Following is the third and last in
stallment of the advance information
covering the report of the United
States Geological Survey relative to
mining conditions in Alaska for the
year 1919:
Eight copper mines were operated
in Alaska during 1919, producing
about 44,800,000 pounds 6f copper, val
ued at $8,500,000. The production of
copper in 1918 was 69,225.000 pounds,
valued at $17,099,000 and came from
seventeen mines. This curtailment
of copper mining was due to the fall
in the price of copper and the uncer
tainty of the market, as a result of
which the larger mines decreased
their output and many of the small
ones were closed down. Throughout
the war the small operator had been
hampered by lack of shipping to
transport his ore and of smelters to
reduce it, conditions that have blocked
the development of a number of prop
erties and discouraged the copper
mining industry. Largely for these
reasons there has been relatively lit
tle prospecting for copper during the
last few years. Should the price of
copper go up, many small mines would
resume operations and the larger ones
increase their output. Under present
industrial conditions there is not
much likelihood of any great improve
ment during 1920. N
Most of the prospecting for copper
in 1919 was done in the Susitna basin,
tributary to the Alaska railroad. A
number of copper lodes of some prom
ise have been found in this region,
but they have not been sufficiently
developed to prove their val^e. The
availability of the Matanuska coal,
which is especially adapted for cok
ing, makes the outlook for a local cop
per-smelting industry in this region
rather hopeful.
In Southeastern Alaska the Rush
and Brown mine was the largest cop
per producer. Copper was also pro
duced at the Saltchuck mine, better
known for its output of palladium. The
three large mines—Bonanza. Jumbo
and Mother Lode—of the Kennecott.
group were the only producing mines
of the Chitina district in 1919, though
some development work was done on
other properties. On Prince William
sound the Beatson-Bonanza and Ella
ijnar copper mines were the only prop
erties worked systematically. Some
ore was, however, also produced in
cidental to development work at the
Fidalgo, and at the Girdwood, on La
touche island.
Miscellaneous metais
Most of the silver and lead pro
duced in Alaska has been won as a
by-product in mining gold and silver.
Silver-bearing ore in the form of ga
lena, is widely distributed in Alas#ta,
hut until two years ago was little
heeded. Since then the high price of
silver has led the prospectors to
search out some of the galena lodes,
and as a consequence some promising
discoveries have been made. The de
velopment of silver-bearing lodes in
the Canadian part of the Portland
/canal region has already been re
ferred to.
During 1919 development work was
done on galena ores in Southeastern
Alaska, in the Seward peninsula, in
the Yukon basin, and probably in
other regions. In course of this work
some ore was produced, but, so far as
known, only a few tons of test ship
ments were made. The information at
hand indicates that the most promis
ing discovery of silver-bearing galena
was that made in the Kantishna dis
trict.
The silver output of Alaska in 1919
was about 590,000 ounces, of which
some 500,000 ounces was recovered
from copper ores. Alaska’s lead out
put of 1919 is. estimated to be 800
tons, practically all a by-product of
the gold lode mines.
The York district of Seward penin
sula continues to be the center of the
tin-mining industry of Alaska. Here
in 1919 two dredges and one small
open-cut mine were operated on placer
tin, employing some twenty-five men.
Developments were also continued at
the Lost River tin lode mine, in the
same district, where about twenty-five
men, were employed. Some tin also
was recovered in gold placer mining
in a few of the Yukon districts. Pre
liminary estimates indicate that about
forty tons of metallic tin was pro
duced in Alaska in 1919.
No new deposits of placer tin have
been discovered in the York district
in recent years, and there is no cer
: tainty that this form of tin mining
will be continued there when the de
j posits now being exploited are worked
out. No tin placers -which, under pres
| ent economic conditions, will warrant
exploitation for their tin alone, have
yet been found in the Yukon districts.
■ When costs of operation are re
duced placer din mining may be de
veloped in the Hot Springs district.
The distribution of the alluvial tin
in this district justifies the hope that
tin-bearing lodes may yet be discov
ered. Meanwhile the best hope of
the continuation of Alaska tin mining
is based on the lode tin of the York
district. The Lost River mine, in this
district, is the only property suffi
ciently developed to justify the belief
that it will soon become a producer,
yet there are others in the district
which deserve prospecting.
