T E R R I T O R Y O F ALASKA

DEPARTMENT O F MINES JUNEAU, ALASKA

l?Q: Phi l It. H ~ l d ~ w ~ r t h ~ Com%esioner of Mines

FROM: J a m e ~ A. W i l l i a s , Associate Minfng Bngfneer

SUBJ162: Field t r t p by James A, Wi l l i ams through the Cordova, Valdes, and Seward Becording Precincts, June 16 60 July 1952.

A f i e l d t r i p was rnade by the undersigned through the above precfzncte dwing the period of June 16 July 4, 1952 f o r the purpose of v is i t ing and examining three copper properties i n the Prince W i l l i a m Soud area, a stibnf t e prospect on Ken& Peninsula, and such o%hes work in the areas vis i ted that might be deemed worthwhile. Properties investigated o r exadned were the Alaska Copper Corp, at Port Fidalgo, the old Three- f4Bne at Landl~eked Bay, the Beatson Mine at Lwtouche, end the K Bs 'P sti 'bnlte prospect at Kemi Lake owned by Wifbiam C . K n w k and Dick Thomas of Seward.

16 June: Juneau to Cordova by Pacific Nor%hern Airlines. Uj~on arrival at Cordova, informtion was d v e n by the Cordova

Air Service that there was a boat at the Alaska Copper Gorp. property at Port Fidalgo ~ t h which the people c~me to 2a t i t l ek to pick up supplies whieh the planes Leave there f o r them, It was assumed then that the boat belonged to the Cow. and would be available for the trip across P f d a l g ~ to the !three= d n e , and no air transportation was arranged f o r other than a charter d i rec t t o the Alaska Copper Cosp. camp an the followfag day,

1% was learned at th is time that Cordova &r SexTlce make8 a thrice-weekly mil and paesenger f l i g h t around Prince William Sowad, but %ha% they will 120% land a t any place other thaa the scheduled stops without befng p d d considerably extra. %he f i r s t sebe&uled stop i s a% Sta%itlek, a d the fare i a $13.00. To have the plane stop at Port Fidalgo, you must pay them the $13.00 plus $20 -00 exttret f a r eb "service charge#, elthough Ffdalgo i a on a str&.&ti l ine between Cordova and fFatitlek. With the excese engineering equipmenti, i t was seen that a charter to P i d d g o would be more economical for two men than the regular f l ight . '60 avoid excessive freight costs, the f re ight a d mail for Fidalgo must be picked ug where the plane leaves it at gat i t lek by a boet from the camp. This 6ort 0% %reatmen% by the airline eesms unnecessary and certainly $a not encourcsging t o new Operations attempting to make a s tar t . I t is one of t b poorest

exmaples of bush service seen by the m i t e r . There i s an excellent beach at the casoq) %hat w i l l not daaage the glance' f loats . Mesle K. Smith is owner and manager sf the Cordova Albr Service.

While in Cordova, information was sought on any possible activit ies at H a t E i l b i n connection w l $ h the planned o i l explora-tion program, Apparently nothing was s tar ted yet. One or two men were reported as being %here, but that is dl.

Ale0 while in Cordbova, the writer obtained shipping ra tes for ores and concentratee from the 1 ~ c a l Alaska Steamship Company v n t . The present rate f r on Prince W i l l i a m Sound to Seattle i~ $9.00 per ton fo r ore or concentrates ~f a value UP t o $60eOOpes tons and there is a 25% increase i n the rates for every 10G$ increase i n value of the ore or concentrates above $60.00 per ton* Added to these ra tes is a 15$ surcharge and a $1.80 per ton wharfage charge at Seat t le t o the Taco= Smelter. However, the agent stated that if the shipment^ were large enough, no doubt arrangements could be made for bet tor rates asd fo r araloading at the smelter rather thaaf in Seattle. He did not quote d e m r a g e rates, Another source has quoted demurrage at $1.30Q.OQ Ser day.

17 June: Cordova t o the Alaska Coljper Corp. Operation at g o r t Fidalgo, The location i s i n the Valdez Recording Precincto

Upon a r r iva l at the camp, it was learned tha t the boat being used f o r camp commmiea%fsn snci f re ight haul$ng; was owned By the camp cook, Joe Rocks Arraagements were raade with. him f o r trmsport&tion t o the Three- Miiine at LmdTocked Bay on khe following evedng. A short t i m e &$er the agreement was made, h i s dog broke a leg, and M r . Rock immediately set off for Cosdova faa the boat t o take the dog to a veterinarian, promising; as he l e f t to return from tom the follow- ing day.

