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Discovering mining portals, tunnels, winzes surrounding Lot 6, USGS 2764, requesting mineral survey abbreviation decipher.
I own Lot 6, USGS 2764 on the edge of Cordova, Alaska. Lot 6 changed shape and now rests next to the “Papoose Fraction”. Papoose is State owned & ‘reserved for public use & enjoyment” (nice waterfall to camp next to). Papoose is only 0.27 acres now, though Lot 6/Papoose used to be included in USMS 1061. I have discovered five portals and a collapsed tunnel within a thousand feet of Lot 6. (And an old carbide lamp)
The attached image from a 1917 survey of the Papoose Fraction shows an arrow pointing to lettering (distance/coordinates?) in the middle of my current real estate— shows the abbreviation ‘DISC. PT. No. 1’.
If anyone could confirm that ‘DISC. PT. No. 1’ as it appears on the attached image correlates to “Point of Discovery” I would appreciate it. Also & specifically, if & how that abbreviation relates to the arrow & lettering (distance/coordinates). The Mineral Survey includes 104 pages— mostly field notes with details of mine sites, owners, length & direction of tunnels, value in 1917 currency Etc. It uses abbreviations with no key, and much of the information on the survey has a look of having been photocopied with loss of data/clarity. On the upper right hand of the image, on another claim, an abbreviation ‘DISC. POINT No. 1’ is shown with coordinates. Other maps of nearby claims show the exact abbreviation, or “Disc.” with lower case letters as shown, as if each claim relied upon a discovery point. Maps also show “Disc. Tunnel No. 1” on nearby claims.
“Point of Discovery” is defined as ƒ?? “In mining, the precisely indicated position at which a valuable mineral is exposed to view. In the absence of proof to the contrary, the discovery point is held to be the center of the vein on the surface”
On Lot 6, there are 70′ tall hemlock & spruce trees, overburden, then hardpan so dense it makes a pick bounce. Two mounds of apparently undisturbed hardpan up to 20′ deep in places have been exposed by yours truly, showing everything from layers of gravel, clay, sand & ash to boulders twice the size of your truck— oh, and volcanic rocks that have a variety of attributes. Plenty of pyrite in hand-crushable ‘rocks’ are found in layers of softer dirt, that if previously disturbed would have been disintegrated. We live in copper country, and I believe WWII ended all prospecting/mining in the area. The abbreviated DISC. PT. No.1 has an arrow pointing to the middle of my property & to the lettering. In that exact spot on my property, there is a wide swath where the hardpan had been removed, but with the hundred years of growth, I am slow at accessing bedrock. People were made tougher in those days. Old locals say “thar be gold”, and “there ain’t no gold”. I have been keeping watch for gemstones, too. Found a nice geode. The hardpan likely has a hodgepodge of elements, the bedrock likely has copper ore.
Lot 6 rests along the “Cordova Fault”, a healed fault line that is plainly visible to those looking for it.
Thanks much for reading, and to any who respond. Trying to decipher the information on the map—
Chancy Soul
Lot 6, USGS 2764
Cordova, Alaska
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