Gold Rush revisited in Canadian Yukon

By Paul Gilkes

Published: Mar 8, 2017, 6 AM

Collectors may not only pursue gold that a mining company has dug from the ground, but also syngraphic items such as colorful stock certificates like this 1971-issued, canceled example from Newmont Mining Corp.

Image courtesy of old-stocks-bonds on eBay.

The Canadian Yukon is experiencing a resurgence in gold mining as precious metals producers hunt for lucrative veins in the region that spawned a massive gold rush more than a century ago.

The world’s No. 2 gold producer, Newmont Mining Corp., based in Greenwood Village, Colo., is the latest concern to heavily invest in mining operations in the area.

Newmont announced March 6 that the company had entered into an agreement through private placement with Goldstrike Resources to invest $39.5 million to pursue and develop Goldstrike’s Plateau stake in the Yukon.

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According to Newmont, “The agreement entitles Newmont to earn up to 80 percent equity in the Plateau property through exploration investment. The Plateau property is a newly discovered gold system consisting of more than 2,000 claims covering 350 square kilometers. Initial drill results are promising and high grade gold mineralization has been identified over a 50 kilometer strike length.”

Who should protect the coin hobby from predatory sellers?: Inside Coin World: “Should the numismatic community ‘police’ the sellers of coins, medals, and related objects, even those dealers who fall outside of the mainstream dealer network?”

Newmont becomes the third major gold mining concern to invest in Canada's Yukon over the past year, joining Goldcorp, the world’s fourth biggest gold producer, measuring by ounces, and Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd., the world’s ninth biggest gold producer.

Some 100,000 treasure hunters perilously converged on the Klondike region of the Yukon between 1896 and 1899 after gold was discovered. Because of the remoteness, prospective miners were required to bring sufficient food and supplies to last at least a year. Some miners struck it rich, but most left in financial despair.

In 1899, some of the miners from the Klondike Gold Rush headed to Alaska after gold was discovered near Nome. Canada’s Yukon has been sparingly mined off and on since.