168 ALASKAN MINERAL RESOURCES IN 1904. [bull. 259. 
Ft. in. 
6. Coal 6 6 
7. Shale 12 
8. Shale, with 4 thin coal seams 15 8 
9. Shale and sandstone 50 
10. Coal 1 11 
11. Shale and sandstone 64 
12. Shale, with 3 thin coal seams 6 6 
13. Sandstone and shale 15 
14. Shale and sandstone, with 2 thin coal seams 10 4 
15. Sandstone 26 
16. Shale, with numerous thin coal seams 25 
17. Sandstone and concealed 45 
18. Concealed to tide level 62 
Total 570 11 
The beds represented by Nos. 1 to 4 represent the Unga conglomerate and have 
been determined by Dall to be of Miocene age. The remaining strata belong in the 
Kenai formation and, according to Dall, are of Oligocene age. 
The most promising of the seams is No. 6 of the above section, which has in detail 
the following section: 
Section of coal seam on west shore of Coal Harbor. 
Inches. 
Coal 2 
Shale 1 
Coal 12£ 
Sandy shale 4 to 7 
Coal 17 
Shale £ to 2 
Coal 6 
Bone '. 2£ 
Shale 6 
Coal 2 
Shale 1 
Coal 1 
Shale 8 to 9 
Coal (thickness reported) 12-1 
Total 76 to 82 , 
The upper part of this seam contains over 3 feet of coal of fair quality, in which 
the partings are not thick enough to interfere seriously with mining. The coal 
is a bright, clean lignite of sufficient firmness to stand handling without excessive 
crushing. 
A group of thin seams of no economic importance is represented in No. 8. No. 
10, a seam consisting of 23 inches of clean coal without partings, may prove to be 
workable. A tunnel which opened up this seam some years ago has now caved in. 1 
Another group of thin unimportant seams similar to No. 8 is represented in No. 12. 
Only two seams known at present may be regarded as possibly of economic 
importance. These are lignites of fair quality, which compare not unfavorably with 
much coal that is sold on the Pacific coast. 
If the coal is mined with sufficient care to keep it clean and a local market is 
secured, it would seem that it should be able to compete with the somewhat better 
but more expensive coals that are now being shipped to this part of Alaska. 
