brooks]  PLACER   MINING    IN    ALASKA  IN    1903.  55 
During  the  placer  mining,  large  surfaces  of  bed  rock  are  often 
stripped,  disclosing  at  several  localities  the  presence  of  a  large  number 
of  small  quartz  veins  which  on  assay  are  found  to  carry  values.  These 
veins  are  found  both  following  and  crosscutting  the  foliation.  In  some 
instances  observed  by  the  writer  well-defined  fissure  veins  crosscut  the 
country  rock  and  sent  out  offshoots  which  penetrate  the  walls  along 
lines  of  cleavage  to  a  distance  of  several  yards  from  the  main  vein. 
These  offshoots  the  prospectors  term  "blanket  veins,"  and  entirely 
overlook  their  subordinate  character. 
In  one  class  of  veins  the  gangue  is  chiefly  quartz  and  in  another 
largely  calcite.  In  veins  of  the  second  class,  the  gold  seems  to  be  free, 
while  the  first  promises  to  run  into  a  base  ore  below  the  surface  weath- 
ering. The  first  class  of  ore  carries  considerable  arsenopyrite.  It 
seems  entirely  possible  that  deposits  may  yet  be  found  where  a  zone 
of  country  rock  has  been  so  permeated  by  these  veins  that  the  entire 
belt  may  be  regarded  as  an  ore.  The  values  would,  however,  have  to 
be  much  higher  than  in  most  of  those  now  known  to  make  an  ore  of 
commercial  value.  Large  quartz  veins,  mineralized  with  pyrite  and 
often  auriferous,  are  not  uncommon  in  Seward  Peninsula,  but  few  of 
these  carry  commercial  values. 
On  the  whole,  it  can  be  said  that  the  outlook  for  quartz  mining  in 
Seward  Peninsula  is  far  more  hopeful,  now  that  more  ground  has 
been  stripped,  than  it  was  a  few  years  ago.  It  is  well  worth  while 
to  make  careful  search  for  lodes,  but  the  greatest  conservatism  should 
be  exercised  when  such  lodes  have  been  found.  A  vein  must  be  well 
opened  and  thoroughly  tested  before  any  equipment  is  installed,  and 
only  after  ore  enough  has  been  exposed  to  pay  for  the  mill  is  it  time 
to  think  of  establishing  a  milling  plant. 
The  excitement  last  fall  at  Nome  about  quartz  mining  promised  the 
usual  harvest  of  ill-advised,  to  say  nothing  of  stock-jobbing,  enter- 
!   prises.     The  staking  of  many  of  the  quartz  claims  has  been  of  such  a 
character  that,  where  veins  of  value  are  opened,  nearly  every  claim  will 
i.  run  the  gauntlet  of  law  suits,  and  must  be  expected  to  pay  the  usual 
tribute  to  experts  and  attorneys. 
THE  YUKON  BASIN. 
Placer  mining  was  carried  on  in  all  of  the  old  camps  of  the  Yukon 
and  its  tributaries  during  1903,  and  the  Fairbanks  district  on  the  Tan- 
ana  has  been  added  to  those  of  commercial  importance.  An  account 
of  the  Fairbanks  district  by  Mr.  Prindle  will  be  found  elsewhere  in 
this  bulletin.  In  but  few  creeks  have  any  large  enterprises  been 
inaugurated,  but  in  many  there  has  been  considerable  improvement  in 
mining  methods.  The  annual  output  of  the  Alaskan  Yukon  can  be 
estimated  at  between  $800,000  and  $1,000,000,  which  is  likely  to  be 
materially  increased  with  the  opening  up  of  the  new  Fairbanks  district 
