PRICES.

Prices of quicksilver have materially declined in each of the last two years and the decline has seriously affected the prosperity of the industry. In the table following the prices for New York and London are given as taken from the Engineering and Mining Journal. As the primary domestic market is in San Francisco, the price there for 1913 is averaged from weekly and monthly quotations as published in the Mining and Scientific Press. The prices received by producers in individual sales varied, of course, from the market prices as published, which are annual averages of generally prevailing quotations.

Average yearly prices of quicksilver in the United States and London from 1907 to 1913, inclusive.a

Fairly complete lists of references to the literature on quicksilver for the North American continent have been given at intervals in previous Survey reports, and a new and complete list is in preparation for the report for 1914.

GOLD, SILVER, AND COPPER IN ALASKA IN 1913.

(MINES REPORT.)

By ALFRED H. BROOKS.

INTRODUCTION.'

Measured by value of output, the Alaska mining industry was less prosperous in 1913 than in 1912. Extensive developments were continued, however, during the year in some of the gold lode districts, notably at Juneau, and to a less extent at Willow Creek and Fairbanks. This activity, consisting chiefly of underground dead work and of the installation of mills, has not yet contributed in any large measure to the gold production, and therefore two-thirds of Alaska's gold output still comes from the placer mines. Less than 40 per cent of the placer gold is produced by large plants, the remainder being still won from the rich gravels that can be profitably mined by hand methods. Under such conditions no stability of placer gold production is to be expected. Every four or five years there are unusually dry seasons which may almost entirely curtail operations except dredging. Such conditions prevailed in 1913 in the Yukon districts, in the Iditarod-Innoko region, and on Seward Peninsula. These conditions, together with the approaching exhaustion of the bonanza deposits of the Fairbanks district, account for the decrease in gold output. It must not be concluded from this statement that there is any shortage of auriferous gravels, but only of those that can be mined under the present high operating cost. New areas of placer ground that could be profitably exploited by dredges, if transportation charges were reduced, are constantly being discovered. Moreover, the installation of dredges in the more accessible parts of the Seward Peninsula has continued, as in previous years.

The finding during 1913 of deposits of auriferous gravels in two new and widely separated localities, namely, in the upper Matanuska basin and in the upper basin of the Chisana (locally called Shushana), a tributary of the Tanana, furnishes new fields for the prospector. These discoveries curtailed the gold output in some of the larger camps, because they drew away many miners, and thus caused a shortage of labor.

Aid has been rendered in the preparation of this report by E. M. Aten, who has assisted in the collection of statistics from mines. The data on mining development here presented are all taken from United States Geological Survey Bulletin 592, which deals with the region in a more detailed way.

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What is true of the cost of mining placer deposits applies also to lode mining except on tidewater. The Fairbanks district has shown what can be accomplished in lode mining under the most adverse conditions of transportation, labor, water, and fuel. The coastal region is developing at a rate which bids fair to overshadow all mining operations in the interior, and no marked progress can be expected in the inland region until a transportation system is provided.

The falling off in copper output is less significant, because it is due solely to the fact that the Kennecott-Bonanza, much the largest copper producer, was closed, on account of accidents, for about one-third of the year.

In the Seward Peninsula there was, in some places, not even water enough to float the dredges. There were 36 gold dredges operated in Alaska in 1913, as compared with 38 in 1912. Of these, 31 were in Seward Peninsula; 2 in the Iditarod district; and 1 each in Fairbanks, Circle, and Twentymile districts. Besides the operated dredges a number of others were in course of construction.

As in previous years, attempt has been made to base statistics of production, as far as possible, on statements of individual producers, the only reliable source of information. Though the cordial cooperation of most of the important mine operators has been secured, there are still a few large producers of placer gold and many smaller ones who neglect to reply to the Survey request for information. In connection with this work the writer is under special obligations, for valuable information, to the Director of the United States Mint, to the collectors of the customs service, to the many United States commissioners in the Territory, to officials of banks and of transportation companies, and to prominent residents. All these data have been carefully sifted, and the accompanying figures are based upon them. The limit of error of the statement of the total gold production of the Territory is believed to be within 2 per cent. In the crediting of the proper amounts to individual districts, however, the error may be in some cases as high as 8 per cent.

PRODUCTION.

The production of gold, silver, and copper in Alaska for 1912 and 1913 are shown in the following table:1

Mine production of gold, silver, and copper in Alaska, 1912-13.

1 According to C. E. Siebenthal, the smelter reports showed a return of 45 tons of lead from Alaska ores in 1912, valued at $4,050, and of 6 tons in 1913, valued at $528,

The following table is an estimate of the total production of gold, silver, and copper in Alaska since the beginning of auriferous mining in 1880. For the early years the figures are probably far from being correct, but they are based on the best information now available.

Production of gold, silver, and copper in Alaska, 1880-1913.

The value of the gold produced in Alaska in 1913 is estimated at $15,626,813, and that of silver at $218,988, the number of ounces of gold at 755,947, and of silver at 362,563. In 1912 the output of gold was valued at $17,145,951. The copper output of Alaska for 1913 was 21,659,958 pounds, valued at $3,357,293, a decrease from 1912 of 7,570,533 pounds. Comparison is made in the following table between the gold production of 1912 and of 1913 by regions.

Value of production of gold in Alaska, 1912 and 1913, by regions.

Value of gold production of Alaska, with approximate distribution, 1880-1913, by regions.

a Includes a small production from the Kuskokwim basin.

In 1913 about 31.6 per cent of the total gold production came from lode mines, compared with 29 per cent of total gold output credited to lode mines in 1912; in 1911 it was 24 per cent of total. This indicates a gradual transition from placer mining to lode mining. A decrease in placer mining must be expected until railroads have so reduced the cost of operation as to make the less valuable auriferous gravels available to profitable exploitation.

In the following table the production of precious metals has been distributed as to sources:

Sources of gold, silver, and copper in Alaska, 1913, by kinds of ore.