Bulletin 917-C
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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE Hapold L Ickes, secretary GEOWGICAL SURVEY W. C. Remdenhall. nirnlr Bulletin 917-C Mineral rpawrtm uf Al.8kr. 1938 (P.eem 169812) Page 159 Introd\rction .............-...........+... ........................ 159 Method~used in ccllecting and Enhiilntinp t hc: Inforrn~tiot~_-........... 160 Limitatiot~~uaverning the ~>rr~rntstinnof thr rccorcls- ................. 162 Records restrickcl to productinn ................................. 162 Cornputatio~~sbns~d OH stnndnrd tunil ptice lor each yrar........... 162 Lack uf co~npletcnessof oficial records. ......................... 163 Confidentin1 charart el of rcrords- ............................... 164 Degree of ncc~tracyof recordn- ...................................... 165 Areal s~tbdivisionsadopted .......................................... 1f6 Summary of early history of lodc-gold rnir~ii~gin Alnrjko ................ 168 Total productioti of lodr gold from Alx~Pskn........................... F7.5 Production of lode gold hy rcaions................................ 175 Prodt~ctionof lodr gold Zn the rlow of 1905.- ........................ 179 181 J~rlkeaudistrict .......................................... 181 Dou~l-lnaJalal~d area ................. 1R1 Juncnu arca~~~-~~----.-------~~~~-- 183 -4dwiralty Island arm ............... 184 Wrners Bay area.. ................. 1 84 &RIP River area ................... 185 Ketchikan tl!strict ...................... I xo Soutl~westernAlaska- ....................... 1Htl hwnrd Peninsula............. ........................,........ 187 S~~mrnnr!.......... ....................................+. .... 1 H7 Prodtlrtio~~of lode qoltI si~tceI905 .................................. 18R ISH 1PH 18H 1RS 189 201 1 !12 192 E92 Ill her nrr.~r:............................................ 193 Krtchiknn <lisirirt......................................... 194 Sitkrl, rlistrict .. ..., ........................................ 3 115 Copper River rrplinii .., ........................................ r 96 Prir~rcWillianl Po11rlr1rcgiotl. ................................... 197 Cook liilct-S1initnn mgitrti ...................................... I!)X Will~nCrtbrbk district . .., ..... ., ........................... 195 I<rwai dist rirt ................. ,, .......................... 19s I'sr*rl~~rtlctt~of tidp ~uldsirirP lmmTimtinued. Soutli ~vestertl. Alaska-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -.- -. - - - - - - + - - - - - I'n~ndastr~rt __._-- - ---..-- --_--_---- __ .---..--_- - - -- __---_ . Otlwr drslr~cls--- -__--__-_-___ _-- -__-___.._ __-.- --.-- __-.- Yukon rrlqion - - -._ - - -.. - - .-- - - _ - ----- - _ _ _ -- -.. _ -.. - - - ._ - - .- - - . Fairlmnk~.district-- . - ------ ---- -- - --- .---. - - -.- - - - - ------ xalh??tln ~~lstrlct~-~- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -.-. - - - - .- - - - - - - - - ---- 0th~~di~t~i~t~. - - - -..- - - -- - - - - ----- - - - - - -- - - - -.-- - - - - --.- - Kr~skokrcitnrr~ion L...-------------L---------------.-----u----- McFCitiI~ydistrict- - - ----..------ --- - --.