STATE OF Department of Natural k=urces

WILDERNESS AREA MINING CLAIMS Bm CwSIFZES BROOKS AREA

Published to Accelerate the Development of the Mining lndushy in Alaska Wil l im A. Egan - Governor Charles F. Herbert - Commissioner James A. Williams - Director

MINES BULLETIN DECEMBER 1970 VOL. XVf I1 .74i,' :, .;;, - 1- .we- 'i* t 3 . . . .. I -. r''! i ?P s ,a, SILVER . JJ1 -1 3 -. I .. -7 , An Associated Press release &nounced that the U. S. was officiakly getti= out of the silver business as of November 11, 1970. This is the end of government release of . silverfol: industrial use. The Treasury Department still has about 24 million owces of unrefined silver and the Defense stockpile has another 165 million ounces for in- . <' dustrial use in emergencies. . , 9. * . ,. 2 ,: ;,. , I It is interesting 30 trace the history of s~l~er~~es~eciallybecause the price has affected mining in the past two centuries. From the early years of the republic ,and , through most ,ofthe nineteenth century, the U. S. money system was based on both gold.,. a?id silver.. An attempt was made to establish a value ratio of 16 to 1. for silver to gold. However, neaxJy a century ago, in 1873, :the U. S . along with most of Europe mt on a strict gold standsr::d, leading to a struggle that nearly split the Democratic party and embittered che U.. S.. farmer against tfie Eastern business and banking dommu- nity, and the western miwrs, g,These.were.:tlieboom days of mining in the new silver.,: -i, . , . .. , strikes in Colorado, Beva$g, -,and I&~Q.. ,, . ,. . : ,: A- I ... I, < 3 ' (2 4.t , . - :>- The political issue reached a climax when ~illihJennings;~Eydn woil the~Dab0craticr nomination ,631 1896 >.afl;er h$s t f mous speech 4n. which he thundered at the bankers : "You

J.,. b .-I,:- . shall not-:&iu&ifymankind -.a cross o.$ old-:':' . I, - .- ,.A. % -1 "'I. * , I- ' *,., 3 For the fin&. 30 years ~f.?ae.t;wentietN. century, silver had a fairly etable price with a range- of 526 to 69~p-er . ., ejrc;bt- ih the post World War I years *en, the .*. '1 . * price went above 112~. & :. : - , /,,*,i: I IS , fi

1- . ' ) I Then 1. 1931 and 1932 v&t< tb* price of =ilfir 'iallAng below' 27~:pezounce bt.rimes, a world monetary crisis was in the making o+er silvkr; At this time- -t-he.rep.mw'ita- tives of eight nations met to agree upon a more stable silver price. These nations were the' '~nitddStates, Canah, -Australia, Mexico ,i .Peru, Spain, India, and China. A joint aim of these:-nations wag~<:toestablish a",Gigher price for newly mined silver and to take it off theLmarket..?.Ehina agreed not to:sell'demonetized silver. On December 21, 1933, President Roosevelt announced thatZ'kheU. S. had established a statutory price of $1.29 per ounce for silver. At the same tfiik!,'her announced chat the U. S. would- biiy newly .mined silver in the.U. S. at 64-1/2~per ounce. This eat what was known as tFre U. S.. Treasury price for silver. The orfgind intent was that the statutory price was $1.29, half of which would be paid I.to' the- seller. Half of the metal would go into coins and half would be held.

.L"L,. This statutory priie remained $& affect until 1965' &hep $or all practical purpose8 the silver coinage ended in the United States with an order BY congress that American coins except the Kennedy half-dollar would be minted from a copper-nickel alloy. There were changes j.ndthe U. S. Treaspry price. By 1967, the price for silver startedG'abovethe old statutory price of $1.29, il In the 1930's, with the support price on silver, silver mini* increased So about 64 million ounces per year. Many mines were operated ~rimarilyfor silver,. and: the base metals were important by-products.

8 In World War I1 silver, as well as gold mkini, was curtailed.and by 1945 the pro- . , duction fell to about 20 million ounces. Since 1947 the production has leveled out at about 35 million ounces. Today only two mines in the United States are listed as silver mines out the the leading 25 silver .producers. There are the Sunshine mine and the Silver Summit mine of the Hecla Mining Company in Idaho. In nsar1y.a dmr: cases, silver is a by-product of lead, zinc, copper, or complex base metal ores. Much of the silver produced in Alaska was a by-product of either copper or gold mining. Early in 1968, when the U, S, government was neit-her buying nor sangappreciable quantities of silver, the price started to climb. On June 12, 1968, the price of 64- was '256.5~'per, 'm'c&. - Shortly thereafter, the U. .S. starfed a release of 1.9 +lion . .-. ounces week,'whifK-'dbressed the price of silver. Now that the U. S. has again per Fi left &&..market, where *will the price go?

