Hundreds of revelers crammed into this small town’s community center on a recent Saturday night to celebrate the marriage of Bianca Hernandez and Jose Lomeli. Throngs danced to Spanish folk music well into the wee hours. Beer, wine and laughter were abundant, and several tables were piled high with gifts. “It’s not just the wedding,” said a friend of the newlyweds, Jesse Dias, 34. “Times are good around here. People are happy.” Good times? Happy people? Hasn’t word of the national economic anxiety and resultant austerity made it to this remote high-desert capital of Lander County, 215 miles east of Reno? Yes, it has, but the economic meltdown in much of the country has been a boon to the county and its 5,000 residents, 4,000 of whom live in the Battle Mountain area. The reason: They mine gold in Lander County, a mineral-rich area that is a major reason Nevada, nicknamed the Silver State, is also the world’s fourth biggest producer of gold. And when the broader economy declines and the value of the dollar fluctuates, people buy gold. At current prices — gold hit $892 an ounce on Monday, its highest price in three months and not that far off its record high of more than $1,000 an ounce in March — places like Battle Mountain hum with good-paying jobs and rising home values, making the financial woes of the rest of the country a distant concern....
Saturday, January 03, 2009
A Nevada Town Escapes the Slump, Thanks to Gold
Hundreds of revelers crammed into this small town’s community center on a recent Saturday night to celebrate the marriage of Bianca Hernandez and Jose Lomeli. Throngs danced to Spanish folk music well into the wee hours. Beer, wine and laughter were abundant, and several tables were piled high with gifts. “It’s not just the wedding,” said a friend of the newlyweds, Jesse Dias, 34. “Times are good around here. People are happy.” Good times? Happy people? Hasn’t word of the national economic anxiety and resultant austerity made it to this remote high-desert capital of Lander County, 215 miles east of Reno? Yes, it has, but the economic meltdown in much of the country has been a boon to the county and its 5,000 residents, 4,000 of whom live in the Battle Mountain area. The reason: They mine gold in Lander County, a mineral-rich area that is a major reason Nevada, nicknamed the Silver State, is also the world’s fourth biggest producer of gold. And when the broader economy declines and the value of the dollar fluctuates, people buy gold. At current prices — gold hit $892 an ounce on Monday, its highest price in three months and not that far off its record high of more than $1,000 an ounce in March — places like Battle Mountain hum with good-paying jobs and rising home values, making the financial woes of the rest of the country a distant concern....
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