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QUALITY STATEMENT
The Arizona Geological Survey is not responsible for the accuracy of the records, information, or opinions that may be contained in the files. The Survey collects, catalogs, and archives data on mineral properties regardless of its views of the veracity or accuracy of those data. Form 3060-1 UNITED sTATES Serial Number .41y 1984) 'nnerly 3980-1) DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
MINERAL REPORT
'tLJ(J J~2 Sl(lO~t. r -/s- q, I VALIDITY EXAMINATION OF THE I DOROTHY B AND DOROTHY B #12 fr~fY' or~~ or: PLACER MINING CLAIMS lil2.1~rJ{.») f4~t. r1rl''''4,L~ L .-J
(Title)
LANDS INVOLVED
E~SE! Section 21; sw~swk Section 22; NWtNWk Section 27; and NE~NE! Section 28 T6S R28E Gila and Salt River Base Meridian Graham County, Arizona Containing 200 Acres, More or Less
Larry Thrasher, Matthew Shumaker, and
(Date)
~. I5~_eJ~ 7" (Signature) (Signature) Locatable Minerals Coordinator Geologist (Title) (Title) Z j(cP'/"7,b £ (Date)
anagement Acknowledgement:
,/""
..,-- / (Date) (Date)
results results
Assay Assay
3. 3.
Appendix Appendix
collection collection
sample sample
of of
Photographs Photographs 2. 2. Appendix Appendix
references references
geolo-gic geolo-gic of of
misrepresentation misrepresentation
of of
Documentation Documentation 1. 1. Appendix Appendix
Appendices: Appendices:
proposal proposal
Quest Quest
Golden Golden
the the on on
article article
Newspaper Newspaper
13. 13.
operation operation
Figure Figure
hydraulicking hydraulicking the the
on on
article article
Newspaper Newspaper
12. 12.
Figure Figure
operation operation
Mining Mining
Universal Universal
of of
Remains Remains
11. 11.
Figure Figure
operation operation
Mining Mining
Universal Universal
of of
Photograph Photograph
10. 10. operation operation
Figure Figure
Mining Mining
Universal Universal on on
article article
Newspaper Newspaper
9. 9. Figure Figure
claims claims
subject subject
of of
view view
Panoramic Panoramic 8. 8.
Figure Figure
section section
cross cross
Geologic Geologic 7. 7.
Figure Figure
claims claims
of of
photograph photograph
Aerial Aerial
6. 6.
Figure Figure study study
this this
for for
constructed constructed
map map
Geologic Geologic
Survey Survey
5. 5.
Figure Figure Geological Geological
U.S. U.S.
by by
depicted depicted
as as
map, map,
Geologic Geologic
4. 4. Figure Figure
map map
Topographic Topographic 3. 3.
Figure Figure
routes routes
Access Access
2. 2.
Figure Figure
location location
block block
Claim Claim 1. 1. Figure Figure
Figures: Figures:
63 63
...... 59 59
.. .. References References
......
Evaluation Evaluation
45 45
Economic Economic
......
Work Work
Analytical Analytical
and and
Procedures Procedures 38 38 . .
Sampling Sampling ......
Work Work
Development Development
and and
Exploration Exploration 23 23
Mineral Mineral
......
. .
Deposits Deposits 20 20
Mineral Mineral
......
.. .. tory tory
16 16 His His
Mining Mining
......
......
......
15 15 Geology Geology te te
Si Si
......
. .
Setting Setting 11 11
Geologic Geologic
......
. . . .
Data Data 7 7
Physiographic Physiographic
......
.. ..
......
ved ved 1 1 Invo Invo . 2 2 . Lands Lands
.. ..
......
Introduction Introduction
...... 1 1 ......
Recommendations Recommendations
and and
Conclusions, Conclusions, Summary, Summary,
Contents Contents of of Table Table
1 1
claims. claims.
two two
the the
against against
brought brought
be be
discovery discovery of of
lack lack
for for contest contest a a that that
recommend recommend
therefore therefore
examination, examination,
this this with with
involved involved geologists geologists
the the
We, We,
mine. mine.
valuable valuable a a
developing developing in in
success, success, of of prospect prospect
reasonable reasonable
a a with with
means, means,
and and labor labor
his his of of
expenditure expenditure further further
the the
in in
justified justified
be be
not not
would would
prudence prudence
ordinary ordinary
of of person person a a that that
meaning meaning
deposits, deposits,
mineral mineral
valuable valuable
of of
discoveries discoveries any any support support
not not do do
claims claims
these these that that
concluded concluded
therefore therefore is is It It costs. costs.
operating operating
and and
capitalization capitalization
below below
far far is is
This This yard. yard.
cubic cubic
per per
cents cents
12 12
than than
more more no no
of of
value value
in-place in-place an an
show show results results Assay Assay
absorption. absorption.
atomic atomic and and assay, assay, fire fire
cyanidation, cyanidation,
amalgamation, amalgamation,
included included
content content
metal metal precious precious for for
techniques techniques
Assay Assay
sampled. sampled.
were were
sector sector private private
the the by by conducted conducted
programs programs
exploration exploration
past past
by by
made made
exposures exposures all all analysis; analysis;
for for
taken taken
were were
samples samples
nine nine
and and
mapped mapped
were were
claims claims subject subject The The
acres. acres.
2,700 2,700
about about
of of
total total
a a
cover cover
that that
claims claims mining mining
placer placer contiguous contiguous
64 64
of of
block block
a a
of of
part part
are are and and
Area, Area,
Conservation Conservation National National
Riparian' Riparian'
Box Box Gila Gila
the the
within within
acres acres
200 200
approximately approximately cover cover claims claims
two two
These These
B. B.
Dorothy Dorothy
the the
and and
#12 #12 B B
Dorothy Dorothy
the the claims, claims, mining mining
placer placer
association association
two two
on on
conducted conducted was was
examination examination validity validity A A
RECOMMENDATIONS RECOMMENDATIONS
AND AND CONCLUSIONS, CONCLUSIONS, SUMMARY, SUMMARY,
2 2
claims. claims. mining mining subject subject
two two the the
for for
exist exist rights rights
such such if if determine determine to to is is examination examination
this this
of of
purpose purpose ~~. ~~. The The
rights. rights.
existing existing valid valid to to subject subject entry entry
mineral mineral
from from
area area the the
withdrew withdrew
designation designation This This 101-628). 101-628). Law Law
(Public (Public 1990 1990
28, 28,
November November
of of
Act Act Wilderness Wilderness Desert Desert Arizona Arizona the the
of of
part part a a
as as
u.s. u.s. Congress Congress
the the
by by RNCA RNCA an an as as designated designated formally formally
was was
area area
This This RNCA. RNCA.
the the
within within
being being claims claims subject subject two two the the with with
, ,
(RNCA) (RNCA)
Area Area
Conservation Conservation
National National Riparian Riparian Box Box Gila Gila designated designated
recently recently
the the
of of
boundary boundary
the the
straddles straddles 1, 1, Figure Figure in in shown shown as as and, and,
1960's 1960's
mid mid the the
in in
located located
was was
block block claim claim The The 1. 1. Figure Figure on on shown shown
is is
acres, acres,
2700 2700
nearly nearly
covers covers
which which block, block, claim claim the the of of location location
The The
acres. acres. 20 20
being being few few a' a' with with
size, size, in in acres acres 40 40 approximately approximately
......
each each
are are
claims claims ~ ~ other other
the the of of most most
claims; claims; placer placer ~ ~
6.
3 3
1f,S", 1f,S",
of of
consisting consisting
block block
claim claim contiguous contiguous
one one of of part part are are claims claims Thes~ Thes~
E. E.
28 28
R. R. S., S., 6 6
T. T.
28, 28, and and
27, 27,
22, 22, 21, 21, Sections Sections of of portions portions in in
is is and and
size size
in in acres acres
160 160
approximately approximately is is B, B, Dorothy Dorothy the the called called
simply simply
claim, claim,
other other
The The
E. E. 28 28 R. R.
S., S., 6 6 T. T. 21, 21, Section Section of of quarter quarter
southeast southeast
the the in in is is
and and
size size in in
acres acres 40 40 approximately approximately is is #12, #12,
B B
Dorothy Dorothy
the the
called called
claim, claim,
One One
Arizona. Arizona. County, County, Graham Graham in in River River
Gila Gila the the
and and
Creek Creek
Bonita Bonita of of
confluence confluence the the near near and and at at located located
claims claims
mining mining
placer placer
association association contiguous contiguous two two of of examination examination
validity validity
the the
document document
to to is is report report this this of of purpose purpose The The
Purpose Purpose INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION The conclusions of this report are limited to the action prompting the report and should not be used for any purposes other than that for which they were originally intended.
Brief History of the Case
The area of the Dorothy B claims has been mined for placer gold since around the turn of the century. The target is generally very fine flakes of gold (llflour gold ll , or IIgold dust ll ) in the riparian alluvium and especially in older gravel terraces near the Gila River. Various prospecting and mining activities have occurred by lessors of the Dorothy B claims since their location in the mid 1960's. These activities range from simple gold panning and sampling operations to the construction of buildings for minerals processing in conjunction with the use of bulldozers, loaders, trucks, and a large trommel that has been sitting idle south of the 160 acre claim for about 15 years now. Historically, the general pattern of each operator's activities is to start mining aggressively, taper off dramatically, and then leave the site with or without equipment, and generally without reclamation or recovering any significant amount of gold. There has been no recorded production of gold or other precious metals from these placer claims in the 30 years that they have been in existence.
3 The lack of reclamation has resulted in two Notices of Noncompliance issued by the Safford office of the BLM to the claimant, Dorothy S. Braatelien of Safford, Arizona. Both of these notices are still in effect, and require that an approved plan of operations be in effect and a reclamation bond posted with the Safford BLM before any further activity involving mechanized equipment is conducted on any of the Dorothy B claims.
The designation of the area as an RNCA by congress requires that the Safford BLM develop a comprehensive management plan with the goal of conserving, protecting, and enhancing the resources and values of the area. A draft Interdisciplinary Activity Plan/Environmental Assessment (EA) for the RNCA has been prepared and distributed to the public for comment by the Safford BLM. Over 200 comments were received, and a final planning document is currently being prepared.
The Dorothy B claims in general, and the two subject claims in particular, are located by the main entrance to the RNCA. Mining activities in this area of high scenic, wildlife, and riparian values would thus be highly visible to the public. The EA noted that the area of the subject two claims is an ideal spot for picnic tables and associated facilities for the general public. The BLM feels that it can work with the claimant and operators to mitigate mining activities if mineral resources are present, but the BLM needs to establish the presence or absence of such
4 minerals as part of its planning process.
A certified letter dated October 6, 1994 was sent to the claimant, Ms. Dorothy S. Braatelien, at the address recorded with the mining claims (P.O. Box 584 in Safford, Arizona) notifying her that a validity examination will be conducted on the '160 acre Dorothy B claim and the Dorothy B No. 12. The letter said the field work would begin the week of November?, and provided her
or an agent of her choice the oppo~tunity to be present for the examination to point out discovery points, sampling sites, and any other pertinent features of the claims.
Ms. Braatelien responded by calling Mineral Examiner Larry Thrasher, BLM Geologist in Safford, to say that she is experiencing medical problems that preclude her from going outside and that she has no agent to represent her. Thrasher and Mineral Examiner Matt Shumaker (Senior Geologist at the BLM National Training Center in Phoenix) visited with her at her apartment on November 1, where she gave them unpublished geologic and engineering reports and assays regarding her claims, as well as photos of past operations conducted since 1980. The next day she called Thrasher to say that she has heard that the examination of her claims would constitute a physical trespass and claim jumping on the BLM's part. Thrasher assured her that is not the case and on November 4th he stopped by her apartment and gave her a BLM circular entitled IIDiscovery Validity
5 Occupancy Under the General Mining Law of 1872 11 as well as an excerpt from a mining law book that outlines the BLM's legal rights to conduct such exams. The Safford BLM then notified her in a certified letter dated November 10, 1994 that the exam is postponed until December 12 due to her ongoing medical problems and lack of an agent. On December 5 she telephoned Thra$her to say she still could not go, but could meet us in the field if we waited one more month. After doing some consultation, Mr. Thrasher called her back and said the BLM can wait until the week of January 16, 1995 to do the work, and asked that Ms. Braatelien put her request for this postponement in writing for the sake of documentation in the files. She said she would but what she sent instead was a letter to Thrasher protesting the lIintrusion and trespass upon the unpatented mining claims ll and that the exam IIwill end in a lot of law suits, both personal and professional. II She also wrote a letter to u.S. Senator 'John McCain protesting the exam and asking f9r his help. Thrasher visited with her one more time on December 9 to discuss the letter addressed to him; she said she felt that she was being forced to send the Safford BLM a letter requesting the postponement until January or else it would not be postponed and that is why she sent a threatening letter instead. The only other correspondence with her before
the field work was a call to Thrasher on December 29 saying she has new medical problems and will be recovering for a long time.
The field work was initiated on Monday, January 16, when Shumaker
6 towed the BLM National Training Center's portable placer concentrator from Phoenix and met Thrasher at the claim site. A full description of the field work, sampling, and analytical work is given in the section under that heading. Thrasher and
Shumaker were assisted throughout this study by David Taylor, BLM geologist based in Lake Havusu City, Arizona.
LANDS INVOLVED
Land Status
The two subject mining claims are located on public lands within the Gila Box RNCA, in Graham County, about 14 miles northeast of
Safford, Arizona. Their locations are shown on Figures 3 through
6. The legal descriptions of the subject claims are as follows:
Gila and Salt River Base Meridian
Dorothy B claim:
T. 6 S., R. 28 E.
sec. 21, SE/SE
sec. 22, SW/SW
sec. 27, NW/NW
sec. 28, NE/NE
Containing 160 acres, more or less
7 Dorothy B #12 claim:
T. 6 S., R. 28 E.
sec. 21, NE/SE
Containing 40 acres, more or less
As indicated on Figure 3, there is an aqueduct owned by the City
vJ~Jj-'&, /'/1 of Safford that runs through the ~e@cnl edges of the subject A claims. The north-central portion of the #12 claim has five acres patented to Safford for a water pumping station. There is also a Special Land Use Permit issued to Graham County for an indefinite period for an historical marker located in the northwest quarter of the 160 acre claim. Additionally, there is a range improvement (fence) in the easternmost portion of the two claims, as well as several dirt roads on the claims.
BLM computer records show no o4her encumbrances, such as mineral
leases or mineral material disposal sites on the subject claims.
As noted, the land was segregated from mineral entry on November
28, 1990 by the passage of the Arizona Desert Wilderness Act.
Claim Data
The Dorothy B claim (AMC No. 42716) and the Dorothy B #12 claim
(AMC No. 42728) are unpatented association placer claims. BLM
8 records show that there were six claimants of record for the 160 acre Dorothy B claim when this study began. They were Dorothy,
Edwin Sr., Edwin Jr., James, and Susan Braatelien, and Dorothy
Carden; on September 15, 1995, Edwin Sr., Edwin Jr., and James
Braatelien ended their association with the claim. According to
Graham County records, the eight original claimants of the DB claim were 6 members of the Braatelien family (Edwin H. Sr.,
Edwin H. Jr., Dorothy, James, Harriet, and Susan) plus Emzie L.
Carden and Dorothy E. Carden. According to BLM records, the
ex-claimants transferred their interest out, in favor of the
current claimants.
The 40-acre #12 claim, like the rest of the Dorothy B claims, had
Dorothy and Edwin Braatelien Sr. listed as the original
claimants, with a mailing address of P.o. Box 584 in Safford.
Edwin Sr. dropped his interest in all these claims however, with
some being dropped by him in 1980 and the rest, including the
subject #12 claim, on September 15, 1995. The Dorothy B claim
was located on August 14, 1965, and the Dorothy B #12 claim was
located on March 2, 1966. Through the years, the Safford BLM has
conducted all correspondence regarding the Dorothy B claims
through Dorothy Braatelien.
Land Use
The RNCA is used mainly for recreation. Public use is low to
9
10 10
sucker. sucker.
razorback razorback
endangered endangered the the for for habitat habitat critical critical
as as
Service Service
Wildlife Wildlife and and
Fish Fish u.S. u.S. the the by by 1993 1993 in in designated designated
were were
Creek Creek
Bonita Bonita
and and RNCA RNCA
the the within within River River Gila Gila the the Also, Also,
progress. progress. in in currently currently is is designation designation a a
such such
for for river river
the the
of of suitability suitability
the the of of analysis analysis An An operations. operations.
of of
plan plan
mining mining
formal formal
a a of of approval approval BLM's BLM's the the to to subject subject
mine, mine,
a a of of development development
the the for for
allow allow can can classification classification a a Such Such
recreational. recreational. and and wild wild
between between
classification classification intermediate intermediate the the -
"scenic" "scenic"
as as
classified classified
was was
claims claims
subject subject the the by by flows flows that that reach reach
The The
System. System. River River
Scenic Scenic and and
Wild Wild the the to to addition addition for for eligible eligible
be be to to
BLM BLM
the the by by
determined determined
was was RNCA RNCA the the within within River River Gila Gila The The
claims. claims.
subject subject the the of of area area the the in in occur occur
boating boating
float float
and and
tubing tubing as as
well well as as camping camping car car and and hunting, hunting,
access, access,
fishing fishing
particular, particular,
In In
Creek. Creek. Bonita Bonita and and River River Gila Gila the the
with with
contact contact direct direct in in
are are and and
roads, roads, dirt dirt by by accessible accessible readily readily
also also
are are
claims claims
subject subject
The The
RNCA. RNCA. the the to to entrance entrance main main the the
near near located located
are are
they they
because because
claims claims subject subject the the of of vicinity vicinity the the
within within occur occur
activities activities
these these
of of Some Some activities. activities. common common most most
the the are are
hunting hunting and and
fishing, fishing,
photography, photography, watching, watching, bird bird driving, driving,
pleasure pleasure use, use,
ATV ATV biking, biking,
mountain mountain backpacking, backpacking, rockhounding, rockhounding,
camping, camping, car car
picnicking, picnicking, tubing, tubing, floating, floating, River River moderate. moderate.
