Landmark 1a: Rare Earth Elements
If you're stumbling upon this post for the first time, you're entering the narrative midway through its unfolding saga. Alternatively, if you've eagerly awaited the next episode, consider revisiting the preceding section, The Initial Problem Set, to refresh your memory.
Super-chilled air struck Ranell like a physical blow as he stepped out of the doorway of the De Havilland DCH-6 “Twin Otter” aircraft. He felt the crackle as the tiny hairs inside his nose froze instantly, and every square inch of exposed skin not covered by his newly purchased extreme cold weather gear stung almost like he was being burned.
After a ninety-minute flight, the twenty-passenger aircraft had set down on a permanent airstrip built on a ridge of stratified materials known as a glacial esker deposit. He was here to spend the next several weeks overseeing GML operations at the rare earth exploration camp at Strange Lake in Nunavik, Canada. Several of Ranell's assistants followed him out into the frigid cold. As he made introductions, they began transferring luggage onto a waiting truck while Ranell shook heavily gloved hands with representatives from the mining corporation developing the site.
Introductions were kept mercifully brief, and Ranell slid eagerly into the warm cab of the snow-tracked transport truck. He had a chance to survey his surroundings while he waited for the crew to finish transferring gear and equipment.
The terrain looked much as one might expect for a remote and desolate mining camp located far above the arctic circle. Vast frozen plains swept away into the distance, framed by endless ranges of low, ice-covered mountains. During the flight, the pilot explained to Ranell that they flew over innumerable lakes that were impossible to see because they were covered in snow. It all blended together to form the bleak, forlorn landscape he viewed now. The pilot assured him that from the air, the lakes were quite beautiful in the summertime. “But you wouldn’t want to see them from the ground,” he joked. “Clouds of mosquitos swarm those lakes in summertime. Big as vampire bats!”
Is this the project we bet on? Ranell thought glumly. What am I even doing here? I’m a Southern California boy! A thermometer mounted prominently in the truck’s dashboard read negative 26 degrees Celsius. Sixteen below zero Fahrenheit.
The premise of this novel: In 2016, Straightline Aviation actually signed an agreement with Quest Rare Minerals at the Strange Lake complex mine in Northern Quebec, Canada.
Choose Option 1: Learn more about the Strange Lake Mine.
Choose Option 2: Continue with Story.