Mining industry returns to prominence in Alaska

Petroleum gets most of the attention when Americans, and even Alaskans, think about valuable materials pulled from our state’s ground, but last year Alaska entered the big leagues on another important production front.

Among the states, Alaska is now the fifth-largest producer, measured in dollars, of nonfuel minerals. Alaska’s miners produced $3.37 billion worth of minerals, mostly metals, in 2007. It was an all-time record.

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