Bulletin 142 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR FRANKLIN K. LANE, SECRETARY BUREAU OF MINES VAN. H. MANNING, DIRECTOR THE MINING INDUSTRY IN THE TERRITORY OF ALASKA DURING THE CALENDAR YEAR 1915 BY SUMNER S. SMITH United Statef 1'vfine Inspector for Alaska WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1917 The Bureau of Mines, in carrying out one ,of the provisions of its organic act­ to disselninate infornlation concerning investigations nlade-prints a limited free edition of each of its publications. 'Vhen this edition is exhausted, copies lllUY be obtained at cost price only through the Superintendent of DocuInents, Government Printing Office, 'Vash­ ington, D. C. The Saperintendent of Documents is not an official of the Bureau of Mines. His is an entirely separate office, and he should be addressed: SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS, Government Pr'inting 0 jJice, lVashington, D. O. The general law under \vhich publications are distributed prohibits the giving of more than one copy of a publication to one person. The price of this publication is 10 cents. First edition. ~Iay, 1911. CONTENTS. Page. Introduction________________________________________________________ 5 New gold-mining districts____________________________________________ :5 Mineral production 6 Placer gold_____________________________________________________ 7 Lode gold_______________________________________________________ 7 Copper_________________________________________________________ 7 Tin_____________________________________________________________ 8 Antirnony_______________________________________________________ 8 ]dineral fuels___________________________________________________ 8 Work of the Federal mine inspectol"____________________________ 8 I1eadquarters___________________________________________________ 9 Clerical assistance_______________________________________________ 9 ~eeds of office___________________________________________________ 9 Mining experiment station___________________________________________ 10 Ne\v Territorial laws------- ---_____________________________________ 10 7 Prosecutions fo~ violations of mining acts____________________________ 11 Coal leasing act_____________________________________________________ 12 Coal fields ~----------------------------------_________ 12 Government railroad_________________________________________________ 13 Labor_______________________________________________________________ 14 First-aid and mine rescue training___________________________________ 14 Forevvord_______________________________________________________ 15 To the experienced man~_____________________________________ 15 To the inexperienced man___________________________________ 15 Safety first -__ 16 Shafts and cages ~_________ 16 Stoping and developrnent_____________________________________ 17 Explosives 18 Sanitation 19 Tramming 19 Sinking -----_ 19 lIoisting -_____ 19 General_____________________________________________________ 19 ]dills_______________________________________________________ 20 Conclusion______________________________________________________ 21 First-aid training 21 Mines and districts ~ __ . - -- _____ ______ ___ 22 Yukon basin --- 22 Fairbanks district --- _----_-------- -:- ---------- 22 Placer mining 22 Lodernining_____________________________________________ 23 Tolovana district____________________________________________ 24 Circle district_______________________________________________ 25 Tenderfoot district 25 1 2 CONTENTS. l\fines and distriets-Continued. Yukon basin-Continued. Page. Manley Hot Springs district _ 25 ]Ruby district _ 25 Koyukuk district _ 25 Innoko (listrict _ 25 Iditarod district _ 26 Marshall district _ 26 Chisana district _ 26 Se\vard Peninsula _ 26 Nonle district _ 27 Solomon district _ 27 Casadepaga district _ 27 Council district --__ ---- __ - _ 28 Fairhaven district :- _ 28 Port Clarence district _ 28 Kougarok district _ 28 Southeastern Alaska _ 28 I(etchikan district _ 29 Alaska Industrial Co _ 29 ])unton rnine _ 29 Goodro l\Iining Co _ 29 Granby Consolidated Mining, SInelting & Po\ver Co _ 30 l\Iount Andre\v Iron & Copper Co _ 30 Princeton l\lining & l\lilling Co _ 30 Ready Bullion mine _ 30 ]Rush & Brown mine _ 30 Juneau district _ 31 The Alaska-Gastineau }\;Iining Co _ 31 Alaska Gold Belt l\fining Co _ Alaska-Juneau Gold l\Iining Co _ 32 Alaskn-Trea<hvell Ctohl l\1ining Co _ 33 Alaska Treasure Gold l\Iining Co _ 3;) Algunican Developluent Co- _ 33 Eagle lliver }\;lining Co _ 35 Ebner Gold l\fining Co _ 35 I(ensington l\fining C9----------------------------------- 36 Sitka uistrict _ 36 Chichagof l\lining Co _ 36 Pacific Coast GYPSUlll Co _ 36 South\\·esteru Alaska _ 36 COvpt'r IUver district _ 37 Alaska Consolidated Copper Cu _ 37 Great Northern Developlnent Co- _ 37 Hubbard-Elliott Copper Co- _ 37 I(ennecott Copper Corporation _ 37 l\fother Lode Copper l\Iines Co _ 38 Prince \Villialll Soun(l _ 38 Alaska l\lines Corporatiou _ 38 Big Four mine _ 39 Cliff nline _ 39 "Ellanlar Mining Co -_ 39 Fidalgo Ddining 00 _ 39 CONTENTS. 