GRAVEL THAWING BY
COLD WATER PROCESS
Recent successful demonstrations of
the utility of the cold water process of
thawing frozen gravels, for mining
purposes has led to an investigation
by the l'. S. Geological Survey, th®
results of which are embodied in a
report of that department shotting the
successful demonstrations of 191S and
embodying the best information avail
able regarding the methods of opera
tion and the various problems involv
ed. Following is n digest of the state
ment. The thawing of auriferous
gravels by cold water Instead of steam
or hot water is of the greatest import
ance to the Alaska gold industry nnl
may bring about a complete revolu
tion of thawing methods, owing to its
greatly lessened cost. The report
The use of «-ol«l writer—tnat is.
water at the normal summer tempera
ture of ponds, ditches and creeks—in
thawing perpetually frozen muck and
gravel is a recent development that
promises to he of value to the placer
miners of Alaska. The idea is per
haps not entirely new. but its appli
cation to mining was not successfully
demonstrated until the season of 1018.
The method is far from being estab
lished. and much experimental work
remains to he done before its real
value and limitations are known, ft
promises to he an economic means
of thawing ground for dredging and
open-cut mining. The available data
on the subject ns given below are ab
stracted from a report now In course
of publication by the l'nitc.1 States :
Geological Survey. Department of the
Interior.
Experiments were made during the
season of 1917 for the Alaska Mines
Corporation, near N<wne. for the pur
pose of determining the most efficient
and economical means of thawing the
deep Nome gravels for dredging. Su
perheated steam at a temperature of
^ 000 degress Fahrenheit, steam at
ISO degrees Fahronheit^and water at
steam temperature of 52 degress Fah
lenheit. were used in the experiments.
In the experiments in which steam
and hot water were used three holes
were drilled to bedrock at the point*
of an equilateral triangle 12 feet apart,
and at a point intermediate between
them a test hole was drilled, whioh i
was cased and kept open to determine
when the ground had thawed to the'j
center. Shafts were sunk in the!
thawed ground, and drifts were run
to the limits of the thawed area. In
the tests in which hot water and
steam at boiler temperature were used
the thawed areas tended to come
downward, leaving horses of unthaw
ed ground on bedrock. Superheated
steam at 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit
thawed a mass of gravel 66 feet deep.
32 feet in diameter at the bottom, and
27 feet in diameter at the top. The
thawed area was greatest on bedrock,
and where a clay stratum was encoun
tered the hole did not pinch.
Two holes were thawed by the]
cold-water method, both single holes'!
without tlte test holes used in the |
foregoing experiments. One hole was
43% feet, and the other 50 feet deep.
Both were 6-inch holes drilled to bed
rock with an Empire drill. A 2-inch
pipe was inserted to bedrock, and a
small gas engine, developing not more
than 30 pounds pressure, was used tji
force water down the pipe. The
water was allowed to run from the
bottom of the pipe and flo>v over the
surface, the circulating water thawing
the ice out of the muck and gravel.
As no test holes were used It was not
possible to tell how rapidly the thawr
ing progressed until the ground began
to slough in «t the surface. This re
quired from flve to six days. T'te
shrinkage in the thawed ground was
about one-third, which represents the
volume of ice present in the muck and
gravel. The temperature of the water
issuing from the hole was nqt taken.
A shaft sunk in the thawed ground
showed the holes to have passed thru
a stratum of clay. The area thawed
wras in cross section like an hour glass,
having a width of 22 feet on bedrock,
pinching to 6 feet at the clay stratum,
and widening to 18 feet at the surface
It la to be noted that the thawing was
most effective where it was most de
sired, on bedrock.
Sufficient work was not done nor
were sufficient quantative data col
lected to warrant any' extensive con
clusions. but the experiments are in
teresting In that they demonstrate the
ability of cold water to thaw frozen
ground effectively on bedrock. Other
wise stated, they demonstrate the'effi
ciency of a. heat unit which Is near
the feezing point and available by
natural processes. Any preference
for thawing by cold water rather than
by superheated steam must of course
rest on grounds of economy.
