In addition to the above, 2,000,000 king salmon eggs in the eyed stage were received from the Washington State Fish Commission. As the run was extremely light in Ketchikan Creek, no attempt was made to collect eggs at that point.

Of the egg take of 1925-26 there were released 1,789,000 king salmon fingerlings and of this number there were 50,105 marked by lipping off the adipose and the posterior portion of the anal fins. From the 165,000 red salmon eggs taken from Wards Cove First Lake in 1925 there were liberated on the 1st day of March, 1927, 55.000 yearlings averaging 5 inches in length.

Of the 4,250,000 humpback fry taken to Pond Bay feeding pond, 31.470 were marked by clipping off the adipose and the two ventral ins before liberating.

PACK OF ALASKA SALMON ALL GRADES

The Cordova hatchery, which is located at Eyak Lake, was not erated during the year because of the appropriation having been austed through the building of a new hatchery building, the cost which greatly exceeded the original estimate.

Seward hatchery (Grouse Lake), during the season of 1926-27 re were collected 3,164,000 red salmon eggs at Bear Lake. This hery was totally destroyed by fire on the morning of March 9, and caused the loss of approximately 1,000,000 fry in the sack ge and more than 2,000,000 unhatched eggs. The tally at the ar Lake trap shows that there were 7,382 red salmon passed to the and 472 red salmon passed through the trap at Grouse Lake. A total of 3.718 Dolly Varden trout were destroyed in these two

Traces.

The tally at the close of the season shows that 26,092 Dolly Varden trout were destroyed at the Robe Lake Stream near Valdez and that 11,789 red salmon passed through the trap.

No work was done at Ishamy Lake during 1926.

The work of destruction of hair seals was begun early in the spring and continued throughout the summer and it is estimated that 1,137 seals were destroyed at a total cost of $2,979.85.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

MINING IN ALASKA

Some of the important features of mining development in Alaska in 1926 are presented in the following statement, which is abstracted from the annual report on mineral resources and production in Alaska, now in preparation under the direction of Philip S. Smith. chief Alaskan geologist, of the United States Geological Survey. Department of the Interior.

The great impetus to Alaska settlement and development came through its mineral resources, and for many years mining was the principal industry in the Territory. Although mining has now dropped to second place, the fact that each year mineral products amounting to more than $17,000,000 are produced indicates the present importance of the industry. The following table shows that the total value of the mineral production of Alaska from 1880 to 1926 was $571,000,000:

Value of total mineral production of Alaska, 1880-1926

Marble and other products (including platinum metals).

Total_

$360, 308, 07! 187,663, 21 10,863, 58 4,997,09 972, 60 1, 195, 28 237,50 4,725, 39

570, 962, 76

Mines in Alaska produced $17,657,800 worth of minerals in 1926, as against $18,220,692 in 1925. The following table shows in summary form the mineral output of Alaska for 1926, and, for the sake of comparison, the production of the same minerals in 1925. The most notable increases are shown in quantity and value of the gold produced. There was some increase in the quantity of coal mined and sold. The production of lead showed practically no change, but owing to the generally lower market price that prevailed in 1926 the value of the lead produced was somewhat less than in 1925. There was a considerable decrease in both quantity and value of the copper produced and some decrease in the quantity and value of the silver, tin, and platinum metals. The output of most of the minerals here grouped under miscellaneous mineral products showed no Lotable change from the preceding year, though there is an apparent difference because in the statistics for 1926 the platinum metals are shown separately, whereas in those for 1925 they are included in the aiscellaneous group.

The decreases do not indicate any material lessening of mining activity in the Territory. In fact, the general mining outlook when analyzed on the basis of the number engaged in it is distinctly encouraging. Some of the reported decreases in production can be properly attributed directly to the lower prices for certain of the metals that prevailed during 1926. For example, the average price of silver, as computed by the Bureau of Mines, was about 7 cents an ounce less than in 1925. Copper was two-tenths of a cent less, and lead and palladium were also lower. A considerable falling off n the value of the mineral production of Alaska would have occurred ander these conditions even if the same quantity of minerals had been mined. Obviously, however, a period of low prices for the metals is not one in which to stimulate production, so that in such times a wise manager might well reduce the output of his mine as low as atstanding contracts, fixed charges, and other conditions would

permit.

may be grouped

The gold production came from mines which roadly into two main types, placers and lodes. The total producon from lodes in 1926 amounted to $2,938,000.