3 lVlines and districts-Continued. Prince William Sound-Continued. Page. Galena Bay l\fining Co _ 40 Granby Consolidated l\tfining, Slnelting & Po\ver Co _ 40 Gold Kingmine _ 40 Granite Gold l\fining Co _ 40 Calneron-Johnson Gold l\fining Co- _ 41 Kennecott Copper Corporation _ 41 Landlock Bay Copper Co _ 41 l\tlineral I~ing l\tfining Co _ 41 l\tlountain I(ing lnine _ 42 Ranlsay-Rutherford l\fining Co _ 43 Senley-Davis l\tlining Co _ 43 Thonlas-Culross l\'Iining Co _ 42 Three l\tlan Mining Co _ 43 !(enai Peninsula _ 43 Willo\v Creek (Susitna drainage) . _ 4;~ Alaska Free Go1(1 l\fining Co _ 4B Indel)endence l\Iining Co _ 4-1 Gold Bulli 011 IIIi ne _ 4-1 Accidents at lllines, quarries, and .(]re(]ges in Alaska during 191:) _ 45 Data on dredges _ 4n l\rline-inspeetion la\vs of Alaska _ 5B origina1 act . _ Anlen(lnlent .:... _ f)5 II1(lex .. _ 63 Tr\BI~ES. Page. TABLE 1. Fatalities inside and outside the nlines, quarries, nnd dredges in the Territory of Alaska during the ealendar year 1915________ 46 2. Accidents in Alaska lnetal Inines (luring the year ended Deeenl- bel' 31, 1915 - 48 3. Accidents in Alaska nletallurgieal plants (luring the year ended Decenlber 31. 1915__________________________________________ 49 4. Data on dredges in Ala~ka, 1915_____________________________ 50 5. Data on lode Illines in Alaska, 1915__________________________ 52 ILLUST·R,ATION. Page. PLAT1G I. Flo\v sheet of I~enneeott eOlH:entrnting v1ant----______________ 38 THE MINING INDUSTRY IN THE TERRITORY OF ALASKA DURING THE CALENDAR YEAR 1915. By StTMNER S. SMITH. INTRODUCTION. Mine inspection in Alaska by the Federal mineinspector ,vas some­ what handicapped during 1915, the inspector having to spend a large part of the summer and fall in examining the Matanuska coal field in connection ,vith the designation of the Government reservations and the leasing units in that field. Ho,vever, in addition to this ,vork, the mines in southeastern and southwestern Alaska ,vere inspected by both Federal and Territorial inspectors, a consid.erable nUlnber of men near the Federal inspector's office at ~Tuneau were trained in first aid to the injured and in the use of mine rescue apparatus, the mines of the interior and of Se,vard Peninsula were inspected b,y the Terri­ torial inspector, and a suit was brought in the name of the Territorial inspector for the nonreporting .of serious accidents under the Terri­ torial inspection law. The work of the Federal inspector ,vas handicapped also by a lack of field assistants. This condition is likely to be serious, as preparations 11ave been made for opening the Matanuska, Bering River, and Nenana coal fields, and a nlunber of permits granting the free use of 10-acre tracts in other fields throughout the Territory llave been issued. The need of a comprehensive inspection law and experienced engineers to safeguard the opening of coal mines by operators ,vho are not familiar wit11 coal mining and are using inexperienced help is obvious. NEW GOLD-MINING DISTRICTS. The only ne,v gold-mining district that has seemed to give promise of a definite future is the Tolovana, although operations there have not been extensive enough to indicate its life with certainty. About $60,000 in placer gold ,vas produced during 1915. The camp is north,vest of ~~airbanks and is reached in winter by a road 55 miles long from GInes. In the sunlmer the road serves as a pack trail, or the trip may be made up the Tolovana River. 5 6 MINING INDUSTR.Y IN ALASKA DURING 1915. The Nelchina, Chisana, and Wade Hampton districts, which showed considerable prominence in 1914, have all proved disappointing. The production in the Nelchina and Wade Hampton districts ,vas negli­ gible; in Chisana about $135,000 in placer gold was recovered, but the expense of freighting to this district is so high that the net profit was small. During the fall, reports of new discoveries 01). the Innoko were frequent, but no au~hentic news was available at the time this report was \vritten. MINERAL PRODUCTION. The figures on mineral production collected by the United States Geological Survey a and the Customs Division of the Treasury De­ partment indicate that the past year was the most productive since 1906, when the placers of the interior and of Seward Peninsula were at their height, the total for that year being $23,378,428. The value of the minerals mined in 1915 is about $32,800,000, as compared with $19,064,963 for 1914. The high price of copper has been a great stimulus to mining and is largely responsible for the increased