Elizabeth Bluemink reports: Alaskan Gold production highest since 1916 (Anchorage Daily News,
November 8, 2009).
Fort Knox mine. Source: Kinross Gold Corporation.
In summary:
Alaska
produced about 800,000 ounces of gold in 2008 - the largest amount
since 1916 ( High as that output is, Alaska currently only accounts for
ten percent of U.S. gold production).
Almost all, about 84 percent, came from two mines - the open pit
Fort Knox mine near Fairbanks, and the underground Pogo mine near Delta
Junction. About five percent of the gold came from small scale placer
mining.
Continue reading "Alaska's gold production is up" »
The cost of living differential between urban and rural Alaska has
increased since 1985 - an important reason is the introduction of "big
box stores" in urban Alaska.
Pat Forgery has a nice piece in
today's Alaska Empire summarizing testimony to the Alaska House Finance
Committee by McDowell Group economist Jim Calvin: Urban, rural cost divide widens.
The McDowell Group was hired by the state to look at regional
cost-of-living differentials. This study will be used in labor
negotiations.
In summary:
Continue reading "It's getting relatively more expensive to live in rural Alaska" »
