Dahl Creek deposit, Dahl Creek, Kobuk River district, Alaska

Dahl Creek, a tributary of the Kobuk River in northwestern Alaska, held what the U.S. Bureau of Mines' Minerals Yearbook for 1943 called "a deposit of long-fiber chrysotile of good quality," in which interest "has been renewed."⁴ The yearbook said that samples "were first sent to the Bureau of Mines in 1932," and that the deposit "evidently consists of slip-fiber veins, the largest of which, according to present knowledge, is 3 inches across."⁴

Tremolite and chrysotile

For 1944 the yearbook reported that "recently good-quality tremolite has been found in the same region," mined by the Arctic Circle Exploration Co., of Candle, Alaska, and "sold through Philip S. Hoyt"; it said that "some of it has already been introduced into United States markets."¹ In February 1945 Asbestos, the industry's trade journal, citing the Mining Journal of Phoenix, reported that the firm had "shipped about 25 tons of asbestos from its mine on Cosmos Mountain in the Shungnak area near Candle, Alaska, during the autumn months," with 15 more tons sacked, "ready to go out by plane"; the item does not name Dahl Creek.³ It named Gene F. Jack of Candle as superintendent of the mine and James S. Robbins as general manager.³ For 1945 the yearbook said that "tremolite asbestos was again produced in the Dahl Creek area," that "a small quantity of long slip-fiber chrysotile also was produced," and that "the deposits of both varieties were worked by the Arctic Circle Exploration Co."²

No output

For 1946 and 1947 the yearbook, speaking of the Kobuk River district rather than Dahl Creek by name, said the company had produced tremolite and chrysotile there "in recent years," but that "no output was reported for 1946" and "no production was reported for 1947."^5,6 It called them "rather inaccessible deposits of tremolite and chrysotile" and reported no output from the district in 1948, 1949 or 1950.^7,8,9 For 1951 it again reported no asbestos produced from the Kobuk River deposit, though Philip S. Hoyt, of Aguila, Arizona, "reported some prospecting."¹⁰

The documents report small or short-lived production of asbestos fiber for sale.⁵

Output the documents report

Figures as printed, in the units each document uses (short tons before about 1990, metric tons after, in most U.S. chapters). Some are a year's output, some a daily rate or a capacity, some a company's total rather than this mine's alone; the statement for that year below says which.

Year by year

Every statement about this mine in the documents, in each document's own words, by the year it is about.

1932

• Description: “Samples from this deposit were first sent to the Bureau of Mines in 1932”, p. 6⁴

1943

• Reserves: “The deposit evidently consists of slip-fiber veins, the largest of which ... is 3 inches across. The extent of the deposit has not yet been determined”, p. 6⁴
• Exploration: “Interest has been renewed in a deposit of long-fiber chrysotile of good quality in northwestern Alaska on Dahl Creek, a tributary of the Kobuk River”, p. 6⁴

1944

• Fiber: “Deposits of slip-fiber chrysotile have been known for some time in the Dahl Creek area, Kobuk River district, but recently good-quality tremolite has been found in the same region”, p. 2¹
• Buyers: “Some of it has already been introduced into United States markets. An important use is for making chemical filters” (Arctic Circle Exploration Co.), p. 2¹
• Worked: “recently good-quality tremolite has been found in the same region ... It was mined by the Arctic Circle Exploration Co., Candle, Alaska” (Arctic Circle Exploration Co.), p. 2¹
• Output: “shipped about 25 tons of asbestos from its mine on Cosmos Mountain” (Arctic Circle Exploration, Inc.), as reported by Mining Journal (Phoenix, Ariz.), p. 38³

1945

• Workforce: “Gene F. Jack of Candle is superintendent of the mine” (Arctic Circle Exploration, Inc.), as reported by Mining Journal (Phoenix, Ariz.), p. 38³
• Worked: “The deposits of both varieties were worked by the Arctic Circle Exploration Co., Candle, Alaska” (Arctic Circle Exploration Co.), p. 2²
• Fiber: “A small quantity of long slip-fiber chrysotile also was produced” (Arctic Circle Exploration Co.), p. 2²
• Worked: “Tremolite asbestos was again produced in the Dahl Creek area” (Arctic Circle Exploration Co.), p. 2²

1946

• Idle: “no output was reported for 1946” (Arctic Circle Exploration Co.), p. 2⁵

1947

• Idle: “no production was reported for 1947” (Arctic Circle Exploration Co.), p. 2⁶

1948

• Idle: “in 1948 no output was reported from them”, p. 2⁷

1949

• Description: “A comprehensive report on these deposits was issued by the Bureau of Mines”, p. 2⁸
• Idle: “There was no production of asbestos in 1949 from the Alaskan deposits in the Kobuk River district”, p. 2⁸

1950

• Idle: “No asbestos was produced in 1950 from the Alaska deposits in the Kobuk River district”, p. 2⁹

1951

• Idle: “No asbestos was produced in 1951 from the Alaska deposit in the Kobuk River district”, p. 2¹⁰

Other names

Documents call this mine “Dahl Creek”, “Dahl Creek area”, “mine on Cosmos Mountain in the Shungnak area near Candle”.

See also

• Asbestos exposure sites in Alaska
• All asbestos mines

References

1. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1944 (January 1, 1945), p. 2.
2. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1945 (January 1, 1946), p. 2.
3. Asbestos Magazine, 1945, February 1945 (February 1, 1945), p. 38.
4. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1943 (January 1, 1944), p. 6.
5. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1946 (January 1, 1947), p. 2.
6. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1947 (January 1, 1948), p. 2.
7. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1948 (January 1, 1949), p. 2.
8. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1949 (January 1, 1950), p. 2.
9. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1950 (January 1, 1951), p. 2.
10. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1951 (January 1, 1952), p. 2.