2he lower d r i f t of the mine where the diamond d r i l l i n g is being done was examined, This proJect i s being financed by a DMEa loan, and the holes were planned so as t o es ter a zone which waa supposed to eonta3n ore according t o the resul t s of a r e s i s t i v i t y and self p o t e n t i d survey by SclaEumberges. Two holes and a part of a third hast been drilled into areas that had been indicated as having the highest potent ial of the ore zone, but the cores &ow only elate, w i t h very a n u % e q u % i t i e s of gyr?bte i n one hole, so i t appears th t the program m y be a failme, A t my rate , the geo2hysical survey can no longer be regarded as having any value, Ilhe lower d r i f t ie rather barren, but the q p e r ones show more mineralization. A brief, separate report and map of the propert3 w i l l , be prepared a t a later date*

Mr. Chuck Herbert, manager of the operation, was not a t %he property at the time of the v i s i t . Two men were the working crew, the diamond d r i l l e r and helper, Equipment being used was a11 new, inclnd- ing a Joy diamond d r i l l , Joy 210 foot coqpressor, small Skaj i t double- drum hoist , and dyplex pump, A s a matter of in teres t , the d r i l l and compressor had Sullivan name pla tes that had been p a n t e d over, so it appears that Joy has taken over the Sullivan plaate. In spi te of the newness, trouble was being eqerienced w i t h leaks aevelosing in the radiator aasi fuel tank of the coqressos.

Safety sanditions were good with the exception of the d r i l l e r n ~ t wearing a has& hat. Be said he would put one on. A large first aid B i t ie kept at the caw, which i s only a few minutest walk froin the working face. The ca~np is B par t ly rebuilt cabin being used for %he mese house eLnd eb large tent fo r sleeping*

18 June: Wen$ through aU. the old upper workings of the mine. The timbers are holding up quite wela, end most of the stopes are s t i l l acceesible. A fair amom% of copper ninerdizettisn i s evident* but the ore shoots have apparent3y Been stsped ouB, The country rock is mostly elate, but bed&ing i s d i f f i cu l t to distinguish and the ore control ira not eviden%, except that the ore appeared to be where the wall rock i8 massive mil not where it is mashed or distorted and cpumbly. !&ere is over 500 f e e t difference i n elevation between the Lower level and the lowest of the upger levels, a raytiher long distance to attempt t o project ore bodies under the circumstances tha t ex i s t here, I t i s presumed by the writer that the reason f o r d r i l l i n g so far below the h o r n ore bodies W(JB tha t i f the ore dici not extend at lea%& that far, there wdd not be enough fo r a. profitable operation,

The eook did not come back. We attempted t o get a call through t o someone fss transportation, but the rsldio transmitter wae apparently not powerful enough t a reach anyone. This is a e h l l y a question of safety, also, where a camp i s completely out off withou* eonmanication o r transpostation, but the cook did return with h i B boat several day$ later.

19 June; S$fll at Bfdalgo witkh no w a y sf obtaining trans- por tation,

20 Jane: In the morning, W e d to Irish Cove where plaaes sometirne~i f l y through and l a i d out a sign and Wlt a f i r e to atlisaot a p i l o t l s a t tent ion should one, f l y that way, A m a i l boat came to etLKp a% noon t o deliver soue groceries that Cordova Air Service was supposed to have delivered the previous week, and t r ~ s p o r t a t i o n warr obtained on i t t o Lmdfooked Bay, The charge was $22.50 f o r this '1 or 8 mile t r ip . Prince William Sound seems to be a region of high priced transportation, The boat i s the 68irenw and the bekipper an8 owner is Pete Bichol~ffo I t m&ee a t r i p around the Sound twice a month a.nd i s based at Cordova, Ee agreed to come back and pick me ug i n four OF f ive WS.

$A 21 l o 25 June: Examined the Threeman Copper Mine st Land- ?y-3 4

locked Bay. 'Phis property i.e also i n the VaLdee; Becording Precinct.

