The Nenana daily news., 1919-10-04

Wnlcn IS QeStlned 10 play most important part in the development of the gold and other mineral re- sources of the Interior of Alaska, and especially of the Nenana dis trict, occur at short intervals throughout the region to the east of the Nenana river, in the Nenana coal field, in great abundance. Some idea of the extent of the de- posits in the Nenana fields may be formed from the statement made recently by Mir John A. Davis, su- perintendent of the bureau of mines, which was to the effect that 8 careful estimate, made along sci entifc lines, disclosed the fact that one square mile of territory in the Nenana coal fields contained fifty five million tons of Ignite coal. Chemical tests made of this coal showed that one ton of it con tained 5000 cubic feet of gas, Is pounds of ammonium sulphate, and 50 pounds of tars and oils.
 Lignite coal also occurs in the region west of the Nenana river, in the kantishna country, as far westward as the Bearpaw river. No coal outcropping in the Kan tishna region, however, discloses the presence of Ignite coal in the abundance in which 1t is found in the Nenana field.
 The vast beds of coal occurring in the Nenana field, on Lignite and Healy creeks, are generally dissect- ed by deep valleys with bare walls, and outcroppings occur everywhere in this region, disclosing veins of varying thickness. ranging all the way from about five to nearly one hundred feet or more.
 Clearly defined veins of coal, visible from a great distance, occur on the high sandstone hills forming the east bank of the Nenana river, a few miles south of the Nenana Crossing at 43-Mile.
 Miners and prospectors in the region of the coal fields and ad- jacent terrain have been using Ignite coal for many years past, both for domestic and mining pur- poses, with a degree of success con- sidered impossible of achievement with wood as fuel Men of great experience in mining say that liz mite is the ideal fuel for thaw!ng purposes.
 The early completion of the gov ernment railroad from the coal fields to Nenana and Fairbanks, with possibly branch lines later to the Kantishna and other mineralized districts, thus making available ! cheap and most efficient fuel in practically unlimited quantities fol mining and other purposes, will make possible mining operations or a scale hitherto considered impos. sible owing to the high cost of fuel and bring prosperity 10 the In terior
 Indications pointing to the fac' that coal in quantities sufficient tc warrant the mining of 1t on large scale, may be encountered nearer Nenana than in the known field. in the Lignite country, fifty mile; south of Nenana. were first mad. apparent in a report submitted t( the Alaskan Engineering Commis sion by Resident Engineer Georg. B. Richardson, embodied in hi: progress report for the month 0, April, 1918. MT. Richardson's re port, in part, read as follows:
 Tn taking out cuts at station ls07s and 18095 (Bailey's loca tion), outcroppings of coal hav' been discovered. At 1s078 ther, is showing at present a stratum 20 feet long and feet thick, lying in sandstone formation. Thi formation looks to be on the edg, of genuine coal bed. The eoa showing is fairly new Ignite but promises to get better aftel getting away from the surface. Th' vein at 1s095 is possibly an out cropHinp of the same he'd hi,