Like many natural resource-based industries, mining holds an integral part in Washington’s history. Mining’s importance to the state’s economy, however, has declined in the second half of the 20^th century. Mining employment and establishments have not kept pace with the overall growth in the Washington State economy. While overall employment in the state has more than tripled in 50 years, mining employment has remained relatively unchanged at around 3,400 workers. Mining employment declined during the 1950s and 1960s, but rebounded in the 1970s and 1980s. During the 1990s, employment in mining reached its post-World War II high with 3,700 workers. In 1998, employment for all mining in Washington stood at 3,250 workers. While mining employment has not grown relative to the state’s total, mining remains an important sector in parts of rural Washington.  

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In 1997, Washington ranked 26^th among all states in the value of nonfuel mineral production. Washington’s 1997 total of $555.4 million represents about 1.45 percent of the nation’s total 0f $38.3 billion. The principal minerals of value in Washington include sand and gravel (construction), magnesium metal, cement (portland), crushed stone, and gold. Leading mineral production in Washington are sand and gravel (ranked fifth in the nation); gold (seventh in the nation); magnesium (second in the nation); and portland cement (12^th in the nation). For fuel mineral production, Washington is ranked 15^th in value of coal production, with 0.4 percent of the nation’s total. Coal production was valued at $117.1 million in 1997, with ninety percent produced for electricity production and the remainder for either industrial and institutional use or the foreign export market. Although Washington has major petroleum refining facilities, the state has no producing petroleum and/or natural gas fields.

Most of Washington’s mining employment resides in the nonmetallic minerals industry. Approximately two-thirds of all mining employment is in nonmetallic mineral production, predominantly in sand & gravel pits and crushed stone quarries. Coal is the leading fuel mineral with gold and silver ores dominating metal mining.

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Value of Mining Production in Washington, 1980-1997
Source: Washington Department of Natural Resources,
Division of Geology & Earth Resources

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Several industries in the Washington economy are dependent on inputs from the mining sector. Although the mining industry is small in relative size with 3,300 employees, employment in Washington industries most dependent upon mineral inputs totaled nearly 463,000 workers, or nearly one-fifth of the statewide employment in 1998.

Table 1

Washington Dependent Industries on Minerals Inputs, 1998
Sources: Washington State Input-Output Study,
Washington Employment Security Department

Compared to the nation, the relative importance of mining to the Washington economy is low. Since the early 1980s, the index of specialization for Washington mining has remained well below 0.2 (an index of 1.0 signals the same importance of an industry for Washington as for the U.S.). Since 1986,however, mining’s relative importance has been trending upward, based in part on some new producing metal mines.

Average covered wages for mining workers was $42,915 in 1998, among the highest in the state and 27 percent above the statewide nonfarm average of $33,922. In 1998, employee wages and salaries in all of the individual mining industries exceeded the statewide nonfarm average. Real wages and salaries (i.e., without inflation) in mining grew faster than the statewide average between 1981 and 1998. Substantial wage growth has occurred in metal mining; between 1981 and 1998, real wages and salaries increased by more than 5 percent per annum.

Table 2

Real Average Wages for Washington Covered Mining Workers, 1981-1998 (1998 dollars)
Sources: Washington Employment Security Department,
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis

In general, the distribution of hourly wages for mining is dissimilar to the state, with a pronounced disposition toward higher hourly wages. Forty percent of all workers in the mining industry earn $20 or more per hour, compared with 28 percent of all nonfarm workers in the state. For metal and coal miners, more than two-thirds and four-fifths earned more than $20 per hour, respectively. For nonmetallic mineral miners, about three-fourths earned between $10-20 per hour.  

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The labor force in the mining sector is dominated by operatives and laborers. Common mining occupations within this group are mining machine and equipment operators, and truck drivers. Administrative and clerical and managerial occupations are also important in the mining sector.

Table 2

Occupational Profile of Mining Workers in Washington, 1998 and 2008
Source: Washington Employment Security Department