It was found that there are seven levels i n the mine, but the three lower ones were imcoessible, Ithe open levels and stopes were stamplea a d mapped wherever one could go with reason~ble safew. A surface Braritela asd tage traverse was run to t i e the portals together for an accurate composite m q . Twenty-two channel saragles were cut i n the mine and three more i n apedr of nearby a d i t s of uncertain ownershtp,

I t doe$ not appear ab present (wifihout calculating from tJae finished maps and assay returns) that anything l i k e the reported 2OO,QOO tons of 3$ ore is blocked out a3 reported. Eswever, dnera1- izat ioa mostly i n the form of chaleopyrites does extend nearly through- out the mine, the highest grade of which i s i n narrowo rather inconsistant bands or shoots sf nearly sol id sulfides. Diaslond d r i l l b w should show txp mere more lowgrade material. The ore control seems to be within the minor shears that are within the major shew zone %rending XW and dipping HB. Mueh highgrede was found on the dump$ ae a resul t of the bad sorting operation and a large p~r t iora of these du~llps could probably be milled profitably, %e miter e s t i m t e s the duqp content 601d4d be eas i ly @, En checking the geology of the nearby vicinity, i t was noted t h t sulfides are widespread, even appearing i n p r i m y greenstone, In f E i C t e t h f ~ appears to be the best mineralized area the writer has been i n to date, The possfb i l i t ies of a fair-size8 lowgrade h l l i n g operation here are good,

I t i s the writers belief tha t the Werner Gabler people ehoaald be advised that an a ~ p l i s a t i o n fo r an exploration loan rather than a produetion loan would be more pract ical , i f they can obtain cl suitable option type of agreement with the owner and that they should s f a r t proseedings soon, !the operation would almost cestaillly have to be a millfz%$ proposition rather Wp1 a sorting and $hipping operation as before, A separate report complete w i t h maps w i l l be prepared as soon as the t i m i s available.

The buildings, bunkers, and dock are completely rot ted away, and there i s no machinery o r equipment of a9y kind on %he property. Ihe place was apparently stripped a f t e r i t closed down.

Besfdes visual observation, %he extensive dnera l i za t ion of the area is further &videneed by the mrtny a a e s and prospects shown on the US@ map i n Bullettn 605, As discussed wi%h the Comdseioner ~f Wines ear l ie r , a well-planned large-scale exploration program would probably show I@ enough ore bod2es i n thiha area and around Prince William Som& to warrant a oestral treatment plant, W%%h t h i s s o r t of a setup, copper mining eoribd be profi table again, and s t i l l further earploration would be enoouaged,

Thee =re chamel samples were cut i n a pair of drifts at t ide level which are shown on the Bn 605 map as owned by Peter Steinmetz. Bands of sulfides here were noted as being rich in pyrrhotite and they were coasiaered as being a possible s0ura.e of nickel and cobalt.

26 June: Left Landlocked Bay i n the evening aboard the mailboat "Siren-a Dropped anchor i n Irish Cove for the night.

27 June: Arrived i n Cordova at noon. Coruova to Anchorage via PXA. Since Bhere i s no f l ight direct to Seward from Cordova, the f l ight %o Anchorage wae necessary at this time*

Just pr i e s to l eadng Cordova, a MF, Dan Fitzpa8rick introduce& himself and stated thst he-.and George Anderson have a copper prospect a t Ueakvik I n l e t from which samples assaying 6 to 8$ cogper had been talcen, and %hat he wished an examination, According to Bit~gatrick, the prospect i s located as shown i n the following sketch, the showing on the east side of the in le t beinfi; the one he is most interested in, (he clahs that it can be traced f o r a long distance) and the one on the west side being a poseib1e extension of the one on the eaa t,

h agreement wabl r e s h e d with Pitzpatsick whereby he w a a to pick me up at Latouhe on the 1st of July with h is f ishing boat and take ne to h i s prospect, and 1: would make the examinatione

On arrival. a& Aneboree, the Theeman samples were deposited st the Assay Office where they were t o be processed and pulps sent to the Xetchikan Assay Office.

