RE: Saint TedI talked to a pit shift boss at work last night about a few concerns raised here,and since some people are into giving lessons here's Lesson #1 The only way the alaskite zone could be any better is if it was bulbuous toward the bottom like a lite bulb buried up side down.Look at the 3d model and cut off the bottom third.Boom there's your light bulb.Highest grades are in the bulb.Not so deep now either is it?The column of ore starting very near surface would be stockpiled as surrounding overburden is removed.This "horrible" overburden is what is used to build tailings dams.If there was no "horrible" overburden you'd have to blast rock somewhere else to build with.Lesson #2 The stripping ratio given was based on a 45 degree pit wall.Complete bunkum.If you were digging a pit at a nice sandy beach that would probably be just right.In solid rock that would be pretty nutty.Now you go talk to your "expert" and we'll compare notes.