Red Dog Mine is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Northwest Arctic Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska.

[5] Construction of the Red Dog mine began in 1987, after exploration revealed that the area was rich in metals.

The deposit is essentially flat-lying at the surface, making open pit mining the extraction method of choice.

It is located within the Northwest Arctic Borough, an area approximately the size of Indiana with only 11 communities, none connected by roads, with a total population of only 7,523 people at the 2010 census.

[9] Although native populations have historically used the nearby area for seasonal food-gathering, there are no permanent residents at the mine or the port site.

[10] According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 66.9 square miles (173 km2), all land.

A 55-mile-long (89 km) haul road connects the mine pit to its seaport on the Chukchi Sea.

[13] The rest of the year, the area is only accessible only by air, served by the Red Dog Airport.