Territorial Dept
Of Mines Bulletin
December. 1954
Sen. Charles D. Jones of Nome
is one of the incorporators of a
new company known as the Ura
nium Corporation of Alaska. Oth
er members of the new concern
are Tom B. Reilly and Thomas
Jones of Seward, and Elinor Hicks
and Casimer Cechowski of An
chorage.
* * *
The Nixon Fork country, north
east of McGrath, is the center of
a new flurry of radioactive inter
est. Following the staking of a
' group of claims by two pilots,
about 30 more people went into
the area and staked about 35
claims.
As with the Shirley Lake “rush”
of the previous month, above
normal radioactivity was found,
but high-grade samples have not
yet been isolated. However, a
U.S.C.G. Trace Elements report
dated 1949 states that the area
has possibilities and suggests that
geochemical prospecting might be
more successful there than radio
metric traversing.
The Territorial Department of
Mines again warned people not to
get excited, and by all means for
inexperienced persons not to go
rushing off into the bush in the
face of winter. Two good exam
ples why people who are not in
the prospecting business should
not drop everything and run the
minute they hear the word “Ura
nium!” are in the following para
graphs:
An individual that was pros
pecting and promoting in the Sew
ard Peninsula district this past
Nome Laundry
& Cleaners
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FOR PICKUP
• |
Joe Amarok,' Proprietor
summer is known to have im
ported 50 pounds of radioactive
ore from the Colorado Plateau. It
is not known at present what was
done with this material. Fifty
pounds of high-grade carnotite
could contaminate, or “salt,” a
lot of country.
A uranium “story” that almost
went to press in good faith in
Fairbanks was only stopped when
it was" found that the teller is
doing 60 days in Seattle for im
personating an Army major in a
mining deal. His “story” was of
radioactives in the Chandalar
country so hot they burned the
backs and arms of the men who
carried the samples.
* » *
Suggested Prospecting Tool
It has been gnawing at our
mind for some time that there
exists a practical tool to remove
the shallow cover of moss and
soil that obscures the bedrock in
Southeastern Alaska. Exposures
are few and when, by coincidence,
one of these exposures is found to
be mineralized and to constitute
a favorable prospect, it is almost
certain that stripping of over
burden will be necessary in order
to expose the showing and to de
termine its length.
Specifically, the suggestion we
have in mind is this: a small, port
able pump, such as the “pack
sack” types used by the U.S.
Forest Service fire fighting units,
is capable of delivering a volume
of water with sufficient velocity
to ground-sluice the overburden
from a dozen average exposures
while one man could clean one
with a shovel.
With the many adequate sour
ces of water in the region, togeth
er with the generally hilly terrain,
hydraulicking by means of small
portable pumps and accessories
such as hose (plastic?) and irriga
tion-type canvas dams would def
initely appear to be worth a try.
We don’t know if it ever has
been tried, nor do we know of
units particularly designed for
this purpose, but we aim to find
out.
The Territorial Department of
Mines will welcome opinions or
suggestions from anyone with
knowledge of small, easily trans
portable pumping units that might
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By the Bucket Or by the Tank
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Main 19 Softened & Tempered Main 19
MINERS & MERCHANTS
BANK OF ALASKA
NOME ALASKA
ARCTIC OIL DELIVERY
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Ben Young
We Check Your Tank Regularly
Office Phone: BLACK 76 Residence: MAIN 52
70-Mile Winds
Slow Traffic in
Southern Calif.
(By the Associated Press'
Winds up to 70 miles an hour
whipped Southern California to
day, toppling power lines and bill
boards and slowing traffic.
And as the winds rose, humid
ity dropped. The Los Angeles Fire
Department described the fire
hazard as “really dangerous.”
A $2,500,000 blaze burned
through the Pullerton warehouse
district.
The 70-mile-an-hour blasts were
recorded at Ontario. The wind
whistling west from the desert
virtually stalled traffic on high
ways in the Beaumont-Banning
area. Gales lashed Cajon Pass and
upper canyons of the San Bema
dino and San Gabriel Mountains.
Warm, wet air moving north
ward from the Gulf of Mexico and
cold air settling slowly southward
out of Canada boded a day of
rains, snow and a sloppy mixture
of both for much of the Midwest
today.
Light rain fell across central
Missouri, southeastern Iowa, north
Illinois and south Michigan. Light
snow fell to the north of the rain
area.
The weather variety ranged
from flashes of lightning in north
central Texas and northeastern
Oklahoma, to unpleasant ther
mometer readings of two below
zero at Grand Forks, N.D., and
eight below at International Falls,
Minn.
be effectively adapted to this par
ticular usage. Also, on the merits
of light-weight pipe or hose, noz
zles, or other pertinent accessor
ies.
l . . .
From the Bulletin of the
American Mining Congress
MINERALS PURCHASE PRO
GRAMS: The General Services
Administration has issued a sum
mation of the quantities of metals
and minerals procured through
Sept. 30 under the government’s
purchase programs for domestic
tungsten, manganese, chrome, mi
ca, beryl, asbestos, columbium,
tantalum, and mercury. The sum
mation does not include any met
als or minerals resulting from
Defense Minerals Exploration Ad
ministration programs.
The GSA report shows purchas
es as follows: Tungsten—author
ized program, 3 million short ton
units of contained tungsten; pro
cured 1,224,367 short ton units;
Manganese—authorized program,
37 million long ton units; deliv
ered 9,41,2,988 long ton units;
Chrome — authorized program,
200.000 long tons of ores and con
centrates; delivered 70,040 long
tons: Mica—authorized program,
25.000 short tons of hand-cobbed
mica or the equivalent; delivered
4,157 tons; Beryl—authorized pro
gram,' 1,500 short tons; delivered
457 short tons; Asbestos—author
ized program, 1,500 short tons of
Crude No. 1 and/or No. 2; deliv
ered 617 tons of Crude Nos. 1 and
2; Columbium-Tantalum—author
ized program, 15 million pounds
of contained combined columbi
um-tantalum pentoxide; delivered
5,326,144 pounds; and Mercury—
authorized program, 125,000 flasks
—delivered none.
, Having Stove or Oil Problems?
See Tom Tungwenuk
Call While 128
SMOKE STACKS CLEANED
Hams With A History |
TO VIRGINIANS, a ham by any other name than Smithfield Ham
docs not taste as sweet. Residents of the little community from
which the ham gets its name have preserved the ancient skill of
curing pork cut from carcasses of peanut-fed hogs. Gourmets
prize the ultimate product as a distinct delicacy.
INSISTENCE on peanut-fed is
indispensable. It imparts "dif
ferent” taste. In cure, hams
are dry-salted, then returned
to original cellar spot, but in
new position.
HM
1
SMOKING, with oak, hickory
and apple logs (and only
these) begins after ham has
been covered with black pep
per. Then hams are hung in
aging room. Process takes the
best part of a year.
CUBING, SMOKING and aging makes a delicious ham and one
of which the community is understandably proud. Major processor
of product is P. D. Gwaltney, Jr., & Co., 150-year-old Smithiield
enterprise. Its International trucks move the ham to consumers
residing in cities along the Eastern seaboard.
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