LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL 
Department of the Interior, 
United States Geological Survey, 
Washington,, J). C, June °28, 7004. 
Sir: I have the honor to submit herewith the manuscript and 
lustrations of a report entitled " The Gold Placers of the Forty- 
nile, Birch Creek, and Fairbanks Regions, Alaska," and to recom- 
nend its publication as a bulletin. 
This report contains the economic results of a reconnaissance of 
hese gold fields of the Yukon basin which was carried out by Mr. 
Mollis M. Prindle last season (1903). It has been prepared essen- 
aally for the placer miner and prospector, for which reason the 
inscriptions of the auriferous gravels are presented in considerable 
letail, while only the salient features of the geology are treated, 
rhis course was determined upon because, although there was an 
mmediate demand on the part of the mining public for information 
n regard to the gold placers, the geology is so complex that it will 
•equire several more field seasons to solve even the general problems 
)f structure and succession. 
Although the Fortymile and Birch Creek districts are among the 
)ldest of the gold-placer producers of Alaska, Mr. Prindle's investiga- 
tions show that they are by no means exhausted, and that, with the 
ntroduction of improved methods of mining, they will continue to 
field good returns. It is top soon to predict the future of the newly 
liscovered Fairbanks placers, but they show every evidence of hand- 
ome profits. The facts presented by Mr. Prindle indicate that the 
onditions of occurrence of the gold are such that for profitable exploi- 
ation it must be mined by improved methods, and should invite 
he attention of capitalists. The fact that the placers are within 
i. few miles of water transportation on the Tanana will permit the 
ntroduction of machinery at much less cost than at some of the older 
:amps. 
The value of this publication is much increased because it becomes 
he medium of making public two reconnaissance maps of the 
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