Nevada Gold Mines, a joint venture between Barrick and Newmont, mines the vast majority of the gold in the state. The Cortez mine is one of the venture’s biggest. (Photo from Nevada Gold Mines presentation to investors)
It was only five years ago in August 2020, during the turbulence and uncertainty of the pandemic, that the price of an ounce of gold reached $2,000 for the first time.
Over the next four years the price more or less hovered in the range of $1,800. But it began rising solidly early in 2024, and hit $2,800 in late October. After dipping slightly after the election, the climb continued, and gold broke the $3,000 mark for the first time ever Friday.
Gold closed at $3,009 Monday.
Gold has long been viewed by investors as a — for some investors, the — safe haven when economic disturbances or their likelihood rattle markets. Gold is seen by many as a strong hedge against inflation, as its value increases while the purchasing power of a dollar decreases.
The U.S. inflation rate was 2.8% in February, down a little from the month before and substantially lower than the 9% peak inflation of the summer of 2022. But Donald Trump’s tariff policies and the uncertainty that accompanies them have driven fears of increased inflation, not only in the U.S. but in nations throughout the world.
And as the price of gold was setting a record Friday, U.S. consumer sentiment was plummeting.
Some of the world’s largest gold mines are in Nevada, and most of those are operated by Nevada Gold Mines, a joint venture between Newmont Corp. and Barrick Gold Corp. If Nevada were a country, it would be the world’s fifth largest producer of gold, after China, Russia, Australia and Canada.
Nevada has two mining taxes based on the value of the mineral. For the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2024, the net proceeds of minerals tax generated $133 million of revenue, and the gold and silver excise tax generated $71.8 million.
Gold typically accounts for about 90% of the value of all minerals mined and marketed in Nevada. In 2021, the last year for which such information is publicly available, nearly $8.5 billion worth of gold was mined in the state. After roughly $5 billion in deductions the industry took for extraction and other costs, as allowed under state law, the state’s net proceeds tax — the state’s primary mining tax — was levied against $3.5 billion, and the mining industry paid roughly $172 million in state and county mining taxes.
Just as the state’s consumers and businesses are facing uncertainty over their budgets, state lawmakers are facing uncertainty over how much revenue will be available to fund state programs over the next two years. Higher gold prices, and higher mining tax revenue, could help at least alleviate some potential budget stresses caused if the economy begins to slow in earnest.
Meanwhile, mining production values, and the size of deductions taken against those values, are no longer public information, according to the Nevada Department of Taxation.
A hearing on legislation to reverse the department’s ruling and make production and deduction information public is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
Nevada Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nevada Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Hugh Jackson for questions: info@nevadacurrent.com.