The Cordova daily times., 1917-05-22
b|G OU TPUT |S EXPECTED FROM
 VALDEZ CREEK

George w. Sias, president of the Valdez Creek Placer Mines, reports that they have paid $1OS,000 for the season of 1917 for supplies, equipment, etc, and that all of the additional equipment and supplies are now on Valdez creek, and that the men are now hauling in the lumber for this sea son.
 In the season of 1916 they employed Pierre Bourey, M. F., formerly of the La Grange mine, California, to finish the installation of the plant MT. Bou- cry, after arriving on the property, made a survey of all of their workings and ground. He first started on the ditch and increased It's capacity r. 900 inches, whereby the ditch delivers $500 inches of water. He constructed a large reservoir r feet below the penstock to be stored and turned out to break the dump when necessary. He had new 13-inch pipe line laid, tapping the 24-inch pipe just above it's junction with a 22-inch This gave more water through the giants; never theless the ditch furnished consid- erable surplus of by-wash which was delivered by a distributing Hume to the edge of the bank, in the center of the channel. He moved the power houses, connecting them up with the main pipe line near the gates, giving l45 feet more head.
 MT Bouery also devised a new plan to work pit No. 1, which was to at tack the bank in two different places, provide it with two sluices, so that moraine gravel tailings ran into the upper one, and river gravel into the lower, the former dumping upstream, the latter down. This can be done be- cause the power plant has been moved.
 With these two sluices piping may be carried on alternately, and a der rick used simultaneously with air drills in one sluice, while water is playing into the other. The air drills will operate on boulders out of reach of the derrick. All the rifles neces- sary for several years run are on hand.
 All the preparatory work has been done at the mine and it is provided with sufficient dump. There is suffi- cient machinery for prospecting on hand, but this work is not immediately necessary, as there is enough ground in sight for number of years.
 After he had made all of these changes he was not able to run hy- draulicking but 22 days, and we re- covered about s23,000. The ditch line carries $500 inches of water under $50 foot head, three No. giants with 8-inch nozzles, and with this complete plant working 24 hours per day for 150 days ought to give us good, sub stantial cleanup for the season 1917. This season ought to wash out the old channel to the virgin ground, and in the season of 1918 ought to recover from s1,O00,000 to $2,000,OO0. and for this rate for many years to come. The properties, which comprise about B. 900 acres of rich gold placer, is one of the largest and riches gold properties that has been brought out.
 The Valdez Creek Placer Mines have expended in the purchase of equipment of these properties some thing over $1,00O,O00, and it is be- lieved that the seasons of 1917 and 1918 will be more than sufficient to retire all of the outstanding obliga- tions.
 Some of the most conservative busi- ness men of Boston and New England who have invested largely in the notes of the Valdez Creek Placer Mines, and who have spent several months at the property. say it is their firm and posi- tive belief that after 1917 and 1918 cleanups, which take place in October of each year, that the shares which at this time were given to the pur- chasers with the notes will have a high market value.
 Forbes Rickard, M. E., of Denver, Colo, was employed by the Valdez Creek Placer Mines to go to Alaska and make most thorough examina- ton of their holdings, embracing about 5000 acres. After making thorough examination of the property, MT. Rickard sums up his report as follows;
 '"The gravels of this property occu py an old channel, which is gravel filled up to height of l1O feet. There is sheer fall of 60 feet available for dump, and further fall of 20 feet just below where the stream goes oyer the falls.
 Upon this channel bedrock tun nel six by five rect has been driver for a distance of 1000 feet The bed rock gravel for five feet thickness ha' for the entire work averaged $21 pc cubic yards. I estimated for the g feet an average gold content of SIP per cubic yard of gravel.
 Taking bedrock and intermediat
 gravels and overburden altogether fo a height of 10 feet, arrive at an a, craze of 94 cents per cubic yard 10
 the whole body.