to
fourth place, and California and Nevada each moved up one place. No
other State or Territory produced as much as $1,000,000 in gold in
1910. The most notable increases in 1910 were: $2,638,901 in Nevada,
$426,094 in Washington, $411,866 in Arizona, $242,933 in New Mexico,
$27,815 in North Carolina, and $27,271 in South Carolina. The heaviest
decreases were, $4,284,967 in Alaska, $1,482,278 in Colorado, and
$1,175,579 in South Dakota.
In
silver output the principal producing States and Territories ranked as
follows: Nevada, Montana, Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Arizona, and
California. The relative positions were the same as in 1909, except
that in 1910 Nevada moved from third place to first, sending Montana
from first to second and Utah from second to third. The largest
increases in silver production in 1910 were: 1,498,810 ounces in
Nevada, 446,204 ounces in New Mexico, 328,109 ounces in Idaho, and
125,857 ounces in Washington. The largest decreases were: 1,250,201
ounces in Utah, 393,035 ounces in Colorado, 258,168 ounces in
California, and 215,857 ounces in Montana.
GOLD AND SILVER INDUSTRY BY STATES AND TERRITORIES.
Alaska.—The
gold production of Alaska in 1910 was $16,126,749, a decrease from that
of 1909 of $4,284,967. The output from siliceous ores was $4,105,459
against $4,117,440 in 1909, and that from copper ores was $36,484
against $41,638 in 1909. The production from placers, however,
declined from $16,252,638 in 1909 to $11,984,806 in 1910, and here the
heavy falling off in Alaska gold production is mainly found. The output
by geographic provinces was as follows: From the Pacific coast belt,
including southeastern Alaska and Prince William Sound, $4,182,730,
against $4,264,716 in 1909; from the Copper River and Cook Inlet
region, $351,630, against $265,000 in 1909; from the Yukon and
Kuskokwim basins, $8,062,389, against $11,580,000 in 1909; and from
Seward Peninsula and northwestern Alaska, $3,530,000, against
$4,302,000 in 1909. There was increased output of $86,630 from the
second of the above-named regions, but decreases of $81,986,
$3,517,611, and $772,000, respectively, from the first, third, and
fourth. About throe-fourths of the gold" from Alaska still comes from
the placers, but this ratio is on the decline, as the placer output
tends to decrease while the production from deep mines is relatively
on the increase.
The
auriferous lode mines of southeastern Alaska produced $3,839,626 in
gold in 1910, against $4,098,900 in 1909. The great Treadwell low-grade
gold mines of the Juneau district continued to be the heaviest
producers. A new auriferous lode district was developed in 1910 on Port
Yaldez, in Prince William Sound, and there was great activity in
gold-quartz prospecting on Kenai Peninsula and elsewhere in Alaska
during the year. The Fairbanks district, in the Yukon basin, produced
only $6,100,000 in gold in 1910, 'against $9,650,000 in 1909, and here
the decline in Alaskan output is chiefly found nowT, and to
be expected in the future, as the better-known and higher-grade gravels
are being worked out, notwithstanding discoveries of new ground in
this district, as on Fish and Gold-stream Creeks in 1910. The new
Innoko-Iditarod district, in the Yukon basin, is estimated to have
produced $825,000 in 1910. In
