The Cordova daily times., 1922-04-04

l
 interest in the Nixon Forks country of the Upper Kuskokwim, and form erly an engineer in the employ of the
 Copper River railway, was in town
 last evening. He is on his way to
 Juneau, after which he will journey
 to Mayo, where he will supervise operations in the company's holdings.
 Speaking of Mayo, MT. Wernecke
 advises that it is a big capital camp and those rushing there can only hope
 to secure employment from others or
 prospect The company has expended
 considerable money in Mayo, and will lay out nearly a half million dollars
 before any return may be hoped for kUskOkWIM ADVANCING
 MT. Wernecke, who has been di- recting the work of developing the properties of the Treadwell Mining Company in the interior, left Me- Grath on March g, and came out over the Telida- -Minchumina route passing the Copper Mountain dis trict in the Kantishna. Asked as to conditions in the interior, MT. Wernecke said that the Kuskowim district was the only one in Alas ka showing an increase in gold pro- duction last year and promises to show better returns next year due to the installation of two new dred- es, one on the property controlled by the Plume Dredging company and the other by the Union Consolidated con- pany of San Francisco. The latter is moving in a dredge from Ruby, used formerly by the Yukon Gold Con- pany.
 Good reports are coming out of Copper mountain, where prospecting is progressing This is a complex ore deposit containing copper, gold, sill yer, lead and zinc. While transpor- tation supplied by the railroad is not having marked influence on the up- per Kuskokwim, MT. Wernecke says it is being felt in the Kantishna.
 SHELTER INADVlSABLE
 Asked if in his opinion there was sufficient ore in prospect of develop ment to consider the question of a smelter, MT. Wernecke expressed the belief that smelter was out of the question at the present time. HeI thought work would for some time bel confined to working out the rich free milling and concentrating ores, but until some large bodies are opened al smelter is inadvisable.
 Detailing operations on the upper Kuskokwim MT. Wernecke gave theI following outline:
 WHELAN AND GRIFFIN GROUP
 The total development done on this group of claims to the end of last year amounted to 1890 feet, and con- sisted of an old shaft 100 feet deep, now used for an ore chute, a new shaft 211 feet deep, and three levels, the forty-foot, 100-foot and 200-foot, | with their several drifts, crosscuts and raises. This work has exposed andore bodies which contain approx imately 6,SOO tons that have an assay value of nearly $50 per ton. The No. 1 stope has been cut out and 1,5O0 tons of ore broken by the shrinkage method. Some of this has been hoisted and hauled to the mill site. In 1920, the contact of the lime and monzonite in this immed- fate vicinity was explored with pits and trenches.
 PEARSON AND STRAND GROUP On this group of claims 2,146 feet of development work has been done in five different shafts. The Garnet shaft is now 2S0 feet deep, and 1,2S6 feet of work was done on the 7O-foot, 15O foot and 25O foot levels, which has exposed HOO or 1,2OO tons or ore that has an assay value of S6o per ton. Just now, however, the prospects are good for uncovering double this amount with but little more work. The 100-foot level has been started for this purpose. The Recreation shaft is now 100 feet deep. Development work of 442 feet has proven only a small pocket of ore. The Garnet No 2 shaft is sixty feet deep; the Garnet No. 3, fifty feet; and the Crystal, 70 feet deep. The last two have showings which may produce some ore with a little pros- pecting; 158 feet of work has un- covered another small shoot of ore that has an assay value of $1OO
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