During the season of 1918 the cold*
water method just outlined was used
With some important modifications In
several operations.
Pierce and Johnson, in the Candle
district, drilled a 6-inch hole In 24 fe4
of muck (no gravel) and introduced
water by a 94-inch pipe under a head
of 15 feet (6 pounds pressure.) The
water entered the gi-ound at 42 de
grees Fahrenheit, and left at 32 to it
degrees Fahrenheit. The time of
thaw was seven days, and the diarti
eter of the thaw area 8 feet. SteJOn
had been tried under the conditions
prevailing here and was not satisfac
tory. Water did the work well.
The same company used cold water
in thawing creek gravels preparatory I
to dredging. The ground thawed
was 12 or 13 foet deep, and consisted 1
nf 4 to 5 feet of clay and murk. 4 to 3
feet of gravel and 3 feet of soft blue
clay bedrock. A battery of forty $4
inch points was used, the points spar- i
ed in squares 5 feet apart. It *vna
found by trial that 5-foot spacingwe- 1
quired 48 hours to thaw, and that the
thaw was perfect, whereas 10-foot
spacing required 96 hours to thaw,
and hoists of unthawed material were
left on bedrock. The water entered
the ground at 42 degrees Fahrenheit,
and came from the thaw at 38 to 39
degrees Fahrenheit. Water under a
head of 24 feet (10.4 pounds pressure)
was used. The thawing took place
first and was widest on bedrock.
Shrinkage of as much as 3 feet was
observed and was confined almost en
tirely to the muck. It is estimated
that 60 miner's inches of water was
used to run the 40 jpoints continuously.
Three men were employed, two on the
’day and one on the night shift. A
50-horspower engine was used to
,puinp water to a reservoir 24 feet
above creek level and was run three
j'hours tn **s»cb eight. In this opera
tion h.,i'os nor.* mo drill*The
points were set with water and re
quited o.nl> an occasional twist with
a stiison to force them to bedrock as
thawing progressed.
From the tests made with cold water
near Nome, as described abdve, clay
would seem to require special con
sideration. Will increase in pressure
or increase In time he more efficient
,ln thawing such impervious strata?
What is the most efficient spicing for
various depths of gravel? In deep
gravels the dead work necessary In
handling and connecting pipe will pro
bably justify fewer boles and longer
operating time to each thaw than will
be f mnd efficient in shallow gravels.
It is possible that the method may
not lie applicable under all conditions.
Depth of ground, character of ground,
availability of water, and slowness of
thaw may lie factors that will limit
Its use. Even though there a-e lim
itations to its application, the method
will undoubtedly be useful in thawing
shallow ground where water is easily
available, and that is putting the max
imum restriction upon its use.
Sufficient (lata are not available to
make any general prediction concern
ing the time required In thawing un
der various conditions, but the infor
mation at hand is summarized below.
In the experimental work on the
deep Nome gravels the volume ac
tually thawed amounted to about 59
cubic yards a day for one point using
a pressure of about SO pounds and
water at 52 degrees Fahrenheit. The
tept on muck in the Candle district
shows a voulnie of about * cubic yards
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thawed per point per day where the
water pressure was about 6 pounds,
the water temperature 42 degrees Fah
renheit. and the depth of ground 24
f£et. The ereek gravels thawed at
the same locality were 13 feet deep.
\VJator at a pressure of about 10
pounds and a temperature of 42 de
grees Fahrenheit was used, and the
rate of thaw is calculated at 6 cubic
yards per point per day.
From these figures the rate of thaw
iiirdcep gravel would seem to be favor
able rather than unfavorable,20 points
being required to supply 1,000 cubic
I yards of thawed ground a day, as com
pared with 160 |>oints required to sup
ply a like amount of shallow creek
gravel or muck.
