The Daily Alaska empire., 1945-08-28
DR. BAIN 5EE5
 NoRMALCY FOR FOR
 ALASKA MINING
Forme CT Mines Bureau Head Tells Alaskans
 To Keep Shirts On

Following a month devoted to an economic survey of Alaska mining as consultant to the U. s. Bureau of Mines, Dr. H. Foster Bain, mining engineer of worldwide repute, left Juneau for Ketchikan Monday, af- ster spending the week end here.
 Direct from the field, Dr. Bain de- :. clared his belief that Alaska gold mining, placer operations in partic- ular, will be back on it's feet again as soon as men and equipment are |. available. Keep your shirts on" is his advice to Alaska gold miners.
 The one big question mark in the gold picture in Alaska, he feels, is when the Alaska Juneau mine will again be in position to operate. The pre-war margin of the AL was so narrow, he said that higher labor z. costs will have definite influence on the mines future.
 ., Dr. Bain stated his belief that, the price of gold aside, nearly all Alaska diggings which were actually pro- ducing before the war will be able socn again to operate though not in all cases with the same profit. Those mines that were living on hopes not actualities' may not reopen. Their owners will likely be satisfied to pocket the receipts from the gov <, ernment's war acquisition of their equipment and turn to other fields. | The price of gold, Dr. Bain said, is now purely politics - it is not z any longer considered from the economic viewpoint, therefor little can be forecast concerning it. Ex- cept for the Alaska Juneau, Dr. Bain thinks that a year or two-probab- ly next summer-will see Alaska gold production just about back where it was before the war.
 Gold, however, is just one part of the play, he said. It is the temper mental leading lady Just as vital to the staging of successful pro duction are the stage hands and ether lesser roles of mining. The recognition and development of the more commonplace fields of mining are what Alaska most needs for a secure mining economy. He point cd to local activities based on min- erals, such as brick yards and lime kilns as needed to support gold min- A ing at present-and replace it in the future
 Most Alaskans, he said, are try ing to walk too fast They are locking to see new large-scale de- velopments = such as Kennecott Kennecott, he emphasized, was a "bonanza body, and as such is not likely to have successor.
 The road to a secure mining in- dustry in the Territory now lies ir plugging at the little things" de- clared Dr. Bain. Development of other minerals than gold will be nc quick, easy job, but can be done in time" At present the United States has large stockplles of most of the strategic minerals" left over from
 
 zinc right away, but Alaska produc- ton costs are high and percentages are no better than sources closer to the market. Again, the price of silver is a determining factor in the production of zinc and lead as the three minerals are commonly found in companion. In general Alaska is faced with marketing prob- ! lens that are not encouraging, Dr Bain claimed In particular is this true of coal. He said he was sur prised at the low switchboard costs of coal generated power at Anchor age and Fairbanks, but he does not look for any great extension of that market for coal.
 Tn Southeast Alaska, he feels, oil is the great competitor to coal gen. eration. Hydro-e electric capital costs