FACTS’N’FIGURES — Nevada dominated by gold

In 1994, Nevada produced an estimated US$3.2 billion in minerals (including petroleum and geothermal energy), which is 8% more than in 1993. Gold production in the state reached an all-time high last year.

Mining companies in Nevada produce about 64% of all gold produced in the U.S. and about 10% of all gold produced in the world. This level of production contributes substantially to the country’s status as the second-greatest producer of gold in the world. In 1994, Nevada produced 6.8 million oz. gold, worth US$2.61 billion. This represents a 1% increase in amount and an 11% increase in value from 1993.

Barrick Gold was the largest gold producer in the state last year, with total production of 2.1 million oz. (Of this amount, 1.8 million oz. came from its Goldstrike mine in the Carlin trend, while 300,000 oz. were produced at its recently acquired Bullfrog mine in Nye Cty.) Newmont Gold ranked second, with 1.5 million oz. produced from several mines along the Carlin trend. Other large producers include Santa Fe Pacific Gold’s Twin Creeks mine (502,000 oz.), Smoky Valley Common Operations’ Round Mountain (423,000 oz.), Echo Bay Mines’ McCoy-Cove (359,000 oz.) and Independence Mining’s Jerritt Canyon (326,000 oz.).

Nevada’s known gold resources, which had decreased in 1993 after several years (during which time the rate of discovery exceeded the rate of extraction), rebounded in 1994. Published gold resources, including minable reserves and perhaps subeconomic deposits, totaled 136.5 million oz. at the end of the year. This represents an increase of about 4 million oz. since the end of 1993, but about 1.5 million oz. less than at the end of 1992.

True to its reputation, Nevada, the “silver state,” produces more of that precious metal than any other district in the U.S. Although only two mines in the state are being operated primarily for silver, most gold mines there produce silver as a byproduct. In 1994, these mines produced 22.8 million oz. silver, which was worth US$120 million. This represents a 2% decrease in amount, but a 20% increase in value, from 1993. The McCoy-Cove operation, although primarily a gold producer, is the largest silver producer in North America, having cranked out 10.4 million oz. in 1994. Nevada’s second-largest silver producer, Coeur d’Alene Mines’ Rochester mine, produced 5.9 million oz. last year, the same amount as in 1993. The Candaleria mine, which was purchased by Kinross Gold and resumed operation in November, 1993, was the third-largest producer last year, at 3.2 million oz.

— From “Nevada Geology,” the quarterly newsletter of the Nevada Bureau of Mines & Geology.