GOLD PRODUCTION HISTORY OF THE UNITED-STATES

Gold has played an important role in the settlement and economics of t he United States. Commercial production from 24 states totaled more th an 420 million troy ounces (13,000 metric tons) from 1804 through 1995 . There were, no doubt, early undocumented discoveries by Native Ameri cans, but the first records are those from the mid-1600's in the east and from the 1770's in the west. Commercial production began in 1804 i n North Carolina and spread among several Appalachian slates in the 18 20's and 1830's as placer deposits were discovered and exploited. Afte r peaking in the 1830's and 1840's, Appalachian production began to de cline as deposits were worked out and as miners moved westward in resp onse to the news of the discoveries in California in 1848. Appalachian production virtually ceased with the Civil War while production from California and adjacent states remained at several millions of ounces per year. As the California Gold Rush waned, new discoveries brought t he Rocky Mountain states, South Dakota, and Alaska into prominence. Lo cal, state and total production responded to time of discovery, extent of placers, labor availability, technology, government mandates and, of course, the price of gold. By 1900, the major gold rushes had occur red and most of the major producing districts were defined; however, t he fixed price of gold (since 1837) provided a decreasingly attractive incentive for more exploration and exploitation. The rise in the pric e of gold, during the Depression provided a powerful incentive to incr ease gold production, but one that was cut short by War Production Boa rd Order L-208 which closed the gold mines in 1942. In the post-war pe riod, the fixed price, combined with the prohibition of American gold ownership, again proved to be a disincentive and gold production dropp ed. The era of free gold price that began in 1968, followed by the per mission for Americans to again own gold, brought new interest in gold with prices rising briefly in 1980 to US$850 per ounce and remaining a bove US$350 per ounce through 1995. This higher price, combined with t he technology for bulk mining and processing of low grade ores, provid ed incentive for new exploration and exploitation. Consequently, gold production soared above 10 million ounces per year in the early 1990's with 65% coming from Nevada. There has been a general decrease in the grade of gold ores since the early 1900's and significant changes in the methods of recovery. Despite the decreasing grade, the reserves of recoverable gold have more than doubled since the early 1970's. (C) 1 998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.