66 FAIRBANKS AND RAMPART QUADRANGLES. 
in the gravels. The depth of the alluvial deposits sometimes exceeds 
100 feet, but it is generally less than one-fifth of that amount. 
The larger part of the mining has been carried on by drifting and 
open cuts, depending on the season and the local conditions, but dur- 
ing the season of 1904 two hydraulic plants began active operations, 
and two more were under construction. Ordinarily, wherever the 
gold-bearing alluvials are of sufficient depth they are mined by drift- 
ing during the winter and the dirt taken out is washed in the spring. 
In some cases the presence of water interferes very seriously with the 
drift mining and renders gravels otherwise workable comparatively 
valueless. Drifting can not ordinarily be carried on in the summer 
time, because the warm air melts the ground and causes it to cave. In 
thawing the ground for drift mining steam points have generally 
superseded wood fires, though the latter are still sometimes used. 
During 1904 wages were $5 and board for a 10-hour day. This is 
equivalent to $6.50 to $9 a day, varying with the locality. The men 
who work for wages are generally strong and healthy and render a 
full equivalent for their pay. 
The currency of the country, as in the early stages of most placer 
camps, is gold dust. The different values of the gpld from the differ- 
ent creeks makes the fixing of the price at which it should pass rather 
difficult, and the result is that, while some gold passes considerably be- 
low its value, some passes at more than it is actually worth. The gold 
assays from $14.88 to over $19 per ounce, and passes at $15.50 to $18 
pei; ounce. 
MINOOK CREEK GROUP. 
This group includes the placers of Minook Creek and its tributaries 
within limits of 5 to 13 miles from Rampart. Most of the diggings, 
and much the richest so far discovered in the group, are upon the 
east side of the valley, and none have been found in the main valley 
above the mouth of Slate Creek, 11 miles from Rampart. 
The hills are generally rounded or flat-topped. The valleys are 
canyon-like, with steep walls 500 feet or more high, and benches 
are prominent features of the topography. The larger streams have 
cat their valleys down to a grade varying from 40 to 80 feet to the 
mile. The watershed of Minook Valley is narrow on the west, some- 
times not over a half mile or a mile wide, and is probably at no 
place over 4 miles wide. On the east it is 5 to 7 miles wide through 
the greater part of the length of the creek. 
The total production of the Minook Creek group has been about 
$702,600, of which $75,500 was produced during the winter of 1903-4 
and $10,900 during the summer of 1904, making a total for the year 
of $86,400. 