---- - - -- - - --- - - - ---- Otlrrr diatrlrts, ,------. _A ---__--------__--__-__- ---. --_ --- Sewald Penins~rla-----. ------ ----- --- ------------ -- ------- ----- Unidentified te~ionn._,, ., . , . _ - - - - - -- -- ---- - - - -- -- --- - - - A --- - - - Index - - - -,.- - - - .- - - - - - - - _ _ _.- - - - _ _ - ._ - A - - - _ - - _ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .- - - ILL1 JSTR ATION ram^ 6. Lode-gold prodttctlon from Alaska minea, 1882-1B3T-, --- ---. TABLES TABLE1. Lode-gold production of Alaska by rcpiona, Tor period 1882-1037- 2. Lode-gold production from Alaska by atem, 1882-1 Na5------ -- 3. Lode-~oldproduction from nlincs on Bo~lglasTslnnd, IW2-1905- 4. Lode-gcld production of Akka Juneau mirie, 1901-5- - - -.-- - - 5. Total Iode-gold prod~rctionfrom Almka by area, 18821937.. PAST LODE-GOLD PRODUCTION FROM ALASKA ABSTRACT This report present^ ti11 nrlnlysls of the stilti~tIcn1records of rhe Gwrlofilcnl Surcry rtngnt'dit~athe production of lode gild from the Territory nl Al;mkn fnr tllr p?lqintl I%%!to 1937, incliwive. During that time lud~mldl tn tile vltlue of $112,368,0110 h~dh~~n mind. The hintow of the disco~pl~of lurle cnl(1 ul~dthp ~rlrlyclrrelupnlents in Ind~cgoidmlntng in PHC~aif rhe ~ariortscFistr~rls i~outIinP(1. brieflg, nn(1 th~j,r(duutimin of lodr g#l(l in &+cll of the gei*frr.mpltlc nubBirision~ IH ttlh~~lnt~(lfullr for pnch pertr, :is far as the recuds and tlw practlcefi nf thr (:eolo~ir:al S!~rwypermit. The records for the larger ge0- grapblc ~nbdlvlnlnns show that lodp p)hl to tlw rallle of S150,775,WI, or 87.5 percent of the tntnl pnsl~~rtionof tltp T~rritov,mtne from miuw In soiith- ensteril Alngkn. Thr Ch~kInlpt-Sn-it~t:~ win11 st;tartdl: second, with pro- duction for thc pr1ud of ~ttnrty$:9.77.1.01)11, or nhoub 5.7 ~rcent.The remnlnder, appsoximntrly $12.K!N,tWU. rqusl to 6 8 p~rwrlltof the total. came from luli~ex In Ihe fd1owin~~P~CIIIFI, ntimml 111 the order rrf tlkelr standing ns prodlicers nf lade pld : Tulri111,Prit~rtb \l'illiiur~ Stli~r~rl, sottthwr~~tern Alnske, Knekokwim, Seward PeninsuIn, and Copper Itlvcr. Mines in Alaskn hnrl p1.otlucrr1, lrp to the clrm of 1037. lode gold to the rnlne of more than $lCd,Ot)I),I)OO, or motLcthnn om-third of nll the gold that hncl been recav~r~dby :in$ t,ype of miuinp in the Ter- ritory. Although the greatelmpitrt o I' t hr Iotle-gnId prodi~ctioacame from a few large mines, the yield fmrn muly sni:111 p~qwrti~swidely watt~lwltIlr(~~gllollt~ Alaska nTns.:rsxponail~lc for coiit rfbnting in the aggmgatc golil worth nlmg tens of millions of tlollnrs. The lode- gold rnirliilg industry hns, therefore. plny~dtjil inlp~rtnntrole in tlre st ;I~Sof eccli~on~icdevelopment. thnt Alaslit~ lins ~~itsstyltl~lmt~gl~. Large as licls heen the pl-oduction of lode gohl fro111 I llr Tr.~.iitoryin the past it is believed to be only :I sm:rll part of rllilt w11Icl1i~ftirnlrtely n7ill be nffordeil by tlw lode-gold delmits tltnt are nhmdy known or tl~ntnwait discovery and de17elopment. It s~eilisericlrtlt, if t hipi be- li~fis ~wllfounded, that lode-gwlrZ rninilig will plny an crcn m0r.p impnrtsrll part in the ftit~~rede,veloprnent of thr Te1.1-itory, so tl~nt it,^ ~rnwrhshould b~ ctirefillly fostered if the best interests of t11e country nro to be semed. 