page_title: Economy of Spokane, Washington
section_title: Mining and forestry products
hierarchical_section_title: Economy of Spokane, Washington / Prominent industries / Mining and forestry products
caption_attribution_description: English: Bunker Hill Smelter, operating in the 1970s
context_page_description: The economy of the Spokane Metropolitan Area plays a vital role as the hub for the commercial, manufacturing, and transportation center as well as the medical, shopping, and entertainment hub of the 80,000 square miles Inland Northwest region. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Spokane metropolitan area has a workforce of about 287,000 people and an unemployment rate of 5.3 percent as of February 2020; the largest sectors for non–farm employment are education and health services, trade, transportation, and utilities, and government. The Coeur d'Alene metropolitan area has a workforce of 80,000 people and an unemployment rate of 6.8% as of June 2020; the largest sectors for non-farm employment are trade, transportation, and utilities, government, and education and health services as well as leisure and hospitality.In 2017, the Spokane–Spokane Valley metropolitan area had a gross metropolitan product of $25.5 billion while the Coeur d'Alene metropolitan area was $5.93 billion.
context_section_description: The mining districts of northern Idaho are still considered among the most productive in North America. The Coeur d’Alene district of Shoshone County (also known as Silver Valley) in northern Idaho has produced more silver than any other mining district in the United States, and is historically one of the top three silver districts in the world in total silver produced. The district competes with Potosi in Bolivia and Pachuca-Real del Monte in Mexico for the title of greatest silver district, each having produced more than a billion troy ounces of silver. Mining company Gold Reserve Inc. is headquartered in Spokane and Hecla Mining, the owner of the Lucky Friday mine in Mullan, Idaho is headquartered in Coeur d'alene. A mining policy advocacy group representing the mining industry and interests in the US and Canada, the American Exploration & Mining Association is located in Spokane Valley. They purport their annual meeting is the second-largest annual mining convention in the United States.
  Forestry management and products still have an influence in the area. The biggest such firm in Spokane, PotlatchDeltic, invests and manages timberlands and manufacture wood products. The company had a market capitalization of over $3 billion dollars and was the eighth-largest timber company in the U.S in 2017. The company manages 1.9 million acres of timberlands primarily in Idaho, Minnesota, and the southeastern United States and does so with sustainable forestry practices as required to be certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. PotlatchDeltic employs about 65 people in its Spokane office. Also in the forestry products industry, Clearwater Paper, is a spin-off of Potlatch Corp that makes tissue and paperboard products. With an annual revenue of $1.9 billion dollars, the company claims to be the biggest supplier of private or store-label tissue products to grocery outlets in the US. Clearwater Paper employs 100 people in Spokane.
caption: Bunker Hill smelter in Smelterville, Idaho in the 1970s
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