Past Placer-Gold Production from Alaska (open access)

Past Placer-Gold Production from Alaska

"To the end of 1930 Alaska, according to the records of the Geological Survey, had produced placer gold to the value of $258,962,000 from mines widely scattered throughout its length and breadth. The distribution of the placers from which the gold was recovered has been stated in more or less detail in the annual summaries published by the Geological Survey on the mineral industry of Alaska and also in its more complete reports on many of the individual mining districts. Although these summaries and reports have furnished information regarding the larger regions, they have not always given specific details regarding the smaller districts. Furthermore, there has been no recent attempt to assemble and publish in one place the scattered statistics regarding the placer-gold production by years and by regions and districts. The purpose of the present report is to set forth in condensed but comprehensive form a summary of the placer-gold production of Alaska so far as it can be determined from the available official records."
Date: 1933
Creator: Smith, Philip S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Core Drilling for Coal in the Moose Creek Area, Alaska (open access)

Core Drilling for Coal in the Moose Creek Area, Alaska

From abstract: The Moose Creek area is in the western part of the Matanuska Valley, in south-central Alaska, about 165 miles by railroad north of the coast at Seward. Coal deposits in the valley have been known since the early 1890's, and there have been producing mines since 1916, but the annual production is only about 40,000 tons, or less than one-third of the total amount consumed in the Territory. Early in 1931 Congress authorized the investigation of mineral resources in areas tributary to the Alaska Railroad, which is Government owned and operated, for the purpose of stimulating development and hence increasing the traffic and revenue of the railroad. The technical work of carrying on these studies was entrusted by Col. O. F. Ohlson, general manager of the railroad, to the United States Geological Survey. One of the investigations undertaken was that of the Moose Creek area, where small coal mines are in operation. Difficulties have been encountered in these mines, owing to the faulted character of the formation, which causes unproductive work in mining and also produces a large percentage of fine coal, which is unsuitable for sale in distant markets. Field examination indicated that more favorable mining conditions …
Date: 1934
Creator: Waring, Gerald A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Curry District, Alaska (open access)

The Curry District, Alaska

From abstract: The Curry district lies on the south flank of the Alaska Range, on the southeast side of Mount McKinley. Most of it is west of the Alaska Railroad. The eastern portion can be easily reached from several points along the railroad route, but the western portion is much more difficult of access, owing to the numerous glacial streams and the rugged topography. The relief of the area is great, the elevation ranging from 500 feet along the Chulitna River to 20,300 feet at Mount McKinley. The Chulitna River, a tributary of the Susitna River, drains the larger part of the area described. It flows in a broad valley in the eastern part of the district, and here the maximum relief is about 3,000 feet. The western part of the district is very rugged, with numerous peaks over 6,000 feet in elevation which have sheer slopes and almost unscalable pinnacles. Winding down through this maze of rugged mountains are four major valley glaciers-Eldridge, Buckskin, Ruth, and Tokichitna-and many tributary and smaller glaciers. Practically the entire district, with the exception of the higher peaks and ridges, has been glaciated. Timber grows along the main streams and extends to an elevation …
Date: 1934
Creator: Tuck, Ralph
System: The UNT Digital Library
Notes on the Geology of the Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands (open access)

Notes on the Geology of the Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands

Abstract: During the spring of 1932 an opportunity was offered by the United States Navy for a geologist to accompany an expedition organized to make a reconnaissance of the western part of Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands. This expedition visited several localities the geology of which was little known. It was found, as had already been expected, that the islands west of Unimak Pass are composed mainly of basic volcanic lavas and fragmental materials, into which have later been injected dikes, sills, and considerable masses of intrusive rocks, some of which are of acidic types and of granitic texture. These westward islands are bordered both to the north and south by depressions 2,000 fathoms or more in depth, and the islands have apparently been built up from that depth by the ejection and extrusion of volcanic materials since early Tertiary time. No rocks of proved pre-Tertiary age were seen, and the only sedimentary materials present may well have been derived from the erosion of the volcanic islands after they were built up above sea level. On the Alaska Peninsula pre-Tertiary sediments through which the volcanic materials broke to the surface are abundantly present. There is evidence that all the …
Date: 1934
Creator: Capps, Stephen R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Upper Copper and Tanana Rivers, Alaska (open access)

