Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1905-10-14

The biggest gold brick ever cast,
nearly as large as two building bricks
placed end TO end, which contains S25,-
600 worth OF gold that is purer than
the gold In a twenty dollar coin, re
Gently arrived at the Lewis and Clark
exposition in Portland. Ore, and Is be
ing exhibited by the Nome district OF
Alaska as evidence that Nome is still n
great gold producing region. says W
L. Brindley. The gold brick is a foot
long. four inches deep and Eve inches
wide, and it weighs approximately
ninety pounds.
The city of Nome on the Seward
peninsula. in the extreme north OF
Alaska, beyond the string of islands
that stand out like the bin Of a snipe,
contains a population OF from $500 TO
1900 people in the winter time and ten
times as many people in the summer.
The town has an enterprising chamber
of commerce. which in fifteen days got
together the most wonderful mineral
exhibit ever displayed by one region.
While the gold brick which Nome Is
showing has attracted more attention
than any other single article In the
United States government building at
the fair, three nuggets. worth In the
aggregate 5000. stand second in pop
ularity. These are exhibited in n small
wire cage and a man who wears In his
belt a revolver OF the size common TO
melodrama and wild west shows
stands guard over them. The biggest
nugget Of the three. which weighs IS2
ounces. Is worth S3,2T6. There Is a hole
In one side OF the cage big enough for
one TO put his hand through Il. but not
large enough TO enable him to take out
the nugget. over the chunk OF gold
there is legend which reads. "You
can lift the nugget but don't take it
away" and ali day long people crowd
ono another for n chance TO hold S3.276
worth OF gold for just a fraction Of a
minute.
The nuggets and the gold bricks con-
stitute NOmc's most interesting gold
display. They are owned by the Plo-
ncer Mining company and were found
IN Anvil creek, near Nome. Near the
nugget cage Is a table on which. under
glass, are small boxes OF pay dirt. This
display is not so spectacular as that
In the nugget cage-whlch. by the way.
includes host Of smaller nuggets IN
addition 10 the three big ones-but II
Is remarkably interesting The pay
dirt shows TO gold and looks like ordl-
nary gravclly soil. One box OF Il IS
labeled: PAY dirt from Anvil creek.
Average value S1.2O per bucket" one
at once begins 20 figure how many
buckets an ordinary man could fiji i'm
a day, and the figures are startling.
Another box contains broken rock and
Is labeled. Portion OF bedrock from
Portland bench ciaim-$i21, OOO result
OF work OF seven men for sixty days"
But gold is not the only mineral re-
source OF the country round about
Nome. Some 100 miles from Nome. az
a place called Cape York. on Buck
creek. there Is a mountain OF tin, where
$25.500O0O worth OF the metal Is IN
sight. The tin Is found Ia a substance
called cassiterite crystals, which con-
tains % per cent Of metallic tin. and
from 80 cents 10 n dollars worth OF
gold to the ton. There is n whole noun
tain top, ten miles long by two miles
wide. Of this cassiterite, which is worth
SAL ton at the present price OF tin,
30 cents a pound Last winter 500
tons OF the ore We're taken out. and the
magnitude of the Industry Is hardly
TO be conceived. Then. again. at Ears
mountain. on Shismarofr inlet. $50
miles northwest OF Nome. there Is
ledge OF cassiterite. The ledge Is ex-
posed to a width of - feet and runs
1000 feet up the mountain. reaching
an elevation Of 400 feet. From this it
Is presumed that the ore vein is 400
feet deep.
And then there is quicksilver, anoth-
er new proposition and very profita-
BILE one from all appearances. Quick
silver ore is found on the Kuskokwin
river, distant 800 miles southeast OF
Nome. Some OF il runs $500 worth TO
the ton, but 500 is probably the aver
age. The ore is found on the surface.
1t is burned in an immense caIdron,
so that the quicksilver vapors rise and
arc afterward preclpitated or con-
densed into liquid quicksilver by be-
ing Immersed in cold water. At the
exposition the richness Of the ore is
demonstrated by a piece from which
the quicksilver has been smelted. The
rock is honeycombed like a pumice
stone
1t costs 90 cents a pound on the aver
age to transport coal from the mines in
British Columbia to Nome; hence the
importance Of the discovery Of a coal
mine which produces n fairly good
grade in the far north. The coal mine
is located on Chicago creek. which
flows into the Kugruk river, which In
turn flows into Kotzebue sound. At
the surface three tons OF coal were
found to be equal IN heat producing
power TO one ton Of Wellington coal
Now a shaft has been sunk 600 feet.
and two tons OF the coal at that depth
are worth one of Wellington. BY
means OF this coat, which Is essential
to winter mining IN the far north.
$4,000 worth of gold was taken out
last winter. The discovery OF the coal
thus opens up immense possibilities In
winter mining II assures a rezul.r
year round population for Nome.
Such are a few OF the things exhibit