28 June: Ancnorege t o Seward via. Chrieten~en A i r Servkce.

4+ 9+ 29 June: Invea tigated the IL & 2 prospect at Kenai Lake qq owned by W%11iam 6. b m k and Dick Thomas of Seraard. ' J i r ~ , n s p ~ ~ t € % t i ~ n

out and back from Seward furnished by M r . Kmack,

P t developed that no one had done any work on %he EI 6b 'P property yet this year, and because sf the l a t e snow condition, the 'best p a r t of the mtinony vein ( i n a steep gulch) m e st i l l covered by deep snow, a d another p a r t of i t , was covered by ~ l i d e and could not be located. A s a resul t , an insuffieiem% amount of the formation was exposed t o allow one t o forn any conclusions. However, two chamel samples were out and photos were taken, a d a very brief report wtll be prepared on this prospect. CPhe description and appearance of the property madre i t look promisingt though, and the wr i te r recomendc another d s i $ there a t a time when a s m a c e 4631 be obtained that the grout3 has been well opened up. 'Phis probletll was discussed with Mr. Knamk, and he agreed t o see that i t was Bone before asking for an exanination again. He d s o gives f u l l consent to the making public of any infornation that we w5sh about his property. The country rock is a poor grade of s l a t e and the vein appears to be a f a i r l y consistant sill of igneous materia3 (reportedly andesite) iqpregnated w i t h antimony and varying from 1 8 U o 24* where seen, !the mineral s rys ta l l iza t ion i s no% tha t sf pure s t ibni te , but &at other important mineral &ght be included i s not h o w at the moment* Baqles have been sent f o r i d e n t i f i ~ a t i o s ~ @'I

$$ -'

Information was obtained a f the !!%I J i ~ n s Mine operated on Surprise Greek i n the Ken& Lake area, by J i m Dunsmire and J i m 08Brfen, two old-time partners. I t i s an u n u s a placer d r i f t mine and i s reported to be the only active operation i n this p a r t of the Kead Peninsula, I t consists of about 15QO fee t of horizontal tunnel running upstiream and s ta r t ing i n glacial till, It progresses through the g lac ia l material in to an Pmdeslyiag pre-glacial, stream deposit and finalby reaches bedrock where good pay was found. The pre-glacial stream deposit i s reported t o be a yellow gravel and muck, and both tktis md the g9aciet3 m t e r i a l are so t ight ly packed tha t no timbering has been required. A water l ine has been l a i d to the working face, and %he material is sluiced through boxes where i t i s excavated and the ta i l ings we apparently carried on out of the tunnel by the water,

A t mile 26 on the highwag out of Seward, i t was noticed %hat a road cat t o be blasted had been dr i l led , the holes loaded, andl the wises to the e l e e t r i s caps were connected so tht the circuits were coupleteib exsest for the addition of the blasting machine.

I was informed that t h i s ;practice of loading holes, connecting the wises, and leaving them ungaarded f o r long periods of time before blas t ing with traffic passing at times &most over the top of them has been standard prac t ice on t h i s road s ince construction f irst s t a r t e d two years ago. I t being Sanclay, none of the construction people were avai lable t o talk t o about it. The contractors on this pa r t i cu l a r sect ion of the h i a w a y are a cornbine o f the firlils of &lmson, Osgsod, and Halvsrson Construetion Coaganiee, and the sugervising agency is the Bureau of Public Roads.

On July 4th, a M r . EQlwds of the Manson Construction Go. was on the plane w i t h the writer coming from Cordova to Juneau. !Phe explosives mattes was brought ugr and M r . Edwards stated t ha t t h e i r loading crews are very limited, it of ten takes two days o r more t o get & group of holes loaded, but that they d id not necessari ly lroad them as soon as they were drilled, It developed from the conversation t ha t Hansoa Construction Co. i s doing a road Job i n the Ketchikan area , so it is assumed tha t they are the same f i r m doing the work where a s i m i l a r circurestanee was observed by the Comiss isaer of Miners e a r l i e r this year. I n the i n t e r e s t s of publ ic safe ty , it s;ppears t ha t a regulation con t ro l l ing the above prac t ice should be pu t i n t o effect.

