thanks for your replies. come to think of it, i was in bellingham on new years day and i distinctly remember a southbound manifest come through with those black gondolas with white "ecofab" lids.

did more googling: found this:

"Cominco ships zinc from its Red Dog mine in Southwest Alaska by bulk carrier to
Vancouver Wharves in North Vancouver, BC. From there the zinc is transported to
Cominco’s Trail, BC smelter. This service only occurs during the summer months
when the Alaska port is ice free." - report dated 2004 (http://resources.wcog.org/border/sss_phase1report.pdf)

this site also has info, appears to be more current: [www.worldshipsocietyvan.ca]

i guess this is a bit of a tangent from the subject of the thread, so apologies...