What was the global scale of transporting materials to and from Hanford during the Manhattan Project? Objective To understand the transportation methods and infrastructure needed to transport materials and products for the Manhattan Project, specific to work at Hanford. Background The Manhattan Project plutonium production story begins at the Shinkolobwe mine in present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo, known as the Belgian Congo during World War II. Miners extracted some of the world’s richest uranium ore from this mine and shipped it to Canada for refining. After refining, the ore arrive Duration: 60 Minutes.