46 ALASKAN MINERAL RESOURCES IN 1904. [bull. 259. 
Mr. Stephen Birch, in a letter, gives the cost of placer work on Dan 
Creek, Nizina district, Alaska, as follows: 
By ground sluicing through 20-inch flume: 6,803 cubic yards, $8,781.44, or $1,143 
per cubic yard. 
By use of 8-inch cotton pressure-hose and nozzle through 20-inch flume: 1,600 
cubic yards, $1,457, or $0.91 per cubic yard. 
By use of pick and shovel only, through 10-inch sluice box: 2,320 cubic yards, 
$5,100, or $1,875 per cubic yard. 
A 273-foot tunnel, 6 feet by 6 feet, timbered: $1,017, or $3,725 per running foot, or 
407 cubic yards of gravel removed, which costs $2.50 per cubic yard. 
While the cost given above may seem high, it is because of the fact that it includes 
the cost of the tools and material now on hand, which were necessary to remove this 
gravel. Now, if this work is continued for a number of years, the depreciation of 
the tools, etc. , could be charged proportionately. These prices may not be a criterion 
for future operations in that country, but were our first cost of operation, and any 
strangers going into that section of country would be apt to run up their costs to these 
figures. 
