... I
AN A L L-i
ALASKA
NEWSPAPER
—11
SUBSCRIPTIONS
$5.00 PER YEAR
IN ADVANCE
DEVOTED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OP ALASKA AND THE PORTLAND CANAL MINING DISTRICT.
FIFTY CENTS A KCMB
VOL 2, NO. 20
HYDER, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20,1926
DEVELOPMENT ON
THE B. C. SILVER
With the public interest!
just now centering on the
splendid results attained on
the B. C. Silver Mines proper
ties during the past year, the
following extracts from the rt
port of C. A. Banks, directing
head of the company operat
ions in this district, gives an
interesting insight into the
present status of the property.
The report was made by Mr.
Banks at the annual stock
holders meeting in Vancouvei
December 18th.
In order to make the present
position clear to any new
shareholders who may be
present, I will briefly go over
the development from the com
mencement of operation to the
beginning of the period under
review, and will then in more
detail tell you of what has
been accomplished during the
financial year.
In July 1922, a 1,000 ft. tun
nel was commenced to cross
cut the ore zone and in Janu
ary 1923 we cut it at a dis
tance of 1050 feet from the
portal of the tunnel and at a
depth of 300 feet below the
surface and at a distance of 20
feet from the Premier bound
ary line.
At this point we encountered
an ore body 40 feet wide
which, as a whole, was of mill
ing grade, but which also con
tained some high grade ore, 50
tons of which was shipped and
realized $110 a ton.
This ore shoot proved disap
pointing to us, for the reason
that subsequent development
showed that the main part of
the shoot was in the next
property and we had only the
tail end.
Our friends the British Can
adian Silver Corporation, then
decided on an extensive
scheme for the prospect ng ot
ihe ore zone with a view to lo
eating further ore shoots.
This prospecting was carried
out by advancing the above
mentioned, or No. 3 level, ana
also No. 2 level, which was
driven 265 feet vertically
above No. 3 along the ore zone,
and systematically diamond
drilling the zone from thest
levels.
This work, as I mentioned, at
cur last Annual Meeting wras
successful in locating, by drill
ing, a newr silicified area car
rying values, at a point some
15(50 feet from the Premiei
boundary line.
During the year under re
view, this area was furthei
drilled from both No. 2 ant
No. 3 levels, and it was finally
attacked by tunneling on No
B. C. SILVER MAINTAINS
STEADY ORE OUTPUT
Despite the toughest kind of
hauling conditions, resulting
from the unprecedentedly soft
weather and light snowfall, ore
is still coming down from the
B. C. Silver at the rate of five
or six tons a day. This is only
about 50 per cent of the daily
average contemplated by the
company, which expected to
maintain an average oij 300
tons a month, but is all that
can be handled under present
conditions and the Crawford
Transfer, holder of the con
tract is doing well to maintain
even the reduced average. A
shipment of 75 tons, the sec
ond of the season, left for the
smelter on the last ore steamer
a few days ago and an addit
onal 75 or 80 tons is piled up
on the dock.
Reports from the mine say
hat every bit of available
otorage space in the mine and
ouildings is packed to the lim
t with sacked ore as a result
)f the unfortunate transportat
on difficulties.
3 level, where at the end ot
| September we encountered a
:ine ore body in the drift at a
i /ertical depth of 650 feet be
'ow the surface. This ore body
' has, to date, been drifted on
'or roughly 200 feet, and its
ize and value as disclosed by
i he drift, are very satisfactory,
ind in places it is consider
ibly wider than the drift. The
/alues vary up to, in one place,
.5400 a ton over a width of 5
; :eet.
The bulk of the ore is of good
nilling grade, but, i n addition,
I jur tunnel has disclosed a 50
■ toot length of high grade ore.
?or 30 feet of this we have
i ?old and silver values averag
ng slightly over $200 a ton ov
l ;r an average width of 4 feet
3 inches.. The remaining 20
teet assays $70 a ton over an
iverage width of 3 feet.
The north east face of this
drift has encountered a dyke,
but the south west face still
shows some ore.
You will understand that Wt
have not as yet blocked out
3.C. SILVER Continued
any ore so we are unable at
this meeting to give any fig
ures on ore reserve. As an indi
I nation of the possibilities of
his shoot, however, I would
ay that for each 100 feet vei
ical that this ore extends, it
would contain, in round fig
ures, half a million dollars.
