The Wrangell sentinel., 1923-12-20
ALASKA SCHOOL OF MINES
 OFFERS SHUkT COURSES

 for miners and prospectorsoffered by the Alaska Agricultural College and school of Mines will start this year on November and continue for ten weeks. For those who cannot reach Fairbanks in time for the first course the work will be repeated beginning January 31, 1924.
 Eighteen men took this work last year and they found that it was not a white-collar course in any sense of the word, but just simply good prac- tical elementary training in the facts that the prospector or miner should be familiar with if he wants to be able to use all the tools of his trade toward securing success. Both Pro- lessor Pilgrim and Professor Patty, who give this work, come directly to the college from the mining industry and they are in touch with the prac- tical problems which confront the prospectors and small mine owners.
 Because many men cannot spend the full day at the college the work is arranged from nine to twelve each morning, but additional work can be taken during the afternoon sessions by those who so desire.
 Tuition is free. The only charge made is for materials consumed in laboratory work ill mineralogy, fire assaying and ore dressing, and this charge is nominal. The text books needed can be purchased at cost in the college book store.
 The only educational requirement is the ability to read and write English. In the course offered last winter there were men holding university degrees and men who had never re- ceived school training of any kind the ability to read and write they had mastered tor themselves. In this course the learning from books is not stressed-the student is taught to distinguish minerals and rocks by actually handling them and picking out their distinguishing characteris- tics. Fire assaying is taught by hav- ing the student himself carry out the operation of the furnaces under the direction of the instructor.
 It is an old threadbare saying that "The gold is where you find it," and, like all threadbare statements, is about half true. But as the facts, gleaned from mining ore deposits the world over, begin to be assembled, it becomes apparent that the gold is not there by chance alone, but that there are definite laws and reasons tain areas. This does not mean that by some mysterious formula men will be directed to hidden Golconda, but it does mean that the promising areas can be separated from the un- promising areas and work concen- trated around a section where condi- tions are favorable for the occur renee of ore bodies. In this manner a prospector can make his season s work count much more effectively than if he moves out blindly and trusts to the goddess of luck to guide him.
 Then there are certain proven re- lationships between certain ores and some particular kinds of country rock. For example: All occurrences of platinum, as far as we now know, are limited to certain family of rocks. If the prospector can recog- nize this family when he encounters it in the mountains, he will naturally pan thoroughly all the streams drain- ing that area in search of platinum.
 When a find is made it is vital that the minerals be recognized. No doubt there is much valuable mate rial in Alaska that has been passed un-noticed by the prospector who is looking only for minerals that have the luster of metal on their faces. There are many instances where an entire season is lost by the prospec- tor who makes find far from trans portation and is unable to determine for himself whether the deposit really has any valuable metals in it.
 Unless the prospector is fortu- nate enough to find a prominently exposed ore body of great size or unusual richness his battle is only half won on the day of discovery Ordinarily his capital is meager and every dollar must count. This is why he should be familiar with the most economic and effective meth ods used in developing different types of ore deposits. By under standing these he depends not alone