The Daily Alaska empire., 1937-01-05

such sources. or these materials fhe ocppor ores contained the larg- est amount of silver, estimated as aoouO two-lhirds of the total out put, and the lode-gold ores and the gold from the placers each account ed for rougt taly one- -siIth of the sil- yer output of the Territory for that year The large increase in the output of all these ores and mater ials already noted accounts for the very large increase in the output of silver also. The value of this silver production has been set as S36o.000, based on price of TT cents an ounce, which, according to tie Bu- reau of the Mint, is the price set by Executive Order for newly min ed domestic silver that qualities under the stpulations set by Con- gress. This unit price is consider ably above that paid in ordinary trade for silver that is not eligible under those requirements. Such sil- yer, according to the Engineering and Mining Journal, brought only an average price of 45 cents an ounce in 1886.
 Copper
 The quality and value of the. cop per produced from Alaska mines in 1886 is estimated to have been about 39,74O,00O pounds, which at 9s cents a pound, the average price for the year according to the Engineering and Mining Journal, was worth $3,- 696,OOO This production marks an increase of nearly 25o00,o0o pounds in quantity and more than s2,4O0,O9O in value over that of the output of 1885. This amount came not only from the mines in which the prin- cipal metal value of the ore lies in its contents of copper but also from mines in which the principal value of the ore lies in the content of gold and other metals. The bulk of the copper produced in Alaska ccmes from the well-known mines near Kennecott, in the Copper River region. Considerable difficulty was experienced during 1886 in the op- crations of these mines because of strikes that for a considerable per iod in the middle of the open sea- son suspended service on the rail road to thc mines and then and later closed the port rom which most Of the ore is shipped to a smelter in the States. It even be- came necessary at times to bring ir supplies of food by airplane.
 Coal
 The output of coal from Alaska mines in 1935 is estimated to have been 1at,50O tons, or about 15,00C tons more than was produced ir Alaska in any preceding year. Un- questionably, much of this increase is to be attributed to the normal growing demands for coal to be used in producing power and heat, bur Some probably was due to foresight ed attempts to build up stocks oi ccal to avert shortages tilat migh, result if the shipping strike and resulting tie-up of the Alaska Rail road should be of long duration The largest production came from the property of the Healy River Coal Corporation at Sunuana, in the Nenana field, and was used largely in generating power in the Fairbanks district, but the market for this coal has been developed so that increasing quantities are now being shipped to more distant points in the Territory. The second larg- est coal mine in Alaska is that oi the Evan Jones Coal Co., in tlls Matanuska district, which produced bituminous coal of good grads that is extensively used as fuel or the Alaska Railroad and for com mercial and domestic fuel through