Diamond drilling indicates
.hat the ore body persists 23C
■?eet above No. 3 level, but
i ibove that nothing is known
‘ as yet. The ore body is verj
DRIVING TUNNEL
ON BUSH GROUP
• '
Development work is again in
progress on the Bush proper
ties, now under the control of
the Selakwe and District
Mines, Ltd. of London, and is
making good headway. A new
tunnel is being driven on the
south side of Cascade Creek
with the object of cross cut
ting the various ore lenses
crossing the creek at that
point. The tunnel, known as
the Boulder tunnel, is at about
1900 feet elevation and will
cut the ore at a depth of about
120 feet. Three men are en
gaged in the work.
Recent advices from the home
office of the company, stated
that things have now been
shaped up to start work on a
more extensive scale shortly
after the first of the year. A
company engineer is scheduled
to arrive shortly to inaugurate
the new development program.
■o
Delegate Dan A. Sutherland
will be a candidate for reelect
ion at the April primaries, ac
cording to announcements in
the Juneau papers.
The Delegate’s declaration
! of candidacy was filed in the
office of the Territorial Sec
i retary January 6.
The Juneau Empire states
: that the Delegate’s filing was
the second to be made in this
division, up to that time,the
| first being that of William
Paul, of Ketchikan, who is
seeking nomination for mem
bership in the Territorial
House of Representatives.
It is probable, however, that
there will be no dearth of can
didates by the close of the fil
ing period February 2.
strong and it is likely that it
persists a considerable dis
tance below No. 3 level.
Our further diamond drilling
points to the existence of other
valuable ore shoots in the vi
! cinity of the present one.
i Perhaps the most important
thing in regard to the above
development, is the fact that
| we have definitely proved,
! close to the center of our prop
! erty, a reoccurrence in the ort
zone of high grade shoots ot
ore, similar to the high grade
1 shoots existing on the Premier.
In addition to the lateral de
velopment of the ore zone, we
have, during the past year,
diamond drilled that portion
; of the zone which passes in its
! dip into the B. C. Silver
: ground. Seven holes of an av
j erage depth of 400 feet were
| put down, and the result of
this work indicated that we
| have here a commercial ore
! body from 250 to 300 feet
i long. The best of the above
j holes showed about 45 feet of
i $20 ore.
I I think the shareholders will
1 agree that the results of out
work during the year have
been very satisfactory.
RIVERSIDE DOING FINE
The newly uncovered ore
body on the Riverside contin
ues to yield the excellent gold
values revealed at the time it
was first cross cut on the third
level. A raise is now being run
to connect wth the old Linde
borg tunnel and discloses that
the vein maintains about the
same average in width and
values as far as work has pro
gressed. The mill is running
one shift and is doing splendid
work in the line of gold ex
traction in connection with the
recently installed amalgamat
ion equipment. As a result of
the success of their effort to
extract the free milling gold
content Messrs. Littlepage and
St. Clair have effected a sav
ing in gold values amounting
to about $600 a month, a de
cidedly substantial sum. As a
result of the processes employ
ed at the smelter in handling
galena ore, the hulk of the ex
cellent gold values were lost,
or at least the owners received
returns for no more than a
comparatively small part of
the gold actually contained in
the ore. Now , however, the
bulk of the gold is extracted
during the reduction processes.
The concentrates are first sub
jcted to a chemical process and
are afterward run through a
; barrel amalgamator for five
! hours. The concentrates are
then run over the plates to
! pick up the residue that may
remain.
Stewart is soon to enjoy the
benefits and advantages of in
increased docking facilities ac
cording to J. P. Forde, B. C.
Public Works engineer, who
spent several days in the dis
trict last week, investigating
the situation in connection
with the contemplated im
provement. Mr. Forde was ac
companied by Capt. Saunders,
of the Department of Marine
and Fisheries, which will be
cincerned in the maintenance
and operation of the proposed
dock structure.
According to Mr. Forde, the
growth of Stewart shipping
during the past year, combin
! ed with the outlook for vast
i ly enlarged freight traffic as
j a result of the increasing ore
| shipments, amply justifies tut
| construction of enlarged dock
ing accommodations by tnt
1 government and recommenu
i ations to that effect have al
i
j ready been made to the Pub
lic Works -Board. No definite
decision has yet been made as
, to whether the improvements
will take the shape of a new
dock or be confined to an ex
tension of the present dock. Ir
the latter case the old docl
j would be utilized for heavj
: freight, ore, machinery, etc.
while the extension would b<
! employed for passenger am
general v freight purposes.
