The Nome nugget., 1925-02-21

hundreds of miles of known mineral bearing terri tory untouched by the hand of industry owing to ,bn absenoe of roads and resultant difficulties of transportation.
 The noted seo!osist Dr Alfrel II. Brooks. of the United States Geological Survey Bureau. has es- ; timated that there are over a1o square miles Or ,,scer gold deposits within confines of Seward Peninsula. In addition there are numerous gold depos;ts in lode scattered throughout the dis trict Of these 21o square miles of placer gold areas scarcely than 50 square miles have been touched by miner. although their value has been known for wears. while among the literally hundreds of quartz deposits presenting productive possibilities there is producing values This remarkable condition is que almost entirely q, absence of highways during the greater part of the two decades of gold production.
 Gold mining at Nome is present carried on greatly by the use of dredges. The principal com pauies interested here the Hammon Consoli- dated Gold Fields and the Alaska Mines Corpora ,ion The former is at present operating three mammoth electric Tuba dredges the tun- ira near the town and enjoying very favorable returns The power for these dredges is generated al the companys modern electric plant in the city The latter company is operating large dredge ".> planning on extending their activities and adding electrical equipment with their new improvements These two companies have gained control of con- siderable amount of the tundra area extending from the beach to the hills and are making rapid strides toward working il to the limit with many years of work in sight Cold water thawing is used sue cessfully and greatly aids in the functions of the dredges.
 Despite the deterring conditions under which it labors the Nome District the most prosperous of the Alaska placer mining regions in 1920. It produced gold values at s1.317.s19oo compared to a combined total of s166s,o76.0o from all other placer districts. Eighteen dredges about seventy five open mines and thirteen deep or under ground placers operated; about $50 men being employed. Regarding the future placer outlook pr Alfred H. Brooks of the |. S. Geological Sur vey says: "It estimated some years ago t19OS, that the value of the gold reserves in the gravel plain, ancient beach and high beach placers of Seward Peninsula about s215oooooooo Subtracting the amount of gold that has since been mined from these deposits leaves the value of the reserves s2o0.o ,O0o.Oo. Though the above es inmates of the available placer reserves may appear e,trayagant to some a comparison will be showr that they moderate. With the return Of nor nal conditions development has increased steadily in recent months and several important small strikes have been made result of renewed pros pecting efforts.
 Platinum
 Platinum valued at s34,os7.oo produced il Alaska in 1920, a large portion being obtained Il the Nome District. The bulk of the Nome outpu was mined from the Dime Creek placers, althoug recoveries of considerable value made on Bea and Sweepstakes Creeks, and at Willow Greek Until 191s no effort made to recover this valu able metal each succeeding year witnesses a output efforts at recovery are extended I Tungsten