Yukon placer gold mining on the upswing

Placer mining heated up in the Yukon Territory this year as mostly family owned....

  Placer mining heated up in the Yukon Territory this year as mostly family owned outfits mounted more exploration programs. The value of gold produced in the Yukon’s growing placer mining sector shot up 18 percent, according to William LeBarge, placer geologist for the Yukon Geological Survey. The territory had 107 active placer mines in 2007, plus 24 exploratory ventures. That compared with 106 active placer mines in 2006, and nine additional exploratory properties. With only two weeks left in the year, LeBarge reported an 8.6 percent jump in placer gold production to 63,330 crude ounces as of Dec. 17 and total value climbing 18 percent to $37.5 million. That compared with total production for 2006 of 58,294 ounces of placer gold. Given past years, LeBarge said he expected several thousand more ounces of gold to be reported as royalties since November, but Yukon Government records showed only a few more ounces by mid-December. More than 100 years after the discovery of gold in the Yukon, placer mining is still an important sector in the Yukon’s economy. More than 16.6 million crude ounces, or 518 metric tons, of placer gold have been produced in the Yukon — at today’s prices that would be worth more than $9 billion. Placer mines in the Yukon are still mostly family owned with fewer than four employees. About 350 people were directly employed at 115 Yukon placer mines in 2006, and several hundred more were employed in businesses and industries that serve the placer mining sector. Scattered over the southwestern and central areas of the territory, most of the placer operations are clustered in traditional mining areas from Whitehorse to Dawson. YGS reported 10 operations moving to new drainages, nine outfits being sold, five new startups and four operations shutting down.