Independence Mine State Historical Park
by Cathy Mahnke
Title
Independence Mine State Historical Park
Artist
Cathy Mahnke
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
In 1886, miners discovered gold in the Talkeetna Mountains, southeast of Anchorage. By 1906, Robert Hatcher staked the first lode ore claim. Individual miners joined together due to the expense of transporting and processing the gold.
Independence Mine was once two mines: The Alaska Free Gold Mine and Independence Mine. In 1938, the two mines were combined. With 83 mining claims, it became the largest producer in the district, with over 1,350 acres and 27 structures. In 1941, the company employed 204 men, blasted nearly a dozen miles of tunnels, and produced 34,416 ounces of gold worth $1,204,560; $17,208,000 in today's economy. When the United States entered World War II, gold mining was nonessential to the war effort. Gold mining came to a halt, but Independence Mine operated because of the presence of sheelite. Sheelite is found in some of the quartz veins with gold, and is a source of tungsten, a strategic metal. Independence Mine's scheelite production was low, and Independence Mine was ordered to close in 1943.
Gold mining was slow to recover when the ban was lifted in 1946. Gold could be sold only to the U.S. government at a fixed rate. Due to inflation, gold mining became unprofitable. After producing nearly 6 million dollars' worth of gold, Independence Mine was closed in 1951.
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July 22nd, 2015
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