The Elko Mining Expo kicks off Wednesday in northeastern Nevada, drawing hundreds of mining companies, equipment manufacturers and other vendors.
The trade show will take place Thursday and Friday at the Elko Convention Center downtown.
Dana Bennett is the president of the Nevada Mining Association. She says depressed commodity prices for gold, silver and other metals have hobbled the industry in recent years.
"Right now, of all the economic sectors in Nevada, mining is the only one that has had job losses," Bennett says. "That's been two years in a row--2014 and 2015. There have been some bankruptcies, there have been some layoffs, and so the industry has been struggling right now."
Bennett says there are 110 mines currently operating in Nevada, representing about 4-5 percent of the state's Gross Domestic Product, though it used to be higher.
Our reporter Julia Ritchey is headed to Elko for the expo, and we'll have more coverage on the state of the mining industry next week.