Upper Copper and Tanana Rivers, Alaska

From introduction: Two field parties, one topographic, the other geologic, were engaged in making surveys in the section of the Alaska Range between the Nabesna and Big Tok Rivers in 1934. Most of the area surveyed was on the northeast side of the range, within a drainage area that is tributary to the Nabesna and Tanana Rivers, but it also included a small part of the Copper River Basin.
Date: 1934
Creator: Moffit, Fred H.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Willow Creek-Kashwitna District, Alaska (open access)

The Willow Creek-Kashwitna District, Alaska

From introduction: The district described in this report is a triangular area covering about 300 square miles in the southwestern part of the Talkeetna Mountains. The Kashwitna River forms the northern boundary, the Susitna Valley flats the western, and the Willow Creek gold district, which is in the extreme southwestern part of the Talkeetna Mountains, the southern. As the area examined is not a distinct geographic unit, its boundaries being arbitrarily chosen and set only by the limitation of time spent in the field, a description of its geography applies to practically the entire western and southern portions of the Talkeetna Mountains, of which it is a part.
Date: 1935
Creator: Capps, Stephen R. & Tuck, Ralph
System: The UNT Digital Library
Mineral industry of Alaska in 1934 (open access)

Mineral industry of Alaska in 1934

From Introduction: "The value of its mineral resources has long been recognized as a matter of concern in the welfare of every nation, and all wise governments almost from time immemorial have taken steps to find out about, utilize, and safeguard such of these natural resources as lie within their own boundaries or to acquire rights in those they need that lie outside those boundaries. Obviously one of these lines concerns itself with the record of present performance-how much of the different mineral commodities is the country at present producing, where does this production come from and what are the facts as to the current developments in the industry? To answer some of these questions authoritatively is part of the work of the Alaskan branch of the Geological Survey, and answers to those questions for the year 1934 are given in the accompanying report."
Date: 1936
Creator: Smith, Philip S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Eska Creek Coal Deposits Matanuska Valley, Alaska (open access)

The Eska Creek Coal Deposits Matanuska Valley, Alaska

The coal deposits in the vicinity of Eska Creek, a small tributary from the north to the Matanuska River, are a part of the Matanuska coal field. One of the two commercial coal-producing districts in Alaska, this field is in the southcentral part of the Territory, at the head of Cook Inlet. It is 170 miles from Seward, the ocean terminus of the Government-owned and -operated Alaska Railroad, and is served by a branch line of that railroad.
Date: 1937
Creator: Tuck, Ralph
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Kaiyuh Hills, Alaska (open access)

The Kaiyuh Hills, Alaska

From introduction: The present report states the results of an exploratory survey of the Kaiyuh Hills during the summer of 1934.
Date: 1937
Creator: Mertie, John Beaver, Jr.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Kodiak and Adjacent Islands, Alaska (open access)

Kodiak and Adjacent Islands, Alaska

From abstract: The Kodiak group of islands, having an area of 4,900 square miles, lie on the Pacific Ocean side of the base of the Alaska Peninsula. Although the town of Kodiak is the oldest continuously occupied white settlement in Alaska, the interior of many of the islands is still little explored and unmapped, for the heavy growth of vegetation makes inland travel difficult, and few trails penetrate far from the coast.
Date: 1937
Creator: Capps, Stephen Reid
System: The UNT Digital Library
Kodiak and Vicinity Alaska (open access)

Kodiak and Vicinity Alaska

From abstract: Kodiak Island, although the site of the earliest white settlement in Alaska and the center of a vigorous fishing industry, is still largely unexplored, except for a strip immediately adjacent to the shores. The heavy growth of vegetation makes access to the interior of the island difficult, and few trails penetrate far from the coast. Mining activity in the past has been confined to somewhat desultory exploitation of beach sands, which in places carry gold, though some gold-bearing lodes have been staked, and a few unsuccessful attempts at lode mining have been made.
Date: 1937
Creator: Capps, Stephen R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Mineral Industry of Alaska in 1935 (open access)

Mineral Industry of Alaska in 1935

From introduction: The record of the Alaska mineral industry for 1935, here presented, is supplemented by records for earlier years, because in that way certain trends may be recognized which are not only of historical significance but are also useful in suggesting the course that the industry is likely to take in the future. This is a continuing service that has been rendered by the Geological Survey from almost the earliest years of active mining in Alaska, and the present report is the thirty-second of the series.
Date: 1937
Creator: Smith, Philip S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Mineral Industry of Alaska in 1938 (open access)

