78  CONTRIBUTIONS    TO    ECONOMIC    GEOLOGY,  1903.  [bull. 225. 
to  carry  gold,  and  in  one  or  two  instances  have  yielded  large  returns, 
but  the  successful  treatment  of  the  deposits  depends  on  securing  a 
supply  of  water  of  sufficient  head  and  volume  to  remove  the  overlying 
tundra  and  ice  economically  and  to  work  the  gravels  on  a  considerable 
scale. 
Bear  Creek. — Bear  Creek,  which  empties  into  Buckland  River 
between  40  and  50  miles  to  the  southeast  of  Candle  City,  is  about  17 
miles  long,  and  rises  in  the  eruptive  area  east  of  Kiwalik  River. 
During  the  past  season  some  40  men  have  been  at  work  on  the  creek. 
The  output  is  derived  chiefly  from  two  small  tributaries,  Sherdon  and 
Cub  creeks,  and  that  portion  of  Bear  Creek  which  lies  between  them. 
On  account  of  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  supplies,  all  of  which  must  be 
brought  overland  from  Candle  Cit}^,  none  but  the  richest  of  the  claims 
have  paid  for  working  under  present  conditions,  and  many  of  the 
prospectors  report  that  they  have  not  made  wages. 
Alder  Beach. — These  diggings  are  located  near  the  mouth  of  Alder 
Creek,  which  flows  into  Kotzebue  Sound  about  midway  between  Kiwa- 
lik and  Deering.  The  gold-bearing  gravels,  being  shallow  and  of  no 
great  extent,  have  furnished  work  for  only  a  few  men.  The  gold 
occurs  on  bed  rock;  it  is  fine  and  little  worn,  and  is  clearly  derived 
from  the  neighboring  schist. 
The  output  from  Alder  Beach  diggings  for  the  past  two  years  is 
reported  to  be  between  $12,000  and  $14,000. 
CHARACTER  AND  ORIGIN   OF  THE  GOLD. 
The  gold  production  of  the  Kotzebue  field  from  the  year  of  its 
discovery,  1901,  to  the  present  is  estimated  to  be  not  far  from  $415,000. 
Of  this  amount  some  $325,000  came  from  Candle  Creek,  about  $12,000 
from  the  Alder  Creek  diggings,  $10,000  from  Bear  Creek,  and  the 
remainder  from  Old  Glory,  Hannum  Creek,  and  Inmachuk  River. 
The  production  of  Hannum  is  very  small. 
Gold  from  the  Inmachuk  district  is  dark  and  heavy,  assaying  aboul 
$18  to  the  ounce;  almost  no  black  sand  is  present,  but  considerable 
gray  sand  or  pyrite  is  seen  in  the  pan  and  the  boxes  always  contain  a 
large  quantity  of  rounded  hematite  pebbles  which  the  miners  cal 
u ironstones."  The  gold  frequently  contains  a  little  quartz  and  is 
sometimes  seen  in  the  form  of  fine  veinlets  in  the  ironstones.  Smal 
pieces  of  rutile  are  occasionally  found  with  the  heavy  concentrates  an< 
have  been  mistaken  for  cassiterite.  Dr.  Cabell  Whitehead,  of  the 
Alaska  Banking  and  Safe  Deposit  Company,  has  informed  the  writei 
that  about  27  ounces  of  tin  were  recovered  in  cleaning  gold  broughl 
to  Nome  from  Old  Glory  Creek,  so  that  the  tin  ore,  cassiterite,  musl 
be  present  on  that  stream.  On  the  upper  part  of  Hannum  Creek,  s 
small  quantity  of  galena  is  associated  with  the  gold  and  ironstones, 
Much  of  the  gold  from  the  Inmachuk  and  its  tributaries  is  coarse  and 