11 11
no no
been been has has
There There
downstream. downstream. miles miles 15 15 about about is is bridge bridge nearest nearest
the the
and and
terrain, terrain,
mountainous mountainous rugged, rugged, of of consists consists area area This This
river. river. the the
of of
side side
east east
the the on on claims claims subject subject the the of of portion portion
the the
to to
access access of of
means means other other
or or roads roads no no are are there there 6), 6), (Figure (Figure
photo photo
air air
and and
3) 3)
(Figure (Figure
map map topographic topographic the the on on indicated indicated As As
Road. Road. Creek Creek Bonita Bonita
the the
reaching reaching
before before
miles miles
four four about about ends ends pavement pavement the the way; way; the the
half half
about about
paved paved
is is
access access The The
claims. claims. the the to to road road spur spur a a taking taking
then then and and
Road, Road, Creek Creek
Bonita Bonita
to to Road, Road, Sanchez Sanchez to to Solomon Solomon from from or or
road road
airport airport the the
either either
from from is is
Safford Safford from from claims claims the the to to Access Access
site. site.
claim claim
the the
to to
Safford Safford
from from access access the the shows shows 3 3 and and 2 2 Figures Figures
unpopulated. unpopulated.
largely largely is is Box Box
Gila Gila the the around around area area The The creeks. creeks.
and and
rivers rivers
perennial perennial
surrounding surrounding canyons canyons desert desert steep-walled steep-walled
scenic, scenic,
by by
characterized characterized is is
and and Southwest Southwest the the in in areas areas riparian riparian
significant significant
most most the the of of
one one
is is
This This Mountains. Mountains. Peloncillo Peloncillo the the of of
north north
and and
Mountains Mountains
Gila Gila
the the of of
south south area area the the through through flows flows that that
Creeks Creeks
Eagle Eagle and and
Bonita Bonita
as as
such such tributaries tributaries its its m~jor m~jor and and River River
Gila Gila
the the
of of
segment segment the the
of of
consists consists Box Box Gila Gila the the 1, 1, Figure Figure on on
indicated indicated As As
Box. Box.
Gila Gila the the
of of boundary boundary western western the the by by Arizona, Arizona,
Safford, Safford,
of of
northeast northeast
miles miles 14 14 about about located located are are claims claims The The
Access Access and and Location Location
DATA DATA PHYSIOGRAPHIC PHYSIOGRAPHIC
12 12
gopher gopher lizard, lizard,
whiptail whiptail
western western lizard, lizard, collared collared monster, monster, Gila Gila
the the
include include
reptiles reptiles
Common Common
jackrabbit. jackrabbit. black-tailed black-tailed and and rat, rat,
wood wood
white-throated white-throated
rat, rat,
kangaroo kangaroo Merriam's Merriam's mouse, mouse, cactus cactus include include
Mammals Mammals
finch. finch.
house house
and and roadrunner, roadrunner, wren, wren, cactus cactus verdin, verdin,
wren, wren,
rock rock
sparrow, sparrow,
black-throated black-throated include include species species Avian Avian cholla. cholla.
devils devils
and and verde, verde,
palo palo
blue blue mesquite, mesquite, of of subdominants subdominants with with
cactus cactus
prickly-pear prickly-pear and and
ocotillo, ocotillo, bush, bush, creosote creosote by by dominated dominated
is is
association association
scrub scrub desert desert
The The habitat. habitat. vegetation vegetation riparian riparian a a
to to
association association
scrub scrub
desert desert
uplands uplands an an from from grades grades area area claim claim The The
November. November. early early
or or
October October
late late
during during occur occur
generally generally frosts frosts killing killing earliest earliest
The The
fall. fall.
the the in in
severe severe
less less and and June June to to April April from from common common
most most
is is
Drought Drought
winter. winter. the the
in" in" storms storms lasting lasting long long intensity, intensity,
low low
relatively relatively
and and
summer summer
late late the the in in thunderstorms thunderstorms of of form form
the the in in
coming coming
most most with with
inches, inches, 12 12 about about averages averages precipitation precipitation
Annual Annual
degrees. degrees.
35 35 to to 25 25
around around lows lows nighttime nighttime with with degrees, degrees,
63 63 to to 55 55
from from
range range
typically typically temperatures temperatures winter winter Daytime Daytime
degrees. degrees. 65 65 about about
of of lows lows
nighttime nighttime with with Fahrenheit Fahrenheit degrees degrees 100 100
and and 90 90
between between
typically typically are are
highs highs Summer Summer region. region. the the throughout throughout
those those to to
similar similar are are
area area claim claim the the in in conditions conditions Climatic Climatic
Wildlife Wildlife and and Vegetation, Vegetation, ,Climate. ,Climate.
river. river.
the the of of side side
this this
on on activities activities mining-related mining-related any any of of history history
13 13
consisting consisting
scatter, scatter,
artifact artifact prehistoric prehistoric a a is is site site cultural cultural
other other
The The
for. for.
Permit Permit Use Use
Land Land Special Special a a has has County County Graham Graham
that that marker marker
historical historical
the the is is
This This Places. Places. Historic Historic of of Register Register
National National
the the on on listed listed is is
site site This This War. War. Mexican-American Mexican-American
the the
during during
expedition expedition
Kearny Kearny the the of of trail trail and and site site camp camp the the
commemorates commemorates
which which
Monument, Monument,
Kearny Kearny the the is is claim, claim, acre acre 160 160 the the of of
corner corner
northwest northwest
the the
near near located located
site, site, Another Another Places. Places. Historic Historic
of of
Register Register
National National the the on on
listing listing for for eligible eligible is is century, century, the the
of of
turn turn the the
around around
built built
cabin, cabin,
This This BLM. BLM. the the by by renovated renovated been been
recently recently
has has
and and
Cabin Cabin Stone Stone
Creek Creek Bonita Bonita the the called called is is claim, claim,
#12 #12
the the
of of
portion portion
southwestern southwestern the the in in located located One, One, claims. claims.
subject subject the the
on on
occur occur sites sites
Three Three types. types. site site and and periods, periods,
time time
groups, groups, cultural cultural
of of array array
diverse diverse a a representing representing properties, properties,
resource resource
cultural cultural
known known
50 50
about about contains contains RNCA RNCA Box Box Gila Gila The The
Resources Resources Cultural Cultural
frogs. frogs.
leopard leopard and and
fishes, fishes,
non-native non-native eight eight sucker, sucker, razorback razorback
endangered endangered
re-introduced re-introduced
the the fishes, fishes, native native five five supports supports
Creek, Creek, Bonita Bonita
and and River River
Gila Gila the the i.e., i.e., habitat, habitat, aquatic aquatic The The
birds. birds.
migratory migratory
other other and and waterfowl waterfowl and and beaver, beaver,
squirrel, squirrel,
gray gray
western western
javelina, javelina, deer, deer, mule mule include include habitat habitat
this this
using using Animals Animals
willows. willows. and and trees, trees, cottonwood cottonwood forest, forest,
broad-leaf broad-leaf
mixed mixed
bosque, bosque,
mesquite mesquite of of mostly mostly consists consists vegetation vegetation
riparian riparian The The
rattlesnake. rattlesnake. diamondback diamondback western western and and snake, snake, mostly of pottery sherds, on the 160 acre claim. This site was fenced off by the BLM in 1980 and covers nearly one acre. The locations of these three cultural sites are shown on Figure 3. No other cultural sites are known in the immediate vicinity of the subject claims.
General Topography
The RNCA as a whole is characterized by rugged, mountainous topography with deep, steep-sided, twisting canyons. The Gila River canyon is up to 1,000 feet deep. The river canyons form the dividing line between the Gila Mountains to the northwest and the Black Hills of the Peloncillo Mountains to the southeast. Elevations in the RNCA range from 4,976 feet above sea level along upper Bonita Creek to a low of 3,100 feet along the Gila River. A significant feature of the subject claims is an alluvial flat within the Gila River flood plain that occurs on the 160 acre claim. This alluvial flat, which consists mostly of unconsolidated, poorly sorted river sediments, rises to an elevation of about 100 feet above the river during normal flow. Much of the flat is covered by flood waters about every 10 years
or SOi it was most recently flooded in January, 1993, and in the fall of 1983 before that.
t , 14 GEOLOGIC SETI'ING
The RNCA is in mountainous terrain situated between the Gila and
Peloncillo Mountains, with the canyons of the Gila River and its
tributaries forming the boundary between the two ranges. These
mountains form a more or less continuous northwest trending range
typical of the Southern Basin and Range Province of Arizona and
New Mexico. The mountains are uplifted fault blocks, caused by
high angle, normal faulting along the mountain fronts. This
faulting probably began during the late Tertiary period, some 20
to 25 million years ago, and continued intermittently, probably
until the end of the Tertiary, about two million years ago
(Richter and Lawrence, 1981).
The geology of these mountain ranges, like all the ranges in the
Southern Basin and Range Province, is generally complex and
variable. The intervening basins of the province generally
contain thick deposits (up to several thousand feet) of alluvial
fill washed in from the mountains. Because of this fill
material, the basement geology of the basins is typically poorly
known or unknown.
The RNCA is at the northern edge of the Basin and Range Province,
abutting the southern edge of the Mogollon Rim. The Mogollon Rim
forms the transition zone between the generally flat-lying
sedimentary rocks of the Colorado Plateau to the north, and the l ; 15 Basin and Range Province to the south.
As discussed by Richter, et al. (1982), the rocks of the RNCA are mostly derived from volcanic activity that occurred in the area approximately 20 to 30 million years ago. The volcanics, consisting mostly of lava flows, were erupted from many largely unknown volcanic centers or rifts. Lesser amounts of air-fall
tuffs and ash flows are interlayered with the lavas. Basins
flanking the volcanic highlands were filled with thick deposits
of coarse rock fragments eroded from the highlands. These
deposits of rock fragments were originally designated as the Gila
Conglomerate. The older conglomeritic deposits are interlayered
with volcanic flows, showing that volcanism was continuing while
the rock fragments were being deposited. The final volcanic
event in the RNCA resulted in a small cinder cone of Miocene age,
located on the north side of the Gila River, between Bonita and
Eagle Creeks. The youngest sedimentary deposits in the RNCA are
unconsolidated alluvium (sand and gravel) of Quaternary age
associated with the Gila and San Francisco river systems.
SITE GEOLOGY
The subject claims are covered with recent alluvium, terraces of
unconsolidated, poorly sorted gravels, and lesser amounts of
cliff-forming, well-consolidated conglomerates and andesitic lava
flows. The deposits are of late Tertiary through Quaternary age
16 (Richter, et al., 1982).
A geologic map that covers the subject claims published by the u.s. Geological Survey (Richter, et al., 1983) is shown as Figure 4. This map shows the unconsolidated terraces of gravel as "older alluvium", and identifies three other deposits of gravel on the two subject claims (Gravel of Rail End Canyon, Conglomerate of Midnight Canyon, and Conglomerate of Bonita Creek). The authors said these three other gravel deposits were originally considered as parts of the Gila Conglomerate. This term eventually became too ill-defined and all-encompassing to have a significant meaning however, and the term Gila Conglomerate is today used mostly in an informal sense. This map by the u.S. Geological Survey was done on a much more regional scale than the study at hand calls for, and was used as the basis for the geologic map prepared and used in this study (Figure 5).
For the purposes of this study, it was found that the older unconsolidated gravels form three terraces on the alluvial flat plus a loosely defined fourth terrace overlying a lava flow in the northeast corner of the #12 claim, which is at the highest point on the two subject claims.
The areal extent of the three terraces on the alluvial flat are shown on the geologic map prepared for this study (Figure 5), and on the aerial photograph (Figure 6). A cross section of these
17 terraces is shown as Figure 7. Figure 8 is a panoramic view of the claim area, featuring the terraces. Terrace 1 rises about 30 feet from the recent alluvium. The top of terrace 2 comprises most of the surface of the alluvial flat on the 160 acre claim.
Terrace 2 is about 35 feet thick. Terrace 3 is about 30 feet thick at its southern end on the subject claims, rises about an additional 10 feet toward the north, and, at the northern end of
the 160 acre subject claim, is capped by about 25 feet of an andesitic lava flow. Terrace 4, on top of the #12 claim, is about 15 feet thick.
The geology of these four terraces are nearly identical to one
another. They each consist of subrounded to rounded, poorly
sorted sediments ranging from very fine clays ,to large boulders
over two feet in maximum dimension. Generally, the material
contains about 10 percent clay; about 60 percent of particles
from silt to pebble in size; and the remainder being cobbles and
boulders. The material is mostly massive, although some bedding
based on sorting was seen in terraces 1 and 2 (mostly beds of
sands less than a foot thick), plus the boulders were, in places,
imbricated, indicated the direction of past channel currents.
Very little bardpan, or caliche, was observed. The lithologies
of the individual rocks that comprise these sediments are quite
varied, representing the many different rock types in the
watershed from which these sediments were derived. The sands are
ll fairly rich in dark grains (llblack sands ), composed largely of
18 magnetite.
Based on the extent and thickness of the terraces on the alluvial flat, terrace 1 has about 2.4 million cubic yards (cys) of material, terrace 2 about 2.3 million cys, terrace 3 about 730,000 cys, and terrace 4 about 24,000 cys. In relation to placer mining, about 15 percent can be added to these amounts due to swelling when the material is removed, based on observed swell in samples we collected. About 30 percent as boulder factor can be subtracted from that amount to account for the cobbles and boulders.
The geology of the rest of the claims consists mostly of andesitic lavas and the cliff forming conglomerates, neither of which is amenable to placer mining like the unconsolidated terraces are. There are some unconsolidated gravels resting on the cliffs on the east side of the Gila River, but, as previously discussed, this area is inaccessible. The recent alluvium in the river bed is not a known source of significant amounts of placer gold; it is not mentioned as a resource in any of the publications on gold placers in Arizona, such as Johnson (1972) and Wilson (1961), and has not been a target of mining activities associated with the Dorothy B claims.
19 MINING HISTORY
According to the u.s. Geological Survey and u.S. Bureau of Mines (Richter, et al., 1982), the area of the Gila Box contains no organized mining districts, and historically has only contained a small number of mining claims. They stated (p. 3), "Mining activity has been limited to small, intermittent, gold placer operations along the Gila and San Francisco Rivers [and] small prospect pits . . . The presence of placer gold in the older alluvial terraces of the Gila and San Francisco Rivers has been known since before 1900 . . . The deposits have been occasionally worked but total production has been low . They not;.ed that in 1980, "Universal Mining Company completed construction of a million-dollar mining and milling facility at the Dorothy B placer deposit". This facility is apparently the source of the two limine II sites shown on topographic and geologic maps of the area (shown herein on Figures 3 and 5), which are located just to the south and southwest of the subject 160 acre claim. According to the claimant Dorothy Braatelien (pers. com., 1991), this operation was shut down in 1981'with no gold production. Figure 9 is a newspaper article reporting on this operation; and Figure 10 is a copy of a photograph of the operation, supplied by Ms. Braatelien. It was this operation that resulted in the trommel as well as other mining debris, including a 30,000 gallon fuel container, being left on the property; evidently no reclamation was done. Figure 11 shows two photographs supplied by Ms.
20 Braatelien of what the operation looked like after a major flood swept through the area in the fall of 1983. There has been no significant mining activity on or near the subject claims since then. Except for the trommel, all these workings were reclaimed by t?e City of Safford in June, 1995; the claimant gave permission for these workings to be reclaimed and said to leave the trommel in hopes of future operations. (The trommel is
located at the limine II site depicted on Figures 3 and 5 as being due south of the 160 acre claim.)
An unpublished letter to the Safford BLM from the Arizona Geological Survey, dated March 9, 1982, noted that placer gold was mined along the Gila River in the Gila Box area starting in the early 1880's·"until the early 1900's when mining claim areas
became exhausted. II The letter stated too that "Free-milling operations exhausted the known concentrations of placer gold by 1905." This early mining was apparently located mostly along the Gila River in Greenlee County near Clifton, about 10 miles upstream of the subject claims, in an area known as the Smuggler's Mine. The March 9 letter stated that the first claims in the area of the subject claims were located in the early· 1900's and worked intermittently by companies such as Mammoth, Schwimmer Mining Co., Rio Gila Gold Mining Co., and the Neel Placer Company.
Figure 12 is a newspaper article on perhaps the most significant
21 mining operation in the area of the subject claims prior to the Dorothy B claims being located; this was a hydraulicking operation for placer gold in the mid,1930's. Before being called the Dorothy B deposit, these river gravels were generally known as the Neel (or Neal) placer deposit, or the Gila gold placer deposit. According to Ms. Braatelien, this hydraulicking operation was conducted in the area where the trommel is located.
Wilson (1961) said of placer gold production in Graham County,
During 1907-49, Graham County was credited with a production of placer gold valued at $1,633. The yield for 1907-31, amounting to $1,481, probably came largely from the area of Greenlee County which was organized out of Graham County in 1910. According to the u.s. Minerals Yearbooks, the output for 1932-49 was $152; it included $14 from the Gila River placers . . . .
The values quoted were at historic gold prices much lower than current prices. The U.S. price of gold was $20.67 per troy ounce from 1900 to 1934, and $35 per troy ounce from 1934 to 1968, when the price was no longer regulated by the u.s. Treasury (Wells, 1969). Gold has been averaging about $350 per troy ounce for the last several years.
The entire production from Graham County from 1907 through 1949 would be just under $28,000 using gold at $350 per troy ounce. The Gila River Placers, encompassing the vi'cinity of the subject l _ claims, produced $14 in gold from 1932 through 1949, according to
22 Wilson (1961). Updating the values using current gold prices is difficult, because gold went from $20.67 per troy ounce to $35 per troy ounce in 1935, midway through the 1932 through 1949 reporting period. Assuming that the majority of the production was at $20.67 gold, values at $350 gold only amount to $237, which is not a significant amount.