Mineral Industry of Alaska in 1938

From introduction: The presentation of a yearly record of the Alaska mineral industry is a continuing service that has been rendered by the Geological Survey from almost the earliest years of extensive mining in Alaska, and the present report, for 1938, is the thirty-fifth of this series. 2 Such a record, especially when supplemented by the statistics for the preceding years, not only affords an authoritative summary of current 'and past conditions but also indicates trends that are of significance in suggesting the lines along which future developments of the industry are likely to proceed. These reports therefore serve miners, prospectors, and businessmen concerned with Alaska affairs as useful historical records, statements of contemporary conditions, and starting points on which some conjectures concerning future operations may be predicated.
Date: 1939
Creator: Smith, Philip Sidney
System: The UNT Digital Library
Geology of the Upper Tetling River District Alaska (open access)

Geology of the Upper Tetling River District Alaska

From introduction: This paper describes the geology of a part of the Alaskan Range that lies in the headwater region of the Copper and Tanana Rivers.
Date: 1941
Creator: Moffit, Fred H.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Mineral Industry of Alaska in 1939 (open access)

Mineral Industry of Alaska in 1939

From Introduction: "The presentation of a yearly record of the Alaska mineral industry is a continuing service that has been rendered by the Geological Survey from almost the earliest years of extensive mining in Alaska, and the present report for 1939, is the thirty-sixth of this series.These reports therefore serve miners, prospectors, and businessmen concerned with Alaska affairs as useful historical records, statements of contemporary conditions, and starting points on which some conjectures concerning future operations may be predicated."
Date: 1941
Creator: Smith, Philip S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Past Lode-Gold Production from Alaska (open access)

Past Lode-Gold Production from Alaska

From abstract: This report presents an analysis of the statistical records of the Geological Survey regarding the production of lode gold from the Territory of Alaska for the period 1882 to 1937, inclusive. During that time lode gold to the value of $172,368,000 had been mined. The history of the discovery of lode gold and the early developments in lode-gold mining in each of the various districts is outlined briefly, and the production of lode gold in each of the geographic subdivisions is tabulated fully for each year, as far as the records and the practices of the Geological Survey permit.
Date: 1941
Creator: Smith, Philip S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Geology of the Gerstle River District, Alaska, with a Report on the Black Rapids Glacier (open access)

Geology of the Gerstle River District, Alaska, with a Report on the Black Rapids Glacier

From abstract: The area here described includes most of the north side of the Alaska Range between the Delta and Johnson Rivers, in one direction, and the axis of the Alaska Range and the Tanana River in the other. Besides the Delta River, its principal streams are Jarvis Creek, the Gerstle and Little Gerstle Rivers, and, at the extreme east, the Johnson River, all of which have glacial sources.
Date: 1942
Creator: Moffit, Fred H.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Occurrences of Molybdenum Minerals in Alaska (open access)

Occurrences of Molybdenum Minerals in Alaska

Abstract: In the accompanying report reference is made to all of the deposits in Alaska in which molybdenum minerals have been definitely recognized and reported. None of the deposits have been mined commercially, and none of them have been prospected thoroughly enough to afford quantitative estimates as to their tenor and potential reserves ; in fact, at only a few of the localities has there been more than surficial testing. Forty-one separate and distinct localities where molybdenum minerals occur are listed, and the available information on factors of geologic significance regarding each occurrence is given. A small-scale map of Alaska on which the various localities are indicated forms part of the bulletin, and in the text are extensive references to the various published reports and records of the Survey upon which the statements are based. In spite of the widespread distribution of molybdenum mineralization in Alaska, the remoteness of many of the localities, their handicap through dearth of transportation facilities and labor supplies, and the already wellsupplied condition of the American market for molybdenum ores discourage the early development of any of the known deposits or search for them in unsurveyed areas. These draw-backs will doubtless become -less important factors …
Date: 1942
Creator: Smith, Philip S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Tertiary Deposits of the Eagle-Circle District, Alaska (open access)

Tertiary Deposits of the Eagle-Circle District, Alaska

From introduction: The present report aims to supply additional information regarding the Tertiary deposits, which are the source of most of the gold placers now being worked in that part of the Eagle-Circle district lying south of the Yukon River. The work was conducted from base camps along the river, but the belt of Tertiary rocks is at places as much as 20 miles from the Yukon, so that it is not easily accessible from the river except in the vicinity of mining camps, where roads or trails have been constructed southward.
Date: 1942
Creator: Mertie, John Beaver, Jr.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Geology of the Portage Pass Area, Alaska (open access)

