Alaska's next & coming gold rush.

• Author: Grenn, Ben
• Position: Industry Overview

During the winter of 1896-97 vague reports came out from the Yukon that rich deposits of placer gold had been struck on the Klondike, a tributary entering from the east in British territory. A few venturesome men left from the States in February or March in time to get down to the river before the ice broke.

On July 17, glaring headlines in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer declared that the steamer Portland was coming in with a "Ton of Gold", a portion of the clean-up of the new gold field. This was wired over the world, and thousands of men from all lands turned their faces toward the new El Dorado. Men and women poured into Seattle, Tacoma and Vancouver, clamoring for transportation to the new diggings.

A century later, "Klondikeitis" may not be at the same fever pitch it was then, but from many indications, digging for gold still continues to capture the hearts of many adventure seeking miners and businesses alike.

"Absolutely", says former State Representative Cynthia Toohey; when asked about the high level of interest in gold today. Toohey has operated the Crow Creek Mine in Girdwood. "We get between 35,000-40,000 folks through here each summer. Most are tourists, who are looking for a small piece of Alaskana to take back home with them. But we do see lots of people who are serious about the industry."

Today's gold prices hover around the $300-an-ounce mark.

"Of course, we would like it up around $700-an-ounce, as it was only a few years ago," says George Schmidt of the Alaska Miners Association. "So much of the interest in digging for gold depends to some extent on the stock market. For the most part, the casual tourist doesn't care about the price of gold. They're happy just to take home a flake or two of gold and tell friends of their "adventures."

Even the Division of Motor Vehicles has caught the "gold fever". Vehicles in Alaska are dorning the first new registration plate in 16 years, one with a design that honors the sourdoughs of the 1898 Gold Rush. The new design, picked by a subcommittee of the Gold Rush Centennial Task Force, features a group of miners climbing a snowy mountain slope, reminiscent of the eponymous image of a passel of sourdoughs on the high trail to Chilkoot Pass above Skagway. You'll have only a little while to enjoy these commemorative plates. The law authorizing the new plate requires returning to the current plate in 2004.

Twenty-five percent of all gold mined in the United States comes from Alaska. Ft...