80 FOKI'YMILE, BIRCH CREEK, AND FAIRBANKS PLACERS, [bull. 251. 
and l« s feet of gravel. No. 4 B has been worked since October, 190| 
and has the reputation of being the best producer on the creek. The 
ground consists of 2 creek claims and 2 bench claims. The depth to 
the soft graphitic schistose bed rock is 30 feet, and there are 15 feet of 
muck and 15 feet of gravel. A 20-horsepower boiler, burning a cord 
of wood every twenty-four hours, furnished the power for the numer 
oiis points and the hoist. Two hundred 38-pan buckets were handled a 
day; they were hoisted 30 feet and run on a trolley 30 feet to the mud 
box. The boxes were set with a grade of 8 to 11 inches to 12 feet. 
Twenty men were employed, and wages for miners were £5 a day and 
board. 
Between No. 4 and No. 8 only preliminary prospecting has been 
done. 
From No. 8 to No. 13 work has been done mostly from 300 to 500 feet 
to the north of the creek. On No. 8 the depth is 52 feet, with about 30 
feet of muck. xV 20-horsepower boiler was in use, and from 180 to 190 
13-pan buckets could be handled daily. The "live water" problem 
was causing some difficulty and the use of a pump was necessary. A : 
combination ditch and flume brought water to the claim from Clearyj 
( Ycck. The depth on No. 9 is 50 feet. There is 20 to 28 feet of muck 
overlying the gravel. Two holes had been sunk and about 30 feet] 
drifted in each. On the upper end of No. 10 the depth is GO feet; 
about 20 feet of muck and 40 feet of gravel, 10 feet of which is 
*• chicken feed " gravel. A 10-horsepower boiler was in use. Occa- 
sional thin layers of muck in the gravel made trouble, as the muck 
does not thaw as readily as the gravel. A ditch 1 mile long had 
been constructed, at a cost of $2,000. On the lower portion of No. 10 
three holes had been sunk in a direction crosswise of the bench to 
depths of 56, 57, and 62 feet. The layer of muck varied from IT to' 
22 feet in thickness. The gold here is usually of the finer varietyj 
but a 2-ounce nugget had been found, and it is important to note the] 
occurrence of the coarse gold in this lower wider portion of the val- 
ley. A 4-horsepower boiler and 4 points were in use ; dirt was hoisted 
by a hand windlass, fitted with a one- fourth-inch wire cable, and it 
was possible to handle nearly two hundred 9 and 11-pan buckets a 
day. On No. 11 bed rock is 70 feet below the surface, and about 80fl 
feet had been drifted. There is 26 feet of muck. Pay had been 
located on No. 12 about 500 feet north of the creek, where the deposit 
is over 80 feet thick, consisting of 25 feet of muck, 30 feet of " chicken 
feed " gravel, and the rest reddish gravel and pay gravel. On the 
upper end of No. 13 a hole had been sunk 80 feet to bed rock. 400 feet'* 
back from the creek, and about 2 miles from Chatanika River. It 
penetrated 18 feet of muck and 62 feet of gravel, in wdiich some gold 
had been found. It seems probable that as the conditions of develop- 
ment become more favorable, there may be considerable ground in tins 
lower portion of the valley that can be worked at a profit. 