MINERAL DEPOSITS
Wilson (1961) said of placer gold deposits in Graham County, Placer gold occurs in eastern Graham county along the Gil'a River, chiefly upstream [east] from the mouth of Bonita Creek . . . These placers have been known and occasionally worked for about 40 years but have produced very little. Here, the curved course of the Gila River is deeply entrenched between terraced bluffs of Gila conglomerate. Within the arcs of certain curves, these terraces are mantled with ancient river gravels which carry placer gold. The gravels, in general, contain a large proportion of boulders which range from several inches up to 3 ft. in diameter. Ferruginous chert pebbles are fairly common, and black sand is very abundant. The gold, which is flaky to wiry in form, ranges in size from that of fluor up to wiry particles one-quarter inch long. Partial tests indicate that the ground locally contains from 15 to 50 cents per cubic yard. At the Neel property, which is on the north side of the river between ~onita and Spring creeks, test runs were made with a washing plant for which water was pumped from the river. In June, 1933, this ground was held by the Rio Gila Gold Mining Company. Sampling was conducted farther upstream, on the Smith-Boyls, Hammond-Serna, and Colvin properties.
The unpublished letter of March 9, 1982 from the Arizona Geological Survey described the geology and minerals of the
23 Dorothy B claims by stating, Gold placer found in Quaternary-late Tertiary river gravels that mantle terraced bluffs of Gila Conglomerate along Gila River and cover large alluvial flat at confluence of Bonita Creek and Gila River. Gold ranges in size from flakes to wiry particles about one-quarter inch long. Associated with ferruginous chert pebbles and black sand. Gravel deposits average 23-30 ft. thick. This letter also noted that the gold is derived from small gold- bearing veins in the highly mineralized Clifton-Morenci area, which is a major copper producing area. In terms of development and production, this 1982 letter regarded the Dorothy B claims as an exploration prospect.
Ms. Braatelien, in response to the BLM notifying her that a validity exam will be conducted on two of her claims, has provided the BLM Safford office with copies of several unpublished privately-prepared reports that discuss the mineral deposits on the claims and the viability of mining them.
Before discussing their descriptions of the mineral deposit~, these reports from the claimant as a whole contain an underlying flaw that needs to be addressed. The basic problem is that the geologic framework that is described in these reports for the claim area is incorrect. On page 4 of the oldest report, Vandrenkamp (1930) (also variously spelled in later reports as Vandenkamp, Vanderkamp, Vahrenkamp, and Vahrenkaap) begins his description of the geology of the area by stating, liThe geology
24 of this region is fully described in Professional Paper No. 43, 'Morenci and Clifton Quadrangle', by Waldemar Lindgren. It being so thorough and painstaking that it seems of little use to revamp any of its contents. I therefore shall quote excerpts from his report. II He then gave about four pages of quotes to describe the geology of the claim area (which, as he noted, the claims at the time in the area of the subject parcel were the Gold Spot Nos. 1- 13, the Banner, Bonny, Red Bird, and Gold Nugget claims).
The geology of the claim area, however, is not discussed by Lindgren; the claim area, which is in the Guthrie quadrangle, is about 15 miles southwest of the Clifton-Morenci area, and about seven miles from the nearest portion of the Clifton Quadrangle. (The area of the Clifton Quadrangle is shown on Figure 1 of the Lindgren report, and corresponds exactly with the is-minute quadrangle map published by the u.S. Geological Survey in 1962.) Further, the actual title of Professional Paper No. 43 (published by the u.S. Geological Survey) is liThe Copper Deposits of the
Clifton-Morenci District, Arizona II (emphasis added). As such, this publication, which was written in 1905 (a fact not mentioned in any of the unpublished reports), provides over 300 pages of detailed descriptions of hardrock geology and individual copper mines in the Clifton-Morenci area, and less than about four pages on stream deposits. All stream deposits described therein by Lindgren are in the Clifton Quadrangle, and not the Guthrie Quadrangle, site of the subject claims. Vandrenkamp (1930)
25 quoted almost all four of those pages (mostly pages 74 through 78 of Lindgren's publication), nearly word for word, but changed some of the text to make it appear that the report is discussing the Dorothy B claim area.
This misrepresentation is best shown on page 6 where Vandrenkamp alleged the Lindgren (1905) report states, "Along the Gila River from the mouth of Bonita Creek to the mouth of Spring creek, the erosion has in many places produced steep or nearly perpendicular bluffs of Gila Conglomerate usually pitted by reason of the
gradual weathering out of the larger pebbles. II In fact, what Lindgren (1905) wrote (on page 76) is, "Along San Francisco River and Chase Creek the erosion has in many places produced steep or nearly perpendicular bluffs of Gila conglomerate, usually pitted
by reason of the gradual weathering out of the larger pebbles. II (emphasis added)
The Vandrenkamp report becomes more misleading on pages 7 and 8 where, after several pages of quotes attributed to Lindgren (1905), the following statement is made, "Between Bonito [sic] and Spring Creeks (See photo and Map No.1), on the northwest side of the Gila river from 50 to 200 feet above the stream in its lower coarse, we find a large acreage of auriferous gravel,
deposited in four distinct terraces. II This statement is so sandwiched between a direct quote and a paraphrase of Lindgren that it is difficult for a reader to distinguish between the two
26 authors. In fact, all Lindgren (1905) said about lIauriferous gravels II is, after stating on page 211 that IIGold and silver are practically absent in the Morenci ores. II, he addresses gold- bearing gravels on page 212 by stating, The gravels lying in front of the hills of older rocks at Morenci and Clifton are auriferous in places. Placers of some value were worked in Gold Gulch, but are now exhausted. An unsuccessful attempt was made some years ago to mine, by the hydraulic method, the bench gravels of San Francisco River, which doubtless derived their gold from the veins northeast of Copper Mountain. The Gila conglomerate south of Morenci contains a little fine gold, which is concentrated in shallow gullies. Payable placers have not been found. (emphasis added) Vandrenkamp, however, continued his discussion of lIauriferous gravels II while making it unclear that these are his own words and not those of Lindgren (1905). Vandrenkamp ended his discussion of lIauriferous gravels II with statements like (p. 9), lilt is not materially significant where the gold comes from found so abundantly in the gravel, or how it was deposited - but, it is important, and very essential, to fix the value of the gravel .
This misapplication of Lindgren's (1905) work is compounded in an unpublished 1981 report by a Max Van Dine, entitled IIInvestigative Report of 'Dorothy B' Auriferous Gravel and Black
ll Sand Located in Graham County, Arizona • Van Dine (1981, p. 4) began his section on geology word for word exactly like Vandrenkamp did by stating, The geology of this region is fully described in
27 proffessional [sic] paper no. 43 'Morenci and Clifton Quadrangle', by Waldermar [sic] Lindgren. It being so through [sic] and painstaking that it seems of little use to revamp any of its contents. I therefore shall quote excerpts from his report. However, instead of using the Lindgren (1905) report, Van Dine (1981, pp. 4-7) actually quoted the Vandrenkamp report and, in so doing, he fully blurred what little distinction there was between Lindgren's words and those of Vandrenkamp. Thus, Van Dine left the impression that all the statements made by Vandrenkamp regarding lIauriferous gravels ll in the area of the Dorothy B claims were actually made by Lindgren (1905) of the u.s. Geological Survey. Van Dine (1981) therefore gave every indication that it was Lindgren who discussed the lIauriferous gravels II in the area between Spring and Bonita Creeks. In fact, based on Van Dine's report alone, it would be difficult for a reader to reach any other conclusion.
Further misapplication of Lindgren's (1905) work is found in an undated, unpublished private report by an organization called Safford International Resources, Ltd. No names of any persons or authors are given, although it is noted on page 8 that a Helen Charbonneau lIis not only on the Board of Directors but is also Vice-President of Research and Development for S.I.R., LTD.II (The BLM was only given pages 7 through 15 of this report, although the Introduction begins on page 7, and the total costs for a placer mining operation are given on page 15.) This report was apparently written after the Van Dine report, as it refers to
28 his conclusions on page 12. In the geology section (pages 8 - 10) this report quoted Van Dine word for word, including the lIauriferous gravels II , and, attributed the entire quote to Lindgren as well as to a 1978 publication by a Peter Dunn entitled
"Geologic Structure of the Safford District. II The Dunn report, however, deals entirely with the structural geology of porphyry, copper deposits in the Safford area (in the Gila Mountains) 'and/ has nothing to do with gravels or rivers. Although the S.I.~ I report stated on page 8 that some of the geology section is excerpted from Dunn, in fact, none is. It could be considered that the author(s) of the S.I.D. report were duped by the Vandrenkamp and Van Dine reports, except on page 10, after all of the quotes, the statement is made, "Copies of the reports from which the above excerpts were taken [which would include the Lindgren (1905) report] are available upon request for more
detailed information on the area. II
This misapplication is so thorough and pervasive in these three unpublished reports that pertinent parts of them" as well as parts of the Lindgren report, are included as Appendix 1 to demonstrate this fact.
Vandrenkamp (1930) recommended that the four terraces he reported to occur in the area of the subject claims be mined by using a hydraulicking operation, stating that the results of his sampling led him to believe that up to over 45 million dollars of free
29 gold can be mined from the deposit. This is based on an availability of nearly 76 million cubic yards of material worth $.60 per yard in free gold. He stated, "In addition to free gold, many of the ancient river beds carry 'black sand' and concentrates containing considerable quantities of Platinum, Iridium, Osmium, Monasite [sic], and other metals and metallic
oxides. II He then stated (p. 19) that preliminary results indicate that there are about 200 pounds of black sands per cubic yard, having assay values of $12 to $48 per ton in gold. He said (p. 19) that using the $12 figure increases the value of the deposit from over 45 million dollars to over 91 million. After deducting capital and operating expenses, he concluded (p. 31) that the net value of the property was over 30 million dollars.
Van Dine (1981) agreed fully with the amount of material calculated by Vandrenkamp, and said another 620 acres of material should also be included. Van Dine (1981, pp. 9-10) wrote, We have found that the Gold has assayed at 81 percent purity, there is silver and platinum in with the Gold . . . In addition to the above 'Free Gold' I have found that the Black Sands carry approximately fourteen (14) troy ounces of Gold per ton of black sand that must be extracted by a method or methods other than the normal Amalgamation process ... In addition to the above Free gold and the fourteen ounces of gold that cannot be seen, they also contain other high values in the following. Platinum, Iridium, Osmium, Zircon, Monasite [sic], Titanium, Silicon, Silver, Magnesium, and other metals or metal oxide. II
He then concluded (p. 10) that, using the then current price of gold at $480 per ounce, the property (i.e., the Dorothy B claims)
30 is worth over 49 billion dollars in gold alone, "Plus the values of the other metals and/or metal oxides in the black sands. These figures are based upon the F.H. Vahrenkamp report, and the research work done by myself in the month of April, 1981." He recommended (p. 16) that a trommel be used in conjunction with amalgamators and concentrating tables rather than the hydraulicking method recommended by Vandrenkamp. {( The S.I.;t. report (undated) simply re-affirmed Van Dine's estimate of over 49 billion dollars worth of gold and stated that properties immediately adjacent to the Dorothy B claims "should equal or surpass" the values determined by Van Dine. On page 13 it is stated that these adjacent properties have deposits that, when screened to one-quarter inch or less, will average at least ~ three ounces of gold per ton. The S.I)r. report noted on page 11 that one ton of black sand is concentrated out of 10 tons of bank run material on the Dorothy B claims.
Charbonneau wrote an unpublished Research Report of the Dorothy B claims in 1983. On the first page she noted, "I am an electronic engineer, having been around mining all my life. I do not hold a certificate, and not registered as an assayer in the state of Arizona, however, in March and April, 1981 I assisted, and worked with Max Van Dine, and have personal knowledge of and kept the
records of test made by us at that time." Charbonneau also wrote two unpublished papers in 1986 on sampling and assaying these
31 deposits.
Charbonneau's 1983 report indicated that the material was even richer -than what Van Dine reported, stating the typical assays do not give a true indication of all the values present. On page 2, for example, she stated, "Below is the standard assay used by Mr. Van Dine you will note the difference on later research as some of these assays, properly done could increase by 70%." On page 5 she said, liThe black sand concentrates have averaged not less than 70 ounces oJ gold per ton on an overall average, some of the Gila Conglomerate has tested at over 200 ounces per ton and upward. II On page 8 she reported, "Some of the blacks [sic] sands are known as complex ore, or as locked in gold, where fine gold particles are sandwiched between two grains of black sand. We refer to it as being locked in a bond. In order to break this bond and recover from the black sands, ore must be ground to 400
fine, and the results would surprise you. II
On page 10 Charbonneau (1983) stated, that on the Dorothy B claims, "In some areas the free gold will run upward to 2 and one-half ounces per ton, while in others it will run micron to invisable [sic]. The gold is found in flake and flour in most cases, there are a few of what is known as nugget size. The fact that no visible gold is showing does not mean that the values are
not there. II
32
.( Charbonneau (1983) also reported significant values for silver as well as platinum and the platinum group. She stated (p. 7) that the 40-acre Dorothy B No. 24 claim, which is immediately north of the subject No. 12 claim, is very rich in silver and gold. She said (p. 8) that a cut in the conglomerate on this claim "contained 37 ounces of Gold and 26 ounces of Silver, done by fire assay. "; and that "rocks in the conglomerate" at another site on this claim "show silver at 150 ounces per ton, more or less. II She also said (p. 8) that samples taken on level ground on top of a bluff on this claim two feet below the surface "shows gold at 60 ounces per ton and Silver at 78 ounces per ton. II (This level ground on top of the bluff extends into the subject Dorothy B No. 12 claim, comprising the loosely-defined "terrace 4" in the northeast quarter of this claim.)
Charbonneau (1983) did not quantify the values for platinum and the platinum group. Her main statement on these metals is found on page 11 where she wrote, Most assays show a good amount of Platinum, also there is pure platinum in the raw ore, a lot is wire size to larger solid pieces. The gold itself is known to carry about 6% platinum, also both high and low groups show, as palladium, osmium, iridium, all these are present.
By way of contrast, the joint publication of the U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Bureau of Mines (Richter, et al., 1982) noted that less than $30,000 of gold has been reported to be mined from the Gila Box vicinity (including the Smugglers Mine area), and
33 rated the potential for current gold recovery in the Gila Box
ll area as IIlow to very low • This report discussed the potential for any kind of mineral development but yet does not mention silver or the platinum group. The report acknowledged the presence of Universal's placer operations with the trommel, noting the operators lIanticipate significant gold recovery. II However, as previously stated, no gold was ever recovered from that operation, and there have been no significant operations since. The Richter et al. (1982) report stated, after mentioning the Smuggler Mine, IILithologically similar, old gravels are present in the study area between the confluence of Bonita Creek with the Gila River, but to our knowledge no reliable data concerning gold content are available. Although fire-assay analyses of three representative gravel samples collected by us in this area indicated less than 0.01 ounces of gold per ton, values comparable to that at the Smuggler Mine could still be present. II The purpose of this joint publication was to provide land management agencies an assessment of the mineral potential of the area to enhance the quality of land management decisions.
A 1972 publication by the U.S. Geological Survey on placer gold deposits in Arizona (Johnson, 1972) stated (p. 19), Gold is found in ancient river gravels that mantle terraced bluffs of Gila Conglomerate along the Gila River downstream from the mouth of Eagle Creek to Bonita Creek (Graham County); ... About 10-12 miles downstream from Eagle Creek, the Gila River makes a wide bend between Bonita and Spring Creeks. At this location (approximately sec. 20 and 21, T. 6 S., R. 28
34 E.) an alluvial flat was tested for placer gold at the property known as the Neel placer .... Placer production from the Gila River has been very minor compared with production from the San Francisco River. . . . Tests of the Neel placer made in 1933 and 1938 indicate that the gravels averaged 60 cents per cubic yard. Actual production from the property was small. . . The origin of the gold in the gravels is unknown, but it was probably derived from gold eroded from the Clifton-Morenci district and transported by the San Francisco River to the Gila River. Small gold veins in the Gila Mountains may have contributed some gold to these minor placers.
The only other article found that addresses gold on the subject claims is an unpublished geologic report by a mining consultant named Richard E. Mieritz, who conducted a private study in 1971 for a Frank Wallis lito check the gold-silver value merit of the
ll Dorothy 'B' placer claims • This report was found by Thrasher
and Shumaker while looking through a file on the IINeel Placers ll at the Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources in Phoenix in December, 1995.
Mieritz (1971) stated, II [S]ix representative, wide spaced samples were taken in an area designated by Mr. F. H. Vahrenkaap, Consulting Engineer, as containing precious metal values as so
indicated in his report on the property dated January 6, 1930. 11 The conclusions Mieritz reached were: (1) - The two most obvious, accessible and minable II benches II were tested by six samples. This area does not contain sufficient gold-silver values ·to be of economical importance, in fact, the samples show very negative results, and, (2) - You should have no further interest in the property.
35 The six samples Mieritz obtained came from the portion of the subject 160 acre claim located in section 28, which is where the terraces are most fully developed; this is the same area where the bulk of the samples gathered for this current study were taken. Mieritz's samples came from existing pits and trenches on
the prope~ty, but it is difficult to correlate the sites with where the samples for the present study came from. This is because Mieritz's map showing his sample locations are tied to a water well that apparently no longer exists, and to a dirt road system that has apparently been obliterated by floods since his work in 1971.
No other reports, published or otherwise, could be found that addressed the presence of silver in the claim area.
Other than the unpublished reports provided by the claimant, only one document could be found that mentions platinum or the platinum group in the claim area. This is the unpublished letter from the Arizona Geological Survey dated-March 9, 1982. This letter states that platinum, iridium, and osmium (as well as zircon and monasite) are contained in the sand and gravels on the Dorothy B claims. However, one of the sources this letter cites for this statement is the "Neel Placers File" of the Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources, which also has on file
36 the Vandrenkamp report. This fact, plus the fact that the letter mentions several specifics of Vandrenkamp's report (such as the same list of metals as given above and the former names of closed mining claims in the area, such as the Gold Spot, Banner, Bonny, Red Bird, and Gold Nugget) led us to the conclusion that this letter probably used Vandrenkamp's report for this information. Thrasher contacted Steve Richard, a geologist for the Arizona Geological Survey, regarding this and was told that, although he did not have the references to prove it, we are more than likely correct in our conclusion.
The Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources has published two circulars addressing the presence of platinum (and the platinum group elements such as palladium, osmium, and iridium) in Arizona. One, Circular No.3, entitled Platinum in Arizona (Phillips, 1980) stated, liTo our knowledge there has never been production of platinum ore from Arizona . . . The recovery of trace amounts of platinum group metals from other ores in the final stages of refining, does not make the rock platinum ore. II (Emphasis in original.) The circular said platinum group elements (including platinum) in Arizona have been recovered as a byproduct of copper smelting, but only when in concentrations nearly 200,000 times over background values. The circular noted that assaying the platinum elements is difficult, stating (p. 3), IIEven reliable and experienced assayers have been deceived into reporting nonexistent platinum. On the other hand,
37 it is not likely to be missed if present and looked for. II The circular stated in its summary that platinum and the platinum group occur in Arizona but lIare not known to occur in sufficient
concentration to justify their mining. II
Circular 11, entitled Mining Scams (Greeley, 1986), stated bluntly (p. 3), The platinum-group metals including platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium, and osmium, are the darling of the swindler. Considering their high unit-value, even minute amounts of these metals appear to be a reasonably good bet to the innocent investor . . As a primary ore, platinum has never been mined in Arizona; its only production has come from trace amounts recovered in the final stage of refining copper ores. The geologic environment of Arizona, diverse as it is, does not encourage the search for platinum-group metals .
A publication by the u.S. Geological Survey on platinum-group
r elements in sedimentary environments (Peterson, 1994) .[ corroborates the conclusion that the potential for these metals is low in the area where the subject claims are.
MINERAL EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT WORK
According to V~ndrenkamp (1930), he drilled three holes in the Gila river bed; he said (p. 9), liThe depth to bedrock in each hole was twenty (20) feet where the drill entered the Gila conglomerate, and at a depth of thirty-two (32) feet encountered
hot water. II On page 13 he' said, liThe best location for my
38 sampling was to start on the different pits, shafts, old and new, [and] open cuts" for use in a rocker, a sluice, and a gold pan. He said (p. 13) that on a Plate 1 "will be found the plan of shafts, pits and cuts" but Plate 1 was not included in our package from the claimant, nor is it on file with his report at the Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources. Further, there does not appear to be any modern records of shafts on the claims in general, or on the two subject claims in particular. No shafts were seen on the subject claims during the course of this study.
Van Dine (1981, p. 11) used Vandrenkamp's narrative on testing and sampling virtually word for word, suggesting he did exactly what Vandrenkamp did. He too said, liThe best locations for my sampling was to start on the different pits, shafts, old and new, U [and] open cuts" for use in a rocker, a sluice, and a gold pan. ~ Van Dine did not refer to a Plate 1, or to any other map to show where these features are. There is however a map attached to his report showing where his samples came from; of his 39 samples, six (nos. 20 through 25) are from the subject #12 claim, two (nos. 16 and 17) are from the subject 160 acre claim, eight are from the unconsolidated terraces south of the 160 acre claim, and the rest are from near the mouths of Baker and Spring canyons. Van Dine's report does not explain his sampling method.
Charbonneau (1983, p. 2), however, said that Van Dine used a 2-
39 inch galvanized pipe 4 and one-half feet long, that he drove into the ground to collect a II core" of the material. She indicated that he took all 39 of his samples in this manner, suggesting that Van Dine never probed deeper than 4 and one-half feet in his exploration and sampling of the Dorothy B claims.
The hydralicking operation in the 1930's is one of only two /f?/ operations we can document prior to the establishment in ~ of reporting requirements to the BLM for working these claims. The other operation comes from one of the unpubliShed documents received by the BLM from the claimant. This is a report written in 1984 by a William Savory, who gave his first-hand account of activities in the area of the subject claims during an operation in 1938. He said (p. 1) that the area was then called the Neal Placer property, and (p. 3) that this operation involved the use of a trommel with a power shovel, grizzly, small bulldozer, four centrifugal cones (Ainley cones, which, he said on "page 2
equipment II are similar to Knudsen bowls), and a generator. He stated (p. 3) that, "Contrary to popular belief we found the deposits of gold to be in the conglomerate". It is difficult to
determine exactly which II conglomerate II he refers to since 1) a power shovel or bU,lldozer could not by themselves dig into the very hard cliff-forming conglomerates of the area; 2) a crusher would be needed to break the material up, and 3) he said (p. 3) that the mining was done along the banks of the river from Bonita Creek to where the trommel shown in Figures 9, 10, and 11 is now
40 located. This area consists almost entirely of the unconsolidated terrace deposits, which are amenable to being scooped with a power shovel and do not need a crusher to be processed through the bowls. Perhaps he referred to these deposits as the conglomerate as opposed to the recent alluvium in the river bed. On page 1 he stated, "When my turn came to clean the cones that we used, I did recover from the cones for a one day operation, at least 2 inches of pure, clean gold in a quart fruit jar. II He never said what became of this 1938 operation.
Ms. Braatelien, on November 1, 1994, showed Thrasher and Shumaker a phial, about the size of an index finger, filled with rice sized nuggets of gold that she said came from her claims.
The Safford BLM office received its first notice of mine activity on the subject claims in January, 1980. (Such notification requirements were established for this area in about 1978, when this area was first being considered for wilderness designation; mining notification for BLM lands in general did not become required until January, 1981.) This activity was the operation conducted by Universal Mining that involved setting up the large trommel; this operation also entailed blading a large area and constructing a "plant and assay office", which consisted of two buildings 100 feet long and 30 feet wide, on the subject 160 acre claim. BLM fenced off the artifact scatter archaeological site in response to this mining proposal. As discussed, Figure 9 is a
41 newspaper article that describes this operation. The basic operation was to use a series of sizers and cones to mechanically separate gold from the sands and gravels. The operation was shut down in February, 1981 due to bills not being paid; there was apparently no production of gold and essentially no reclamation by the operators or claimants. Two concrete pads 100 feet long by 30 feet wide are still in existence; these are visible herein on Figures 6 and 8.
The subject claims were then leased by Gila 1 Mining Company in March, 1981 for a pilot project in the area of the trommel. (By this time the regulations were in effect that required any mining operation on federal lands that involved the use of mechanized equipment or explosives to file either a notice of intent or plan of operations with the local BLM office; all disturbances greater than five acres required that a plan be filed rather than a notice.) The lease for Gila 1 was terminated in July, 1984 again with no reported production.
During Gila l's tenure, the BLM received three mining notices from them in the spring of 1981 for making test holes and trenches in the area immediately north and south of the two subject claims, and in the area near the mouth of Spring Creek.
Another organization, called Gila Placers, submitted a plan of operations to the BLM in March, 1983, mostly for working the
42 claims to the immediate south of the 160 acre subject claim, and for using the existing buildings on the 160 acre claim ("plant and assay office") as an office, repair shop, and living quarters.
The BLM also received a notice of intent in March, 1983 from a Flying J Mines for testing the 160 acre claim and claims to the immedi~te south; this activity was to be done with a D-9 bulldozer, backhoe, front end loader, and a "testing unit". They had subleased the area from Gila 1 Mining.
This activity from 1981 through 1983 apparently resulted in no production of gold or any other commodities. All that was left after the flood of 1983 in the area of .the subject claims was the trommel (Figure 11) and pieces of other mining equipment, foundations (concrete pads) of the two buildings, numerous spoil piles, and several trenches, all of which existed into June, 1995 when the City of Safford cleaned most of it up. The lease for Gila Placers expired in March, 1983.
Activity on the Dorothy B claims since the expiration of leases for Gila 1 and Gila Placers has entailed one notice of intent in 1987 and one in 1988 for test holes in the area of the 160 acre claim and around Spring Creek; and two notices of intent in 1991 for test excavations around Spring Creek and on the Dorothy B # 24 claim, just north of the subject #12 claim.
43 The March 9, 1982 letter from the Arizona Geological Survey stated that development of the Dorothy B claims "included 14 bulldozer trenches of varying depths and with lengths of 400 to 500 ft." There were two well developed trenches and one open cut on a hillside on the 160 acre subject claim observed during the course of this validity examination; these may relate to this development work. As discussed, it is not possible to pinpoint the workings (pits and trenches) that Mieretz (1971) mapped; those workings may also, however, relate to this development work.
A plan of operations for mining the subject 160 acre claim and the Dorothy B #24 claim was received by the Safford BLM in 1992. The plan called for mining gold on both these claims by sieving off material greater than two inches, truck everything else to Safford for refining, and truck the material with no values back to the site for reclamation. However, once the BLM approved the plan, the operator apparently left the-vicinity with no activities conducted on the claims and no further word to the BLM. Figure 13 is a newspaper article reporting on this proposal.
44 SAMPLING PROCEDURES AND ANALYTICAL WORK
Field Work
Field work for this validity examination consisted of geologic mapping using pace and Brunton compass methods, and sampling. Claim corners were either too old to be recognizable or nonexistent. Because these placer claims conform to aliquot parts, it was clear where the borders of the claims were by plotting the claims on the 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle map (Gila Box, Arizona map) that is shown herein as Figure 3; there are sufficient physiographic features, such as the Gila River and Bonita Creek, and manmade features, such as the road system, to
keep one well oriented on the ground. An aerial photograph of the claim area (Figure 6) provided an excellent supplement to the topographic map. A portion of the topographic map was enlarged to a scale of 1:6000 for use as a base in constructing the geologic map (Figure 5).
Samples were taken from exposures made by past exploration activities on the subject claims. Because Ms. Braatelein declined to accompany us or send a representative, we selected all sample sites. These consisted of the previously mentioned two deep bulldozer trenches and one cross cut hill on the 160 acre claim. As indicated on Figure 7, these three exposures cover nearly all of the stratigraphic section that comprises the
45 three terraces on the alluvial flat. Because there were no manmade exposures on the #12 claim, two samples were taken in the alluvium at the mouth of Bonita Creek, which· provides the drainage route for the sediments of the claim, plus a sample (DB- 6) about two feet deep was taken on top of the #12 claim. The idea with sampling the top of the #12 claim was to examine the top few feet like Van Dine did, but the abundance of boulders prevented deeper penetration with a shovel. Also, three individual nodules of chert were taken for assay. This was done because Wilson (1961) and the unpublished letter from the Arizona Geological Survey mentioned their presence plus, in 1991, an agent working with potential lessees of the mining claims (Marion IIBill1l Tucker, now deceased) informed Thrasher that such nodules have great potential for precious metals. Mr. Tucker said that the grade quality of the nodules varies wildly; he said some nodules have no value whereas others can assay up to hundreds of ounces of precious metals per ton of material. Two of the nodules came from the surface of the 160 a9fe claim, within 100 feet of the trench used for our DB Number}V sample, and the third was given to Thrasher by Mr. Tucker. This makes a total of nine samples that were taken and analyzed for this examination. Sample locations are shown on the geologic map (Figure 5) and the air photo (Figure 6).. Five of the samples (DB-1 through DB-5) were large channel samples collected by Thrasher, Shumaker, and Taylor, one (DB-6) was a small bulk sample collected by Thrasher, two (DB-7 and DB-8) were individual nodules of chert collected by
46 Thrasher, and one (DB-9) is the chert nodule given to Thrasher by
Mr. Tucker; it is not certain where on the claims this last sample came from.
Vehicular access was possible to all the sites except for the two samples taken at the confluence of Bonita Creek and the Gila
River. These two samples (DB-1 and DB-2) , plus one taken on top of the #12 claim (DB-6) were taken by hand using shovels with the remaining samples (except for the chert nodules) collected by rubber tired backhoe. Appendix 2 consists of photographs of the
sample-taking and processing procedures used for the bulk
samples.
Samples DB-1 through DB-5 were channel sampl~s collected in the
following manner. The surface to be sampled was first scaled and
cleaned to expose a fresh surface. Plastic five gallon buckets
were then placed on a clean polyethylene tarp at the base of the
site to catch the material. Whether by shovel or backhoe, the
channel samples were started at the bottom, and cut in as uniform
a rectangle as possible; the numerous boulders in some samples
made this difficult. The quantity of oversized material (cobbles
and boulders) was duly noted. The buckets were then capped and
transported in the bed of a pick up truck for processing.
SAMPLE DB-1 was collected along Bonita Creek on the Dorothy B #12
placer mining claim. T~is sample was a channel sample hand
47 collected with a shovel. The sample was collected from an active stream bank above the creek channel. The channel was approximately 10 feet high, 12 inches wide, and 12 inches deep.
The material sampled was predominately unconsolidated sand and silt with intermixed pebbles and a minor amount of clay. The lower six feet of the sample was predominately silt and contained more clay. Bedrock was not exposed in any of the exploration cuts on the subject or in the vicinity. Depth to bedrock is probably considerable. We did not encounter bedrock in any of the samples that we collected.
SAMPLE DB-2 was also a channel sample hand collected by shovel along Bonita Creek on the Dorothy B #12 placer mining claim. The sample was collected from an active stream bank immediately adjacent to the active stream channel. The channel was approximately 4 feet high, 12 inches wide, and 12 inches deep.
The material sampled was predominately sand and gravel intermixed with cobbles and boulders. Approximately five percent of the sample consisted of rounded cobbles averaging six to eight inches
in diameter. Bedrock was not encountered. Water infiltrated the bottom of the channel sample.
SAMPLE DB-3 AND DB-3A are from an outcrop on a hillside exposed
by previous exploration work, located in terrace 3 on the 160
acre Dorothy B placer mining claim. The samples, collected with
the assistance of a backhoe, comprise a single channel sample
48 that covers the entire stratigraphic section exposed. It was necessary to sample the face of the hillside in two different areas due to equipment limitations and safety concerns. Sample DB-3 represents the lower 20 foot of the exposed material. Sample DB-3A, located about 50 feet east of DB-3, represents the upper 10 foot of the exposed material. The channel sample for DB-3 is approximately 24 inches wide and six inches deep.
The material sampled had abundant cobbles and boulders intermixed in a silty sand with minor clay. Approximately 10 percent of the sample consisted of boulders averaging 18 inches in diameter. Cobbles made up another 20 percent of the sample. The DB-3A sample was approximately 18 inches in width and 6 inches deep. The material sampled had numerous boulders intermixed with sand and gravel, with minor silt and clay. Approximately 40 percent of the sample consisted of subrounded boulders averaging 18 inches in diameter. Bedrock was not encountered.
SAMPLE DB-4 was collected on the Dorothy B placer mining claim. The sample was a channel sample collected with the assistance of a backhoe. The sample was collected from terrace 2 in an exposure created previously by an exploration trench about 10 feet wide and 15 feet deep. The sample was approximately 15 feet high, 24 inches wide, and six inches deep.
The material sampled had abundant cobbles and boulders intermixed
49 with sand, gravel and silt with minor clay and some caliche. A dark sandy lens 10 inches thick was noticed approximately 6 foot from the top of the sample. Approximately 30 percent of the sample consisted of subrounded boulders averaging about 20 inches
in diameter.
SAMPLE DB-S AND DB-SA were collected from a bulldozer trench
located on the Dorothy B placer mining claim. The sample was a
channel sample collected with the assistance of a backhoe. The
samples were collected at different horizons within terrace 1.
As with DB-3 and DB-3A, it was necessary to sample the face of
the trench in two separate places so as to sample the entire
stratigraphic interval exposed without overextending the backhoe
and creating safety concerns. Sample DB-S sampled the lower lS
foot of the exposed material. Sample DB-SA, located about 100
feet north of DB-S, sampled the upper lS foot of the exposed
material. The DB-S channel sample was approximately 24 inches in
width and six inches deep.
The lower eight feet of the sample was predominantly subangular
to subrounded stratified sand, with approximately five percent of
the sample consisting of boulders averaging 12 inches in
diameter. Cobbles and gravel one to six inches in diameter made
up another lS percent of the sample. The upper 7 feet or the
sample had numerous boulders intermixed with sand and silt.
Approximately SO percent of the sample consisted of subrounded
50 boulders averaging 12 inches in diameter. The DB-SA sample was approximately 18 inches wide and 6 inches deep. The lower 1 foot of the sample was sandy silt with approximately 30 percent boulders averaging 18 inches in diameter. The next six feet of the sample consisted of silt and sand with minor clay and approximately 50 percent boulders averaging 24 inches in diameter. The top 8 feet of the sample consisted of sand and
silt with minor clay and approximately 25 percent boulders
averaging 18 inches in diameter.
DB-6 is a bulk sample consisting of massive, reddish brown sandy
silt with about 10% clay, 10% pebbles, and 20% cobbles; poorly
sorted, subrounded.
Sample Processing and Custody
Samples were concentrated using equipment from the BLM National
Training Center in Phoenix. The equipment used in this
examination consists of a Denver Goldsaver trommel and sluice
assembly feeding a 24 inch diameter Knudsen bowl through a six
foot tail sluice. Photographs of the apparatus are given in
Appendix 2. When used in series, the Goldsaver and Knudsen bowl
are capable of recovering gold in very fine fractions, including
sizes which usually cannot be commercially recovered. Samples
DB-l through DB-4 were concentrated at a location on Bonita Creek
51 about a mile from the sample locations. Sample DB-5, collected
several months after samples DB-l through DB-4, was transported
from Safford to a location near Mayer, Arizona and concentrated
there using the same equipment.
The Goldsaver uses a trommel rotating at approximately 30 RPM
with a pressurized water spray bar to clean sample material
introduced through the hopper and classify it to dimensional
particles under 1/4 inch. Oversize material is rejected from the
end of the trommel into an oversize chute. The material in the
oversize chute is continuously inspected for nuggets, and to
assure thorough cleaning of undersize particles, then directed
into plastic buckets.
Undersize material (smaller than 1/4 inch) is washed over the
Goldsaver's sloped oscillating riffles. When present, most gold
is collected in the first five riffles near the top of the riffle
board. Undersize material not caught in the Goldsaver's riffles
is washed through the connecting tail sluice into the 24 inch
Knudsen bowl. The Knudsen bowl uses moving water and centrifugal
force to concentrate heavy minerals in the lower concentric
riffles. Lighter weight material is flushed out through the
Knudsen bowl's reject pipe. Material from the reject pipe was
panned at regular intervals to assure that gold did not e~cape
the circuit.
52 Individual buckets of sample were weighed and the results recorded. A small amount of detergent was added to each bucket to reduce the surface tension of the process water and to prevent any fine gold particles that might be present from floating over
the riffles. A pump was arranged to provide water from Bonita Creek for samples DB-l through DB-4, and from a settling pond for' DB-5.
