1) For those interested in searching for Platinum in Alaska, the price per ounce for it is about one-third more than gold.

Platinum usually occurs in basic or ultrabasic rocks, rocks with a low silica or quartz content. It is also found as grains, flakes or nuggets in streams derived from areas containing such rocks.

Pre-Columbian Indians in South America made crude jewelry from platinum nuggets and flakes found in streams of present day Columbia. When the Spanish came they named it platina, meaning "little silver."

According to the U. S. Geological Survey Bulletin 193, Geological Relations and Distribution of Platinum and Associated Metals, 1902, the largest majority of placer platinum found in the U. S. has been recovered from the Salmon River/Goodnews Bay district of southwestern Alaska. The U. S. Bureau of Mines reported an estimated 540,000 troy oz. of platinum was produced at Goodnews Bay between 1934 and 1976.

So, treasure hunters remember, the next time you are searching for gold, either with a pan, sluice or dredge in Alaska, or anywhere, watch out for small white flakes of what appears to be silver. They could be the most precious mineral you will find, platinum.

2) For those interested in searching ghost or near ghost towns in Alaska, here are several that might be worth checking out. Remember, many of the ghost towns were once gold mining camps, so you could get lucky and find a long forgotten cache of gold.

ANCHORAGE COUNTY: Eklutna and Sunrise near Hope.

BARROW-KOBUK COUNTY: Nigaluk on the Beaufort Sea, Thetis and Corwin Coal Mines, York on the Bearing Sea, Sullivan, Davis, Shelton and Spooner in the Council area, Bluff, Pastolik, and Kikiktak on Norton Sound.

BETHEL COUNTY: Kweegamut and Ingeramut on Nunivak Island, Oganik, Lamagrik, Summer Village and Kwinakamut.

BRISTOL BAY COUNTY: Katmai on Shelikof Strait.

CORDOVA-VALDEZ COUNTY: Chisna, Dempsey, Hogan, Tonsina, Landlock,Beaver Dam, Nelson, Ocra, Abercrombie and Nizina.

FAIRBANKS-FORT YUKON COUNTY: Engineer, Meehan, Dome, Donnelley, Rapids, McCallum, Starr, Chicken and Jack Wade.

JUNEAU COUNTY: Amalga, Douglas and Treadwell on Douglas Island, Snettisham; Sumdum and Windham.

KENIA-COOK COUNTY: Beluga on Cook Inlet.

KETCHIKAN-PRINCE OF WALES COUNTY: Howkan and Jackson on Long Island and Loring on Digedo Island.

KIDIAK COUNTY: Afognak was a Russian settlement on Three Saints Bay that was destroyed by an earthquake in 1792.

SITKA COUNTY: Porcupine on the Canadian border, Dyea, Chilkat, Jualin, Gypsum, Podman on Baranof Island, and old Sitka.

WADE-HAMPTON COUNTY: Pymut on the Yukon River.

WRAMGLER and/or PETERSBURG COUNTY: Tonka and Kupreanof Island, Woedsky and Mitkoff.

YUKON-KUSKOKWIM COUNTY: Fort Gibbon, Glem, Kemperville, Tolovana, Tortella, McKinley, St. Joseph, Holikachek, Koserefsky, Deminti, Ruby, Richmond, Langley and Parks Cinnabar Ledge.

Some of these ghost towns are of Russian and native Eskimo origin while others sprang up when the gold rush occurred. They all could yield relics for the "ghost-towner."

3) A good sunken treasure ship for divers to investigate is the Northern Marie, which sank with 32 gold bars worth an estimated $820,000 (when gold sold for $35 an ounce) packed in wooden boxes. In 1979, divers managed to retrieve six of the bars, worth over $1,000,000 at that time.

The remainder of the gold lies approximately ten miles off the coast of Cape Junkin and off Anchorage County. With the modern methods of salvage today, the other 26 ingots could be recovered.

4) The following treasure could very well be worth searching for. This cache of 18 sacks of gold ore, that was hidden in an Alaskan log cabin by a high grader named John Vial, is in or near the Harris Mine, located on the east coast of Prince of Wales Island, in south coast Alaska.

