Mohave County miner. [volume] (Mineral Park, A.T. [Ariz.]) 1882-1918, 1909-03-06
Mining Industry in kIondIke.

Mining Industry in KIondIke.
Consul G. c. Cole, in the following
report from Dawson, compares the for
mer gold mining methods in the Klon-
dixie region with the present advanced
methods.
Gold was discovered in the Klondike
placer gold district little over
decade ago, since which time this field
with an area of p by 30 miles square,
has produced gold to the value of
about I25, 5,OOO,OOOS Nearly all of this
has been mined by the primitive pro-
cess of pick and shovel and washed by
the pan, the rocker and the sluice box.
The most of the placer gravels in
this district are frozen from the sur
face to bedrock, which in places is 300
IT, deep. The pioneer miner put down
his shaft by fire made of wood upon
the frozen ground, which thawed it
for a few inches in depth, and the
gravel was then removed and washed,
and the same process repeated until
bedrock was reached; then he drifted
along bedrock. where the richest grav-
els are found, using the same process
of thawing and washing as before and
hosting the gravel by hand windlass;
but later steam was used for thawing
and hoisting.
The thawing is now done by steam
points which are steel-pointed pipes on
tubes of various lenths through which
the steam passes, being conveyed by
means of a hose. These points are in
serted slowly into the frozen gravel,
thawing for a radius of about 3 #. to
each point, and TO depth of l #. per
hour. In this way only the richer
gravels were worked, leaving the
greater part of the ground containing
lower grade gravels not worked, which
is estimated to contain as much gold
as the ground which has formerly been
worked.
OF recent years the latest improved
mining machinery and appliances are
being used, such as hydraulics, dredges
and elevators, and by these improved
methods the same ground is being
worked over again, and also lower
grade gravel of virgin ground, all of
which pays large dividends.
Within the last five years dams have
been constructed in the creeks and
smaller streams for the purpose of
storing water produced by the melting
SHOWS of spring for use during the
summer. From these dams mains are
laid into the placer fields, where the
gold-bearing gravels are washed by
means of the hydraulic process.
The largest hydraulic plant is the
one constructed by the Yukon Gold Co.
The ditch takes its water from Tomb
stone river, a branch of Twelve Mile
river, which has its source in the
Rocky mountains. 1t Is constructed of
open ditch, fumes and penstocks
around hills and mountains and siph-
oned over rivers, creeks and canons
by means of steel pipes from 3 ft. to 1
ft. in diameter, crossing the Klondike
river to the divide between the river
and Bonanza and Hunker creeks, a
distance of 90 miles, and carrying a
volume of 5000 in. of water. From
this point the company will distribute
the water to its various placer grounds
on these creeks and their tributaries.
as well as their holding on the Klon-
dixie river. One inch of water is esti-
mated to wash from 3 Gu. yds. to GU.
yds. of gravel in this district by the
hydraulic process. The cost of the
construction of this ditch alone is be-
tween 1900, ,OOOS and 4,OOO,OOOS In ad-
dition to this large ditch, this company
has a number of smaller plants, name
ly the Acklen ditch, which receives
its water from Moosehide creek and is
conveyed around Moosehide mountain
to the Klondike flats, distance of s
miles, carrying a volume of 700 in. of
water; and another ditch at the head
of Bonanza creek, 10 miles in length,
which takes its water from reservoir
with capacity of 200, ,OOO,O 600 Gu. ft. of
water and constructed by a dam II fl.
high, besides a number of smaller
plants which are doing successful work.
Denver Mining Science.