Several important factors will influence both the price of silver and the impact on mining. One is that over the years, especially since 1945, silver has decreased in importad& a.s a monetary metal and -ha$ became an industrial metal. Today world in- dust#~l ~onii&iiGtibnof silbr Pi, approximately -345 million ounces per year, but newly mined"i1iter meets only part of tKe-'demand, about 240 million ounces per year. In fact, the world deficit for the past five years (1965 through 1969) has been 600.3 million ounces. The deficit in the U. S. (newly mined silver plus Gports, less in-

dustrialAdbns&iptioh,- - less exporb8)~hasbeen-even greater, namely 649s million ounces (I' in fit;' years. In 1969, .U. S. sigver p~dduction.was 39.8 million ouyces, ' and the ! 'I indusirial consump tion was 147.0 million ounces. The Sac tor off setting an immediate . . price rise is the store of silver that was mined and set aside prior to 1940 when ) . '. +." silve~~yasa monetary metal. Two questions that will require answers in the next f e~~fsrs'are! (1.) dnat3ib the,prle& that will bring silver out of the hoarded& , (2);"hhat.i& -khet~'$kice'that will bring neqsil,ver onto .the ~rkqt? . ' l)',, stoc a? , <

*. In the pqt, silver, like gold, has been considered a metal that - co&I be mined and producd",. Zh r-&%t:d at&& bhere.'lh54%d transportatd@p: ,f acilities are available. I -. .: 1 . -- ' . - > ,. The price of silver could be very important to the mining industry of Alaska;' Alasba or,e pas produced an estimated 16.5 million ounces of silver. According to

the $;:.s;.-:- G&ologkcal rJ., , Survey,, "%any of s~he&pasirs in the qouthern Alaskan Range are 4Xver ,begriig, add mofe ejiplor~ionappears .to,be .warranted +a this reggon. " - Exploratio< for silver is ptodeeding in Alaska, and the ALL-ALAsKA.@EIUY reporte: ' * 1 t - ( 7- 1 r:. b.4. .(I i A .> C ?.> "Alkon Metals Limited fs currently oanying out tploritiqiqi;.ob Admiralty Island in Alaska on a 42-claim salves prospect. The pryram, under the .dited&n 8f W. .G. Stevenson, P. Eng. , will include ge~khem$&., nag- J' . .

- F netb&ter. ark& aiainbnd dri-11 work. , " .J, .J 7' -. . . I 'i '51.: An 'outer4 eirposed for over a thousa~d,.feeton surface has indicated >: . values of 7.3 oz. of silver pex ton and 2.2 per cent zinc from a channel sample cut over a width of 50 feet across the zone. dY-.(

;j ~oiii'samplkS pres~inE9~being .assessed indicate the possibility of ex- %ii&ind'thk known zone in both rtidth -and length with high readings -;>v: .- "bt. silver. leid zind ' and copper. -, , i ' 8 > , . . ? Several similar mineralized zones are known to exist on the ~dmiralt~ f&

I PRICE FROM 1930 TO 1970

: . :., ...-. .... ; '. " .:‘ L 1930 . 357..4.-.:. 40:: 45 50 5.5 - - 60 65 .: 1970 : . . .. , . I.. y !.. :.; :: - . . . , << ; . ; , : .... 2: ....1 .. , ,...... -!: '<.< '.':;!>:.: : . ... / ,, ! ..' : .. * ...... _...... :.., . , . . . , ._'I.. ../ f.. 1.1,- d,...... &y ..- .-...... - .../ -,. :. ,-. ,;., , . . .' , ;i;;, :-<:; ,.,!" I.:.; .. ... <., .: , . -- .- . . .% WILDERNESS AREA MAY LOCK UP 227,000 ACRES

(As reported~lrithe Nodber 10,'1970 issue of ALASKA INSIDE) .: tLl., -

Could more than a quarter of the forests near Yakutat be turned into wilderness area? It could be. The Forest Service has approved formation of the Wilder- ness Area within the in Southeastern Alaska, but local hearings are to be held before anything definite happens. Under presknt plans more '

kian 227,006'acres could be .locked up. Currently there are 'Sour wilderness study , areas on-Alaskan timberla"&& totaling about 2-1/2 mllllon acres, 12% of the Stafe's ' -ixa&dml forkst . land. 6 : -I B'LM CLASSIFIES BROOKS WlEA * e

A proposed classification of 24 miellion acres of public land in the Central Brooks Range was announced today by Robert Krumm, Fairbanks District Manager for the Bureau of Land Management. Krumm explained that the proposal will allow concentrated planning for management of the many multiple uses available to the public in the area.

