Gold Rush: Alaska

Premieres Friday, December 3 at 10PM ET/PT

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GOLD RUSH: ALASKA, follows six men who, in the face of an economic meltdown, risk everything - their families, their dignity, and in some cases, their lives - to strike it rich mining for gold in the wilds of Alaska.  Inspired by his father Jack, Todd Hoffman of Sandy, Oregon, leads a group of greenhorn miners to forge a new frontier and save their families from dire straits.  While leasing a gold claim in Alaska, Todd and his company of newbies face the grandeur of Alaska as well as its hardships, including an impending winter that will halt operations and the opportunity to strike gold

GOLD RUSH: ALASKA The United States is the world's second largest gold mining country — behind South Africa.

1 Australia, Canada and, increasingly, developing countries also are major gold producers.

1 Southeast Alaska, the location of the claim at Porcupine Creek, is said to have an estimated $250 billion worth of gold yet to be unearthed.

2 The rate of gold discoveries in Alaska over the past two decades has increased exponentially. Almost 200 million ounces of gold have been identified in quantifiable resources since 1990.

2 The largest gold resources identified in Alaska have been at lode deposits in locations such as Pebble, Donlin Creek, Money Knob (Livengood), Pogo, and Fort Knox. About six million ounces of these discoveries have been mined to date.

2 Most U.S. gold mining occurs on federally owned lands in 12 western states, with Nevada being the source of most U.S. gold production. Other top U.S. gold producing states are Alaska, California, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.

1 Most gold in the United States is produced at above ground surface (open pit) mines, though mining and production methods vary from location to location.

1 Gold is nature's most versatile metal. For thousands of years, it has played an essential role in savings, commerce, art, adornment, commemorations and religions. Contemporary society has added new roles for gold in modern technology and medical diagnosis. 1

 

BACKGROUNDER

THE NEW GOLD RUSH / MINING