30 June: Weathered i n at Seward.

Received corresponding s t o r i e s from three l o c a l amateur $rospectors of a krho had been i n Sewmd a shor t time before w i t l a a rich s a l e of ca rno t i t e four o r five inches i n &Lameter. They said it was a de f in i t e sulfur-yellow and cansed a violent react ion on a Ge%ge% counter. No one knew his name f o r sure, but one of the men thought i t m i g h t be WUer and had go%ttsn the information t h a t tihe deposi t was approf imte ly 70 milea north of Anchorege and t h a t the formation had a a d t h of a l i . tt le over 20 feet . If %his i n fo rmt ion is accurate, it sounds l i k e a better radioastbve deposit than anything found i n the Terr i tory to date , The sources of this i n fo rmt ion beeides the above-mentioned Ms, Knaaek, were Russell Hoston, Box 364, Sewwd, and W, H', ( S i ) Sidener , owner of a l o c d drugsQore i n Seward. A request w a s l e f t with these peogle t o notify the Department immediately if they Peasned asbytMaag further or i f %he happened t o come to Seward again. -2

fl> $a 1 JuQs Seward t o Crab Bay v i a Scenic Alaska Air Service .)

and Crab Bag t o Latouche by hal ibut boat. Imestlgaated buildings. macninery, and asrork3ngs of Beatson Mine at Latsuc=kee

Scenic Mask8 Air Service i s conposed of one Seabee flown by Be C. BTinyn TrakowskA. He has done extensive flying i n Prince W A l l i a m Sound and i s reported t o be the bes% pAlot t o engage when a chaster flight i s neeessaw out 09 Sewasd. The water at; Latouche m e too rough t o land on when we arrived, so we landed at Crab B a y , across the channel, and the t r ip to Latouche was corilpleted aboard a halibrr% boat.

A t Latauehe neaaly everyrafng ira in bad condition. The mill buildings asd bunkhouses are all so%lapsing or w2lZ co11apse soon, A few photographs were taken o f the build% ngs end headf r ~ , and i f they turn out well, ? d i l l be added to this report la ter . Pract idal ly all of the m h i n e r y , iaclui ing the hoists, crushers, Deisels, turbines, boilers, f lo ta t ion agi ta tors and motors, e ts . were sold and shipped t o the Cascade Co, of Sea t t le l o n g ago. 30W

8 x 8 Hardinge conical ball d l l s remain that were used very little and could probably be used again, Pive blascy cyl indrical mills about 4 9~ 8 a l s o rewin, but ase unfit f o r fur ther use. 2wo d m type vacum f i l t e r s abotrt 88 wide and 10' i n diameter are s t i l l s e t up i n the &11 and a. direc% heat, aylindrical rotary drier about i n diameter and 30t long &so remainsp These probably e o a d not be ueed, though, and dl the plambing snd bel t ing is gone, Flotation ce l l e minus w g i b t o ~ e remain, but, they would not be suitable for use now. Much =able timber could be salvaged from the builddngs, but the buildings wouZdb have t o be rebui l t , In aany places, the floorboardB have ro t tea to the p s b t that one m e t be careful where he steps so as no& to fdl thsaugh, The headframe over the main shaft i s collapsing a d so- of the concrete foundations are breaking up. Host of the track rails are either aemly rusted away or missbrig campPetePy. Ms usable ore cars could be found, Tne sock is i n f a i r condition but woad b v e t o be rebuilt or well reinforeed f o r heavy use *

Ihe m i l l flow r~heet apparently ran as f o f l ~ w s : Ore was hoisted from the sWt asd dumped in to the bin over the primary crusher which was immediately adjasent, Primary crushing was done by a gyratory crusher an& secondary crushing was done by two Symons cone crushers. Then the material went i n to the W c y b a l l mills with r e h r n c i rcu i t s , then into the f lo ta t ion cells fsom which the heads went into two %h&ckenese, r'roae the thickeners i t went to the f i l t e r s aad then to the drier and i n t o concentrate bins from wush i t was hauled by rail tram to the bins at the dock where i t was loaded on the ships by b e l t conveyor, Crude ore was also shippea. It was further noted. in %he m i l l %hat the material had t o be elevated between nearly a l l of the operatf ons,

