ritical Mining for Critical Times” is the theme of the Alaska Miners Association (AMA) annual convention and trade show being held in Anchorage this month. As AMA Executive Director Deantha Skibinski once explained, “critical” means you need the mineral while “strategic” means you don’t have it. In these times, Alaska’s mineral resources are becoming more critical and, as development proceeds, less “strategic.”

Mineral extraction brought Klondikers to the new US territory of Alaska during gold rushes that concluded the 1800s, and the industry continues to power the state in the 21st century. The Northwest Arctic Borough, the Fairbanks North Star Borough, and the City and Borough of Juneau each collect their largest chunk of municipal taxes from major mines. Interestingly, newer projects in advanced exploration—Graphite One, Livengood, and Niblack—and others at various stages, from Nikolai nickel to Donlin gold, are outside of organized boroughs. The economic impact of these projects flows more directly to the nearest communities.

According to a 2022 report by McKinley Research Group, the state’s main non-petroleum mineral is zinc, contributing just over half of the value of Alaska’s statewide minerals production. More precious, but at lower volume, was gold at 37 percent and silver at 7 percent. Lead made up 3 percent of total value, 2 percent came from coal, and a fraction of a percent came from mining low-value aggregates.

AMA and Alaska Metal Mines commissioned McKinley Research Group to update its report on the economic impact of the mining industry using 2023 data on the fiscal and employment effects. This edition of Alaska Trends illustrates those findings.