The Cordova daily times., 1923-02-21
RIVER COAL FAILS IN
 NAVY TESTS
Claimed Is Mechanically Unsuited for Steaming
 Requirements

That the Boring River coal used in the recent steaming tests made by battleship of the Pacific fleet failed to come up to the mechanical stand ards of the Navy, is the information just received from unofficial but re- liable sources. Efforts to either de- nial or confirmation from official sources were not successful.
 w. B. Dunkle, mining engineer con- nected with the Kennecott interests, which were deeply interested in the coal development operations of the Boring River Coal Company, who was was here recently, en route to the westward, brought the word of the re- suits of the tests. AS far as can be | learned no official report has been made by the Navy. MT. Dunkle said | that the coal showed a favorable chemical analysis, carrying over 14,- | 900 b. t. IL, but that it proved to be i'll adapted for naval fuel purposes as it's
 
 to feed under the boilers. Several mechanical faults occurred. The coal would not cake properly and when a | layer was spread over a bed of live coals it blanketed the fire. Shaking | resulted in the coal going through the grates before it was consumed. The l 1,- to prove the coal unfit for naval fuel l purposes insofar as present methods of steaming are concerned.
 Shipped 66o Tons
 The tests were being watched very closely by everyone interested in coal development in the Boring River field. Last July $50 tons were mined by the company from it's workings and from 1 that amount 660 tons were washed out, sacked and hauled to Canoe Landing by auto truck From there it was taken to the coast and loaded aboard Navy collier which also loaded sev- eral thousand tons of Matanuska coal at Anchorage. This 660 tons was used in the tests last fall
 Just what were the results from the tests of the Matanuska coal was not disclosed by MT. Dunkle, but it is un- derstood to have been more favorable. Will Close Mine
 Since the coal was mined for the tests, the company has not continued | it's development, awaiting returns be- ! fore incurring any addition expendi- lures. It is now stated that it will discontinue it's development for an in definite period. The claims, aggregat- ing approximately 2,SOO acres, are held under a lease from the Depart ment of Interior. Rentals this year would amount to more than $2,S00. It is understood that the company will turn all of the ground back to the gov ernment except 160 acres, which cov- CTS it's plant. unless an arrangement can be made for suspension of rentals.
 Large Sum Expended
 The Boring River Coal Company has expended in development work in the field between $4OO,000 and $500,000 and has paid to the Government in excess of 5000 in rentals under it's lease It has more than one mile of underground workings, tunnels, drifts and shafts. It constructed four mile tramway over which it hauled it's materials and supplies.
 Its workings are on the foothills of the mountain range which crosses the field. The formation is maulted con- siderably and the coal badly broken and crushed. It is this condition that made it mechanically unfit for naval steaming purposes, according to the report received here. The company was unsuccessful in it's efforts to un- cover unbroken coal veins and so far