for scarred and faulty, and $2.80 for No. 111 skins. The logwoodbrown skins brought average prices of $48.28 for regular, $27.10 for scarred and faulty, and $3.14 for No. 111 skins.

The 245 skins, dyed logwood brown, sold at special sales during the fiscal year brought a total of $12,834.87. These sales were authorized by the Acting Secretary of Commerce.

There were also sold at public auction at St. Louis on October 15, 1928, 278 blue-fox skins and 15 white-fox skins taken on the Pribilof Islands in the season of 1927-28. The blue-fox skins brought $20,598, an average of $74.09 per skin, and the whites $692, an average of $46.13 per skin.

In the season of 1928-29 there were taken on St. Paul Island 79 blue and 8 white fox skins, and on St. George Island 465 blues and 1 white, a total of 544 blue and 9 white skins.

No changes were made in the regulations previously issued for the protection of fur seals and sea otters, nor in the regulations affecting walruses and sea lions.

The following table shows the results of fur-seal computations in the years from 1917 to 1928:

General comparison of recent computations of the seal herd on the Pribilof

Period from 1897 to 1910 the seal herds were exploited by private interests. In 1911 the Government assumed control and since then the herds have increased from 132,000 to 871,000

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

MINING IN ALASKA

Figures of the Geological Survey, Department of the Interior, show a total value of mineral output from Alaska since 1880, the earliest year for which records are available, to the end of 1928 of nearly $600,000,000. The following table gives a summary of production from the date of earliest record to the end of 1928:

Mines in Alaska are estimated by the Geological Survey in its preliminary statement to have produced minerals valued at $14,128,000 in 1928, as against $14,404,000 in 1927. A comparison of the production for the two years follows:

The total production of gold from Alaskan mines in 1928 is estimated at $6,775,000. This marks a noteworthy increase over the production of the preceding year and is attributable to increased output by both lode and placer mines. The greatest increase, however, came from lode mines, so that the ratio of the value of the gold produced by them to that of the gold produced by the placers seems to have been about 52.7 to 47.3. This is a rather significant change, because in 1927 the corresponding ratio was about 50 to 50, in 1926 it was about 44 to 56, and for the entire period that gold mining has been in progress in the Territory it has been 33 to 67.

The increase in the production of gold from the lode mines is attributable mostly to the greater output from properties of the Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Co. in southeastern Alaska. The quantity of ore mined by this company appears to have been somewhat less than in the preceding year, but its gold tenor was much higher. No noteworthy new developments were reported at the other goldlode mines, but most of the properties that have been active during the last few years continued operations. Gold mining at the three larger properties on Chichagof Island was carried on at a considerably reduced rate. The production from a number of small mines in the Hyder and Ketchikan districts was considerably larger than in 1927. In the Willow Creek district the gold-lode mines report a somewhat smaller output than in the preceding year and considerably less than formerly. The small gold-lode mines in the Fairbanks district report a considerable increase in their yield of gold. Several other small lode mines scattered widely through the Territory, but especially in Kenai Peninsula, near Nuka Bay and at Crow Creek, and in the Kuskokwim region near Nixon Fork report some

1 Estimate only.

production of gold, and prospecting was active at a number of other places.

The increase in production of gold from placer mines is attributable in most part to the greater output from the properties of the Fairbanks Exploration Co. in the Fairbanks district, which early in 1928 placed two of its large dredges in operation on Goldstream Creek and the Chatanika River and before the end of that season had finished a smaller dredge on upper Goldstream Creek and had begun mining with it. The beginning of production from this large project has not only resulted in greatly increasing the amount of gold mined in the district, but, what is perhaps even more significant, gives promise of a greater output in the succeeding years. So far as has been reported no other new dredges were constructed in Alaska during 1928, but several that were constructed in 1927 and operated only a short time during that year were running throughout 1928. A few of the dredges that formerly were active were idle during 1928, but on the whole all the dredges that produced much gold in 1927 were again active last year, and most of them report fully as large a production as in 1927. As a result approximately 64 per cent of the placer gold that was recovered in 1928 was mined by dredges.

