The U.S. gold industry.

• Author: Gudde, Levi
• Position: Industry Overview

It's increasingly high-tech, it's environmentally sound - and getting more so every day - and it's growing.

The U.S. gold industry has changed in many ways over the past 16 years. In 1980, gold production from just five major mines - two of which were primarily copper mines - was under 1 million ounces a year.

Today, that figure has risen to nearly 11 million ounces from operations in 13 states.

In 1980, 75 percent of the gold needed by U.S. manufacturers was imported. In that same year, the United States produced less than 3 percent of the world's annual gold output.

Today, that figure has risen to almost 15 percent. And because the gold produced has finally exceeded U.S. demand, 36 percent of our output is now available for exports worth more than $4.1 billion, thus helping our country's balance of trade.

Since 1991, the United States has outranked every country but South Africa in gold production.

At the heart of this growth is the process for extracting tiny gold flecks from the earth and transforming them into a product essential to today's technologically sophisticated industries, and which remains the only universally accepted medium of exchange.

Today, this is a modern industry, with state-of-the-art environmental technology. Producers maximize a mine's resources while carefully monitoring its natural habitat. Today's gold producers have replaced the picks and shovels of the great gold rushes with sophisticated computer systems to plan a mine from exploration to final reclamation.

Employment

The livelihoods of thousands of Americans depend on gold, from Alaska to Nevada, Idaho, South Carolina and South Dakota.

Since 1980, nearly $11 billion has been invested in exploration and new gold mines by this industry. In addition, 70,000 high-paying jobs have been created, providing individual incomes upward of $45,000 annually.

The gold industry's impact on employment extends throughout the country as businesses put people to work developing products used to mine gold. One leading gold producer has purchased $1.6 billion in supplies and equipment from companies in 46 states.

And in Illinois, a least 1,000 jobs depend solely on building trucks and equipment for just two gold producers, according to The Gold Institute. It also estimates that for every million dollars worth of gold output, 21.1 jobs are created, output in the local economy increases $1.92 million, and household earnings increase $576,200.

Taxes

In 1994, the 18 largest gold...