placer mine in the Interior. “The biggest thing is: It makes a lot more marginal ground minable.” When gold was selling for less, some lower-grade deposits weren’t worth mining, Bishop added. “But at $3,000, that’s a different story,” he said. Gold mining has come under heightened scrutiny in recent years, as the metal has relatively few industrial applications and mostly is snapped up by banks and financial speculators, and for use as jewelry. But gold remains a key part of Alaska’s economy, as the backbone of the state’s mining industry. The nearly 850,000 ounces produced by Alaska mines in 2024 accounted for some $2 billion — about half of the total value of minerals, including coal, sand and gravel, produced in the state, according to estimates from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. At Fort Knox — the state’s largest gold mine — sales rose 64% between 2023 and 2024. That was due partly to a big increase in production, with ore trucked in from the new Manh Choh mine. But the high price of gold also contributed, according to Kinross’ financial reports. Other large gold mines, like Kensington north of Juneau and Pogo near Delta Junction, also reported increases in sales and earnings. Gold’s rising price boosted revenue at Kensington by nearly $40 million last year, according to its owner and operator, Coeur Mining. “Anybody with an operating gold mine is in a happy spot right now,” said Van Nieuwenhuyse. For his company, Contango Ore, which owns 30% of the large Manh Choh project, the outlook is a bit different than for bigger companies like Kinross. Contango, given its relatively small size, is still paying off debt and sells most of its gold at prices pre-set by banks that loaned the company money to build its share of Manh Choh. It makes some money on those sales, but a lot more on the 30% of its gold that it sells at current prices, according to Van Nieuwenhuyse. “The higher the gold price goes, the more money we make, and the faster we pay off the debt,” he said. Gold miners across the state say it’s shaping up to be a good year. In Nome, a summer hotspot for placer mining, “things are looking shiny” for the industry, Ken Hughes, a local miner and gold buyer, wrote in an email. Given the growing challenge of finding labor and the usual obstacles from Bering Sea storms, “it may well take the recent record price of gold to keep operators in the field,” Hughes said. “Existing producers are licking their chops at the upcoming season’s prospects,” he added. — Max Graham, Northern Journal www.AlaskaMiners.org 25 From exploration to production, we have decades of experience serving the mining industry in all stages of operations. Streamline your camp services with NMS, an Alaska Native-owned company. Let’s Talk Bradley Berberich Strategic Account Manager 907.982.2533 Bradley.Berberich@nmsusa.com nmsusa.com RUNNING ALASKA’S REMOTE CAMPS SINCE 1974
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