EDWARD BRONSON
PASSES OVER
Edward Bronson, one of tile
most widely known old-timers
of the district, laid down tne
toils and burdens of life and
passed to the Great Beyond
early Saturday morning. Death
came as the culmination of an
illness of several weeks but
was entirely unexpected as he
appeared to be recovering
nicely when suddenly overtak
en by the Grim Reaper.
Alex Halstead, an old time
friend of the decedant who
was caring for him during his
illness, states that Mr. Bronson
was confidently expecting u,
be about again in a day or two.
He had been up and around
the cabin a bit and was look
ing forward to a visit to rela
tives in the States, for which
| purpose he had obtained a
i leave of absence from the Pre
mier Gold Mining Company,
; by whom he was employed at
the ore dock. He retired Fri
day night in good spirits bui
called Mr. Halstead about 7 a.
m. Saturday morning and ask
ed for a drink of water. He
made no mention of feeling
worse, however, and Mr. Hal
stead started to get breakfast,
when he noticed that his pat
; ient was breathing heavily and
apparently in a sinking state.
Mr. Halstead hastily summon
! ed Mrs. Walter Barron and
| others to assist the sufferer
; and hurried to the Premier
| barn to summon medical aid.
Pending the arrival of Dr.
| Whillans from Stewart those
at the bedside did all was post,
ible for the dying man, who
gradually sank into the Iasi
long sleep.
The deceased was aged aboul
60 years of age and is surviv
] ed by brothers and sisters ir
California and Nebraska. Ir
accordance with instructions
received from the relatives tnt
remains will be shipped tt
Ainsworth, Nebraska.
-n
! The Alaska Juneau mint
near Juneau, produced over t
third of all the gold extracted
in the Territory last year. Th«
mine output was valued ai
$2,183,496. Ore productior
amounted to 3,600,000 tons, ar
average of 9,500 tons daily.
W. F. (Wrong Font) Thomp
son, veteran editor of th<
■ Fairbanks News-Miner, passet
i away January 4th. Death wai
: due to pneumonia.
-o
> Mrs. Hairy Hicks returne<
1 last week from a 'visit o
several months in the south.
DECEMBER EXPORTS
TOTAL $1,678,337
I Shipments of Alaska pro
ducts, exclusive of gold and
| silver, to the States during the
past month amounted in de
dared values to $1,678 337,
j according to the monthly re
! port of Collector of Customs J.
! C. McBride.
i Declines in the value of
canned salmon and copper
j ore placed the month’s export
total slightly behind that of
December 1924, which totaled
$1,785,850. The decline in sal
mon shipments amounted to
$88,964. Copper shipments
were lower by $71,189.
Halibut shipments, however,
gained $79,810, partially off
setting the salmon and ore
losses. Herring and other fish
products also showed decreas
es..
The exported commodities
and their values were as' fol
lows :
Animals . $ 12,475
Curios. 1,399
FISH:
Fresh and frozen (ex
cept shell-fish):
Halibut. 195,820
; Salmon. 47,324
| All other . 5,206
! Canned (except
Salmon. 204,440
t Cured and preserved
j (except shell-fish):
I Cod . 6,132
: Herring . 85,801
! Salmon . 14,076
! shell-fish:
! Clams . 60
| Crabs . 2,411
j Shrimps . 14,450
Other fish products:
Oil .... 5,003
Furs and fur skins:
Silver or black fox .... 1.670
j All other . 18,906
! Ore, matte, and regulus:
Copper . 848,434
Lead . 16,239
j Stone, marble incl.... 22,250
Trophies, specimens .. 350
j Wood, lumber etc. 31,822
| All other articles. 25,512
: Total value products
I of Alaska .$1,560, 780
: i Products of United
: States returned . 83,718
i Total value of for
i eign products . 33,83.)
| -
. Total value of ship
| ments merchandise $1678 337
* Items included in “All oth» r
I articles:”
( Palladium . $21 53.
Manufactured furs.... 4,170
Paintings .. 190
Vegetables . 333
Ij Wool . 276
l -
$26,512