The Alaska daily empire., 1916-12-14
Industry for 1916 Will SurpaSs That of 1915 Which Itself Was
 a Banner Year.
PROFIT ON LOW GRADES
Southeastern Alaska Has Many Promising Mines and Small Properties
 Worked at Profit.

The Alaska mining industry rece!S- ed much attention in Gov. J. F. A.. Strongs annual report just submit ted 10 the Secretary of the Interior and in his introduction before talk ing up the various branches of the industry he said that the mineral output of Alaska for the calendar year 1916 promises 10 be the largest in the history of the country. al- though last year was more prosper ous than any previous year, the to- tai mineral production of 1915 hay ing been $32.S54,229, compared with Si9.OG5.G6 for 1914 The great in- crease for 1915 is due, for the most uart. to the enormous copper output. but the mining of gold, silver, and ether mineral products also increased.
 During the present year the gold mining aotigityr~is more extensive than ever before. except during the time when the bonanza placers oS Nome and Fairbanks were yielding their maximum returns. Since the decline in the placer yield, however there has been a decided increase in the output from gold lodes, notably in the Pacific Coast sections of south eastern and southwestern Alaska. In the former region. there have been extensive developments of low-gra1e ore bodies, particularly in the vicin- ity of Juneau. during the past few years: and in the latter sections numerous small gold mines have been operated at a profit This year there will be greator return than
 The output of copper alone this year will. in all probability, equal the entire mineral products of the preceding year. In the production C' copper a steady increase IS noted since 1913. In 1915 the output was four times greater than in the pre- yious year. when the output was valued at $3,S7G,411
 Although. as noted elsewhere in this report. Alaska's fisheries pro- cucts are second to it's mineral out put. mining will always be the lead ing industry. Necessarily the maxi mum in it's fisheries production must he reached sooner or later, while the expansion of the mining industry IS practically without limit. Factors which will aid tremendously in the extension of the mining industry are cheaper transportation by means of railroads. wagon roads, and trails and cheaper fuel and cheaper pow
 The development of the immense low-grade gold.ore deposits of south eastern Alaska is made possible by cheap power; so the development oi the low.grade placers and lode mines of the Interior and northwestern Alaska will be made possible by cheaper and better transportation ia. cilities and the development of coal mines and hydroelectric power.
 In previous reports of this office extended reference has been made to the alluvial gold placer5 of the Yukon river section the Panama, Kus kokwim. and other streams. In those sections there are tens of thousands of acres of low-grade ground, which under existing conditions can not be worked profitably, but which will yield many millions when the pres ent transportation and fuel problems have been solved. Then, too, there are numerous promising quartz pros poets that will be developed into pro ducing mines. These are found 1T