mineral extraction

• in the late 1800s, Alaska was known as the 'gold rush state'
• today 1/5 of the states mining wealth comes from gold
• large mines need to be managed carefully to minimise environmental impacts as the toxic chemicals used to process gold such as mercury and cyanide can be extremely harmful
• mining development has sometimes been halted because of environmental campaigns
• in 2013 the pebble mine project was closed after 50 businesses supported the 'no dirty gold' campaign and refused to buy it