The amount of gold produced from the placers that is mined by other methods than dredging seems to have been slightly less than that derived from such placers in 1927. No new finds of placer ground were made during the year that yielded any considerable amount of gold, and inevitably each year many of the known areas of placer are worked out. There still remain, however, large placer reserves that could undoubtedly be worked by companies having adequate capital and skilled engineering aid.

COPPER

The value of the copper produced from Alaskan mines in 1928 is estimated to have been $6,100,000. This marks a decrease of about $1,150,000 below the value of the copper produced by these mines in 1927 and a continuation of the decline in the production of copper in Alaska that has been more or less steadily in progress since 1923. In 1928, as in former years, practically all of the copper came from two mines near Kennecott, in the Copper River region, and from one mine on Latouche Island, in the Prince William Sound region. These mines alone, according to the published records of the Geological Survey, have yielded copper worth $200,000,000 in the 18 years or so that they have been actively developed.

In the vicinity of the known ore bodies at these mines extensive tests have been made to determine their extent and to disclose any other bodies. The extent of the deposits that are being mined has thus been closely mapped out. No notable new ore bodies are reported to have been discovered during the year. Although large parts of the known ore bodies still remain to be mined, they are being depleted each year, so that, unless new deposits are found, a still further decrease in the output of copper from Alaska is inevitable. That there are, in the Copper River region as well as in other parts of Alaska, other deposits that hold promise of profitable development

seems likely, and prospecting work is in progress at a number of these places. The successful development of a large copper mine, however, is an expensive and time-consuming task, and none of the prospects that are now being exploited appear to have yet reached such a stage that their future can be predicted with certainty.

SILVER

Most of the silver produced in Alaska during recent years has been recovered from the copper ores-in fact, during 1927, the latest year for which complete reports are available, over three-quarters of the silver came from that source. With the great reduction in the output of copper ore in 1928 the quantity of silver naturally shows a corresponding decrease. The greater output of gold from both lodes and placers resulted in a slight increase in the amount of silver that is associated with the gold obtained from them. The quantity of silver contained in ordinary lode or placer gold is, however, relatively so small, and silver is so low in price, that the increase in output of gold means an increase of only a few thousand dollars in the value of the silver recovered from those sources. Some silver is also recovered from ores that are principally valuable for the lead and silver they contain. Most of the ore of this sort is mined in the Hyder district in southeastern Alaska and is shipped to smelters in the States for treatment. Silver-lead ores are, however, known in widely separated parts of the Territory, and some mining and prospecting is in progress at several places on ores of this type. The high cost of transportation and treatment discourages development of or search for these ores except in the more accessible parts of Alaska.

COAL

The production of coal from Alaskan mines was greater in 1928 than in any previous year, amounting to 125,289 tons valued at $624,000. As usual the greater part of the production came from the Matanuska and Healy River fields. The principal_producing mines in the Matanuska field were those of the Evan Jones Coal Co., and the Premier Coal Mining Co., and in the Healy River Valley the Suntrana mine of the Healy River Coal Corporation. No notable new developments were reported in either of these fields, but there was a steady development in both. The increased demand for fuel in connection with the dredging project of the Fairbanks Exploration Co. in the Fairbanks district has served as an additional outlet for coal from the Healy River field.

During the year considerable activity was shown in the development of coal beds that have long been known on Admiralty Island, in southeastern Alaska. This work was done at the property of the Admiralty Island Coal Co., on Kanalku Bay, and several shipments of coal were sent to Juneau and near-by markets. A small quantity of coal for local needs is also reported to have been produced, principally by Eskimos, from coal beds on the Kuk River, near Wainwright, in northern Alaska.

No new developments were reported in the Bering River field. nor in any of the many coal fields that are known in other parts of Alaska. There is still a considerable use of coals imported from