At both sites (Bonita Creek and near Mayer), the equipment was leveled, cleaned, prepared, started, and flow tested. Water flows were approximately 20 gallons per minute (gpm) to the Goldsaver with approximately 15 gpm of make-up water added to the Knudsen bowl. This water volume rate effectively reduces the sample slurry density and reduces the tendency of the riffles to pack with lighter weight material. The result is that any gold, which is very dense, that might be present in the sample becomes even heavier in relation to the sample slurry. This increases the gold's propensity to fall to the bottom of the slurry stream through the forces of gravity and be captured by the riffles.
The contents of individual buckets of sample were carefully poured into the feed hopper. The samples were introduced at a slow, steady rate to prevent overloading the riffles. As each bucket was emptied, it was cleaned with water from a hose to assure the processing of all contained particles.
l , 53 An examiner was stationed at the end of the trommel to watch for nuggets rejected as oversize by the trommel screen (none were observed) and to assure complete cleaning of the material. The position of the spray bar was adjusted to assure maximum pressure cleaning of the sample. Where clay was found in the trommel, the sample feed rate was reduced and a trommel chain installed through the hopper. The trommel chain is about three feet long, and consists of heavy 3/8 inch chain links connected with swivels. A hook on the upper end of ·the trommel chain anchors it to the hopper. The pounding action of the chain inside the trommel increases the clay cleaning action of the tumbling sample. Heavy, clean scrap steel was added and recycled through the trommel to further aid cleanihg when necessary.
Once all buckets of sample were completed for each sample, the equipment was turned off and the water flow stopped. The concentrates from the Goldsaver and tail sluice riffles were carefully washed into separate gold pans. The concentrates from the Knudsen bowl were washed into a separate gold pan. Each was reduced by hand panning to a concentrate of mostly black sand. Each concentrate was labeled and double bagged, and placed inside a sealed plastic bucket. These buckets was stored inside a locked government vehicle.
All concentrates, except DB-6, were transported to the BLM National Training Center in Phoenix and stored in a locked
54 laboratory. There, they were further reduced by hand panning by
Taylor, Shumaker, and a BLM visiting geologist, Robert Lewis.
Shumaker performed finish panning to a final volume. The final
volume was larger than normal to permit large volume mercury
amalgamation and cyanide testing due to a potential for
exceptionally fine gold. Concentrates from the Goldsaver and
tail sluices and the Knudsen bowl were combined for each sample.
Each concentrate was examined under a binocular microscope.
Relatively large particles of gold are normally removed and
weighed. However, no large particles were observed; in fact,
only one small flake of gold was observed, which was in the DB-4
sample.
Sample DB-6 was collected by Thrasher by digging a hole with a
shovel. This was a qualitative sample, intended for analysis of
megascopic gold particles. Once oversized particles (greater
than about six inches in maximum dimension) were removed, the I sample fit into one five gallon bucket weighing about 70 pounds.
This was hand panned by Thrasher at the BLM office in Safford.
About 42 grams of black sands were recovered, with no visible
signs of gold or any other precious metals. This was a
qualitative sample collected to determine the presence or absence
of visible gold, and was not further processes.
i L 55 Analytical Work
Black sand concentrates from the five channel samples (DB-l through DB-5) were double bagged, securely packed, and sent via certified mail, return receipt requested, to Jacobs Assay Labs in Tucson, Arizona. Jacobs is registered by the Arizona State Board of Technical Registration. Jacobs was requested to perform a mercury amalgamation and fineness test for each concentrate. Jacobs was also requested to perform a cyanide bottle roll test to determine if additional gold could be- recovered by that method. Additionally, each of the three chert nodules were split into two pieces, with one piece from each nodule being sent to
Jacobs for fire assay and atomic a~sorption analysis; these analytical methods were used to check the nodules for gold, silver, platinum, and palladium.
The sample taken with a shovel by Thrasher on top of the #12 claim (BD-6), which, when the oversized material was removed, nearly filled a five gallon bucket, was processed by Thrasher by using a gold pan. About 43 grams of black sands were recovered, but no colors of gold, or signs of any other precious metals were seen.
Results of the microscopic evaluation and laboratory analysis for - l the five channel samples are shown in Tables 1, 2 and 3.
56 I I TABLE 1 Gravel Loose Sample Weight Volume pounds
I Number (pounds) (cubic per Icy yards) DB-1 761 .3161 2407 DB-2 561 .1398 4013 DB-3/3A 4205 1.1292 3724 DB-4 845 .2478 3410 DB-5/5A 1435 .3650 3932
Table 1. Statistics for channel samples. Loose volume was
calculated by converting gallons to cubic yards; loose cubic
yards (ley) were calculated by measuring the height of the
material in each individual five gallon bucket, converting the
height to cubic inches by using the conversion factor of one
gallon equals 231 cubic inches, and then converting that figure
to cubic yards.
The results of the mercury amalgamation and cyanidation are shown
in Table 2. A full copy of the assay reports is given in
Appendix 3.
l
57 I I TABLE 2
Sample Conc. Mercury Cyanidati Cyanidati Total Weight Amalgamati on Au on Ag Au No. (grams) on Au (mg) (mg) (mg) (mg) DB-1 533 0.117 0.612 4.385 0.729 DB-2 713 0.191 0.2888 ND 0.4798 DB-3/3A 2504 3.488 0.859 ND 4.347 DB-4 2179 1.090 ND 2.82 1.090 DB-5/5A 534 3.222 ND 3.085 3.222
Table 2. Gold and silver analysis of channel samples. ND is not
detected; and mg is milligrams.
TABLE 3
I Gold Conc. Gold Silver Silver Total Sample (Troz/lcy) Value Conc. Value Value No. ($/lcy) (Troz/lcy) ($/lcy) ($/lcy) @ $400/oz @ $6/oz DB-1 .000074 0.0297 .000446 0.0027 0.0324 DB-2 .00011 0.0441 0 0 0.0441 DB-3/3A .000124 0.0495 0 0 0.0495 DB-4 .000141 0.0566 .00037 0.0022 0.0588 DB-5/5A .000284 I 0.1135 .000272 0.0016 0.1151 I
Table 3. Gold and silver values of the channel samples. Troz is
Troy ounces; Icy is loose cubic yards.
The results of the assays for the three chert nodules is as
follows (Table 4):
58 ------_._---- - Table 4 i SAMPLE Au (OPT) $/TON Ag (OPT) $/TON TOTAL $ NO. (@ (@ $6/oz) PER TON $400/oz) DB-7 0.005 2.00 0.15 0.90 $2.90 DB-S 0.022 S.SO 0.35 2.10 $'10.90 DB-9 0.001 0.40 0.15 0.90 $1.30
TABLE 4. Assay results of three chert samples. OPT is ounces
per ton. Assay values for platinum and palladium in the three
samples were nil, each being recorded as less than .001 ounces
per ton (see Appendix 3). Sample DB-9 is from Bill Tucker, and
samples DB-7 and DB-S were picked up from the surface of the 160
acre claim by Thrasher.
ECONOMIC EVALUATION
Various models were considered for mining unconsolidated bank
deposits such as those found on the terraces on the claims.
Resource values were calculated at $400 per troy ounce gold, and
$6.00 per troy ounce silver.
Floating bucket line dredges operating in valleys near
Sacramento, California were able to operate profitably on
alluvium worth five to ten cents per yard as late as the 1950's.
Such alluvium would be worth over 50 cents to over a dollar per
cubic yard today due to increased gold prices. These dredges
S9 were working in broad alluvial valleys with small maximum sediment size. They enjoyed massive economics of scale due to the massive amount of gold-bearing sediment, inexpensive land, and low operating costs. None of these conditions describe the subject mining claims. Probably the most unfavorable factors in mining the subject claims are the low value of the deposit (less than 12 cents per loose cubic yard) combined with the large amount of boulders; boulders are always an important factor in dredging operations (Wells, 1969).
Stebbins (1987) shows a model placer mining operation suitable
for mining unconsolidated bank deposits similar to those on the
subject mining claims. In this example, 150,000 loose cubic
yards are mined and processed annually. This example assumes an
ideal situation where the season permits 250 work days per year.
This method involves mining the deposit using front end loaders
and backhoes. Processing is accomplished using conveyors, feed
hoppers, trommels, jig concentrators, and sluices .. Tailings are
removed from the concentrators with bulldozers. The model
includes costs for employee housing, which would not be necessary
on the subject mining claims because of their proximity to
Safford. Operating costs alone for the Stebbins model amount to
$5.30 per loose cubic yard however, and as mentioned, the best
values we obtained were about 12 cents per loose cubic yard.
Capital costs for equipment acquisition (including a power
source), construction of settling ponds, and reclamation would be
60 additional.
The Stebbins model can be modified somewhat to potentially reduce some costs. Excellent management and equipment maintenance can reduce down time, although there will still be significant costs.
General service requirements would still be necessary, but could be kept to a minimum. The model allows $262,575 for these items.
Reducing this figure by 95 percent would reduce this part of the annual operating cost to $13,000. With these reductions, plus a general reduction in all costs for good management and low labor costs brings the operating cost (1985 costs) to $2.37 per cubic yard. However, this amount is still well above the best bank grade of about twelve cents ($0.1151) per loose cubic yard available on the subject claims; it is also highly doubtful that an annual operating cost of only five percent of the Stebbins model could indeed be sufficient to keep the equipment in good enough running order to minimize down time. Even with a modified
Stebbins model and using our best bank grade, gold would have to be worth more than $8,352 per ounce for such an operation on the subject claims to break even. Although economies of scale are possible, any resultant reduction in cost would still be
inadequate to successfully mine the very low grades encountered
on the claims.
The occasional nodule of chert on the claims that has high
precious metal values might potentially supplement the income of
61 an otherwise viable operation. Unfortunately, chert alone or in combination with the meager placer deposits does not have enough value to render an operation profitable. The chert nodules are
rare on the claims, and are difficult to distinguish from the
dark volcanic rocks that are so abundant on the claims. The
chert nodules would have to be hand picked. Even at the maximum
values seen in this study (in sample DB-8) , it would require
gathering a ton of these fist-sized nodules to obtain $10.90
worth of metals. In a large, disseminated gold operation, $10.90
per ton could be a very good value. However, here the chert
nodules are rare and irregularly distributed. Hand gathering of
the chert nodules would be slow and labor-intensive. It would
require walking the claims to identify and place each piece in a
bag or bucket. The collection rate would be agonizingly slow.
Not enough nodules could be collected in an hour to pay even
minimum wage labor costs. Adding processing and transportation
costs would make only add to the loss.
62 REFERENCES
Arizona Geological Survey, March 9, 1982, unpublished letter to Safford Bureau of Land Management regarding known mineral occurrences in the Turtle Mountain-Gila Box Wilderness Study Areas: Tucson, 30 pp.
Braatelien, D.S., 1991, 1994, personal communication.
Charbonneau, Helene, 1983, Research report of "Dorothy B" placer claims located in Graham County, Arizona: unpublished private sales report, 15 pp.
Dunn, P.G., 1978, Regional structure of the Safford district: Arizona Geological Society Digest, v. XI, Tucson, pp. 9-16.
Greeley, M.N., 1986, Mining Scams: Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources Circular No. 11, Phoenix, 8 pp.
Johnson, M.G., 1972, Placer gold deposits of Arizona: u.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1355, Washington, D.C., 103 pp.
Lindgren, Waldemar, 1905, The copper deposits of the Clifton Morenci district, Arizona: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 43, Washington, D.C., 375 pp.
63 Mieritz, Richard E., 1971, A report on the sampling program and procedure at the Dorothy liB II placer property, Graham County, Arizona: unpublished report, 13 pp.
Peterson, J.A., 1994, Platinum-group elements in sedimentary environments in the conterminous United States: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 2049-A, Washington,. D.C., 38 pp., 1 plate.
Phillips, K.A., 1980, Platinum in Arizona: Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources Circular No.3, Phoenix, 3 pp.
Richter, D.H., Klein, D.P., Lawrence, V.A., and Lane, M.E., 1982, Mineral resource potential of the Gila-San Francisco Wilderness Study Area, Graham and Greenlee Counties, Arizona: U.S. Geological Survey, Miscellaneous Field Studies, Map MF-1315-B, Denver, Colorado. One map with pamphlet.
Richter, D.H., Houser, B.B., and Damon, P.E., 1983, Geologic map of the Guthrie Quadrangle, Graham and Greenlee Counties, Arizona: U.S. Geological Survey, Miscellaneous Investigations Series, Map I-1455, Denver, Colorado. One map with text.
Richter, D.H., and Lawrence, V.A., 1981, Geologic map of the Gila-San Francisco Wilderness Study Area, Graham and Greenlee Counties, Arizona: U.S. Geological Survey, Miscellaneous Field Studies, Map MF-1315-A, Denver, Colorado. One map with text.
64 :.:.~.:;£~~~";:~ ~:.~'
Safford International Resources, Ltd., undated, untitled, unpublished, pp. 7-15.
Savory, William, 1984, Report of the Neal placer property and the
1938 operation: unpublished, 11 pp.
Stebbins, Scott A., 1987, Cost Estimation Handbook for Small
Placer Mines, U.S. Bureau of Mines, Information Circular 9170.
Van Dine, Max, 1981, Investigative report of "Dorothy B" auriferous gravel and black sand located in Graham County,
Arizona: unpublished, 17 pp.
Vandrenkamp, F.H., 1930, Investigation and report on "Neel Gila River" 'auriferous gravel deposits located in Graham County,
Arizona: unpublished, 31 pp.
Wells, J.H., 1969 (reprinted 1989), Placer examination; principles and practice: U.s. Bureau of Land Management,
Technical Bulletin 4, Phoenix, Arizona, 209 pp.
Wilson, E.D., 1961 (reprinted 1981), Gold placers and placering
in Arizona: Arizona Geological Survey Bulletin 168, Tucson, 124 pp.
65 27
'II,.. .--,.., "" • -,- ~;ruru.:'~--1"-> .1 ,.' - I -.'. t . ""1 -'E1!1'" ;- .. ~t,. ·f."'~'·i-'·~~:,"'r" ~ t ~1------3-"'~- \\ dJiit---«~ I . ..,.. " -- -t" "'... . "" _ I .• _"" .4S::~,..,". :.1.~
FIGURE 1 N ARIZONA RNCA U.S. Department of the Intenor v Bureau of Land Management - BOUNDARY Safford District .PHOENIX GILA BOX -RIPARIAN ~ DOROTHY B CLAIMS • NATIONAL CONSERVATION AREA LOCATION MAP o SCALE 4 Ba•• map @ ADOT I 1 1 1980 MilAR FIGURE 2. ACCESS ROUTES f \~-- '1~ -~ ~ ~ } NATIONAL =-'::::::'':::'l1::li-=:1111:::::1--=:1-= BITUMINOUS SURFACE TREATED GRAVEL • Mitchell Mtn GRADED AND DRAINED UNIMPROVED
.-~~'-- o?,~_ 'l-.. '-v--... • Slaughter Mtn ~
c;. tv S (?(?~
SCALE 5 o 5 10 15 I l I =:J STATUTE MILES r:.J V/
690000 FEET
3639 1, / "! • 1 i' ',,"" \1 ~~/, \0}" ?" 11'/ -,~,.~ v ~\l\':- '/ ~'-:--. : /I~-}( ;_. 'J (i \:0\ Jj:(.",::~:r.r.c':';:','i'''r . C/\:J"...\/ ,.: 7""', '( =r-~ ~>.=;.--'
11 2°52' 30 '-+ - ). ~'--·---':'l..\~('i "_ ..::' '~\ '»1 \ L'r·-: 1--'-' 'I 1090 30' SCALE 1 :24 000
1 .5 0 KILOMETERS 2 c;·:,~=e::.---=-==:F: ;-':r-~==:-'----===-'.~::'''::-=:': .:.'~ ':" .._OhO "=3 1000 0 METERS '1000 2000 1 .5 0 t ~~=-Z:=:==3._.-:-:--- -T: -_'.' :}:--.: :I; I MILES 1000 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000 Ii: ~---·==Z=:--=':"': :'=Ei:-:';-::~~~=_-,:, e=-==~..:;:a o ~~:"::==---=::':. ". ------.~:=: ....~----:..-.- .. -... --- - . . .. " .. FEET z CONTOUR INTERVAL 40 FEET
. ROAD LEGEND GILA BOX, ARIZONA
Improved Road ...... ======PROVISIONAL EDITION 1985 Unimproved Road ...... ======Trail ...... ______32109-H4-TF-024 QUADRANGI.F.8 I.OCATION o Interstate Route 0 U.S. Route 0 State Route 1 V2 0 1 2 3 MILES E3 H H H E3
1 .5 0 1 2 3 KILOMETERS RARRo! :::::::3 CONTOUR INTERVAL 80 FEET DOTTED LINES REF RESENT 40-FOOT CONTOURS NATIONAL GEODET.c VERTICAL DATUM OF 1929
~ J
FIGURE 4. Geologic map of claim area, as depicted by Richter, et al., 1983.
L Page 1 of 2; explanations on next page.
APPROXIMATE MEAN
L "DECLINATION. 1983 OESeR!
