"The Nabesna property was discovered by Carl F. Whitham in 1922 while prospecting in the district. During the summer of 1930 four men worked on the property, drifting 157 feet along the vein and sinking 30 feet vertically from the outcrop of the deposit. Some of the surface ore was concentrated by hand with the aid of a rocker.

During the winter of 1930-1931 sufficient funds were raised to buy, and install a 35-ton mill. All equipment was bought now and was freighted in during that winter with sleds and a 30-horsepower tractor from Chitina, the road to the mine not having been built at that time.

A portable sawmill was set up early in the spring of 1931 to cut local spruce lumber for the construction of the mill that operated from July 1st to September 15th, employing 22 men. In May 1932, operation continued for four months with addition to the mill built to make room for more equipment. A crew of 25 men was employed during this season with gross production for the two seasons of 1931 and 1932 approximately $175,000.

More permanent quarters for the men were constructed in 1933 and the four months operation produced approximately $130,000. The short operating periods each year were due to climatic conditions and the lack of a year-around water supply.

"For the winters of 1931-1932 and 1932-1933 a record was kept of the flow from a spring of water in the valley below the mill. It was decided that year-around operation would be feasible, by reclamation of sufficient water from the mill tailings and installation of a small pumping plant at the spring, and a central steam heating plant, and proper insulation of all buildings. During the summer of 1934 a pipe line 2600 feet in length was laid from the spring and pumps installed, increasing the mill capacity to 60 tons in 24 hours. Winter operation was begun during the winter of 1934-1935 and was successful except for a short shut-down from December 9th to January 21st while a broken crankshaft in the diesel was replaced. An average of 40 men have since been employed. Operations since then have been continuous except for minor shut-downs for repairs and installation of new machinery. The gross production for 1934 was approximately $220,000, while that of 1935 was approximately $250,000."

In 1937 the Nabesna property consisted of 36 continuous quartz claims amounting to approximately 720 acres. Several placer claims in the valley adjoining are also owned by the corporation.

"The high-grade concentrates produced during the first two seasons were taken by pack-horse to the Nabesna landing field six miles away, flown 120 miles by airplane- to Copper Center, trucked 50 miles to Chitina, then shipped by rail to Cordova and by steamship to Tacoma Smelter.

From:

Holdsworth, Philip Ross THE NABESNA GOLD MINE AND MILL Seattle, University of Washington, 1937. p. 3-7

In 1933 a tractor-trailor unit took the concentrates 103 miles to Gakona, 2 miles from the Richardson Highway. From Gakona they were trucked and shipped as before. Since the completion of the road to the mine in the fall of 1933, concentrates have been trucked to Valdez or Chitina, depending on the season, and shipped from those points to the Tacoma Smelter.

The total gross production of the Nabesna mill from the beginning of milling operations in July, 1931, up to January 1st, 1937, was approximately $965,000.