purington.] GRAVEL AND PLACER MINING. 41 
MINING COSTS. 
The average value of fuels in Alaska as evidenced by present oper- 
ations is as follows: 
Cost of fuels available for use in Alaska. 
Bituminous coal, price at Nome $17 per ton (2,000 pounds) 
Crude oil, price at Nome $3 per 1 >arrel 
Spruce wood, average price in the interior $12 per cord 
Experience in the Nome district indicates that California crude oil is 
the most economical fuel available in the southern part of the Seward 
Peninsula. In the interior of Alaska the price of imported crude oil 
renders its use prohibitive for mining- operations. 
The recently exhibited tests of the adaptability and efficiency of 
gas-producer engines should receive attention from operators who 
contemplate the installation of mechanical plants in any part of Alaska. 
There is no question that bituminous coal and lignite can be utilized 
for gas producers, giving proportionately better results than anthra- 
cite. An engineer operating a large pumping plant in the Klondike 
is of the opinion that even the poor spruce wood available for fuel in 
interior Alaska can be utilized in the gas-producer engine. The prej- 
udices which exist against the explosion type of engine in the United 
States are fast disappearing. They have been due to faulty construc- 
tion of the engines and lack of knowledge of their principle among 
those who attempt to operate them. The present valid objections to 
installing gas and gas-producer engines are that these engines are 
undergoing a process of evolution, and the standard has not been 
attained. According to Mr. M. R. Campbell, the Government coal- 
testing plant at St. Louis has demonstrated that a gain of from 30 
to 50 per cent of efficiency is attainable in the gas-producing as 
compared with the steam-producing engine. 
The comparatively low cost of California crude oil at Nome renders 
it a valuable fuel for the mining operations in that vicinity. The sat- 
isfactory results from one type of gas engine at St. Louis showed that 
crude oils of widely varying composition can be used for explosive 
engines with a higher efficiency than in generating steam. 
The purchase of water for hydraulic or sluice purposes is not general 
in Alaska. In the Seward Peninsula, water under natural head or 
pumped water is sold to miners to a limited extent. The average 
price is $1 per miner's inch, twenty four hours' service, for water 
under head and 50 cents for sluice water. The inch used corresponds 
to 1.2 cubic feet per minute. This definition of the miner's inch is not 
accepted in this report. The miner's inch, according to its best usage, 
which is followed in this report, corresponds for all practical purposes 
a See Preliminary report of the operations of the coal-testing plant of the United States Geological 
Survey at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis, Mo., 1904: Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey No. 
261, 1905. 