Several years of study has preceeded announcement of the proposal which was authorized by the Multiple Use and Classification Act passed by Congress in 1964. Krumm explained that he and his staff will discuss the proposal and management of the area with as many groups and individuals as possible during the next few months. Meetings are planned in Fairbarks, Anchorage, Juneau, and various Alaskan villages. Formal public hearings before finalizing the classification will be held next spring.

The area involved extends from the northern edge of the Brooks Range to the divide between the Koyukok and Yukon Rivers. The eastern portion of the area includes the headwaters of the Chandalar River and the western portion includes the headwaters of the Chandalar River and the western portion includes the headwaters of the Kobuk and Noatak Rivers- The proposed routes for the trans-Alaska oil pipeline and the arctic slope railroad are within the area's boundaries.

Krumm stated that ::he 2rea cont~insvery important mineral resources and obviously has outstanding nacural values for wil.derness and other types of recreation. A dozen, large, clear-water rivers flow from the area and hundreds of jagged peaks and jewel- like lakes, 16 or more large ones, provide outstanding fiabitat for fish and wildlife.

Uncontrolled or unplanned use and development of the area could have serious detrimental effects on the various po6lic values contained on and within these public lands. "As the responsible land management agency, it is BLM'S intention to involve the public in developing meaningful effective-managementeplanswhich will allow a broad range of resource uses. The area has national stgnificance and the public deserves BLM' s concerted effort to see that the coming development occurs properly," Krumm stated.

Under the proposal the Central Brooks Range area is divided into three types of management areas. The southern area, containing 6 million acres of public land, will remain available to all land dizposal laws and resource uses except the Homest@tgd Act of 1862, Trade and Manufacturing Sites, and Headquarter Sites. The major area, about 18,500,000 acres, will remain open to all of the land disposal laws and resource uses except those which allow individuals unrestricted occupancy of the land. These are the Homestead ~ctcf 1862, Trade znd Manufacturing Sites, Headquarter Sites, Homesites, Native Allotments and 'unplanned 'I'ownsites. 'The third area, approximately 3,200,000 acres, surrounds the Arrigetch Peaks and the upper and smaller areas around 16 large lakes scattered through the Brooks Range.

*Article taken from the November.28, 1970 issue of thp Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. t . ,

The U. S. ~ealogi&al;survey Khs,.ire%eased in open £is the followihg report. A copy is available for 'inspeciSPbti. in.the off ice ofJthe ~lk$caDivision of' Geological Survey, university venue iL@sl-leg~jAlaskA 99709. (Material?' Erom which copy can be made at private expense is hilable in 'the Alaskan Mineral Resources Branch, USGS, 345 Middle- field Road, Menlo Park, California 94025.)

Lead-, zinc-, and barite-bearing samples from the western Brooks Range, Alaska, by Irving L. Tailleur, with a section -on Petrography and mineralogy, by G. D. Eberlein and Ray Wehr. 12 p., 1 fig., 1 table. .MI-NING CLAIMS

NUMBER OF CLAW . CREEK OR AREA QUADRANGLE , DATE NOTICE POSTED-

- :' 1 , Willow Creek , Anchorage September, 1970

7 .jl Little Susitna.Riyer ~nchora~e. October, 1970 t

2 Kugruk River L-l , , Bendeleben July, 1970

. . ~ August, 1970 ...-...... -1 ...... ~. ,. .. . MunsonPinnell Creek Riveq ".;.;: .-. :,);...... ,: . .,,.., gendelebenDelta 1 .- '-.'....Big August, 1970

1 Mist Creek Big Delta :: ix August,,,1970, ...... !.L>.k.. '.L . . .,: : ! :I:. :.._ .,_ . llJ,,~:.,>,,.,,,.:... LaTouche Islq~d,,.., Blying Sound July, 19$9. .. ::. 11 ~radfield ~anai Bradfield Canal october, '1976'

/. 30 . ., Texas Creek -.,.. EradEie3.d ca&"i*- sep'teihier, 19j0'- ' 1 Montana creek Circle September, 1970 ,L,- - r 3 Mosquito Fork . -Iiiver-, Eagla Augyst 1970 3 Barney Creek Eagle ~epdi~ier,1970' ,'. , .-4! 4 , ,Ester Dome - Fairbanks September, 1970 * .. 1 1. . . id<: U<:J > <:

-,. .: 1 September, 1970 .. T ...... ;- George' s Run ,: , Fairbanks 1 Windy Creek Fairbanks Septg&ber, 19j-6/;'.'..: ... c, . f: >,:< 14 i . .: , .; Winchester yount-ain...... Goodnews Bay September ,, ,1970<', .> 8 Bryn Mawr Creek Healy September,- 197V "" :: . : 10 2. . ...Tongass Narrows..'. ... Ke tchikan September,,.,,.1920.,. . .:.L - ....

