Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1906-11-04
Year Just CHASING Shows Remark
able Increase OyerL;st
Seasons Productions.
FAIRBANKS DISTRICT A LEADER
Not Much Done in Coal Mining in the
Great Country to the Northwest
Marble ouarryins Being Worked
Into Paying industry by tn.
Hardy Miners of the Territory.

me advance Of the mining indus
Try III Alaska during The last decade
rs aucsted by the Increase IN the
.aiile OF its annual output from
Ss1uu,V0o In 1895 to over sl5 ZOO Oop
In 1905. ''''''"'0''
Inc gold production in 1905 accor.
tlrg TO The rcccntly.publlshcd rcnor,
ol Mr. Alfred II. Brooks of the United
ntntes Geological Survey, concerning
me investigations made by the Sur.
Ney IN that far away Territory din.
r.nE lVO6, showed an inrrcasc IN.
probably 60 per cent over that o,
1901.
IL Is very likely that over 30 pet
cent OF his Increase came FROM In,
halrDanks placcrs. Nearly all the
ot'ier districts, except some in the
seward Peninsula. enlarged thor
output, Mo exact figures arc yct
available. but on the basis of tho
most reliable data. Mir. Brooks az
Inmates that the production m the
l'aciiic coastal belt Amounted Il,
%3'4oO,0Oo THAT OF the Copper River
ana Cook inlet region 10 $50OUOU, the
output OF tho Yukon basin to SG,SOU
oe0 an,l lat of the Seward Peninsula
40 SI50hUOJ
Where tbs Gold Comes From.
Under tie heading "pacinc coastal
belt Is included the output of the
and placer mines of southeastern
ALASKA ANA of the bench dlggings O..
tho cast as well as that of tho Apollo
Nonsolidatcd on Unga Island The
production OF the Sunrise district OF
Cook nlct and of the Copper River
district are grouped together and
come entirely from placcrs.
In the Yukon baain are jnclad,I
tho iFortymilc. Birch Creek, Fairhank,
Rampant and koyukuk placer dis
tricts.
Tho output from the Seward PENN.
silla is practically all from placerst tho
one lode mine has been In operation
Nor several years. the estimate for
tho output for 1906 is based on the
data gathered by helG parties of thn
Geological Survey. as the statistics
from the mint are not yet available
Cost Of Mining Reduced
AN important factor In the advance
mont OF Alaskas mineral industry
u the las: decade IL the great rciu@-
ti5n in mining costs which has taken
PLACE during this per.o;i. The pioneer
miners Of the Yukon could not afford
To handle gravel averaging lcgs than
$40 Or $15 to the cubic yard
In Seward Peninsula Gravels run
ming less than 81 to the cubic yard
can In many localities be han.
died at u prof., by tho man work
ing only with the pick and shovel
In SSme Of tho interior districts
and in parts ri Seward Peninsula,
even present costs can he reduced
to less than so cents ito the cubic yard
by Introducing machinery or the uso
of water under pressure.
Nor is there reason to believe
that this Is 4 limit In the reduction
ot costs. In lode mining the rcfuc-
tion In costs has been analogous.
though not by any means as striking,
nor arc exact general figures avail.
able
1t is thus evident that tho pros
pcrity OF the mining industry must
be measured not only by the increase
of output, but also by the increase in
net returns from mining ventures.
The value of the copper-ore prs
duct,on has shown very marked
increase. tho total shipments of cop
per ore in 1905 being more than dou-
BILE those III 1904. This will bring
the value Of the annual copper pro
duct!oN CT Alaska To over 100000.
The annual production of silver incl
dental 10 mining for other ores is
about 100000.
Tin Paying Product.
Work has been continued on the
tin deposits but these are not yer
on II productive basis. The coal fields
though extensive, have been but
little exploited. the entire production
for 1905 being probably less than
1000 tons. Prospecting for coal has
been very active in the Controller
Bay region and in the Matanuska Val
ley. The only other developed mining
industry is marble quarrying, which