The Alaska daily empire. [volume] (Juneau, Alaska) 1912-1926, 1922-11-08
DREDCE MINING
ON BIC SCALE
IS UNDERTAKEN
New System Started in Nome
Region-Daly Gives Ac-
count of Work.

That the operations of the Ham
mon Consolidated Gold Fields Com
pany at Nome are among TIN largest
and most significant mining enter
prises now being carried on in Al
aska, is the statement of j. j. DAILY,
of Nome, a passenger on the we
toria. In the purchase last August
of the Nome holdings of the Pioneer
Mining Company the Harmon Con
solidated Gold Fields Company took
over thousands of acres of ground in
the immediate vicinity OF Anvil
Greek, bonanza mining creek of Sew
ard Peninsula, the monetary consid-
Grafton for which is said to have
been something over 100000 Mr..
w. p. Harmon, Who is the largest
and most successful Sbd dredging
operator in California, is also at the
head of the Yuba Construction Com
pany, dredge builders.
The entrance of the Harmon Com
pany into the Nome field is directly
due to the success of the cold water
process of thawing frozen ground,
which was first proven up -four
years ago. by John c. Miles, oper-
ating in the Nome field. Develop
ment OF the process of the Harmon
company followed the next year, I'M
der the management of H. r. Ed
wards, engineer of the company, and
formerly in charge of operations for
the Alaska Mines Company, who
since then has inventN an air ap-
pliance by which thawing points can
be sunk in much shorter time than
Of driving by hand. AS the result Of
the successful operations of the Ham
mon Consolidated Gold Fields Com
pany at Nome, the company is also
entering the field at Fairbanks,
where 40 or so men have been en-
testing the ground with a view to
the installation of large dredges
there.
! In Nome, says Mr. DAILY, the Ham
mon Company has let contracts for
the building of two more dredges,
which are to be ready for operations
by June Three contracts have been
taken by the Yuba Construction
Company, which has shipped to
Nome during the summer over 5000
tons of machinery and dredge mate
rails and employed over 100 men.
1t is hoped to continue construction
work during the winter. These
dredges have a bucket capacity of
nine cubic feet, and are electrically
driven. A power plant is now being
built by the company, the first unit
of which is composed Of three 525
horsepower Diesel engines, for the
generation of electricity in operating
the dredges. From the preliminary
construction work of the Yuba Com
pany, which is larger than is called
for by the present operations. 1t
is inferred that steady construction
Dis the plan for the future. II is
understood, in fact, that the plans
OF the company call for the building
OF two dredges a year FOR the next
five years for the use of the Ham
mon Consolidated Gold Fields Com
pany's operations.
The dredging operations now going
forward in the Nome and Fairbanks
districts are an innovation in the
mining of placer ground made pos
sible by the cold water thawing
process and impossible of mining
under any other method The Pho
neer Mining Company now has a
ditch OF 5000 miners inches ca
pacity.
When the steamship Victoria left
Nome, said Mr.. DAILY. one steamer
the Culbarra, was still unloading
dredge machinery which had been
shipped from San Francisco.
AUX BAY STAGE.
Leaves Alaskan Hotel at 4:15 D. m.