LQ:>- ,. 14 Livengood Creek Livengood Qctpber,i01970 1 Granite creek Livengood ,,< i .~epiember, 1970 1 d. . . Canyon Creek McCar thy October 1970 15 McCarthy Creek McCarthy Aug ;: 6. i36t:f .:-, " 1970 ;;h

- . 63 ,. + , McLaren River Mt. Hayes August, 1970lrf . . -..i .

{I:: " 6 - - A - Eureka Creek Mt. Hayes August, 1970 7 Last Chance Creek Mt. McKinley ~e~keuiiiei-,19jD ' ' ., . .I ,. 2 , Busia Mounts??, , Mt. McKinley July ,, 1970 2 Lucky Gulch & Eureka Ck. Mt. McKd~.le7 ' ' ' sePthnbe-k, .1976- .,:;. 26 .,, qooper> - Cree$, Nabesna June, 1970 I .- . ' :J

:,., .- ;-i f: .. 8 . . Monte Cris to Creek R'abresn.a July, 1970 rc. .; : l,@m,i.; ; ,j.'; 4 iamb Creek Nabesns 9 2 ..,,.:. , 8 :, . a. :. - , .....;Black 21 Bear Creek Nabesna Sept. & Oct., 1970... Oc t'&& pj7@:!i?!.S z. 44 Cold & Manila 'creeks Nome ,

-. . , 4 .. ;Bangor Creek, N0m.e October,, 1970 . 3, .!...... ; . 1. ;. : 11 Christian & Rocky Mtn, Cks. No~e September, 1970 230 LaTouche Island Seward June & July, 1970

2 Summit,Cr~ek ,. Seward, . . September, 1970 :', . , , ... :. L! sgw2r& L . - ..... : Aug. 6.Sept. ,:.1970 .'., ' 3 Grant ~ake"

10 ' ..* D011a~.i 12G~:pk:- ,.. .. : , .: . -,i.j ....1;. ??.:)j,i.a4@~ztna,~. ;iii,, ~(~2'~ ~eptember, 1970 .

Chulitna River Talkeetna , September, I970 ~outdo&~hGulch Talkeetna J;~Y, 1970 Ruby Greek Talkeetna -. September, 1970 Gemuk Mountain Taylor 'Mountain October, 1970 L- - Lodr River Teller -,-.- st, 1970 -. I. NUMBER OF CLAIMS CREEK OR AREA , QUADRANGLE DATE NOTICE POSTED

4 Black Mount;a$n, \ Teller August, 1970 1 Boulder Creek Valdez &lay I(jT@'.--- :.:----'- 14 Hammond River, Wiseman September, 1970 6 Grotto Mountain Wiseman September, 1970 1 Pasco Pass Wiseman September, 1970

-., , METAL MARKET i

November 30, 1970 Month Ago Year Ago

Antimony ore, stu equivalent - European orel $14.29-16.96 $16.96-18.70 $11.61-11.83

Barite (drilling mud grade per ton) $12-16 $12-16 $12-16

Beryllium powdsr.98X per ton $54-66 . , $54-66 $54-66 . .

Chrome ore per long ton ., ) $31-35 . $31-35 $31-35

Coppkr per lb. 56. OC 56. OC . 52.0C Gold per, oab $37.90 $38.70 $40.65 , Lead per lb- 14.5~ 15. OC 15 5C Mercury per 76N flask $360-375 $340-345 $490-495

I I Molybdenum conc. per lb. I ,

Nickel per Ib. I ,%- , Platinum per oz. $120-122 $$22-127 $120

Silver, New York, per oz. 167.5~ , 172.6~ 187.2~ I Tin per lb. Titanium ore per ton $3*35 $30-35 - $20-21

I' Tuagsten per -unit $55.00 $50-53 $43.00

Zinc per lb. 15.5~ 15.5~ , 15.5C

S EAS8-NS GR.EETINGS i. - .,.: FROM THE DXVISION OF GEOLOGICAL SURVEY .I