LODE MINING IN SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA. 43 
torilyin this neighborhood the transportation facilities must be improved, a costly project, 
which will not be feasible until the mining value of the deposits has been more sal isfactorily 
demonstrated. 
In the vicinity of Doiomi many Claims have been staked, abandoned, and relocated. The 
first discovery, which was made by an Indian boy, was followed rapidly by others, only a 
few of which'have proved of permanent value. 
. The ore bodies are quartz veins in limestone parallel to the bedding pianos and contain as 
minerals free gold, tetrahedrite (gray copper), galena, zinc blende, chalcopyrite, and pyrite, 
with quartz and calcite as gangue. On weathering the tetrahedrite and chalcopyrite alter 
to azurite and malachite and tinge the vein quartz with characteristic blue and green 
colors. The degree of mineralization is variable within the vein, the rich portions occurring 
either as ore shoots or irregular pockets. 
Of the many deposits which have been discovered the Valparaiso, Amazon, and Golden 
Fleece veins have been exploited most thoroughly and arc best known. 
The Valparaiso quartz vein has been traced for a longdistance, and a number of claims 
have been located on it. Its trend is N. 55°-60° W. and dip 35°-45° NE., with consider- 
able variation, due to the folding and flexing of the inclosing marble. At the Valparaiso 
claim three shafts have been sunk and a maximum depth of 150 feet on the vein attained. 
Drifts and stopes expose the vein, which carries high gold values in shoots pitching at an 
angle of 70° E. An adequate tramway with transportation facilities has been installed and 
will materially reduce the cost of production. 
The Amazon and Golden Fleece properties have been idle except for such annual assess- 
ment work as was necessary and produced no metal during the past year. The detailed, 
geologic descriptions and relations of these and many other claims will be given in the lai er 
report. 
DALL ISLAND. 
Dall Island is an irregular strip of land about 40 miles in length, lying southwest of Prince 
of Wales Island. It is made up essentially of schist, limestone, and occasional narrow belts 
of granite, all of which have a northwesterly trend and traverse the island at an angle to its 
principal axis. Prospecting has not been vigorous on this island in consequence of its iso- 
lated position, and its coast bordering the Pacific Ocean is known only to a few of the nunc 
persistent gold seekers. 
The Elk and Virginia claims are located on the south end of Dall Island at Dakoo Harbor, 
2 miles northeast of Cape Muzon. The ore bodies are both auriferous quartz veins and belts 
of schist impregnated with gold-bearing sulphides. On the Elk group, which is situated only 
a short distance from tide water, two tunnels have been driven 200 and 265 feet in length, at 
80 and 450 feet elevation, respectively. The deposit is exposed only in the uppertunnel and 
by several open cuts. It consists of a belt of decomposed schist, and across a width of 50 
feet or more this is reported to carry sufficient values in gold to make low-grade ore. The 
Virginia group lies to the northwest of the Elk at an altitude of 300 feet , U miles from tide 
water. Bands of mineralized schist also occur on this property, though the principal ore 
bodies are quartz veins varying from narrow stringers to veins 10 feet in width. They are 
exposed by two shafts less than 20 feet in depth and by short tunnels located iu I he narrow 
creek canyon. The country rock is a weathered amphibole schisl interbedded with narrow 
bands of crystalline limestone. The gold values are associated with pyrite, chalcopyrite, 
and galena, and are said to be higher than those contained in the Elk lode. 
The Mount Vesta group of claims, a property of the Alaska Tndust rial ( 'ompany , is located 
on the northeastern slope of Mount Vesta, about a mile from Mount Vesta Harbor. The 
mineral occurs in small seams or veinlets a few inches in width and separated by wide areas 
of crystalline limestone. The ore is of high grade and composed essenl ially of tel rahedrite 
(gray copper) and chalcopyrite with galena and sphalerite. The mine workings are situ- 
