Gold mining in Alaska Juneau, and Nome are responsible for most of Alaska's historical and all current gold production. Nearly all of the large and many of the small placer gold mines currently operating in the US are in Alaska. Six modern large-scale hard rock mines operate in Alaska in 2008; four of those are gold-producing mines (an additional gold mine suspended production in late 2007). There are also some small-scale hard rock gold-mining operations. Alaska currently produces more gold (in 2015: 873,984 troy oz from hard rock mines, and 74,360 troy oz (five-year average) from placer deposits) than any state except Nevada. In
John Connelly (prospector) him are held in the Field Museum, Chicago, the Bishop Museum in Hawaii and the National Museum of Australia in Canberra. His papers are held in the State Library of New South Wales. John Connelly (prospector) John Francis Connelly (1860–1928) was an Australian prospector and mine owner. Born in Victoria, he prospected and owned mines in New South Wales. He discovered a platinum field at Fifield before joining the gold rush to Cossack, Western Australia in 1889. He discovered the Nannine gold field the following year, and was rewarded by the Government of Western Australia with £500. Later, he prospected