Title:
Salt Chuck Copper Mine, circa 1910-1930
Description:
HISTORY of MINES and PROSPECTS, KETCHIKAN DISTRICT, PRIOR to 1952
By JOHN BUFVERS
DIVISION of MINES and MINERALS, DEPARTMENT of NATURAL RESOURCES, STATE of ALASKA
"The Salt Chuck Mine, at the head of Kasaan Bay, and at an elevation of 400 feet, was discovered on August 29, 1906, by Si Goodro and a young fellow by the name of Walter Thomas while they were out hunting. The prospect was originally named the "Joker", but during Goodro's ownership, it was known as the Goodro Mine. A good deal of development was performed by Goodro and ore shipments were sent to the smelter, but most of the development was started after the Alaska Palladium Company took over the property in 1919 with J.E. Chilberg, president. Extensive underground work permitted mining of the ore by the glory hole method, and a modern flotation mill of 300-ton capacity was installed. Concentrates were shipped on the motor vessel "Fairbanks" to Prince Rupert, B.C., and from there by railroad to the smelter in Irvington, New Jersey. Due to heavy surface construction in the fall of 1925, more than 70 men were then on the payroll. Thomas P. Lane was mine foreman and A.L. Howard was in charge of the mill. During 1926, until the mine closed down, Fred E. Pegg was mill foreman.
The valuable metals in the ore were gold, copper, and palladium; consequently, in the fall of 1926 when the price of palladium dropped to less than half of its 'former value, the operators were forced to close down. About two years later, to satisfy creditors, the mine was sold at a U.S. Marshal's sale for about $12,000. It was purchased by the late John Koel of Ketchikan.
In 1929, the Salt Chuck Mine, as it is currently called, was taken over by the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada and a large development program was about to be started when the depression forced a shut down.
The Alaska Gold and Metals Company with A.L. Howard, president and manager, took over the mine in 1934, operating it until 1941 when the second World War forced its closure. Arthur J. Theis, a mining engineer who had sold the Darwin Mine in Southern California to Anaconda Copper Company for a large price in 1947, made a deal with Alaska Gold and Metals Company to take over the Salt Chuck Mine and they spent over a year with a crew developing the ground. Because of difficulties arising between Theis and Howard, the mine closed down for the third time in its history.
Si Goodro, before discovering the Salt Chuck, had been prospecting at Dolomi where he found a quartz vein about one mile north of Valaparaiso mill. He built a cabin there and about 1/4 mile of corduroy tram road. He had been associated with a prospect in Westward Alaska in the vinciity of Iliamna Lake, which was later named after him. After selling the Salt Chuck Mine, he was reportedly killed during 1920 in an automobile accident near Yakima, Washington.
J.E. Chilberg is still living in Berkeley, California, with his son Hugh, a real estate operator. Ernest L. Adkins went to Wallace, Idaho, as assayer for the Hecla Mining Company, later moving to Seattle, Washington. He passed away in that city on July 21, 1949, well advanced in years. A.L. Howard died in Seattle, Washington, April 20, 1960 at about the age of 70 years. Thomas P. Lane, a nephew of Charles D. Lane, the well-known operator of the Utica Mine in Calaveras County, California, and also of Nome, Alaska, was last heard from about ten years ago when he was connected with a mine In the vicinity of Bakersfield, California."
By JOHN BUFVERS
DIVISION of MINES and MINERALS, DEPARTMENT of NATURAL RESOURCES, STATE of ALASKA
"The Salt Chuck Mine, at the head of Kasaan Bay, and at an elevation of 400 feet, was discovered on August 29, 1906, by Si Goodro and a young fellow by the name of Walter Thomas while they were out hunting. The prospect was originally named the "Joker", but during Goodro's ownership, it was known as the Goodro Mine. A good deal of development was performed by Goodro and ore shipments were sent to the smelter, but most of the development was started after the Alaska Palladium Company took over the property in 1919 with J.E. Chilberg, president. Extensive underground work permitted mining of the ore by the glory hole method, and a modern flotation mill of 300-ton capacity was installed. Concentrates were shipped on the motor vessel "Fairbanks" to Prince Rupert, B.C., and from there by railroad to the smelter in Irvington, New Jersey. Due to heavy surface construction in the fall of 1925, more than 70 men were then on the payroll. Thomas P. Lane was mine foreman and A.L. Howard was in charge of the mill. During 1926, until the mine closed down, Fred E. Pegg was mill foreman.
The valuable metals in the ore were gold, copper, and palladium; consequently, in the fall of 1926 when the price of palladium dropped to less than half of its 'former value, the operators were forced to close down. About two years later, to satisfy creditors, the mine was sold at a U.S. Marshal's sale for about $12,000. It was purchased by the late John Koel of Ketchikan.
In 1929, the Salt Chuck Mine, as it is currently called, was taken over by the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada and a large development program was about to be started when the depression forced a shut down.
The Alaska Gold and Metals Company with A.L. Howard, president and manager, took over the mine in 1934, operating it until 1941 when the second World War forced its closure. Arthur J. Theis, a mining engineer who had sold the Darwin Mine in Southern California to Anaconda Copper Company for a large price in 1947, made a deal with Alaska Gold and Metals Company to take over the Salt Chuck Mine and they spent over a year with a crew developing the ground. Because of difficulties arising between Theis and Howard, the mine closed down for the third time in its history.
Si Goodro, before discovering the Salt Chuck, had been prospecting at Dolomi where he found a quartz vein about one mile north of Valaparaiso mill. He built a cabin there and about 1/4 mile of corduroy tram road. He had been associated with a prospect in Westward Alaska in the vinciity of Iliamna Lake, which was later named after him. After selling the Salt Chuck Mine, he was reportedly killed during 1920 in an automobile accident near Yakima, Washington.
J.E. Chilberg is still living in Berkeley, California, with his son Hugh, a real estate operator. Ernest L. Adkins went to Wallace, Idaho, as assayer for the Hecla Mining Company, later moving to Seattle, Washington. He passed away in that city on July 21, 1949, well advanced in years. A.L. Howard died in Seattle, Washington, April 20, 1960 at about the age of 70 years. Thomas P. Lane, a nephew of Charles D. Lane, the well-known operator of the Utica Mine in Calaveras County, California, and also of Nome, Alaska, was last heard from about ten years ago when he was connected with a mine In the vicinity of Bakersfield, California."
Collection:
Ketchikan Museums: Tongass Historical Society Collection, THS 81.9.5.341
Click to Enlarge
Salt Chuck Mine
Salt Chuck Mine