The underground works m e mostly under water, The water l eve l i s just below the nain adft which i s just below m i l l level. The mafn shaft pasees through %his a d i t and the ore was a11 hsfstea fsom below. It is a three-coupas%ment shaft, one for ulan hauls and two for h o i ~ t d n g ore. The timbering apgears t o be i n fair condition, although some of the bagging is qufte rotten, The a d i t was entered to a point beyonil the shaft where water wars dammed by a fall, The glory hole was gartly f d E of water and no portals mound or above i t could be found that were not caved or covered with snow. The Ladysmith workings were a l s o visited, 'but not entered. T U B ore body i s qui te s o f t andl required asz excessive amount of timbering, so if was not considered wise to enter any of the a d i t s done unless f o r a

more urgent purpose, Al.1 surface s t m c t u r e s here are i n ruins, Fht coultt be seen of an adit from one of the por t a l s d id n e t appear t o be to0 badly deter iora ted, however.

Some of: the m i l l infornation WEB obtained from Pete E j o r t who worked i n the d13Lp but does not remember the d e t a i l s too well. Antone n3?ony"uanjbch, who worked omc&esgmuncl, a l s o s t i l l lives at Latouche and i s reported to be a very good source of information on the old workings, Ife was gone from Latouche on a shor t vacation at tihe time of the wri te r ' s v i s i t . Probably the best source of informa- t ion iP t o correspond witb~bfrs, Hazel Leonard, Postmistress of Latouche.

There i s a small communSty a t Latowhe which consis ts of at Peast six persons the y e a around an& several more during the summer. M r . Wallace Bailey has p c h a s e d the surface sights from Kennecott and As endeavoring t o start a year-around sea food packaging industry there which w i l l s e l l d i r e c t l y t o the Alaskan consumers. A t present he s e l l s i c e and bai t t o f i sh ing boa%a and buys and r e f r i ge r a t e s fish, The en te rpr i se i s cal led the n L ~ t o w h e Fish and Cold Storage C O . ~ and i s associated with Boothe Bisheries, I t i ne r an t s may obtaAn food, and lodging there with Mr. md Mrs. Fred Biker who operate a family style hote l service, Air d l service i s three times weekly snd the mail boat stops t w h e monthly, Radio communication is maintained with Anchos&Lge.

I?he refrigerat2on and ice plant are i n the o ld power plant and are operated by a water wheel on the end of an eight-inch wood- stave pipe line. A sinilar pipe line and water wheel operate a 30 KVA l i gh t plant.

2 Juls: Latouche to Cordova via Cordova Air Service, By the af tesnoon of July 2nd, D a n F i te2a t r ick still had not shown up at Latowhe, though the agreement wae f o r him t o pick ue up there on the first with his boat. Upon arrigal. of the mi% plane, the p i l o t said that he had seen Fitzpatsick in Cordova on the preceding evening, 80 f decided to fly to t o m ra ther than w a i t longer, Upon a r r i v d i n Cordova, several people told me %hat Fftqpatsfck was stall i n tom, though 1 codcl. not loca te him a t h i s ho te l o r elsewhere, The girl in the airways of f ice had heard %he i n f~ rma t ion that he had had a g w r e % with his par tner about their property, I f i n a l l y l e f t a note f o r him a% h i s ho te l telling h i m that under the circumstances it appeased that he had l o s t in%erers8 i n an emai.nation of the prospect , and gave him my a d d r e s ~ i n case he wanted t o write t o rue about it,

3 July: Awaiting t ranssor ta t ion i n Cordova, Could not obtain a sea t on the PNA plane going through to Juneau, S t i l l saw nothing of Pi tzpatr idc ,

Obtained a s to ry from Wes Kennedy, lnanager of the I i n d s ~ a ' Hotel, that %he De~artment of the I n t e r i o r intends t o make s M r a - t i ~ s a l . Park of the Wrangell Mount&ins. If thas i s tme, the proposed park would no doubt include large areas of highly &neralised country,

and would retard or prevent the deve&opment of these areas. T h e Depmtmnt of Xines and all other interested agencies anci persons should watch for this move a d be ready t o try t o coumterw% it,

4 July: Cordover to Juneau via Pacifis Bssthern A2rlines.

J&BS A. WILLIAMS Associate $fining Engineer

1. V i e w of Latouche frm the dock,

2. Headframe and mi11 buildings at Latduche.

3. Marcy mills in foreground. f Hoist house in upper left.

View of Latouche tramway to dock.

mill