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How much gold (in weight) has been mined in Alaska since it became a state in 1959?

Question #130528. Asked by pyonir.
Last updated Sep 04 2021.
Originally posted Apr 14 2013 3:40 PM.

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sportsherald star
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Answer has 4 votes.

Currently voted the best answer.
It hasn't been straightforward to get even a partial answer to this question, but here are the figures for three of those years: "Gold (ounces): [2006] 570,129; [2007] 726,933; [2008] 797,237"
[from 2013 dced.state.ak.us article no longer online]

A figure of 24,100 kg. in 2009 is provided here:
link http://www.nma.org/pdf/g_production.pdf

A more recent report shows that this has increased in 2012: "Unlike the tenacious Gold Rush sourdoughs that topped 1-million ounces in 1899 and again in 1906, the roughly 1-million ounces of gold recovered in 2012 was largely the product of 21st Century machinery." l

While placer mining production is currently only a small percentage of overall annual production, it once dominated. Of interest to this question is the following passage: "gold mining was shut down during World War II by Presidential Order. After the war, the industry failed to recover due to rising operating costs and fixed gold prices. Most placer mining was discontinued by the 1960s. With the lifting of gold ownership restrictions and abandoning of a fixed price in the 1970s, gold production rose dramatically. By 1982, there were more than 500 placer mines statewide (including recreational mines) producing 174,900 ounces of gold worth $70 million.
The fluctuation of gold prices continues to affect the level of gold placer production in Alaska. For instance, gold prices saw a marked improvement in the late 1970s peaking at over $800 per ounce in 1980, followed by a gradual but fluctuating decline to $256 per ounce in 2001. With the fall in prices, the number of operating family-run placer mines dropped to 42. However, for the past several years, the price of gold has steadily improved, averaging $1,224.53 per ounce by 2010.29 By that year, it was estimated there were 227 placer gold mines in Alaska producing a total of 69,318 ounces of gold (compared to 234 mines operating in 2009.)" plus "Over the past 125 years, Alaska's mining industry has produced 40.4 million ounces of gold,..."
link https://www.akrdc.org/mining

See also
link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_mining_in_the_United_States, and link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_mining_in_Alaska

Response last updated by CmdrK on Sep 04 2021.
Apr 15 2013, 5:55 PM
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