The Daily Alaska empire., 1931-01-08

than iii 1929 This marks note worthy increase, not only over tbe preceding year but over any of the preceding ten years. By far the largest amount of gold appears to nave come from the placer mines, which yielded about 57 per cent of the total gold, as against 43 per cant from the lode mines. During the entire period that gold mining has been in progress in AL aska about S390,O00,00O has been won, of which almost exactly two thirds has come from placer de- posits and onc-third from lodes.
 "The bulk of the increase sn production of gold appears to be attributable mainly to the inereas- ed operation of the placer mines especially those of the Fairbanks Exploration Company in the Fair banks district of Central Alaska, where the large mining enterprise on which preparatory work has been in progress for several years came into full operation and it's five dredges were continuously mining throughout the open sea- son. Through practically the en- tire Territory weather conditions that affect mining, such as plen- tiful water supply and length of working season, were favorable In fact, throughout Central Alaska the rainfall was unusually heavy dur ing the middle and later part of the season, and in few camps there were arther disastrous floods. Most of the placer gold is now re- covered by dredging. and the more primitive hand methods or simpler mechanical devices have largely disappeared except in the more re- mote districts. It appears that about 80 per cent of the placer gold that was recovered in 1880 was mined by dredges; in 1929 the ratio was about T per cent.
 26 Dredges Operated
 "So far as reported, 26 dredges were in operation during 193o, as against 30 in 1929. The dredges that had been mining in 1929 but were idle in 1930 were mainly small ones. and several of the large modern dredges that were credited as mining in 1929 were new boats that were built in 1929 and oper- ated only short time in that year but put in a full season in 19So. The dredges that mined in 1929 but not in 1930 were one in the Hot Springs district, two in the Innoko district of the Yukon region, one in the Tuluksak- -Aniak district of the Kuskokwim, and two in the Seward Peninsula region Two dredges that had recently been reconstructed resumed mining in the Solomon and Nome regions of Seward Peninsula in l930.
 NO new finds of placer ground nat yiel d d any considerable amount of gold were made during the year, and inevitably each year many of the known placer areas are worked out. Prospecting fol new deposits, however, appears tl have been somewhat more active than it has been in the recent past. Not only are there more prospectors and miners in the hills searching for workable deposits but persons with funds seem tc be taking growing interest ir assisting in the development oi prospective mining properties.
 A. J. Leads Lcdes
 The bulk of the lode gold con- tinued to come from the properties of the Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Company in the Juneau region oi Southeast Alaska. Work at Uni. place appears to have been carried on at essentially the same scale a. heretofore, but the average tenol of the ore seems to have beer slightly lower than in 1929. IT spite of this the operations wer,