A partial aerial view of the Wharf Mine near Lead in May 2023. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight, via EcoFlight)
Gold production was down slightly last year at South Dakota’s only active, large-scale gold mine, but revenue soared higher with the price of gold, according to a new annual report.
Chicago-based Coeur Mining owns the Wharf Mine in the northern Black Hills near the city of Lead and the Terry Peak Ski Area. The mine produced 97,327 ounces of gold last year, about 700 ounces less than 2024.
The company sold $334.1 million worth of gold from the mine in 2025, an increase of more than $100 million over 2024. The revenue growth came alongside gold prices that rose sharply in 2025.
The mine also produces silver, a lesser-value “co-product” of the gold mining process. Silver production in 2025 was 135,722 ounces — down more than 96,000 ounces from the prior year. Silver sales from the mine in 2025 were $5.1 million.
Miners stripped nearly 15 million tons of earth and excavated more than 4.3 million tons of ore at the Wharf Mine last year, according to a report presented Thursday to the state Board of Minerals and Environment.
The mine employs 266 people with a payroll of about $35 million including benefits, and it paid $16.9 million in state precious-metal severance taxes last year. It also paid about $840,000 in state and local taxes.
Coeur donated $230,000 to community groups, schools, athletic programs and local charities last year, according to its report to the board.
Coeur also has mines in Nevada, Alaska and Mexico. Metal sales from all its operations totaled more than $2 billion last year.