Vial was an Italian who had worked around Juneau, Alaska, before coming to Hollis, the town that served the Harris mine and other mines in the area. Like many miners, Vial did a little high grading when he was working in rich ore. He would pick out rich quartz samples showing free gold. He put these into sacks and hid them under the floor of the log cabin where he lived.

In 1927 a rock slide caught Vial and he was hospitalized for over a year. When he returned to work he was too weak to remove the heavy sacks of ore without getting caught. So the cache was left under the cabin. The mine is located on the north side of Harris River, about three-quarters of a mile from the mouth. The cabin was located in the same area.

Years later Vial told another prospector about his hidden ore. This man did not try to recover the cache because the mine was considered to be worked out and had been closed, and the cabins had all been torn down. According to the story, somewhere around Vial's old cabin, near the Harris mine, 18 sacks of high grade gold ore wait to be discovered. A metal detector could find this cache.

5) With modern equipment a treasure hunter should still find gold in the Talkeetna Mountains. Valuable minerals have long been known to exist there. Indians and white men occasionally obtained small amounts of gold there, but it remained for Antonio Ponzza and Olaf Swendson, sourdough partners all their lives, to bring out a sizable fortune in 1905. They nearly lost their lives going in, and would have perished in the wilderness if friendly Indians hadn't rescued them.

While exploring the mountains, the two men found gold, silver and copper. The Alaska Three Mining Company, organized in Chicago but with an office in Anchorage, sent a crew into the Talkeetnas in 1919. Experienced mining engineers collected ore samples and filed on numerous claims, but the company suddenly ceased business with no word of explanation.

Today the trails are no longer as hazardous as they were in the past so getting in should be a lot easier.

6) A good site to check for relics and other possible treasure is the old town of Valdez, in Cordova-Valdez County. It was abandoned in 1964, a year recalled in Alaska for the Anchorage earthquake. However, the epicenter was near Valdez. Because the Valdez Glacier furnished the shortest road to the interior, the town was built on the glacial-silt deposits.

When the earthquake occurred, a ship was tied up at the dock unloading cargo. With the first tremor, a huge section of the glacial silt along the waterfront disappeared into the bay. The dock, people and ship disappeared from sight in a few minutes. No body and no wreckage of the ship or dock has ever been found.

A tidal wave swept in through the narrow entrance to Valdez Harbor, sweeping through the city of Valdez. Houses, stores, hotels, warehouses, churches, schools, businesses and other buildings were destroyed or left as mud-filled wrecks. The city could have cleaned up and rebuilt, but the reason for the site was gone. The Valdez Glacier was no longer a road and the glacial deposit would always be dangerous in this earthquake area.

What was left of the people moved five miles to higher ground. What is left of Old Valdez stands deserted as a vacant memorial to an earthquake's destructive powers.

7) A good version of the following treasure site appears in the book, The Alaska Gold Rush, by David B. Wharton.

One of the few unsolved robberies in Alaska took place on the Yukon River. In early 1901 a steamer left Fort Yukon heading down stream with a large shipment of gold. A watchman had been hired to guard the shipment.

When the ship reached Victors Landing, the watchman and gold had both disappeared. A search was made and the watchman was found hiding behind the boat landing, Victor, the owner of the landing, was suspected of having planned the theft of the gold with the help of the watchman.

Victor had developed some placer claims and it was believed by authorities that he intended to claim the gold came from his deposits. The watchman was taken to Fairbanks and tried for the theft. Although he claimed to be innocent he was given a long jail term.

The jury agreed that Victor was innocent and that the watchman must have thrown the gold overboard with some kind of marker near Victors Landing. He evidently planned to retrieve it later.

If the jury's conclusion is correct (and it seems to be the only answer) then somewhere near Victors Landing, under a few feet of water, a fortune in gold is still undiscovered. A diver with metal detecting equipment could get lucky on this one.

SOURCES:

Alaska-Yukon Gold Book. Sourdough Stampede Association, Inc., Seattle, Washington.

Boericke, William F. Prospecting and Operating Small Gold Placers.

Colby, Merle. A Guide to Alaska, Federal Writers Project.

Perry, Thomas P. United States Treasure Atlas.

Wharton, David B. The Alaska Gold Rush.