The Daily Alaska empire., 1930-01-04
1929 OUTPUT OF COL D IN ALASKA
 SHOWS INCREASE
Incre ase Is Noteworthy Over Production of
 that of Previous Year

Ol EOA0 lAO44A ~AAe$SAANt mines in 1929 at $7,748,OOo. This marks a noteworthy increase over
 the production of the preceding year. attributable to increased out
 put by both lode and placer mines. The greatest increase appears to have come from placer mines, so
 that the ratio of the value of the gold produced by them to that of
 the gold produced by the lode mines appears to have been about .544 to 486, whereas in the pre-
 ceding year more gold was recov-
 cred from lodes than from placers.
 For the entire period that gold mining has been in progress in AL aska, however, the placers have yielded about two-thirds of the gold
 produced and the lodes only about one-thlrd.
 The large increase in production of gold from placer mines is at
 tributable mainly to the greater output from the properties of the Hammon Consolidated Gold Fields
 in the Nome region and of the Fairbanks Exploration Company in the Fairbanks region. The weather conditions that affect mining, such
 as plentiful water supply and length Of season, were especially good during 1929 and contributed in no small measure to an in creased production from many of the smaller camps. Two new dredges were built in the Fairbanks district, one old dredge in the Nome district was moved to new location and rebuilt, and extensive repairs were made to several of the other dredges that lately have been idle. All the larger dredges that had been in operation during the last few years were again active, and most of them showed an in- creased output of gold. AS a result it appears that approximately TO per cent of all the placer gold that was recovered in Alaska in 1929 was mine d by these machines, whereas in 1928 the ration was 65 per cent.
 The amount of gold produced from placers that are mined by ether methods than dredging seems to have been approximately the same or a little more than in 1928. No new finds of placer ground that yielded any considerable amount of gold were made during the year, and inevitably each year many of the known placer areas are worked cut. Prospecting for new deposits, however, appears to have been somewhat mere active than it has been in the recent past, and per sons with funds appear to be talk ing a growing interest in the de- velopment of prospective mining properties
 The increase in the production of gold from the lode mines is attributable largely to the output from properties of the Alaska Ju- neau Gold Mining Company in Southeast Alaska, which was both greater in quantity than in the preceding year and of a somewhat higher gold tenor No noteworthy nev developments were reported at the other gold lode mines, but most of the properties that have keen active during the last few years continued operations, though some of the mines on Chichagof Island produced at a lower rate and spent much of the year in devel- opment work The recent find of lodes of mixed sulphides in the Taku region, althought principally in Canadian territory, has stimu- lated prospecting in that entire dis trict, and as result several other lodes have been uncovered on which work is being done and which appear to be extremely In the Willow Creek district the gold-lode mines yield ed a somewhat larger output than in 1928, though considerably less than formerly. Most of the gold lode mines in the Fairbanks dis trict had Q successful season, and it is estimated that their output of gold was somewhat larger than in 1923. Several other small lode mines scattered widely through the Territory, but especially in Kenai Peninsula, near Nuka Bay and at Crow Creek, and in the Kuskokwim region near Nixon Fork, report some production of gold, and pros pecting was active at other places.
 Copper
 The value of the copper produced from Alaska mines in 1929 is esti- mated to have been $7,233 900. This marks an increase of about $1,- 268, ,000 over the corresponding value in 1928, though the quantity pro- duced showed a decrease amount ing to more than 100000 pounds. The increase in value is accounted for by the fact that the average selling price of copper, as com i puted by the Bureau of Mines, was l7.9 cents in 1929, against IA cents in 1928. In 1929, as in for mer years, practically all of the copper came from two mines near in the Copper River