· . h' I ~rd; queried where uncertain Oa AlluVlum In c anne s Unlithified. silt to bh, dotted where concealed. Bar and ticular beds. Clast C<1 thickness about 6 ~ Opa Alluvium on pedime~ocks and of flow layering in mafic to Unlithified or calichel of unit Oa. Maxim\ c?ti,~;~:';':' COLLUVIAL AND AL~ln silicic volcanic rocks I PLEISTOCENE) -\ from numerous sm~ sisting of poorly soj TALUS DEPOSITS (I-i .. . 1st imbncatton and fore set bedding s h own onI y on st e~ LANDSLIDE DEPOSIT \ form modified by ~ OToa OLDER ALLUVIAL DEhber indicates rock has been chemi ancestral Gila and ~r in table 1 of chemical analyses to boulder-size dep~ Clasts consist of lo~ols are referred to in Description of granite, and massi~orcrtory of Isotope Geochemistry, Maximum thickne,
Gravel of Rail End CaJ·esponds to number in table 2 rounded gravel corl those in the fluviatil! km 2 southeast of tl-l an expansion bar dJ rent directions are g~ I JOogy beds of 111 RanchJ d La (1983)) liter an wrence Conglomerate of Mid1 DESCRIPTION conglomerate conta Turtle Mountain (Tj (1960). who inclu~ the unit. Be~ding :brecclated, fill~d with quartz, calcite, 'pyrite, are 1-3 m thIck a~iganese minerals, and argentite. Discovered ~ngular (~ rounde.\ined intermittently until 1940. In 1980 under I~ a matrIx of zeoliJat old tailings. Production probably more than nnds as much as ~ cliffs; upper part is' Cretehk basin'dbeldtartz and silver minerals. In 1980 under sou west. an c a1 ,. thickness more tha CONGLOMERATE O~ locally interbedde~ andesite flows (Ta \lngs of psilomelane along two fault zones. crude to poor withjY 1918-1955. Production about 1,700 metric supported. angulalpercent Mn. 1 m in diameter) irlyroluslte, associated with ca1dte, In fault zone. exhibit weatheringf' of 40 percent Mn ore produced In 1955. are chiefly derived the Bonita Creek ------the quadrangle pr box canyons are c~Franclsco River containing clasts of massive glomerate layers ate. Known since 1900; production minor. . fl . ~Iver. In 1980 under development for large- Upper an d eSlte ows to thick (2 - 20 m~ grained, generally amounts (1-30 p , olivine, clinOpyrOjce In ash-flow tuff (unit Ttt). One quarry tergranular, and andesites. but inclJ two-pyroxene and sists of scattered p(------altered to iddingsit~ minerals in a pilot~'ntinuous tin-bearing quartz-hematite vein lets ene prisms, and 0l rhyolite. Occurrence reported by Meeves Vesicles generally: minerals. Source I (Tac) was observ1 C and D yield age,------ thickness probabll
Fi~
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E!J Older alluvial gravels
Cliff-forming conglomerates; generally well consolidated
Gravel of Rail End Canyon
~ Tertiary lavas; andesitic
A A' Line of cross section for Figure 7 (in southern portion of map)
spl II Sites of samples taken for this study
Figure 5, continued. Explanation of map symbols. Topography taken from U.S. Geological Survey Gila Box quadrangle map, the same as used in Figure 3. o• • • • • 7,-100' l' AI Figure 6. Aerial photograph, taken September 6, 1986, of claim area, showing subject claim boundaries and / terraces 1, 2, and 3. Approximate scale is 1" = 1,100'. A 11' ",,~.;r '.eO.s7 ~(!+ C I .. /.N'"\ c/oi.,- M,'f ClIH"~t" ~~f;~J..,y (II"~I/~ .1'4 /(1v~1 eo "T"'-Y S~"4lt"6/ -11oc- I / -3~o(J -
-J5'OO- -3S?:J~ -
-]'10{J - -J IftJ 0 -
-3300 - -3300 -
7~r".ac~ 3 -3200: ------:i;~~- -3:<00 - .• ~~~C:~~ ____ :r~.~ _____ .
~""o~e I a+, Rt'v~1"" ------J;i:dr Gal
-3/00 - -3/00 -
v.,.,....I. S<:::..Q/t!' /1/:1."0 , o ,o
.rOO' h'q'z.. 5ca/~ / : 6 t:Joc> (""l,;!i-h qr r;l't!';'fc'/'(!-S eXq.7~"rdr~d)
Figure 7. East-west cross section A-A' across 160-acre mining claim. Geologic symbols same as for geologic map (Figure 5).
Figure 8. Panoramic view of subject claims, looking south and west from near the northeast corner of the subject #12 claim. (
j"l
l.lt:·/11t' "- <'" Col' <, . '] O!(l {ntrl'l i
r 0 _'? I ~1r'
c
A'~~ «i ,:: l(1 cit t-1' "1 '~i; i .1 q "j '" ./ • e't 10' /~/,'fJ.-t?./"';;' cl ,< "(/ t1 ~/l f'"'C"'C (;IV/' /
Figure 10. Photograph of the Universal Mining operation.
( \-.... ~~~-1w.~r'" ' "':,::<':'::" ;: ~~~;/~~~b :.:~ ,:<::':~ ""~.''iI,,.J',('' "" ' ' , ,., .,.,p :O'l)\>I>:i1"':" ,0;. .. :,1[. ,t,fill;', '"
... 1''' ,4,6 ",,;;. ,;~
• 1, , f /~; ,.,,', 1/ IJ /~; ,'/$ /l,:?'"."-·i'( '", Figure 11. Remains of the Universal Mining operation, after the flood of 1983. APPENDIX 1 DOCUMENTATION OF MISREPRESENTATION OF GEOLOGIC REFERENCES / EXCERPTS FROM: The Copper Deposits of the Clifton-Morenci District, Arizona hy Waldemar Lindgren Unlted States Geological Survey Professional Paper 43 1905 Lindgren Lindgren i8 i8 ••••••••••••••• ••••••••••••••• _ _ •••••• •••••• _ _ ••••••••••• ••••••••••• _ _ ••••• ••••• blltion blltion distri distri and and character character General General i8 i8 •••••••••• •••••••••• _ _ •••• •••• _ _ .•..•.•••....•...... •..•••.•••••••••••••••••••••••• .•..•.•••....•...... •..•••.•••••••••••••••••••••••• . t t . Porphyries Porphyries 78 78 •••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••• ~ ~ ...... •....•.••••.•.•.•••••••••• ...... •....•.••••.•.•.•••••••••• statenlent statenlent General General 78 78 ••••••••••• ••••••••••• ft ft ...... ••...... •...... •••••••.••.••••...•.••••••••• ...... ••...... •...... •••••••.••.••••...•.••••••••• rock~ rock~ Intrusive Intrusive 78 78 .••...•••.••••••.•••••••••••• .••...•••.••••••.•••••••••••• ' ' ..•.•.....•...••..•••...... •.•.....•...••..•••...... gra\'el~ gra\'el~ streanl streanl Present Present i7 i7 . • • . . • • . • • . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . • . . • • • • . . • . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . • • . • • . . • • . •• •• • . . . • . . . • . . . . . • . • • . • . • • • • • • . • . • • . • . . . . . • . . . • . . . • ,.. ,...... Is Is '"to '"to gra gra 'Terraee 'Terraee 7i 7i , , ••••••••••••• ••••••••••••• " " •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• .·-\lZe .·-\lZe 7i 7i . • • . •• •• . • . • . . • • • • • • • • . . • ...... • . . . • . • • • . • • • . . . • • • • . . . • • • . • • • . • . . . • ...... • . . • • • • • • • • . . • . • . '. '. ..•..•.• ..•..•.• dt:'positioll dt:'positioll of of 'lIode 'lIode t t i5 i5 •• •• • • • • . • • • • . • • • • •.. •.. " " .••..•...••.••.•. .••..•...••.••.•. ',' ',' ....••• ....••• bution bution di~tri di~tri anli anli ('haracter ('haracter Generul Generul ; ; i5 i5 ' ' ...... •••••••.•.••..•.•.•....•.••.....•.•••••• ...... •••••••.•.••..•.•.•....•.••.....•.•••••• ' ' .....•...... •... conglolllerate conglolllerate ',Gila ',Gila 4 4 i i :...... :...... •.•...•••••••..•..•••••...... • •.•...•••••••..•..•••••...... • ', ', •••...... •••...... rocks rocks sedirnentary sedirnentary Cenozoic Cenozoic 74 74 ...•...... ••.••••••••.•...•••••...... •.••.•••••.•.••• ...•...... ••.••••••••.•...•••••...... •.••.•••••.•.••• correlatioll correlatioll and and .-\ge .-\ge 73 73 ..•.•....•••.•.•.•. ..•.•....•••.•.•.•. . . distribution...... distribution...... and and character character Gellt'ral Gellt'ral i:~ i:~ ••••••••••.....•.••••••••••••••••••••••.•••••••••••••••••••• ••••••••••.....•.••••••••••••••••••••••.•••••••••••••••••••• fOl'luation fOl'luation Pinkal"(l Pinkal"(l ,- ...... •....•...•.•...... ••.•••...... •....•...•.•...... ••.•••. _ _ ...... •.•.• ...... •.•.• _ _ -.") -.") ...... roek8 roek8 stratified stratified l\Iesozoic l\Iesozoic 1- ..••••.. ..••••.. """ """ ..•..•.•. ..•..•.•. " " ...•. ...•. _ _ -.") -.") ...... •...... •...... lhuestone lhuestone Spring Spring Tule Tule i1 i1 ...... •...•...••.....•...••••.•.•..•••••..•.• ...... •...•...••.....•...••••.•.•..•••••..•.• correlation correlation anel anel ~-\ge ~-\ge 70 70 ~. ~. •••..••.• •••..••.• '," '," """"""" """"""" ...... •..•.•.•••.....• .....•..•.•.•••.....• analyses analyses and and Petrography Petrography . . 70 70 •.•...••••••..•••••••••••• •.•...••••••..•••••••••••• , , ...... , , .. .. " " ...•...... •..... _ _ ...... __ __ d~cription8 d~cription8 Detailed Detailed 69 69 .•••••• .•••••• .:. .:. •• •• """ """ _ . " " . _ ...... __ __ .•...•...... •...•...... distribution distribution and and character character Gent:'ral Gent:'ral i: i: Ul1 Ul1 ...... ••••••• ...... ••••••• _ _ .. .. _ _ ...... _ _ ...... lilnestone lilnestone l\Iodoc l\Iodoc 68 68 ...... ••••••...... ••••••. _ _ " " ' ' .••.•...... •.•••...... •.•.•... .••.•...... •.•••...... •.•.•... _ _ .. .. correlation correlation and and .-\ge .-\ge 67 67 .....•••.••.•• .....•••.••.•• " " .....•....•...... •.....•...... •....•...... •.....•.... analyses analyses and and Petrography Petrography " " 66 66 •••••••.• •••••••.• , . . , ...... _. _. ~ ~ .••••••.•....•...... •. .••••••.•....•...... •. distribution distribution and and character character General General 66 66 ..•..••••• ..•..••••• , , ...... ••••.•.•...... ••••.•.•. _ _ ...... •.•.••.••...... •.•.••.••. , , .•...•...... •...•...... shales shales l\Iorenci l\Iorenci 65 65 ...... •.....•...•.....••.••••••.••••..••..•..•...••••...... •.....•...•.....••.••••••.••••..••..•..•...••••. correlation correlation and and ~-\ge ~-\ge 63 63 ....•...... ••••••...... ••.•...•...... •....•••• ....•...... ••••••...... ••.•...•...... •....•••• analyse:':! analyse:':! and and Petrography Petrography 62 62 •...•.•...•••....•..•.••.••.•.••••••••••• •...•.•...•••....•..•.••.••.•.••••••••••• _ _ ...... sections sections Df:tailect Df:tailect 62 62 ¥: ¥: di:-:trihution...... di:-:trihution...... and and character character General General 62 62 ...... •.••...... •.....•••.••...... •.•••••• ...... •.••...... •.....•••.••...... •.•••••• linlt'l'tone:o; linlt'l'tone:o; Longfellow Longfellow 61 61 •.•••.••••.•...... ••.••.•. •.•••.••••.•...... ••.••.•. ~ ~ ...... ••••.••...... ••••.••...... , , •. •. correlation correlation ancl ancl Age Age i i 61 61 i .....••.••••••••.•.••.•••..••.••••••.••••.•••••••...... ••.••••••••.•.••.•••..••.••••••.••••.•••••••. deposition deposition of of Condition8 Condition8 60 60 ¥; ¥; .••.•.•...... •....••••..•••.•.••...•••••...••••••.••.•••.•••• .••.•.•...... •....••••..•••.•.••...•••••...••••••.••.•••.•••• Petrography Petrography 59 59 {, {, •••...••.•....•••••••••.••••.•.••••••••• •••...••.•....•••••••••.••••.•.••••••••• distribution distribution and and character character General General 10 10 59 59 ••••.•••••.....•.•••••••••.•••••••••.••••..••..•••••••••••• ••••.•••••.....•.•••••••••.•••••••••.••••..••..•••••••••••• quartzite quartzite Coronado Coronado 58 58 •.•••••••••••• •.•••••••••••• ~ ~ ••••.••••••••••••••••••••••. ••••.••••••••••••••••••••••. ~ ~ •••••.•••..• •••••.•••..• general general in in section section 1rhe 1rhe OBi OBi .•...•..•••••••.•••••••••••••••••••••.•••.•••••••••••• .•...•..•••••••.•••••••••••••••••••••.•••.•••••••••••• rocks rocks sedimentary sedimentary Paleozoic Paleozoic 58 58 ••••••••••••••• ••••••••••••••• granite granite pre·Cambrian pre·Cambrian of of intrusion intrusion the the with with connected connected Dikes Dikes 57 57 •••• •••• "" "" ••.••••••••••• ••.••••••••••• ,- •••..•.•.•.••.•••.••••••••••••••••••••• •••..•.•.•.••.•••.••••••••••••••••••••• Petrography Petrography 56 56 .•••.••.••••••••••••••••••••••.••••••••••••••. .•••.••.••••••••••••••••••••••.••••••••••••••. distribution distribution and and Occurrence Occurrence 56 56 ••.•••.•••••••...••...••..•.•••••••••••.•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ••.•••.•••••••...••...••..•.•••••••••••.•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• CFranite CFranite 56 56 •••••••...•.•••..••••••••.•••.••••••••••••••••••..••••.••••.••••• •••••••...•.•••..••••••••.•••.••••••••••••••••••..••••.••••.••••• schi8ts schi8ts ~nal ~nal 55 55 ••• ••• .; .; •••• •••• ', ', .••••.•••.•.••••.••.•••••.••••••••••••••••.•••.•••••• .••••.•••.•.••••.••.•••••.••••••••••••••••.•••.•••••• rocks rocks brian brian Pre-Cam Pre-Cam 55· 55· .•....•.••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••...••••••••••• .•....•.••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••...••••••••••• statenlent statenlent General General 55 55 v v ••••••.••••••••••..••..••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ••••••.••••••••••..••..••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Rocks Rocks Page. Page. GEOLoc.Y-Continued. GEOLoc.Y-Continued. GE~ERAI, GE~ERAI, II. II. CHAPTER CHAPTER CONTENTS. CONTENTS. 4 4 - ."",~_~-<.'~~.'--"'. ."",~_~-<.'~~.'--"'. " 8 CONTENTS. Cn.-\M'ER Y. PRJSC'Jr.\L C'no\R.-\rrERISTJ(~ 01-' DEPo~In;-Continued. Pllgt'.' Fi~nre \'eins anll r~latecl rlepoS!it~-C'ontjnuerl. )lorenci and )Jetcalf type •••••.•..•••..•••••...•....•••••.••.•.•••••••••...•••... 200 •, 8trul'ture .••••••••.••.•. , •.•.••••..... ".' .•.•••••••••••••••••••.••••••••.••.. 200 ... Ore~ in J!ent'ral ...•.•. ~ ..••..•.•.••.•.•...••.•.••...... •...... •••••••.•••. 201 .-\ Iteration flf tht' country ro(·k ••••.•..• 0 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• " • 202 Pyri tie lont' .•....•.•.••.•••..•...•...•..•.....•...... ••••.•...... •..•••..... 202 Chalcof·itt' ZOnl'...... • .•.•....•.....•...... •...... 203 (,pneral ('hnracter anll E'xtent ...... •••.....•...... •...... 203 Ort> h(1I1h.)~ of the ('ha1codte Z/11lt' •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 204 Rl·latinn of ('hal('ol'ite zone to watt'r It'wl ...... " ••.... , ...... '" ., .. 206 Rt'latilln oi tIll' chal('oc-ite zone to pre:-:ent )o:urial'p 0 • ~ •••••••••••••••••••••• 206 Snrinct' zone .••....••.....••••..•••••.•••...•...... •...•...... " •..... 20; Relation IIi \"einl'! to ianlting •••••••••••••••••....•.•...... •.•.•....•••••.•••. 208 '-eins conn(,('H·d "'ith diabn~e ••••• ".'" .•..•• , .•..•...... •.•....••••..•.. 209 Other veins ...... •....•••.••.•••••••..•••.•.•...... •.•....•.•...... •••••••... 210 •-\.uriferouE Yeinl'. 0 •••••••••••••••••••••••• : ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 211 # .... .\,G-0ld.bearing gra\'el~ ...... •••••...... ••...... ~ 212 ConditionS! of gronn.1 watt'r ...... •...... • 0 ••••••••••• 0" .0 ••••••••••••••••••••••••• 212 Depth of oxidizerl ZOllE'. 0 ••• '" o...... •...... 0 •• 0 ••••• 0 •••••••••••••• 213 Fluid incln!'=inn!o1 ...... ••...•...... " .•.....••••.....••. 213 Inclu~ions in grallitt' .•...... •.••••••...... ••...... 2H Inclusions in quartzite ...... 214 Inclusions in metamorphil' lillle!-'tones ....•...... •...... 214 Inclusions in porphyry ...... •...... •.... '.' ...... •...... • 21.j Inclusions in vein quartz ...... •...... ••...... ••...... •...... 21i Genesis of the copper depQsi t~ •. , .....•.•..•.•.•••...•.••...•.•.•.•.•.•.•...••..•..•• 218 '0 ~ Future of the district ..•••.•...... •...•••...•..... " .•..•.....•...... •.•.... '" 223 Cn,"PTER Y1. )IlSES llF )IORESCI ....••....•.•••••.....•...... •...•...... 0 •••••••••••••••• 224 Topography •.•.....•..•.•.•...... ••.•.....••...... •.....••...... •..... 224 Geology. '.'" .•..••.•...... •.•.••...••..•.••.••.•...... •.. " . . . . . • ...... •• • ....••• 22; I..ode systenl •••••..•.•••.••••.•.••••.•••.•••••..•••.••...... ••••...... •..... 231 U ndergronnd "'aters .•••••••••..••••..••..•.••••••••.•..•...... ••.•••.....•.