KOUGAROK REGION. 181 
If Anvil and Ophir creeks. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that 
■ravels can be profitably mined at but a fraction of this amount in 
many places in this district. 
I The two dry summers, 1900 and 1906, make it evident that such 
llimatic conditions must be reckoned with in counting cost, especially 
Idiere large investments of money are made. Though during a wet 
leason there is an abundance of water, nevertheless the Kougarok has 
lo such reservoirs to draw on as the Kigluaik Mountains, which are 
leing tapped by the Nome ditches, and this fact is emphasized by a 
Iry season like that of. 1906. At the rate that ditch building is going 
In every possible source of water supply will soon have been utilized. 
Here, as elsewhere, more careful prospecting of the ground would 
trobably have curtailed some of the ditch building. It appears that 
lome operators have been too ready to believe without adequate pros- 
I Meeting that the values in the ground were sufficient to warrant large 
expenditures for ditch construction. This hit-or-miss style of mining 
las fewer odds against it in regions where the hope of finding bonanzas 
s better than in the Kougarok. It certainly can find no place in a 
•egion where the question of costs has to be carefully considered. 
The Kougarok does not appear to be an inviting field for the miner 
vithout capital. Though considerable gold has been recovered by 
)ick and shovel, on the whole the values thus far developed are not 
ligh enough to yield profits by such simple methods of mining. This 
s certainly true now, but conditions may alter with the reduction of 
3osts of labor and supplies. 
To recapitulate briefly, the following facts appear to be established : 
(1) Prospecting up to the present time, so far as known to the writer, 
has not established the existence of many bonanzas. (2) There are 
some extensive deposits of heavy auriferous gravels, yet it appears 
that but few of them have been sufficiently prospected to prove their 
values. (3) Water is far from abundant, but, in many localities 
during most seasons, is probably sufficient. (4) Mineralization, how- 
ever, is widespread, as is also the gold in the alluvium. (5) Some of 
the bench deposits are very favorably located for profitable exploita- 
tion by hydraulic methods. (6) There is probably some ground which 
can be dredged, but as yet few facts in regard to it are available. 
In the opinion of the writer the Kougarok district will become one 
of the important gold producers of the peninsula, though it is not to 
be expected that its output will ever be comparable to that of some 
of the older districts, such as Nome and Ophir Creek. It is a field 
where profits can be expected only by a careful counting of costs and 
conservative business management. 
