Evening star., 1916-05-07

who has personally gone again and again
over every foot of the ground He tells
me that the most of the region has not
yet been fully prospected. The land
is covered with moss and other veg
citation which so hides the rocks that
it is hard to tell what there is. 1t is
known, however. that the road Will give
easy access to many rich gold deposits
and that mining camps will spring up
here and there all along the way from
Seward to Fairbanks. There is quartz
gold near the line of the Alaska North
ern, and there are quartz and placer
mines in other parts of the Kenai penin-
sula. AS much as s45o.Oo0 in gold were
taken out of the peninsula in 1914.
Going north of Anchorage at Mile ls5
from Seward is Willow Creek. This is
should be reached by the railroad this
year Willow Creek has three quartz
mines. with ten-stamp mill. 1t pro-
duced gold last summer to the amount
miles from the end of the tracks now be-
ing laid.
A little further north is the Talkeetna
river. where there is good farming land
That part of the country is open. 1t
is made up of plains and valleys spotted
with groves and covered with grass
A short distance to the west of il are
the Yetna and Skwetna mining dis
tricts. where many prospectors are
working. They are taking out placer
gold. Some of the mer are grub -stsk-
ing, the outsiders who furnish the
rloney getting half of the findings.
One of the most promising mining dis
tricts along the new railroad is near
Broad pass, where the road crosses the
mountains at an altitude of 400 feet
above the sea The pass is about five
n. there
tains on each side of it eight or nine
thousand feet high. Of. to the west
can be seen Mount Mckinley, which
IS sixty-five miles away, and on the
cast are the Cathedral mountains and
Mount Hayes. The latter is almost as
high as Fujiyama or Pixies peak. Mount
Mckinley is over 10000 feet high; it
is higher than any peak on the North
American continent. having it's equal
only in the Himalayas aid the Andes.
To the west of Broad pass discover
les of large low grade quartz gold are
reported. The gold is of refractory
character, running from 81 to IS per
ton. 1t will probably develop consid-
cradle traffic. Further over in the
foothills of Mount Mckinley is the
kantishna mining district, which has
gold antimony and other metals. There
are sixty odd miners and trappers there
now, and some of them are doing quite
well. One company has taken out 1000
tons of antimony, which will be sent
out soon as navigation is opened
The war has made that metal exceed
ingly valuable.
Another mineral which is now being
mined in Alaska may be found in that
same region. 1t is known to exist
near Fairbanks, where they are mining
it and shipping the concentrates by
parcel post. This mineral is sheelite,
a high grade tungsten, used for making
ammunition. The concentrates sell for
$500 a ton.
Going further along the railroad YOU
reach the Nenana coal fields and then
come to the Tolovana gold region,
which lies not far from the route be-
tween Nenana and Fairbanks. This is
a new district, where something like
500 men are now prospecting. They
summer, and the possibilities are
promising.
But most important of all the
mining regions so far discovered is
that of Fairbanks itself. The whole
country about that city carries gold.
AS much ninety million dollars
worth has already been washed out of
the creeks and valleys nearby, and
the production last year was three
and one-half million dollars. The
most of this comes from placers: quartz
mining is a comparatively new indus
try and ii has produced only about
100000.
The Alaskan mining regions will
profit exceedingly by the cheap fuel