)

For once in my life am going to plan as hard as I can and hopefully get to a place that provides better opportunities for someone like myself with good work ethic, a strong work history but no formal education. I have a real passion for mining, the outdoors and even helping people, so to stay here longer, broke, working indoors 40hrs a week at dead end jobs makes less sense at this point.

You are right though I am just explaining my situation. Things like lining up a job, housing the weather transportation etc isn't to be taken lightly and people thinking of relocating somewhere like AK better have a plan:) thanks for your reply and advice.
 

When I was in Hawaii last year I stopped at a small roadside stand where a guy in his fifties was selling fresh roasted coffee beans and macadamia nuts; I chatted with him for a while and turns out he was from Concord, CA and had left 20 years ago after being fed up with the California rat race - he bought a few acres (which turns out it's much cheaper than CA land) on the big Island and now grows his own Coffee, macadamia, and pineapples. This guy was one of the happiest guys I ever met, truly happy, content with his life in every way. I have spent time with some very affluent people as well whose lives revolved around making a buck, they have nice things but you can just see in their faces how miserable they are. In guess my point is a simple life is often the best life - people who chase the dollar their whole life typically end up miserable. If mining is what makes you happy, go for it! There are no take backs or re-do's in life. Working at a big mine like you linked is physically strenuous work in general, however, it is good honest work. Also, it'll put you smack dab in the middle of some beautiful country where you can enjoy the outdoors and life without being policed like you would in California.
 

Before I went North to Alaska I sent a cover letter and resume to prospective employers. I narrowed the field down to Chevron and mechanic/manager as that's what I was doing at the time. Followed up with phone calls and got a firm offer from my first choice. When I got there, he hedged on my salary request and I went down the street to a auto repair shop and they hired me on the spot for what I wanted (doubled my salary after moving from Boise). Lived there in Anch from 1882 to 1999 and it was one of the best (if not THE best) choices I ever made. Eventually went to work for the city there which gave me a rock solid retirement with insurance @55. Good luck!
 

When you go to Alaska, take your camera. You take great pictures.

Nice website...

Alex Burke Productions

Thanks Mike, I would love to make a pro dredging documentary. The public conception lumps small scale artisanal mining in with all kinds of mining we don't do. Dredgers get lumped in with illegal strip mining, Mercury dumping, clear cutting, and other BS that they never do. If I could show how zero impact a dredge is and show it's an honorable profession that is being essentially pressured out of our modern culture by excessive laws and regulations it would go along way towards educating people. We should be building museums about our proud artisanal gold mining history and keeping it alive for future generations not banning it slowly. I think showing people working hard, making money and even having fun in a beautiful area would go along way. I have a couple of cameras that do HD video and I can edit video so I could film it for pretty much nothing if I were in the right place:) If groups are going to make false propaganda about dredging and sway public and political opinion it seems only natural to make a factual rebuttal in a documentary form.
 

Spent a lot of time at Eilson AFB outside of Fairbanks...gets mighty damn cold up there.

Best to migrate in the spring and acclimate slowly...

Its not for everybody...talk with people that live in the region...go when prepared...

In fact fly up for a weekend in the winter and get an idea of the conditions...do it now

Cars need to be winterized...head heaters and the like...do some research...kinda costly

And remember the State Bird is the Alaskan Mosquito...

Hilarious. no doubt, those mosquitoes are something else in a.k.
mosquito repellent and b.o. is the state cologne : )
 

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