The Daily Alaska empire., 1935-01-01
OVER SIXTEEN { MILLION VALUE
 FOR LAST YEAR
Alaska Juneau Credited
 with 68 Per Cent of Lode Production


 The Department of the Intefior announces, through an advance statement prepared by Philip s. Smith, of the Alaska branch of the Geological Survey, that the min erals produced from Alaska mines in 1884 had an estimated value of s16,793,000, as compared with $1o,- 366,000 in 1933 This brings value of the mineral output of Alaska since 1880 to more than s68Os0O0 900, The figures for 1884 are preliminary estimates and subject to revision
 General Conditions
 During 1884 Alaska, together with the rest of the world, faced uncer- tainties and difficulties that deter red business interests from em- barking on m,Iny new enterprises or pressing vigorously on already established prjjects except as spe- cial favorable conditions appeared to encourage such ventures A low price for all the mineral commodi- ties other than gold continued through the year. though the prices ,'were somewhat higher than in 1883. A serious disruption of ship ping facilities, brought about by strikes and labor difficulties in '.af9y 5ss{le. 3l . llll ' ! z .l. 1l ing in of necessary machinery, equipment, and supplies for many of the mining camps and so had an indirect though very real ef- feet in reducing the output of the minerals. On the other hand, the climatic ditions that affect mining, such as length of season and precipitation, were on the whole favorable throughout the camps in central Alaska, which yield the greater part of the placer gold. In Southeast Alaska and in western Alaska, notably in most of Seward Peninsula, the season was unusually dry, so that the supply of water for mining purposes was scarce and many of the mines had to curtail or suspend operations for part of the season This condition affected not only the placer mines, which are ordinarily very depen- dent on water supply for most of their operations, but also some of the smaller lode mines that use water in milling their ore.
 Gold
 The gold production of Alaska in 1884 is estimated to have been worth $16,105 900, based on the cur rent price of $35 fine ounce. This value exceeds that for the produc- tion of any other year subsequent to 1916. Tn this comparison, how ever, it should be remembered that in all the preceding years the es- tablished price of gold has been $20.67 an ounce, so that the new price is about 69 percent greater than the old price The total value of the gold production of Alaska from the beginning of productive mining in 1880 to date is estimated as nearly $435 100000.
 As is well known, the gold pro duced.. in Alaska comes from two distinctly different types of de- posits, placers and lodes. In the placers the gold is recovered from gravel or other unconsolidated de- posits, whereas in the lodes it oc- CUTS in the solid rock or vein mat ter. In 1884 the proportion of gold produced from deposits of these two types is estimated to have been about 56 to A, or $8,996 ,000 from placers and s7,lo9.o00 from lodes. This IS the same ratio as in 1882, but in 1883 the ratio was 54 to 46. AS has long been the case, the bulk of the lode gold produced in the Territory came from mines in southeast Alaska, of which the mine of the Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Company, is by far the largest However, while this region still maintained first place in pro- duction of gold from lodes, it's lead over other Alaska districts appears to have been lessened, for in 1884 it is estimated to have supplied only 68 percent of the Alaska lode production, whereas in 1883 it sup-. piled about "A percent. This de- crease appears to have been brought about through both a emaller production of lode gold in Southeast Alaska in 1894 and a considerable increase in the out
 lcontinued on Page Six,