These gold lodes

were widely distributed throughout the Territory. According to the practice of the Geological Survey only those properties which produced more than $1,000 in gold are considered mines, and those that produced less than that amount are considered prospects. As thus defined, there were 24 gold-lode mines in operation in 1926, distributed as shown in the accompanying table.

Gold and silver produced from gold-lode mines in Alaska in 1926, by districts

As will be seen from this table, by far the greater part of the lode production about 85 per cent came from gold lodes in southeastern Alaska. The outstanding mine in this region is the one operated by the Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Co. near Juneau. Other notable mines in southeastern Alaska are those operated by the Chichagof Development Co., the Apex-El Nido Mining Co., and the Hirst-Chichagof Mining Co., on Chichagof Island; several properties in the Hyder district, the most noteworthy of which is the Riverside mine, and the mine of the Alaska Palladium Co. on Prince of Wales Island, in the Ketchikan district. In the Willow Creek district the largest mines are those of the Willow Creek Mines (Inc.), the Fern Gold Mining Co., and the Mabel Mining Co. In the Fairbanks district the largest production of gold from lodes was reported from the Mohawk mine and the Crites & Feldmann mine, on a tributary of Fairbanks Creek, but several other small properties were productive, among which may be mentioned that of the Elmes Mining Co. near Ester Dome. In the other districts the greatest amount of lode mining was reported from the Nuka Bay region, at the south end of Kenai Peninsula, the Prince William Sound region, and the vicinity of Turnagain Arm, in the northern part of Kenai Peninsula, but scattered prospects from which some gold was taken were reported near Valdez Creek in the Susitna region, on Jack Wade Creek in the Circle district, near Richardson, east of Fairbanks, near Akiak in the Kuskokwim Valley, and at a few scattered points in the Koyukuk Basin and on Seward Peninsula.

GOLD PLACERS

The total amount of placer gold produced in 1926 was $3,769,000. This marked not only a considerable increase in the amount of gold produced but also increased activity in placer-mining developments. Most of the increased production came from Seward Peninsula, the production for the other districts being essentially the same or somewhat less than in 1925. The great increase in production in Seward

Peninsula is chiefly attributable to the large output from the dredges in that region. No general explanation of the decrease in the other regions can be given, as it appears to have been due mainly to local causes. Possibly the nearest to a general explanation is furnished by the extremely dry period that prevailed through much of the central and western part of the Yukon Valley and also in the Kuskokwim Valley, especially during the summer, when placer mining is most active. The following table presents in summary form the estimated production of placer gold in the different Alaska districts in 1926 and, for comparison, the production of the same districts in 1925 and the relative increase or decrease in 1926.

Statistics of placer mining in Alaska in 1925 and 1926

Over 60 per cent of the placer gold produced in Alaska in 1926 was mined by dredges, an increase of more than 45 per cent over 1925. The total gold recovered by dredges in 1926 was $2,291,000, of which more than two-thirds came from 18 dredges on Seward Peninsula and the rest from 14 dredges in other parts of Alaska. The total amount of gold produced by dredges since 1903, when this type of mining began, is about 12.8 per cent of the total amount of gold produced from all other kinds of placer mining since 1880, but with the constant increase in the proportion of gold mined by dredges during the last few years, the difference between the two totals is constantly becoming smaller. It is estimated that 5,730,000 cubic yards of gravel was handled by dredges during 1926 and yielded an average of 40 cents a cubic yard.

COPPER

Next to gold, copper has been the metal of most value produced in Alaska, and the value of the output in 1926, which amounted to $9.489,000, far exceeded the value of the gold output. Deposits containing some copper minerals are found throughout Alaska from the extreme southern part of the Territory to the Kobuk region and Seward Peninsula. At present, however, the greater part of the Alaska copper comes from two mines in the Chitina Valley, in the