54  CONTRIBUTIONS    TO    ECONOMIC    GEOLOGY,  1903.  [bull. 225. 
Council  City  Railway  promises  to  be  of  the  utmost  importance  for  the 
region.  At  Topkok  the  completion  of  the  12-mile  ditch  has  renewed 
the  mining  activities,  which  have  lain  dormant  while  it  was  in  con- 
struction. This  will  furnish  water  for  sluicing  a  large  amount  of 
gravel,  not  only  in  the  Daniel  Creek  basin,  the  immediate  objective 
point,  but  also  in  adjacent  creeks. 
In  the  Kugruk  basin  Harris,  Homestake,  Northfork,  and  Dahl 
creeks,  as  well  as  the  main  river  bed,  were  worked  in  the  past  season, 
but  operations  are  not  so  extensive  as  they  would  be  if  the  region  were 
more  accessible.  The  Kotzebue  region,  lying  to  the  northeast,  is  the 
subject  of  a  paper  by  Mr.  Moffit  which  is  printed  elsewhere  in  this 
volume. 
The  streams  flowing  into  Grantley  Harbor  from  the  north  have  long 
been  known  to  be  gold  bearing,  but  as  the  gravels  are  not  of  very 
high  grade  their  exploitation  has  been  dependent  on  the  installation  of 
a  hydraulic  plant.  Surveys  for  a  ditch  have  been  completed,  and  it 
is  expected  that  a  plant  will  be  installed  during  the  coming  season. 
In  the  Bluestone  region  Gold  Run,  Alder,  and  Bering  creeks  were 
worked.  Several  small  ditches,  the  longest  2  miles  in  length,  supply 
the  diggings  on  the  Alder  and  the  Bluestone.  The  high  benches  have 
been  exploited  with  promising  results  in  some  instances,  and  a  large 
ditch  from  the  Kigluaik  Mountains  to  provide  hydraulic  power  for 
the  whole  region  is  projected. 
QUARTZ   MINING   IN    SEWARD    PENINSULA. 
While  it  is  no  part  of  the  purpose  of  this  paper  to  discuss  the 
auriferous  quartz  ledges,  yet,  in  view  of  the  great  interest  in  this 
matter  it  seems  worth  while  to  add  a  note  on  these.  Quartz  veins 
which  carry  from  a  trace  to  $8  or  $10  in  gold  are  not  uncommon  in 
the  peninsula,  but  only  very  few  have  been  found  whose  values  are 
high  enough  to  give  promise  of  profitable  exploitation  under  the  pres- 
ent economic  conditions.  In  the  Solomon  River  country  a  10-stamp 
mill  has  been  installed  to  work  a  free-gold  quartz  from  a  lode  which 
has  been  opened  up.  The  lode,  which  includes  three  distinct  veins, 
has  been  developed  sufficiently  to  insure  ample  ore  for  running  the 
mill,  and  the  enterprise  seems  assured  of  success.  Other  quartz  veins 
of  a  similar  character  in  this  region  are  being  prospected,  and  some 
carry  values  and  give  promise  of  being  at  least  as  valuable  as  the  one 
already  developed. 
In  the  Nome  region  proper  many  ledges  have  been  staked  and  a  few 
trenches  and  a  pit  sunk,  but  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  systematically 
and  properly  prospect  any  ore  body.  Samples  have  often  been  gath- 
ered at  haphazard,  so  that  the  assay  returns  do  not  necessarily  carry 
conviction.  In  the  Ophir  Creek  region  also  many  quartz  veins  have 
been  located,  but,  as  in  the  Nome  region,  no  systematic  prospecting 
has  been  done. 
