To make ends meet Van Nieuwenhuyse, now 50, had to turn NovaGold into a sand-and-gravel producer in western Alaska.

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He had a striking story, having survived the plunge in metal prices in 2001 by turning NovaGold into a sand-and-gravel producer in western Alaska.

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Fracking uses high-pressure mixtures of water, sand or gravel and chemicals to crack rock formations and release oil and natural gas deep underground.

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Bar: fully or partially submerged mound of sand, gravel or other unconsolidated material built on the sea-bottom in shallow water by waves and currents.

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So, for example, a 300-acre plant near Dallas takes Bridgeport's sand and gravel and turns it into concrete pipes as big as 12 feet in diameter.

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Down at Calabar's river-front marina, not far from Taylor's hilltop residence, sand and gravel worker Chris Love(ph) says the former Liberian leader is welcome to stay in Nigeria.

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