Females on the mining frontiers.

• Author: Makool, Becky
• Position: Alaska

From large hardrock mines to small single-owner operations, women are hard at work in Alaska's mineral industry.

Just as they did decades ago, Alaskan women are still working side-by-side as equal partners with their husbands at small, family-owned mining operations. And they are still demonstrating their mining versatility -- from operating heavy equipment to wielding mechanic's tools. In some cases, women are running their mining operations single-handedly.

Others are employed in a variety of positions by Alaska's large, hardrock mines, such as the Red Dog Mine near Kotzebue. While a minority at these operations, women are proving that they have the self-confidence and determination to successfully handle all aspects of the mining process -- from office positions to fieldwork.

According to statistics compiled by Jeff Hadland with the Alaska Department of Labor's Research and Analysis Section in Juneau, roughly 10 percent of Alaska's 1,450 hardrock and coal-mining employees in 1993 were women. On the average, the men earned $43,004 last year, while the women earned $30,800. (The department has no statistics on the number of women working in small, family-run placer mining operations in the state.)

Connie Parks-Karl, a former placer miner, is currently the president of the Fairbanks branch of the Alaska Women in Mining (AWIM) organization. She says that while the number of small mining operations in the Interior has decreased substantially, many women throughout Alaska are still participating in mining or mining-related activities.

Founded by Gail Ackels of Fairbanks in 1982, AWIM had about 10 members initially. Now the Fairbanks branch has about 40 members, and the organization has expanded into Juneau and Anchorage. "The Juneau branch was formed in 1990 and is now twice as large as the Fairbanks branch," Parks-Karl says. The Anchorage chapter, established in 1986, remains small.

After spending about six years placer mining with her husband Karl in the Circle Mining District north of Fairbanks, Parks-Karl admits, "I think the thing that keeps you at it is that you're working independently, it's your own business, you're your own boss. I think that's the thing about Alaskans -- so many are individuals who like to work on their own, and you can do that in mining, provided you have your own equipment."

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