Some platinum was recovered in
the mining of placer gold in the Sew
ard peninsula, Tolstoi and Chistochina
districts in 1919, but the quantity is
unknown. The mining of copper ores
at the Saltchuck mine, in the Ketchi
kan district, which carry palladium
and platinum, was continued as in the
previous year. There was no produc
tion of tungsten, antimony or chro
mite in 1919, and development work
on properties carrying these minerals
'was practically stopped. Productive
mining was continued on the quick
silver deposit on the lower Kusko
kwim river. |
Coal and Oil
The most important features of the
Alaska coal mining industry in 1919
are (1) the continuation of systematic
mining in the Matanuska field by the
Alaskan engineering commission, (2)
the systematic prospecting of a lease
held in the Bering river field, and
(3) the beginning of the mining of the
Nenana lignite coal.
Mining and underground explora
tion was carried on throughout the
year by the Alaskan engineering com
mission at the Eska and Chickaloon
mines, in the Matanuska field. Coal
production from these mines was ad
visedly limited to the needs of the
commission and near-by localities. At
the Eska mine, which is a bituminous
coal of low rank, about 150,000 tons
of coal have been blocked out and
some evidence has been obtained that
there is an additional reserve of about
one million tons. At this mine the
coal beds are not greatly folded, but
some large faults have complicated _
the extraction of the coal. At Chick- p
aloon, where there is a very high
grade bituminous coal, the beds are
intensely folded and much faulted.
These conditions increase greatly the
cost of mining. The work of the com
mission has resulted in blocking out
about one hundred thousand tons of
coal.
No details are yet available about
the developments made on the lease
held in the western part of the Bering
River field, but extensive and sys
tematic underground work has been
done, and the results appear to have
encouraged the lessors to continue'.
The coal at this locality is high-grade
bituminous. Some developments were
also continued in 1919 on a patented
claim in the northeastern part of the -
Reid, where the coal is anthracite. A —
little coal has been mined at this lo-,
cality and marketed at Cordova. The
mine is connected with barge navi
gation on Bering river by a narrow
gauge railroad.
The connecting link of the Aaska
railroad between Fairbanks and the
Nenana coal field was completed in ;
1919, and the Nenana lignite- is there
fore now available for use in the Fair
banks district, and- should stimulate
the gold mining industry. Several
thousand tons of lignite were pro
duced at “Mile 366 mine”1 and other
developments in the field are under i
way. |
Small lignitic coal mines were op- I
erated in 1919 at a number of widely _
separated localities in Alaska^ and r
their product was consumed locally.
About 53,000 tons of coal, of which
11,000 tons were lignite, were mined
in 1919.
The petroleum produced in Alaska
in 1919, as in previous years, was
limited to the only patented oil land
in the territory, which is in the Ka
talla field. The output was increased
and drilling continued. In view of
the probable early enactment of an
oil-land leasing law, the interest in
the Alaska petroleum fields has re
(Continued on Page Seven) L
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“THE DRUG STORE OF ALASKA"
“SERVICE” Is our motto
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1 CAPITAL $170,000.00 B;
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ALASKA TRANSFER COMPANY ]
TRANSFER AND STORAGE
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Office, Northern Hotel Bldg, Phone 85
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at his new hotel in the heart of the city between
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Special Rates and Headquarters for Alaskans.
CITY BAKERY LUNCH ROOM I
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Regular Sailings Between Seattle,
Ketchikan, Juneau, Cordova, Valdez,
Ellamar, Liscum, Latouche, Seward
FROM SEATTLE— SAILS SOUTH
DEC. 20. ALASKA DEC. 28
DEC. 30. NORTHWESTERN JAN. 8
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JAN. 30. ALASKA FEB. 8
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This schedule subject to change without notice.
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Alaska—Washington—California ALASKA ROUTE
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OFFICE EMPRESS BUILDING
WEST BOUND SOUTH BOUND
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Phones: Office 223, Residence 2 23—2 rings.
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Trains leave Chitina for Kennecott Tuesday and Friday.
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Dining Car in Connection with all Regular g.
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Freight received and delivered at Cordova
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