United States mine production is only about 30 per cent of consumption and non-monetary demand 

 has been increasing significantly in recent years. Gold in U.S. reserves potentially recoverable at $35 per 

 ounce is approximately equivalent to anticipated consumption through the year 1975. World gold 

 production will be inadequate to balance demand by 1970. World reserves mineable at $35 per ounce are 

 equivalent to projected consumption through 1973 at the present level of technology. 



At the beginning of 1966 the world's monetary gold supply was less than 1.2 billion ounces. If this 

 were released for non-monetary uses the overall supply would be adequate to meet 15 to 20 years of 

 projected consumptive demand. 



Possible substitute materials. Because of its unique physical properties gold has no satisfactory 

 substitutes. Alloys of the platinum-group metals such as platinum-iridium and palladium-ruthenium are 

 substituted for gold in high-quality jewelry, watchcases, and other decorative articles, their use being 

 determined largely by popular demand and vogue. The various metals and their use in place of gold 

 include platinum and palladium separately or alloyed with gold for various appliances in dentistry; 

 platinum leaf (for gold leaf) for signs and decorative designs; and stainless steel, chromium, and nickel 

 alloys in corrosion-resistant equipment. The quantity of gold displaced by substitution of other materials 

 is small compared with the consumption of gold in the arts and industry. 



Geologic potential from marine sources. Of aU minerals having a potential for production from 

 submerged placers on the continental shelves of the United States, gold has attracted the most interest. 

 This is based on the occurrence of multimiUion dollar onshore placer deposits near the seacoasts of 

 Alaska, Cahfornia, Oregon, and Washington, and on the presence of known gold deposits in shallow 

 water near shore in several localities. 



Since 1899 an estimated $100 to $140 million worth of placer gold has been recovered from the 

 beaches, streams, and coastal plains along the southern margin of the Seward Peninsula.'" Inasmuch as 

 high values extend to the seashore and production has been achieved both from modern beaches and 

 raised terraces the offshore area appears promising. At least five submerged terraces roughly parallel to 

 shoreline, and a number of submerged river channels perpendicular to shore, formed during the Ice Ages 

 when sea level was several hundred feet lower, have been delineated by the Geological Survey in the 

 Bering Sea at depths ranging from 30 to 400 feet. The most promising prospecting areas should be at 

 intersections of submerged terraces and channels, remnant deposits of glacial tiU, or local lode sources; 

 these are places where the coarser gold would be expected. Elsewhere the gold is very fine-grained and 

 difficult to recover. At least two private companies, as well as the Geological Survey and Bureau of 

 Mines, have sampled the Norton Sound-Bering Sea area. Preliminary estimates of total potential range 

 from a few million ounces to tens of millions of ounces but much additional sampling and geologic 

 analysis needs to be done before it wUl be known how much can be recovered with existing technology. 



The Gulf of Alaska also has some gold potential, particularly along southeastern Alaska where the 

 largest lode deposits are known on land. As with the Bering Sea, estimates range from millions of ounces 

 to tens of nuUions of ounces. Much of the fine-grained gold may not be recoverable. Recent 

 reconnaissance investigations by the Geological Survey along the coast of northern California indicate 

 that an area between Crescent City and the Oregon border contains low concentrations of gold as well as 

 platinum and chromite (Table 1). The gold in the Oregon offshore placers is in the range of 10 to 50 

 cents per ton (0.1 to 0.5 ppm) and in particles less than .005 mg. in mass, too fine-grained for easy 

 recovery. 



Several small gold mines occur within 30 to 40 nules of the coast in northern California and southern 

 Oregon and a number of larger mines lie 50 to 75 miles inland. 



No gold mines occur within 40 miles of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and the shelves of these areas are 

 unlikely to contain significant placer deposits. 



' E. H. Cobb (compiler). Placer Gold Occurrences in Alaska: U.S.G.S. Mineral Investigations Resource Map MR-38, 

 1:25,000,000, 1964. 



VIM 36 



