Valdez daily prospector., 1913-03-12

tochina district, as well as the
 gold deposits of the TanaIna Ba- Isin. The copper and gold bear
 ing lodes of the Nabesna region
 and the gold placers of the Val dez Creek district could also be
 made tributary by branch lines.
 The Valdez mining district en- braces an ill-defned area tribu- |tary to Port Valdez, and includes
 both gold and copper lode depOs-
 it's. Much work has been done
 on number of the claims in this
 district, and one mine has been on a productive basis for sever
 al years. Most of this district
 lies north of Port Valdez and il i would not be affected by railroad
 ronslruction. These resources,
 however, are important lnasmuch
 as they would affect the prosper
 ity of the proposed coastal term
 imaI at Valdez.
 There is some evidence hat
 the aurifrrouS zone in winch ne
 Valdez mines are located strrtch-
 rS toward the Copper River. If
 this proves to be the ease. there
 is strong. probability that wit h 1 the development incidental to railway construction over cit her i Marshall ur Thompson Pass, that
 mining would be undertaken.
 Gold lode prospects are rrpur1- ed from the following luraliti"s: , In the upper part of th" Tasnuna valley. which would be traNrrsfd by the Marshall Pass route. and near the Beaver Dam rhadhnuSc. and in the Tiekhpll region both
 on the Thompson Pass route. None of these prospects nave i been sufficiently developed [" prove their commercial import ancr. There has also been a l. l tie placer mining on streams trln- utary tu the upper part of the | Tunsina River.
 so far as known the above dr- Iscribcd mineral deposits are the ionly ones lying on the Valdez Fairbanks route between tide wa ter and Copper River. The min rral deposits of the Copper River region are described in the ac- count of the Cordova- Fairbanks ! routes and of the Panama valley in the account of the Haincs- 1 Fairbanks route. WATER POWERS--Therr are many undevelOped water powers on the coastal side of the moun- tains along those proposed rail- way routes. The abundant ram fall and topography is favorable t0 power development. The same may be said of the Copper River |Nide of the divide, though here |the precipitation is less. There are no power developments in this region except a few small ones in the vicinity of Valdez. TIMBER. .--There. is some fair |ly good timber in the Lowe River flat, but this probably is only, of value for local use. The timber line in the Lowe River valley and around Port Valdez is from 300 lo 2,OOO feet above tidewatcr. The timber between Keystone canyon and Marshall and Thomp- son Passes for the most part is a scrub spruce with some rotton- wood There is practically no imber in this region above the altitude of 2.O0O feet. Tho Tas- lnuna valley is fairly we'll timber ed up to an altitude of ,500 feet.
 and in favored localities trees
 reach a diameter of IS inches. l il' lIIlDtI DD'l lNttll l'iiil'"'ii . Pass and Copper River is ,srant, and trees exceeding i2 inches in ! diameter are found in only in a {, few favored localities. Locally. however, there are small tracts having fairly good stand of timber. with trees from l6 to Is inches in diameter.
 AGRICULTURE.--The region 1Iributary to Port Valdez seems |! tu possess but little agricultural value. There are, however, some
 good gardens in the vicinity of Valdez. The Lowe River valley floor between Keystone canyon
 and the flats where timber has been burned off is covered with a
 good growth of grass. The az
 gregate of agricultural lands in
 this region is small, and the eli
 matic conditions are unfavorable
 tc farming. The same general
 conditions hold in the region ly- ing between the Keystone canyon
 and Copper River. both via the
 Marshall and Thompson Pass
 routes. There is, however, some
 good grass land, and the regions
 covered with heavy timber, such as that near Tiekhell. could un- i dOubtedly be used for farming.
 The agricultural regions of the
 Copper River region are deScrib-
 ed in the account of the COrdova-
 Fairbanks route, and of the Tan
 ana valley in the description of
 the nes-Fairbanks route.
 | D,,Sv j0 hl,