When Elaine Barkdull Spencer's two sons were growing up, she vowed they would never work in gold mining because of its capricious cycles of boom and bust.

These days, both sons are in the industry and Barkdull Spencer isn't complaining. One of them, who is 27, earns $100,000 a year and the other, who is 25, makes $90,000.

It is hard to outshine gold in rural northeastern Nevada. With prices at record levels on a weak dollar, inflation concerns and US economic uncertainty, the town of Elko (population 22,000) is enjoying a boom.