160 MINERAL RESOURCES OF ALASIEA, 1938 Statistics of the past miuernl production are of interest as rec- ords of performnnce, but they are of special sig~lificanccin pointing out. those areas wliose histories encourage espectntia~~of future pro- dncti-re rlecelop~nents. The value of such lvcorcls for this double purp'PDSe hns long been recognized by the Geologicnl Survey, and to mwt the cnll for that service it has issueti amlnall3+ for more than 35 years n rolume 011 the minerd industry of AIxska, including infor- mation on lode-gold rnilliilg for the precedi~lgyear. Though fill- filling the main purpose for n~hidlthey were clesigned! giving c~~rre~lt informatio~l on minerals. theso volumes ci~nllot, without devoting tlndue spwcr. give lnucl~attention to the longer-range aspects of ally of tho mining industries. Certain restrictions, which do not ubhin for older wcorcls, xr~also imposed 011 the ptiblicntinn of crlrrent statistics. Some. of tllcqe strictio ions 11-il1 LC. refertwI to in more detail nn 1,ngw 16L165. It is tl~~ri~l'or~~~irlei~l IIb:~t at i~ifrqciuentii~tcrrnls it is tlesir~~blo t u supl~lr~utrlt the :~iin~~nlstA(erne~ its by :iss~tlll~liligin o11e pltlct! tlle \virIely sr':~tte~~i*~I~~COI-Cfs for 11 st)ccific milling jnrlustry coveriltp n considerable nu~nbcrof Scars. Tllis, then, is the main object of the folla\sir~greport, Primal-ily, the stntistics gi\*~ill~tve bcen computed from the records of the :~itnnalcnirvxsses mncie by tho Goological Sur- vcy and in pi-iernl hnvc Iollnl~rdtho sitmc pl.inciples that mero nrlophd i11 t lie. origiti:~lIttbulatjo~ t of those rrcwds. Inasmnch, how - ever, as somt! liberty bas been tnkcn in tllc npplicatinn of those prin- ciples ill this repart, it wems desirnl~lebefore discussing the stntistics th~msr,lvcsto ~xplainrrtlhrr fully just 1s11:lt tlw Geological Survey ~t~ntisticscovcr, how ihe IIIZSR~facts for thrir prrpnsat,i;ion are ob- tainetl, Snd tlln Iimitat,ion~thnt restrict f~~lluse of the dntn thus gnthcwd. METHODS USRD IN COTJTJECTIPI'G.tXn TAUULL~TINO 'l'XIP! INFORMATION In order Ihnt tlle reader may be informecl of t,he general practice that tho Geologicnl Survey follows in collecting information such its tlmt from which the follom jng tnbulat,ior~sare mde, it seems d~sirnblato quote certain significant parts of n recent statement benrirlg on the mntter : Smith, P. S., The minernl iitduatrr of itlaslin in I030 : U. 8. Geol. Survey Bull. S97--A, pp 1-3, 1938. METRODS USED IN COLLECTING INFORMATION 161 iqnIsitc for thr prepnr:ltioii of ~IICF.F:n~liunl sts t~rnentsiurolves di@cultie% because the great size of the Territos~,the rliversity uf it8 mineral products, nnd the large nuniber but srnnll size nf mnuy of the entergrises make it ImpraC- ticable without undue dchy nr~dcspcnw to gather all the desired information st firvst hand. The i~ifornlntiou u~cdis tbrrcfare deriver1 frnut lnzlng sourcea, wh1c-h ~~r.cesxi~ilyvary i11 relinl>ility and ctrrrililei~~ir~~.Efforts rtre made, how- ever, to retlttce all the st~~t~mentsto :t con~~~i~rtlblrbasiu ni~rlto gire ur~lythose tllnt appe:ir tu be wclI mbstantiated. Amoiig HIP~nont relinble sources of infor- mntion arc the ~~riofistsand engit~eprswho nrp wilt out each Fair h~ the GPO- logiml Survey to