With the coming of the World War II when it got to the peak by 1942 a number of gold mines were completely shut down. One of the reasons gold mines were shut down included the fact the mines were regarded as ‘non-essential’ as they did not produce minerals that were of use to war. As a result, the government put its focus on producing other metals such as copper, iron, among others in order to boost the production of equipment for the war. These were “essential metals,” important for the production of ships, tanks, airplanes and bullets. Closure of Gold Mines after WWII - Affect the Mining Industry Forever - RareGoldNuggets.com.
