e-ReferenceDesk's College and 50 State Learning Resource Guide

Find Online Colleges

Find Campus Colleges

State Symbols

The official state symbols represent the cultural heritage and natural treasures of each state or the entire United States

Alaska Symbols

Alaska Symbols

Bird, Fish, Flag, Floral Emblem, Flower, Fossil, Gem, Insect, Land Mammal, Language, Marine Mammal, Mineral, Motto, Nicknames, Seal, Sport, Song, Tree

Alaska State Mineral

Gold

(Au )

Adopted in 1968

Gold was adopted as the official mineral of the state of Alaska in 1968.

Hard rock minerals are one of Alaska's most important undeveloped natural resources, including coal, gold, silver, copper, and many others. According to the Alaska Miners Association, "Alaska now provides the greatest opportunity for minerals exploration and development in all of North America."

Gold has played a major role in Alaska's history. The Gold Rush Era began in 1880 with a major gold discovery by Chief Kowee (an Auk Indian), Joe Juneau and Richard Harris. Soon hundreds of prospectors poured into the site that later became Alaska's capital city, Juneau, named for the man who used his first summer's earnings to buy the votes of his fellow miners. In 1896, gold was discovered on the Klondike River in Canada's Yukon Territory. Some 10,000 fortune seekers headed for the Klondike gold fields. Many of them hiked from Skagway across the treacherous Chilkoot Trail. In 1899, gold was found on the beaches near Nome. A city of tents sprang up overnight, and by 1900, 232 ships had arrived in Nome carrying nearly 18,000 prospectors. In 1902 Felix Pedro, an Italian immigrant, reported several significant gold strikes in the area near what is now Fairbanks. Some miners immediately came into the area, but the stampede did not take off until 1904. In the end, the Fairbanks mines had more annual production than either Juneau or Dawson in the Yukon.

Physical Characteristics:

Name gold
Symbol Au
Atomic number 79
Atomic weight 196.966569
Color is golden "butter" yellow.
Luster is metallic.
Transparency is opaque.
Crystal System is isometric; 4/m bar 3 2/m
Crystal Habits include massive nuggets and disseminated grains. Also wires, dendritic and arborescent crystal clusters.
Cleavage is absent.
Fracture is jagged.
Streak is golden yellow.
Hardness is 2.5 - 3
Specific Gravity is 19.3+ (extremely heavy even for metallic minerals)
Associated Minerals include quartz, nagyagite, calaverite, sylvanite, krennerite, pyrite and other sulfides.
Other Characteristics: ductile, malleable and sectile, meaning it can be pounded into other shapes, stretched into a wire and cut into slices.
Notable Occurrences include California and South Dakota, USA; Siberia, Russia; South Africa; Canada and other localities around the world.
Best Field Indicators are color, density, hardness, sectility, malleability and ductility.

State Symbols

State symbols represent things that are special to a particular state.

symbol \ˈsim-bəl\
noun

Etymology:
in sense 1, from Late Latin symbolum, from Late Greek symbolon, from Greek, token, sign; in other senses from Latin symbolum token, sign, symbol, from Greek symbolon, literally, token of identity verified by comparing its other half, from symballein to throw together, compare, from syn- + ballein to throw — more at devil
Date: 15th century

1: Something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention, especially a material object used to represent something invisible.