••...... 232 Detail~ of mines .••••••••••..••.•••••••.••••••••••...•..•.•.•...... •..•..•.• 233 .Longfello\\· nline •••..•.••...•.••• 0 " ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• _ •• 233 Production and development. ..•.••...... •....•..•...... ••...... 233 Geology •••••••••.•.•..••.•••..•....•.•..•..•...•...•..•.• : ...... •..... 2S3 Rock alteratiun ••.•....•....•••...... ••••..••••.•..••••••... ::::•..•.•....• 236 Ore bodies •...... ••.••••.....•...... •••.••..•..... 23i . West slope of )Iodo(' )lountain .•.••...•..•••.•••....•...••.....•....•..•.•..•••.. 240 Detroit nline •••••••.....•••...••.•.•..•••.•••..•..•.•.•••••.••••.•..•.•••••...... • 240 Production and dt'\'elopment •...•..•.••• " .. " ..•••...•..••..•...•••••.•.. 240 (ieology • • • • • . •••...... •••••.•.•••••••.•.••.••••••••.••••••.•••••.•.•. 242 Ore bod ies ••• ' .•••.• . . • • • . • . • • • • . • . . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• . ••••••••••• 243 . )Ianganese Blue mine •••.•....••.•••...•.•••.•.•....•••.••.•.•••.•••••.•.••••••••• 245 Production and development •.•••••••••.•...... •.•.•.•••.•...... •..•••••• 245 Geology •.•••••.•••••••.•.•.....••..••....•...•...•••.••....•••.•••.••.•.. 24i Ore bod ies •.••••••••••••••.•••.•••••••••••••.•.••.••••.••...•.••••••••••. 248 Lindgren c ..... ~. .~ Lindgren Lindgren > > '. '. l l J J ;)·to, ;)·to, 1'. 1'. 18i-l, 18i-l, H. H. .\I'''l,".I1:< .\I'''l,".I1:< a, a, .• .• \'01. \'01. lh·r lh·r w. w. lWlh lWlh :;lIr\'. :;lIr\'. lil.'ug. lil.'ug. r. r. ::i, ::i, n'l'url: n'l'url: "'~'''lligit'lIl "'~'''lligit'lIl 1'1'I'litllilluly 1'1'I'litllilluly .. .. K K (iillJcrl.(i. (iillJcrl.(i. ./ ./ llutu!'1l1 llutu!'1l1 is is n~ n~ pl'('(lolllillutC. pl'('(lolllillutC...... I'Il)'oiitl' I'Il)'oiitl' alld alld lm~.alts lm~.alts I.·I:h'l':-' I.·I:h'l':-' nlO~t nlO~t 11 11 I I lJIo11lltaiu~. lJIo11lltaiu~. the the of of rocks rocks OIUOL' OIUOL' the the of of alt alt of of fl':lg'lIlellts fl':lg'lIlellts 1Ig' 1Ig' ('ontaini ('ontaini and and of of SIlIHl, SIlIHl, h~II.~I.'S h~II.~I.'S 01' 01' streaks streaks llo11persisting llo11persisting by by ~tratitil'd ~tratitil'd di:;cilletly di:;cilletly ll'~~ ll'~~ or or 1Il00'P 1Il00'P nppeul'ing" nppeul'ing" gnln~ls. gnln~ls. :)Ubullg'ulal' :)Ubullg'ulal' t.'oarse t.'oarse of of exclush'ely exclush'ely allllost allllost cOllsists cOllsists formation formation (lila (lila the the of of !lUltt'rial !lUltt'rial The The Uilll, Uilll, tho tho of of !lor'th !lor'th miles miles ~;) ~;) than than 1110re 1110re extend extend not not dot's dot's it it lth"cl' lth"cl' Fmncbco Fmncbco :;un. :;un. Along' Along' fect. fect. 111)11 111)11 l'eal'hes l'eal'hes almost almost it it :\lollntuin. :\lollntuin. King' King' l'oPPPt' l'oPPPt' of of PlLst PlLst due due cllnyon. cllnyon. river river the the along along while while fl'et, fl'et, is is IiIlO IiIlO Cliftou Cliftou ncar ncar pxpo-:;ed pxpo-:;ed tllil'kn('~" tllil'kn('~" The The feet. feet. 4,;')00 4,;')00 of of cle"ations cle"ations at at rhyolite rhyolite nnd nnd basalt basalt 011 011 pu.tdll'l:i pu.tdll'l:i ~r'!HlIl ~r'!HlIl fot'lIls fot'lIls it it ",hel't' ",hel't' Cliftoll. Cliftoll. 'of 'of north north miles miles 10 10 point point to to It It up up Hh"el' Hh"el' Fl'lln(~i8':0 Fl'lln(~i8':0 ~nl1 ~nl1 of of side side w('stern w('stern the the following- m'en., m'en., f f mountain mountain the the into into northward northward extends extends forUlation forUlation this this of of bay bay long long A A decp. decp. fed fed 500 500 to to 400 400 Franl'isco. Franl'isco. ~Ull ~Ull the the of of canyon canyon the the iuto iuto ot!' ot!' drop drop ahl'uptly ahl'uptly they they until until Illile. Illile. the the to to feet feet :WO :WO to to of of 11)\) 11)\) gl'aLle gl'aLle a a ut ut southward. southward. tlil'lll'l' tlil'lll'l' ~lopiJlg ~lopiJlg ridges ridges the the fet~t. fet~t. ~,;')UO ~,;')UO about about of of l'll'nltiolls l'll'nltiolls !lUlrginlll !lUlrginlll attailling attailling :\II)lIlltain. :\II)lIlltain. King' King' <-'oppel' <-'oppel' of of .; .; . . slop!' slop!' cl'n cl'n southea:st the the and and hill;; hill;; :\lol'l~l)('i :\lol'l~l)('i thl' thl' of of Hanks Hanks ~le ~le t t :4:il't:; :4:il't:; It It cllllldran~.dt'.· cllllldran~.dt'.· Clifton Clifton uf uf corner corner :-,outhea:;t :-,outhea:;t the the ill ill luilt':-; luilt':-; sqllare sqllare ;1t) ;1t) uhout uhout o('C'upif's o('C'upif's ('()Ilg'IOllll'l'llt(· ('()Ilg'IOllll'l'llt(· Gila Gila The The depth." depth." i i t~ t~ to to of of adding adding instead instead it it and and it it iuto iuto them:mln':i them:mln':i sillking' sillking' it it at'p at'p CI'O!-i:; CI'O!-i:; which which wllter l'Olll'8CS l'Olll'8CS the the that that fact. fact. the the by by only only flLmily flLmily its its from from !Vp,l"'b-",.!}e !Vp,l"'b-",.!}e distillgtlj~lH:'u distillgtlj~lH:'u is is .I.,,, .I.,,, and and /J'/ /J'/ uesert uesert C C illterior, illterior, the the of of \"els! \"els! gra gra • • (~uatl'l'lUll'y (~uatl'l'lUll'y the the of of one one indeed, indeed, b~ b~ It It De~el't. De~el't. C//l C//l Yiejo Yiejo ,Titc:ps,t'/ ,Titc:ps,t'/ Puehlo Puehlo of of detritus detritus the the with with in:;('u:;ihly in:;('u:;ihly merges merges it it Bonito Bonito the the Below Below plains. plains. de:;cr·t de:;cr·t the the pi pi f f I I floor floor ~ ~ tr'oughs tr'oughs /1 /1 and and the the <'" <'" ( ( t t o('('upY o('('upY whil'h whil'h \-el:-; \-el:-; gra gra the the with with \.:ontinuollS \.:ontinuollS is is eong\oll1erate eong\oll1erate the the of of north north Ralst()n~ Ralst()n~ ,r ,r does does it it ~,,/y ~,,/y a~ a~ /4#/1,.,'" /4#/1,.,'" syst('lll. syst('lll. Hllllge Hllllge Bnsin Bnsin the the of of trough:; trough:; thc thc intersel'ts intersel'ts Giln Giln \\~here \\~here the the 15, 15, Bonito, Bonito, the the on on and and 10; 10; Prieto, Prieto, the the on on ; ; ~N'/~ ~N'/~ wile:;: wile:;: 80 80 fll_# fll_# extend extend ("". ("". tlll~Y tlll~Y San San the the Franeisco Franeisco On On Gilitu. Gilitu. the the of of mouth mouth the the abo\-e abo\-e littlt' littlt' a a ~cetl ~cetl la~t la~t being being source, source, towal'd towal'd qA qA its its .r .r miles miles 6'/)" 6'/)" 100 100 than than fi Ulore Ulore for for Gila Gila the the follow follow they they lost, lost, are are l'haraetcl':) l'haraetcl':) their their di:;tincti\'e di:;tincti\'e point point whrch whrch helow helow Bonito, Bonito, the the of of J.. mouth mouth j;s/r' j;s/r' the the nt nt ,- '::<"A;"J '::<"A;"J Beginning Beginning terms. terms. in in gil-en gil-en gpnel'al gpnel'al bp. bp. ('an ('an di~tl'ibutioll di~tl'ibutioll their their that that myself myself and and Howell Howell ~Il'. ~Il'. by by pointl'i pointl'i at at many many seen seen so so been been hf\.\-e hf\.\-e They They feet, feet, 1~500 1~500 pr'ohably pr'ohably is is Prieto Prieto the the on on exposure exposure the the and and mtLximum mtLximum exposed, exposed, fr(~(luentl.r fr(~(luentl.r al'e al'e bcds bcds the the of of feet feet thou~llJ(l thou~llJ(l ~ ~ One One the the eonglomerate. eonglomerate. O\'er O\'er [, [, predominating predominating cliffs, cliffs, some some ! ! in in J J latter, latter, the the Im~ult; Im~ult; #/k'" #/k'" of of LI LI /1,1/11'/1 /1,1/11'/1 shcets shcets and and and and trass, trass, sand sand of of coherent coherent slightly slightly l l of of layers layers lU'e lU'e it it with with tv tv ~ ~ Interbedded Interbedded culctll't'ons. culctll't'ons. q q is is Its Its cement cement beds. beds. the the of of :;lope:; :;lope:; the the hy hy iudicated iudicated often often is is Y Y h h ~ ~ ~J ~J flanks flanks mOllntain mOllntain ) ) pnrticulul' pnrticulul' derivation derivation from from their their nlld nlld Ol'igin, Ol'igin, local local of of are are './1 conglomerate conglomerate ----;3 ----;3 the the of of AJ AJ bowldprs bowldprs "The "The p) p) '.A) '.A) follows: follows: :.1S :.1S formatio~ formatio~ the the characterizes characterizes Gilberta Gilberta ~Ii'. ~Ii'. )lexieo. )lexieo. New New western western into into up up Bonito Bonito the the of of mouth mouth the the from from Rh'er Rh'er Gila Gila along along extp.nding extp.nding deposits deposits ,·alley ,·alley eroded eroded deeply deeply and and extensh·e extensh·e to to Gilbert Gilbert K. K. G. G. ~lr, ~lr, hy hy applied applied tirst tirst f f wa~ wa~ nllllle nllllle distribuf.ton,-This distribuf.ton,-This and and character character General General COXGLOlIERATE, COXGLOlIERATE, GILA GILA 75 75 ROCKS. ROCKS. SEDIlIENTARY SEDIlIENTARY C~NOZOIC C~NOZOIC f ~. ~. ~ ~ ~ ~ . . \ \ ;-)1: ;-)1: ':fI ':fI J.~ J.~ \ \ : : --f"" --f"" . . ~::': ~::': "', "', .: .: ·~r; ·~r; .¥~; .¥~; ~. ~. " " :~d~~1...:-. :~d~~1...:-. ...... 1· 1· J J "f "f I I I Lindgren Lindgren J J ~ ~ l l i i ) ) ; ; i i t t granite, granite, hn.~nlt, hn.~nlt, rhyolite, rhyolite, of of ~ ~ cotl:iists cotl:iists mn.tQl'iul mn.tQl'iul The The cross-hedding. cross-hedding. of of iodicatiotl8 iodicatiotl8 few few n.nd n.nd ,~ ,~ . . sand sand 1ittlt~ 1ittlt~ is is there there wholf:'. wholf:'. the the Ou Ou :;and. :;and. of of ~tl'caks ~tl'caks i i small small hy hy st.ratified st.ratified roughly roughly i:-l i:-l and and timbering) timbering) without without it it in in :;tand :;tand will will tunnels tunnels (milroad (milroad cemented cemented ,vell ,vell is is conglomerate conglomerate the the reet; reet; 40n 40n II II about about of of height height a a to to rise rise perpendi('ulnr, perpendi('ulnr, almost almost are are places places in in which which hlutfs, hlutfs, creck. Thl' Thl' creck. the the abo\-c abo\-c feet feet most most 1t.)(1 1t.)(1 at at gt'n\"(~l, gt'n\"(~l, of of terraces terraces nart·ow nart·ow arc arc t.here t.here places places several several in in i i wide; wide; feet feet f.iOO f.iOO to to 300 300 from from here here is is bottom bottom . . 't 't rh-er rh-er I:'undy I:'undy The The B). B). III, III, (PI. (PI. side side west west the the on on especially especially smelter, smelter, Shannon Shannon new new the· the· below below miles miles I! I! seen seen ,u·e ,u·e exp0::JUl'es exp0::JUl'es Excellent Excellent miles. miles. mnny mnny for for river river the the along along continue continue and and ..:1), ..:1), . . II, II, (P1. (P1. basalt basalt and and granite granite against against up up lenning lenning seen seen nre nre they they where where eli eli fton\ fton\ bl'low bl'low immediately immediately nlmost nlmost begin begin hluffs hluffs gravel gravel The The deposition. deposition. its its ~ince ~ince glomerate glomerate COll the the of of dislocation dislocation (.'ollsiderable (.'ollsiderable no no been been has has there there that that ~howing ~howing apparently apparently l'1,'\-ntion, l'1,'\-ntion, ~n.me ~n.me the the hus hus which which canyon, canyon, the the of of south south gra.vel gra.vel of of tnbll' tnbll' great great the the wit.h wit.h once'{~onnected once'{~onnected probably probably were were Thes(' Thes(' feet. feet. 4.~lOO 4.~lOO of of eleyntions eleyntions hig-her hig-her at at granite granite the the on on lie lie gravel gravel of of pntches pntches cunyon cunyon tho tho of of North North off. off. breaks breaks here here granite granite the the which which along along plane plane fuult fuult steep steep the the ~lgain8t ~lgain8t up up lenn lenn gravels gravels the the Canyon Canyon \Yard \Yard hi hi iron. iron. the the oxidize oxidize to to opportunity opportunity had had has has expo~urc expo~urc long-contit~n('d long-contit~n('d where where place~ place~ in in especially especially white. white. grayish grayish to to reddish reddish is is conglomerate conglomerate Gila Gila the the of of color color The The I;treak~. I;treak~. h;olated h;olated in in oceUl'S oceUl'S rarely rarely a.nd a.nd mat('rial mat('rial 'coarse 'coarse the the with with mixed mixed intimately intimately i~ i~ it it but but ~and, ~and, of of llUl0l1l1t llUl0l1l1t 1;idemble 1;idemble con- a a contain contain gl'uYels gl'uYels TIlt" TIlt" places. places. in in cliffs cliffs smull smull forming forming though though consolidated, consolidated, grcutly grcutly not not nrc nrc ,!:hey ,!:hey mixed. mixed. are are porphyry porphyry quartz quartz und und limestone, limestone, granite, granite, roeks, roeks, Volcanic Volcanic in-diameter. in-diameter. foot foot 1 1 over over attain attain rarely rarely pehhles pehhles the the and and subangular, subangular, lnrgely lnrgely ~tmtitied, ~tmtitied, ronghly ronghly are are gravels gravels the the Clifton Clifton to to down down )lorenci )lorenci From From tunnels. tunnels. and and cuts cuts railroad railroad along along hlasted hlasted be be e,'en e,'en must must places places many many in in and and cemented~ cemented~ well well often often is is conglomerate conglomerate the the predominate predominate rocks rocks volcanic volcanic 'Vhere 'Vhere pebbles. pebbles. larger larger the the of of out out weathering weathering gradual gradual the the of of tl tl reason reason /1,11 /1,11 hy hy pitted pitted usually usually conglomerate; conglomerate; GHa GHa of of bluffs bluffs pet·pt.mdicular pet·pt.mdicular "i "i ncar-Iy ncar-Iy or or Ie Ie steep steep ~ ~ '/ '/ produecd produecd places places many many in in has has erosion erosion the the Creek Creek Chase Chase and and River River Fl'Ullci:-;co Fl'Ullci:-;co San San A.long A.long ( ( /~j~ /~j~ VI-/I VI-/I indistinct.. indistinct.. r./d r./d beeomes beeomes places places in in tuffs tuffs rhyolitic rhyolitic and and bll.."llltifl bll.."llltifl underlying underlying the the and and thi. thi. between between line line di\"iding di\"iding the the antI antI conglomerate, conglomerate, . ) ) . Gila Gila the the in in abundant abundant extremely extremely are are rock~ rock~ volcanic volcanic Creek Creek Eagle Eagle of of part part low~r low~r the the Along Along rock. rock. same same the the of of out.cropl:J out.cropl:J weathered weathered deeply deeply the the from from tinguish tinguish dis to to difficult difficult indeed, indeed, often, often, diorite-porphyry, diorite-porphyry, coarse coarse of of ly ly .. .. exclusin exclusin almost almost consist consist gravels gravels the the where where }lorcmci, }lorcmci, of of ::iouthwest ::iouthwest miles miles few few a a porphyry, porphyry, of of area area the the below below instance, instance, for for thus, thus, preponderate: preponderate: locally locally however, however, may~ may~ rocks rocks Other Other present. present. at at than than flows flows volcanic volcanic by by covered covered was was quadrangle quadrangle the the of of part part larger larger much much a a accumulate~ accumulate~ being being were. were. '. '. depmjit..., depmjit..., these these when when time time the the at at that that conr-;ider conr-;ider we we when when • • ARIZONA ARIZONA DISTRICT, DISTRICT, CLIFTON·MORE~CI CLIFTON·MORE~CI OF OF DEPOSITS DEPOSITS COPPER COPPER 76 76 .. .. ,"1 ,"1 'n 'n ! ! ,\ ,\ ,., ,., i.! i.! , , i i t t .~~" .