Residents familiar with routine: Ups to be followed by downs

WINNEMUCCA -- The price of gold is once again high, mining jobs are plentiful, and people are flocking to Humboldt County for a piece of the good times.

At 7,600, the population of county seat Winnemucca is at its highest level since 1998. The back pages of the local newspaper are full of ads for mining jobs. And new restaurants and boutiques are opening along Winnemucca Boulevard.

In Humboldt County, more than one in five adults work in the mining industry.

Last year, Humboldt County had the fourth lowest unemployment rate (3.9 percent) of Nevada's 16 counties. In 1999, when the price of gold sagged, the county's jobless level went as high as 8.2 percent.

Mining and natural resources jobs in the county pay a median wage of $24 an hour, the highest of any industry in the area.

Several miners interviewed in Winnemucca said they earned as much as $100,000 last year.

For a small town, Winnemucca is unusually transient. A running joke among many families is that everyone is from somewhere else. A lot of Winnemucca's miners have done the mining circuit: Idaho, Oregon, even Alaska.

But for now, they're in Winnemucca.

History shows, however, that good times in the gold industry don't last forever.

Humboldt County Administrator Bill Deist said government officials are trying to diversify the local economy.

Deist said a mobile home manufacturer recently opened a plant in Winnemucca, employing about 100 people.

"Everybody's aware that mining plays an important role in our economy, but any natural resources-based economy has its ups and downs," he said. "If something happened and gold dropped tomorrow, we'd like to be prepared."

Contact reporter Alan Maimon at amaimon@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0404.