GOLD, SILVER, COPPER, LEAD, AND ZINC IN THE UNITED STATES IN 1909. (MINE PRODUCTION.) PREFATORY NOTE. This report for 1909 has been greatly delayed owing to the cooperation of the United States Geological Survey with the Bureau of the Census in obtaining the figures of production for that year. The delay was caused by the considerable detail in which data for the census were desired and by the time necessary for personal visits of field agents in obtaining the added information for census reports. The following account of the production of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc by mines is a part of the annual report on the gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc industries in the United States. The portion of this general report dealing with mine production has been divided, for the sake of convenience and for distribution in advance, into three sections corresponding to broad geographic divisions of the country. As a part of a comprehensive report devoted to the whole country, each section has a certain system and uniformity of treatment imposed upon it which might not in all cases be necessitated by the local conditions of the particular region with which it deals. Accordingly, the general scope of treatment, the arrangement, the tables, and the units of measurement conform as far as possible with those of the sections devoted to other parts of the country as being best adapted to expression of the features of the mining industry of the entire United States. The short ton of 2,000 pounds is used throughout. The price per unit of the production (gold excepted, which is fixed by law) is based upon the average for the year 1909 of daily New York prices for the metals, as follows: It is to be understood, of course, that the full market values are not received for the metals in ore and intermediate products sold to the custom plants. The full report on the industries of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc embraces the following sections: Gold and silver (general report). Copper (smelter production). Lead (smelter production). Zinc (smelter production). Gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc in the Western States (mine production). Gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc in the Eastern States (mine production). The first four sections give summary reviews of the respective industries for the United States as a whole, together with general statistics based on returns from mints, refineries, and smelters, and additional data from the mines report; the last three sections give reviews of the industries also for the sections of the country indicated, by States, counties, and mining districts, and the production of each metal as reported directly to the Survey from the mines. Each of these sections is published as a separate pamphlet and may be obtained by addressing a request to the Director of the United States Geological Survey, Washington, D. C. GOLD, SILVER, COPPER, LEAD, AND ZINC IN THE WESTERN STATES IN 1909. (MINE PRODUCTION.) ALASKA. By ALFRED H. BROOKS. INTRODUCTION. Placer and lode mining of gold in Alaska in 1909 showed marked progress over that of 1908, both in the amount of actual gold production and in the advances made in preparation for more extensive operations. The copper output was less than in 1908, chiefly because the low price of this metal did not encourage mining, but nevertheless considerable prospecting and dead work were accomplished. The delay in issuing patents to coal lands has retarded all industries, especially mining. The high price of coal along the Alaska seaboard, due to the nondevelopment of the coal fields, places a serious tax on the mining industry. It has also had indirect effect on mining by retarding railway construction. There is no doubt that a serious handicap to placer mining is to be found in the present inadequate mineral-land laws. These tend to discourage the bona fide miner and prospector to the advantage of the speculator, whose principal aim is to obtain control of large areas of prospective placer ground without any real attempt at development. The Fairbanks placer district is still the largest producer of gold, with the Seward Peninsula as second, and the lode mines of the Juneau district as third. Ketchikan still leads in copper production, but there was also an output in 1909 from Prince William Sound. The continuation of construction work on the Copper River Railway stimulated propecting in the Chitina district. As in previous years, attempt has been made to base statistics of production, so 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 and many smaller ones who neglect to reply to the request for information. In the meantime recourse is had to other sources of information. In connection with this work the writer is under special obligations to the many United States commissioners in the Territory, to bank officials, to the agents of the customs service, and to prominent residents for valuable information. All these data have been carefully sifted and the accompanying figures are based upon them. The limit of error Aid has been rendered in the preparation of this report by E. M. Aten, who assisted in the collection of statistics from placer mines. The data on mining development here presented are all taken from Bul letin 442, which deals with the region in a more detailed way; see Brooks, Alfred H., and others, Mineral Resources of Alaska, 1909, Bull. Ü. S. Geol. Survey No. 442, 1910, 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 in some cases be as high as 5 or 8 per cent. A preliminary statement of the distribution of the gold output has already been published." The following table is an estimate of the total gold production of Alaska since the beginning of auriferous mining in 1880. For the early years the figures are probably very far from being correct, but they are based on the best information now available. Production of gold, silver, and copper in Alaska, 1880–1909. The production and value of gold, silver, and copper for 1908 and 1909 are shown in the following table: The value of the gold production of Alaska in 1909 is estimated at $20,411,716 and that of silver at $76,934, and the number of ounces of gold at 987,416.76 and of silver at 147,950. In 1908 the output of gold was valued at $19,292,818. The copper output of Alaska for 1909 was 4,124,705 pounds, valued at $536,211, a decrease from that of 1908 of 460,657 pounds. Though the output of metallic copper in 1909 was less than in 1908, much was accomplished toward the preparation for a large future increase in copper production. Mine production of gold, silver, and copper in Alaska in 1909, by districts. Comparison is made in the following table between the gold production of 1908 and of 1909, by districts: Value of gold production in Alaska in 1908 and 1909, by districts. About three-quarters of the gold from Alaska comes from the placer deposits. This ratio will, however, not continue, for the gold production from the auriferous lodes is increasing much more rapidly than that from the placers. The gold output from the siliceous ores is second in value and that from the copper ores third. The value of the gold production from the auriferous lode mines was $3,357,335 in 1908 and $4,117,440 in 1909, an increase of $760,105. In the following table the sources of the precious metals are indicated: |