COLO DREDGING IN ALASKA
Production In 1918 Amounted to
Nearly $1,500,000
Twenty-eight gold dredges were
operated in Alaska in 1918, produc
ing $1,425,000 worth of gold, accord
ing to a report on the Alaskan Mining
Industry just issued by the U. S. Geo
logical Survey. Department of the In
terior. Twenty-one dredges wen* in
Seward Peninsula, three in the Idita
rod district, and one each in the Fair
banks. Circle. Yentna, and Kusko
kwiin districts. These dredges hand
led about 2.190,000 cubic yards of
gravel. In 1917, 36 dredges handled
3,700,000 cubic yards of gravel and re
covered gold worth $2,500,000. The
average recovery of gold per cubic
yard was about 57 cents in* 1918 and
68 rents in 1917. The gold dredges
of Seward Peninsula produced gold
worth $466,000 from 1,164.000 eubio
yards of gravel, making an average
recovery of 40 cents a cubic* yard in
1917. The dredges of the Alaska Yu
kon districts produced gold worth
$881,00,0 from 1,125,000 cubic yards of
is**—*•!. >uUW “ vniUe iper ru>.«*- istfpl
of about 78 cents.
Though dredges were built for use
In the Alaska Yukon as early as 1898
and at Nome in 1900, this method of
pla<*er mining did not reach a profit
able stage until 1903. when two small
dredges were successfully operated in
Seward Peninsula. Dredging began in
the Fort.vmile district In 1907; in the
Iditurod. Birch Greek, and Fairbanks
district in 1912: in the Yentna district
in 1916; and In the Koskokwim region
in 1918. A new dredge was installed
in the Fairbanks district in* 1918 aSvl
may have begun operating late in
the season. The new dredge on C;yi
dle Greek, in the lvuskokwim region,
was completed in 1918 and operated
for a short period. Up to the end of
1918 gold to the value of $19,035,#00
had been mined by dredges. The re
latively low recovery of the dredges In
1918 was due. In part, to the unusually
large amount of frozen ground en
countered in Seward Peninsula, and
in part to the exhaustion of the re
dlodged at Ruby in previous years,
latively rich ground which had been
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Los Angeles, in an interesting Inter- I
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Tanlac Is sold In Nome by Lomen
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ALASKA PRODUCES TIN
The tin mines of Alaska produced
130,000 pounds of tin, valued at $118.
000, in 1918, according to the U. S.
|Geological Survey Department of the
I Interior. Theso figures may be com
| pared with 200,000 pounds, valued at
[$123,300, in 1917. The decrease in out
put In 1918 was due to the fact that
only one dredge was operated. Addi
tional tin, however, was recovered* by
| sluicing. The first important produc
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OPPOSITE ALASKA SANK
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tlon of Alaska tin was imported In
1902, when the output was IS tons.
Since 1912 the average has been over
100 tons annually.
The recent discovery of placer tin
has been reported from Potato and
Htflhhojt creeks, on* Seward’ Penin
sula, and from Moran Creek, a tribu
tary of Melos! Illver, where the
p-an-ls are sand to contain 2% pounds
of tin and 10 cent's worth of sold to
the cubic yard.
SUITS MADE TO ORDER FIRST CLASS WORKMANSHIP
Nome Tailoring Co.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN’S CLEANING,
PRESSING AND REPAIRING
MODERN METHODS AND PROMPT SERVICE
Opposite Nugget Offica.
Noma, Alaska
NOTICE
EFFECTIVE DECEMBER 15, 1919 THE PRICE OF WELLING
TON COAL WILL BE THIRTY SIX DOLLARS PER TON IN THE
YARDS OF THE A. L. A C. CO. DELIVERY SUBJECT TO RE
QUISITIONS FROM THE CITY COUNCIL. TERMS STRICTLY
WE WISH TO ANNOUNCE TO THE PUBLIC AT THI8 TIME
THAT THIS COMPANY WILL NOT AGAIN CARRY A WINTER
COAL SUPPLY.
ALIi DEPARTMENTS AND OFFICES CLOSED
Between 12:00 nncl 1:00 p. m.
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Capital - - $100,000
Gold Dust Purchase*. 1
And Assayed
MILO’S CAFE
OPEN DAY AND
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■wt tar f PACIXC OOU>
rrosAaa lonr.
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