Lode Mining Capital of the World

Gold originally was deposited within lodes or veins in rock, and as those lodes eroded they produced loose placer gold. In Juneau, miners first used sluices to separate placer gold from sand and gravel in stream beds in Silver Bow and Last Chance Basins, but within a dozen years the gold in creeks and hillsides was gone and underground lode, or hard rock, mining began. The mines provided employment, electrical power, and fire protection for Juneau from 1880 to 1944, and Juneau still owes part of its hydroelectric power grid, water system, and trail system to the miners who settled in Lingít Aaní, Tlingit land. Alaska Juneau Company Gold Mining was founded in 1897 solely for lode mining, and by 1933 it was one of the world's largest gold mines. After producing $80 million in gold, the mine closed in 1944.

Juneau, Alaska · United States