Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1910-09-14
ALASkAPA|DF0R !
BY COLD OUTPUT
Total For Last Twenty-Five
Years Is $162,686,455.
CLAM0R RE1ARDS COAL MINES

| Iy Distributed and Largely Unex-
plored Area Of Fuel Lands Now Tied
! Up by Failure to Issue Paten*s--More
Railways Needed For Development.
! Since 1880 and up to the end Of 1909
the total gold production of Alaska
has been $16o, esq., 55, says the United
| States geological survey in an advance
chapter of its annual report on Alas
ka's mineral resources. OF this $118.-
219.757 came from placers and $44,-
4GGG9S from lodes. That alone repnys
the purchase money of the entire ter
ritory nearly twenty-five times over.
In 1909 the gold production was $780,
100000, an increase of $1,17O,1S2.
about 6 per cent over the production
of 1908, the largest yield since 1905,
the year of greatest production. The
Yukon placers yielded their largest an
nual output in 1909, the Tanana Val
ley camp leading with $40, 10000. or
this amount the Fairbanks district pro-
duced $9,65O,000. An important fea-
ture Of the years mining was the con-
tinued success Of dredging in the For
ty Mile district. All the placer camps
were prosperous except those Of the.
Seward peninsula, where dry weather
curtailed the output.
The discovery of gold placers in In.
noko valley caused a movement Of
population in 1909 which promises to-
be important. Thousands of prospec-
tors and miners focked there from all
parts of Alaska and also from outside.
the territory. Although the district
may not support the large population.
it has acquired, it seems to offer a
promising field for exploitation. The
1909 output is estimated at from $780,
600 to 100000.
cIamor Stops Coal Production.
There was no progress in coal mining
in 1909. Not only was there no indus
trial advance, but in some regions
there was decided retrogression. The
long delay in the issuance Of patents
to coal lands and the popular clamor
against all Alaskan coal claimants has
discouraged claimants and investors.
1t should be hoped, says the Survey,
that 1t may soon be possible to devise
some reasonable or satisfactory means
Of exploiting Alaska's wealth in coal.
Coal is widely distributed in Alaska;
the only fields which can yield coal for
export are those in the Pacific slope
province. The coal in these fields in
cludes the Ignite or bituminous Goals
Of southeastern Alaska, Cook inlet, the
Susitna basin and the Alaska PENN
sula, as well as the high grade fuels
Of the Boring river and the Mantanus-
ka fields, constituting about 40 per
cent of the so far known coal area
Of Alaska. 1t includes also at least
90 per cent of the known bituminous
and higher grade Goals Of the terri
tory. And even yet over one-half Of
this province is geologically almost un-
known, and future surveys may dis
cover other coal bearing areas. The
same is true Of the central province,
of which almost four-fifths is still un-
known geologically. In the other fifth
some coal areas are already known at
widely separated points.
The coal fields Of northern Alaska,
embracing very extensive deposits ~
ing north Of the arctic circle, are too
remote to have any present Importance
and must be regarded simply as part
of the ultimate fuel resources Of the
world.
Land Prices Above Average.
Priced at even only half cent ton
In the ground, the best Alaska coal
lands are worth from $50 to $500 an
acre, values far above the average
price Of bituminous coal lands in the
United States.
The market for the coal of Alaska
will be found within the territory itself
and in the Pacific states. The present
market for coal in Alaska cannot sup
port the large mining operations re-
uuired for commercial success. The
Pacific states are now supplied by the
coal fields of California and Oregon
and in minor part by the fields Of the
Rocky mountain region and those Of
British Columbia and Australia. Some
Pennsylvania and West Virginia coal
is also shipped to the Pacific coast.
Alaska's coal must compete with these,
and especially with fuel oil from Cali
fornia.
The completion Of the Panama canal
may enable eastern operators to de-
liver high grade coal on the Pacific
coast at prices about the same as
those that can be offered by operators
in Alaska. Other competing fields will
be those Of Vancouver island and New
South Wales.
More railways are essential to the
development and success Of coal min
ing in Alaska. At present the vast ter
ritory has only about 80 miles Of rail-
way, distributed among nine different
systems.
The present industrial advancement
Of Alaska is small compared with that
which will take place when railways to
tidewater are constructed. As IL Is the
IN AS,~~Sch kh>