The Alaska daily empire., 1915-01-02

dez Creek. which has been in courBt i Of construction for two years. wal completed about the end Of Augusl About Q months 8luicing was done
 YUKON BASIN.
 Fairban<s District.
 Placer mining began in the Fair banks district In 1903, and since thoi time gold to the value Of about s63, 000000 has been recovered The prin 1 cipal creeks, together with their estl mated output to the close Of l914. are cleary Creek and tributaries. s2O,6OO. 900, Goldstrean and tributaries, s12. 225,00O; Ester and tributaries, slO.
 31T0O0; Dome and trlbutarles $7 ] 560.0OO. Fairbanks and tributaries. $2- 360,000; Little Eldorado, $1765,00O Besides this placer output the lodea of the Fairbanks district have pro dueed about $90OOOO worth Of gold. Some of the other Yukon camps send 8 part of their gold output to Fair banks, and tnis aggregates Sl,OOO,- 900 to S2,OO0,000 annually.
 sIt is estimated Chat aboat 75 placer mines, employing 1000 men, were operated in the Fairbanks district dur ing inc summer Of l914 The winter operations were on Q much smaller scale Water was plentiful during the summer and except for the usual high cost of fuel and supplies, the conditions for mining were favorable. As the more accessible forests In the district have been cut the price of cordwood is constantly lncreaslng-a serious matter for the miner who. by tho exhaustion of the richer deposits, is being forced to exploit the grayels of lower gold tenor. It apears that in the best mining practice of the district the costs of operations have now reached their minimum under present methods of operations and with present conditions Of transporta- ton. That there are very large bodies Of auriferous grayels In the district mo one can deny but most of these
 an not now be prohtably exploited and therefore the gold output of the Fairbanks district is declining year by year. The chief gold producing creeks, including their tributaries, 5amed in the order of their present importance are cleary, Goldstream, Dome Esther, Fairbanks. and Vault.
 Cheaper Fuel Necessary.
 The conditions which have brought lbout decline of placer mining have mad a stfl more depressing effect on
 ie lode mines. The enthusiasm iroused by the first lode developments ed many to embark on ventures without counting tho cost of opera tion. It is now certain that there can be little hope of substantial profit un- til the mining and milling costs are reduced chiefly by obtaining cheaper power. Many owners Of quartz mines are now awaiting the construction of the railway which will give them cheaper fuel and supplies, before pro ceedlng with any development While these conditions brought about the general decline in lode mlniug. 1t isI also trae that many veins have not shown the persistency in depJll and values ilat their owners had hoped for Suck unrealized hopes are to be expected in all new lode camps
 Only two mills, aggregating seven stamps were operated continuously during che year. but three other mills were run for short periods. The most important operations were thoss of the Rhoads-Hall mine on Bedrock Creek, and of the Spaulding mine on Dome Creek. These mines were work ed on about the same scale as in the | past Development work continued on the Critos.Feidman property, on Fairbanks Creek. The Clatam two- stamp mill wa3 moved to this proo=c and crushing tegan in Septembc.
 Active development continued on a group of cla'ms at the head Of Eva Crook and or another at the head of | St. Ea.ricks Creek. At tho New5boY sonC new underground work was started in the fan On the other lodt properties of the district little was done except assessment work.
 Smaller Yukon Districts.
 "ln the Fortymile district mining was not SO active as ln previous years. partly on account of some dearth of water for sluicing and partly because certain claims. formerly productive, were bonded with view Of sale. Some investigations were made looking to arge placer-mining ventures in this field Mining in the Eagle, Seventy nile, and Woodchopper districts was continued an about the same scale as n previous years. The year 1914 was 'ery favorable to placer mining in he Birch Creek district. as there was m abundance of water. Several hy- lraulio plants and many smaller plants were operated. The dredge, installed ,n Mastodon Creek proved unsuited