Geology of the Portage Pass Area, Alaska

Abstract: The Portage Pass area is in south-central Alaska, and includes part of the narrow neck of land that joins the Kenai Peninsula with the mainland to the north. This region is in general mountainous, elevations ranging from sea level to more than 4,000 feet on the peaks bordering the area. Several glaciers, all of which are apparently receding, extend into the area. Vegetation, chiefly alder and cottonwood on the valley lowlands and some spruce and hemlock on the lower slopes, extends to an elevation of about 1,000 feet, above which the slopes are bare except for occasional clumps of brush. The bedrock of the entire area is slate, argillite, and graywacke, apparently part of the same great series that extends from the Kenai Peninsula into the Prince William Sound region and is at least in part of Cretaceous age. The only igneous rocks recognized in the area are a few acidic dikes and a small diabase dike. Small, irregular quartz veinlets are widespread. The structure is not only complex but, owing to extensive metamorphism, is in many places obscure. A general northeast strike and steep to vertical dips of both bedding and cleavage planes are the rule, but there …
Date: 1943
Creator: Barnes, Farrell F.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Gypsiferous Deposits on Sheep Mountain, Alaska (open access)

Gypsiferous Deposits on Sheep Mountain, Alaska

From abstract: Gypsum-bearing rocks crop out in Gypsum and Yellow Jacket Gulches, on Sheep Mountain, which is about 90 miles northeast of Anchorage, Alaska. The gypsiferous rock occurs in deposits of irregular shape in the greenstone. Both the gypsiferous rock and the greenstone are hydrothermal alteration products of the volcanic rocks of Jurassic age which comprise the bulk of the mountain. Near-surface samples of the gypsiferous rock contained an average of 25 to 30 percent gypsum ; some contained as much as 50 percent. Quartz, alunite, clay, sericite, and pyrite are contaminating constituents of the ore. Six of the largest and most accessible of the gypsum deposits were mapped and calculations show that three of the deposits contain an aggregate of approximately 311,000 short tons of indicated gypsiferous rock and four of the deposits contain 348,000 short tons of inferred gypsiferous rock.
Date: 1951
Creator: Eckhart, Richard A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Gypsum Deposits near Iyoukeen Cove, Chicagof Island, Southeastern Alaska (open access)

Gypsum Deposits near Iyoukeen Cove, Chicagof Island, Southeastern Alaska

From abstract: Two deposits of high-grade gypsum are located near tidewater at Iyoukeen Cove, on the northeastern part of Chichagof Island, southeastern Alaska. A group of claims, formerly operated by the Pacific Coast Gypsum Co., was acquired by the Kaiser Gypsum Division of Kaiser Industries, Inc., during World War II. Claims at the other deposit are held by Dave Housel of Juneau and Seattle, Washington, in the name of the Gypsum-Camel group.
Date: 1953
Creator: Flint, G. M., Jr. & Cobb, E. H.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Geology of the Prince William Sound Region, Alaska (open access)

Geology of the Prince William Sound Region, Alaska

From introduction: This paper describes the geology of the Prince William Sound region, a part of south-central Alaska. It deals with the rocks of a section of the Coast Ranges that has been studied by various geologists over a period of many years and still offers basic problems that are unsolved. Prince William Sound is well known for its mining activities, but the intention here is to describe the areal and stratigraphic geology of the district rather than its mineral resources and to present a statement that will serve as a report of progress and a basis for more detailed field work.
Date: 1954
Creator: Moffit, Fred H.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Geology and Coal Deposits, Jarvis Creek Coal Field, Alaska (open access)

Geology and Coal Deposits, Jarvis Creek Coal Field, Alaska

From abstract: The Jarvis Creek coal field lies on the north side of the Alaska Range, between latitudes 63 35' and 63*45' N., and longitudes 145*40' and 145*50' W. It is 3 to 6 miles east of the Richardson Highway. The coal field is about 16 square miles in area, the major part of which is a rolling plateau that slopes gently northward and is bounded on the east, south. and west by bluffs facing Jarvis Creek, Ruby Creek, and the Delta River.
Date: 1955
Creator: Wahrhaftig, Clyde & Hickcox, C. A.
System: The UNT Digital Library