~~" Lindgren Lindgren .' .' L L ) ) L L ,- ." ." ./ ./ ,(,)/ ,(,)/ j} j} b QUlLtel'lmry. QUlLtel'lmry. lato lato tht tht to to l'efel'l'l~d l'efel'l'l~d ure ure amI amI dPQ dPQ conglomerate, conglomerate, Gila Gila the the than than Intel' Intel' J./" J./" lUlU.'h lUlU.'h nrc nrc 1/,/1 1/,/1 stl'cnm, stl'cnm, thn thn of of power power el'osi\'{~ el'osi\'{~ the the in in ('heck ('heck eI eI pOl'l\,ry pOl'l\,ry //11 //11 tcm a a indicnting indicnting gran~l~, gran~l~, These These I I Ie,"'- level. level. ~ ~ Y Y ~,r) ~,r) wate), wate), the the llho\'e llho\'e tI tI reet reet 100 100 to to tjO tjO l'ising l'ising CHfton, CHfton, below below mile mile 1 1 exposed exposed is is which which them, them, of of one one 011 011 built built is is smelter smelter f;lmnlloll f;lmnlloll The The Fl'3.ncisco. Fl'3.ncisco. San San the the lliong lliong found found 1l1'e 1l1'e hcnehes hcnehes Similar Similar quadrllugle. quadrllugle. the the of of end end northern northern the the neat' neat' creek creek tho tho above above feet feet 50 50 about about Ilnd Ilnd CUlll':-:;e, CUlll':-:;e, lower lower its its in in el'cek el'cek the the above above feet feet ~oo ~oo t.o t.o 100 100 bodies bodies slllall slllall in in Cl'\~ek Cl'\~ek Ea.gle Ea.gle on on found found are are graveLs graveLs Such Such courses. courses. strcam strcam the the of of part part lowel' lowel' tho tho in in especially especially Creek, Creek, Bugle Bugle and and Hivet· Hivet· Fl'anci!';l'o Fl'anci!';l'o San San ulollg ulollg places places few few a a at at appenl' appenl' gl'tl.n~l~ gl'tl.n~l~ tel'raCI~ tel'raCI~ of of benches benches Small Small ELS. ELS. RAY RAY G G TJo:RHACE TJo:RHACE cotlclusion. cotlclusion. this this with with coutticts coutticts region region this this from from eviucnco eviucnco no no anu anu it, it, to to age age QuatCl'llal'y QuatCl'llal'y carly carly :Ul :Ul assigns assigns Imnsollle, Imnsollle, ,\11-. ,\11-. by by followcu followcu Gilbcrt, Gilbcrt, ~Ir. ~Ir. formation. formation. the the in in round round h,.~en h,.~en hare hare fossils fossils .A!le,-~o .A!le,-~o l'onclusion, l'onclusion, this this lllodif.': lllodif.': po:;~ihlr po:;~ihlr \'ery \'ery muy muy Held Held wider wider 1l, 1l, over over extended extended t'tllJies t'tllJies thuugh thuugh an'a, an'a, this this in in faulting" faulting" hy hy dislocated dislocated or or warped warped been been not not has has cOlJglomel':Lt~ cOlJglomel':Lt~ ila ila (J (J the the known, known, Car Car :.1=' :.1=' A:; A:; rock, rock, hCll hCll tho tho expolSing expolSing without without foothills foothills ~lol'cnci ~lol'cnci the the and and Clifton Clifton between between Crcek Crcek Cilu:;o Cilu:;o by by across across cut cut now now gl't.Lvels gl't.Lvels of of bay bay the the by by marked marked clearly clearly is is this this WI!st: WI!st: fat,ther fat,ther mile mile a a about about but but parallel, parallel, course course It It with with Rh'cr, Rh'cr, Fl'ttueisco Fl'ttueisco Sun Sun pl'csent pl'csent the the to to eOlTcspolldillg' eOlTcspolldillg' rut rut WUl; WUl; canyon canyon na.rrow na.rrow and and decp decp A A surface. surface. dissected dissected pltH'(~S pltH'(~S in in und und an an Ulte\'(,(l Ulte\'(,(l on on deposited deposited conglome),llte conglome),llte Gila. Gila. the the find find we we for for uctidty, uctidty, igueolls igueolls the the of of clo~e clo~e the the after after time time short short n n for for continucd continucd douhtless douhtless ero:::ion ero:::ion of of epoeh epoeh This This mass, mass, next next the the of of eruption' eruption' the the hefore hefore dis;;;eded dis;;;eded deeply deeply often often being being flows flows (litrer'pnt (litrer'pnt the the 1- e1'OStOn, e1'OStOn, active active of of conditionli conditionli under under pi:we pi:we took took Tertiary Tertiary the the of of outbut'sts outbut'sts volcanie volcanie The The pl'e~ent. pl'e~ent. ut ut n,1'O n,1'O they they what what to to similn,r similn,r \"ery \"ery prohn.hly prohn.hly then then were were conditions conditions climatic climatic The The rocks. rocks. crumbling crumbling the the of of musscs musscs \"a;;t \"a;;t down down brought brought streams streams torrential torrential intermittently intermittently which which from from quadrangle, quadrangle, this this of of much much 80 80 co\'ered co\'ered then then which which hu"s, hu"s, o.f o.f masses masses loose loose the the among among acth"e acth"e it it was was Especially Especially mountains. mountains. the the in in rapidly rapidly gressed gressed pro disintegration disintegration while while powers, powers, transporting transporting ,\nd ,\nd eroding eroding their their lost lost gradually gradually rivers rivers the the of of reachcs reachcs lower lower the the which which in in epoch epoch an an during during deposited deposited was was and and origin, origin, fluviatile fluviatile of of unqucstionably unqucstionably i~ i~ conglomcrnto conglomcrnto Gila. Gila. .. .. ~iti(m.-Tho ~iti(m.-Tho dt!p() dt!p() of of JIi)dt! JIi)dt! lavas. lavas. othe1" othe1" and and basalt basalt of of hills hills against against leans leans formation formation the the Gila Gila the the A~ A~ finer. finer. distinctly distinctly become become congloruer~te congloruer~te the the of of pebbles pebbles the the hut hut Gila, Gila, tho tho to to down down foothills foothills undulating undulating t~e t~e over over continue~ continue~ formation formation same same the the River River Fl'anciseo Fl'anciseo Sun Sun of of South South rest. rest. the the than than rounded rounded better better Ir Ir seems seems bluff bluff the the of of top top on on materiul materiul the the of of Some Some inche~. inche~. 8 8 about about u.\~eraging u.\~eraging but but diameter, diameter, in in feet feet 2 2 attaining attaining fragments fragments the the ~mbnng\llar, ~mbnng\llar, all all porphyry, porphyry, and and 77 77 : : I' I' LOMERATE. LOMERATE. CONG CONG LA LA G I I G '. \'. \'. f1.~. f1.~. i~ i~ ••• ••• ; ; .. .. ...... i·~ i·~ r't . ' ' . i~2' i~2' .. .. ' ' .i .i 7t 7t 1, 78 COPPER DEPOSITS OF CLllfTON'·)IORE~CI DtSTHICT, ARIZONA. PRESEXT l'Tln:A~r GUAYEI.S. The most rpccnt Quaternary formation i~ the alhl\·ium contained in San Fl'nnci~co' Rin~r nud Eaglc Creek. Both strenlll:-; arc well graded and occupy n. continuou~ strip of 8:llHly and g-rnvelly hottom lanel, :O:Ollll' times, howC\·cr, nnrrow ing to a width of only 1111) 01' 201) feet. tTn~t below Clifton thc :-;undy alluvium of San Francisco H.in~r attains the nnn~ual width of 2,000 feet. ~ t?",," o~ INTRUSIVE ROCKS. ~/.s c~.s S.i P/I (U' GEXERAL STATK\n:XT. jr",v,j.J) e~c('l/ ,rd/ Granting intrush·c origin to the basal pl'c-Camhl'ian granite, t~el'e is 0. second ;1-/ and mnch youIIger :o;eries of igncous rocks c:ontained 11.S ~tock8, dikes. shects, and I' ~ laccoliths in nIl of the lower Cl'etaccoll~, Paieozoi(·. 01' pre"Cnmhrinn formations. Thc time of intrusion of these falls hetwpen the middle Cret:u.'eous and the middle Tertiary period::!, hut they far antcdate the Tertinry hn"as, which are ~pread out O\"C1' tlwil' eroded sllrface, Porphyries of granitic, Itlollzouitic, 01' dioritic nftilia tion~ prcdominatc; diaha:-:;c OCCllrs in subord:natc amounts and would uppear to be somewhat later than the porphyrie~, The grl'at dislocution8 followed the~c i ntru:-3ions, J>ORPIIYHn:.~, Ge-neral c1wl'actt'l' all,l di,f.Jt,.ilmtioll.-Thc pOl'phyril's form nn nlmo~t continuous series of light-gray acidic 01' predominatingly feld:;.pa.thic rock~, ranging from dioritc-porphyry through monzonitc-porphyry to granite-porphyry. Between the last two Lindgren I i '"..- , Lindgren Lindgren stl"eRIll"-Chn'e stl"eRIll"-Chn'e Creek Creek !lnd !lnd Ellgle Ellgle Creek-and Creek-and the the deepe,t deepe,t workings workings in in no no plnte plnte Morenci Morenci is is situat.ed situat.ed on on hills hills from from ~()O ~()O to to 1,500 1,500 feet feet abo\'c abo\'c the the principal principal the the whole whole di:;trict di:;trict with with which which this this report report nenls. nenls. Pcrmanent Pcrmanent wnter wnter has has not not thus thus far far eneol.lntcrcd eneol.lntcrcd h(,('11 h(,('11 in in any any of of the the mincs mincs in in CO:NJ)ITION~ CO:NJ)ITION~ 0)" 0)" (~nOnN]) (~nOnN]) 'VATEIt. 'VATEIt. tratcd tratcd in in shallow shallow gullies. gullies. PaynlJieplaecl':O; PaynlJieplaecl':O; hare· hare· not not heen heen fonnd. fonnd. Gila Gila conglomerate conglomerate south south of of :\iorelH'i :\iorelH'i eontnins eontnins a a little little fine fine goM, goM, whieh whieh i!':' i!':' COllccn· COllccn· dOllhtle~:; dOllhtle~:; del'h-ed del'h-ed thcir thcir gold gold from from the the ycin:-; ycin:-; northeast northeast of of Copper Copper :\Iolllltnin. :\Iolllltnin. The The mine, mine, hy hy the the hydraulic hydraulic method, method, the the heuc·!J heuc·!J gl'an~l~ gl'an~l~ of of San San Franci~('o Franci~('o Rivet", Rivet", which which hut hut are are now now exhausted. exhausted. An An unsuct'e:;~ful unsuct'e:;~ful attempt attempt wns wns m:ule m:ule ~ome ~ome yeal':; yeal':; ago ago to to arc arc auriferous auriferous in in places. places. Placers Placers of of some some ndu(' ndu(' were were workcd workcd ill ill Gold Gold Gnleh, Gnleh, , , The The gl'a\'cls gl'a\'cls lyillg lyillg in in front front of of the the hills hills of of older older rocks rocks l~t_~J9.r~nri l~t_~J9.r~nri nnd<';IJftoll nnd<';IJftoll (;OIa)-BKATtIXO (;OIa)-BKATtIXO (;HA (;HA YEJ YEJ .. .. 8. 8. lematical. lematical. chalcop)"ritp. chalcop)"ritp. zinc zinc hlellde~ hlellde~ alld alld galena. galena. Tht' Tht' nt1up nt1up of of the~e the~e ,'eim; ,'eim; is is yct yct Il~ Il~ prob ht~low, ht~low, :-;ulpbide :-;ulpbide ore ore is is fOllIld fOllIld in in many many plu('(\s. plu('(\s. consbting consbting of of auriferolls auriferolls pyrite, pyrite, gold. gold. The The t'ropping:-: t'ropping:-: ~"ield ~"ield light light gold gold in in the the pan. pan. and, and, in in tunnels tunnels 50 50 to to feet 1(1) 1(1) following following pOl'phyl'Y pOl'phyl'Y (like~, (like~, hut hut here here ('al'l'i('~ ('al'l'i('~ less less ('oppel' ('oppel' and and considerahly considerahly more more Northeast Northeast of of Copper Copper :\Iountain :\Iountain the the same same n~in n~in sYf.:'tem sYf.:'tem continues continues in in granitc, granitc, u81Ulily u81Ulily The The ore:; ore:; of of Copper Copper King King mine mine contnin contnin from from $1 $1 to to $! $! per per ton ton in in gold. gold. far far heen heen found found in in thc thc lower· lower· le,·el. le,·el. probably probably is is n n continuation continuation of of thc thc one one llotpcl llotpcl at at the the upper upper tunne1. tunne1. No No ore ore hus hus tllU103 tllU103 ut ut an an elevation elevation of of feet, feet, 4:.;')(}11 4:.;')(}11 is is along' along' l'llll l'llll porphy porphy I'Y I'Y It It dike dike () () feet feet wide, wide, which which a a great great amount amount of of lead lead ('al'honate~ ('al'honate~ and and llative llative gold. gold. The The lowe:-::t lowe:-::t tunnel, tunnel, located located of of cellular cellular qual'tz qual'tz stained stained y('llow y('llow hy hy lead lead oxirlp. oxirlp. 'I'll(' 'I'll(' orc orc contains contains a a little little ('opper, ('opper, iil iil thi~ thi~ vicinity. vicinity. The The strike strike of of the the vein vein is is nOl'th'~asterl'y. nOl'th'~asterl'y. Thc Thc croppings croppings comdst comdst of of porphyry porphyry whieh whieh persistently persistently :010 :010 follows follows the the contact contact of of quartzite quartzite and and limcstone limcstone vein vein following following a a porphyry porphyry dike, dike, this this dike dike being being nn nn ofl'shoot ofl'shoot from from the the main main sill sill appearing appearing 100 100 feet feet helow, helow, on on the the Chase Chase Creek Creek l"lope. l"lope. The The deposit deposit is is a a fi~8nl'e fi~8nl'e pings pings are are situated situated nt nt an an elevation elevation of of .J:,760 .J:,760 feet, feet, the the top top of of the the Coronado Coronado quartzite quartzite The The total total product product is is bclieved bclieved to to have have been been $30,000, $30,000, chiefly chiefly ingold. ingold. The The ('rop In.Ht In.Ht few few years, years, and and the the developments developments consist consist chiefly chiefly of of two two levels levels or or tunnels. tunnels. Copper Copper Company's Company's store store at at .Morenci. .Morenci. It It ha~ ha~ h(>en h(>en worked worked at at intclTals intclTals during during the the in in the the limestone limestone overlying overlying the the quartzite quartzite 1 1 mile mile cast-southeast cast-southeast from from the the Detroit Detroit The The Hormcyer Hormcyer mine mine is is the the most most important important of of these these deposits. deposits. It It is is located located partly partly decomposcd decomposcd pyrite. pyrite. the the porphyry porphyry and and below below it. it. The The ore ore rnsty rnsty j-; j-; and and decompo!03ed, decompo!03ed, showing showing some some limestonc. limestonc. Prospccts Prospccts hnxe hnxe been been opened opened along along this this fault fault hoth hoth at at the the horizon horizon of of 212 212 COPPl';R COPPl';R DEPOSITS DEPOSITS OF OF CLIFTON·)[ORE~CI CLIFTON·)[ORE~CI DISTRICT, DISTRICT, ARIZONA. ARIZONA. .";·-:"·;.;------····-"------~-~f,i's:l .";·-:"·;.;------····-"------~-~f,i's:l EXCERPTS FROM: Investigation and Report on "Neel Gila River" Auri~erous Gravel Deposits Located in Graham County, Arizona by F.R. Vandrenkamp Unpublished 1930 l ; // ';' I ----., -----,-____.L. ~. ::/ ~ C ? "! .' t .1 :. ~. '- v I I ...... " ." •. _ ,_ __•• !,...... i .... ------_.. _------ INVEST!~ATICN AND ~fPORT t on ItNEEL======GILA RIVER" A.'JR!F='EROUS GRAVEL ::E?~S!TS .' Located in GRAHAM COUNTY, AR!:ONA --- .r:~.~;/ , I ..... ~ -..... [.i?--"'.~ /' ...;,.. j' l/ Properties ~ 'lV ( kl" .' . 1_ i /, bv \ :If J.Y.'" l. --'- . . \\,-~.,. (I (~; I ./i ~ ./3. 1/. Lv' 1 ", t} I rLL\. l It ~ \~(~f\ .... ,.: • \~ ,'I ' ~ f' 'i ,~....--~ .. . \~ .~;...... ~; ~ ,:~..... \ . ~ ... ~~..... ~ ;. ,,-" ~/:~':-S~''''~'f''i~~~-';, .. :../\~ 'i.. ' .. 'p\W ..... -. • / 'fJ-~\.o~I ...V., :~'.' W", .. ,11~/ '. -0 '"' 't \ ;' ~, . I I'..~, • i 7 .~ c,.. l~, ,,' \ J ~: :1~;lfl L ~ fJ· .,:!, .' ;';(,.QjY-\,,: ~ - f\' ':;} • '.\ ~~\~ "'54 7";r~~~/(;' / .. . "~ C;" II • • I .. ~\,., \ .•'~ . 'iii"~';l ..".\'~: :.• ' .., / L',:," "'t ••...... =-... .:.- ~ "':.' ~/~ '. :., . • f ", ',' ";:).' .7 · Jl 1+ .'...J' """'" ." .,;,.; L , A~ t~ ~tt-d:.~ L~-,vv · ,,'--=-..... /S)t ,~I ."",. .~ •. 1-0&ot: ""7 ('L.c..I ~~ ~,~ t ~r~ Vandrenkamp a·r.d "f- 1'~( ~.~ k~~ r zl:.- I -. . ~ ,I . _ 1, _ " .r; Vandrenkamp Vandrenkamp semi-circle semi-circle 6~·;A 6~·;A showing showing River River Gita Gita of of View View L L Panoramic Panoramic -- Photostat Photostat 10 10 No.2 No.2 Plate Plate Sa~~ling Sa~~ling I I f,,,,,ti 1 1 No. No. f f Plate Plate t t Sam~lins Sam~lins J J fl·t fl·t No.2 No.2 Map Map Profile Profile -3i -3i --- : : No. No. Map Map Claim Claim II II ------• ------ -29-30 -29-30 - Conclusion Conclusion 1/ 1/ - -29 -29 - Consideration$ Consideration$ £conomic £conomic II II O?erations O?erations Hycraulic Hycraulic Shifts, Shifts, Thre~ Thre~ of of ,. ,. " " -28 -28 Es:irr.a:e Es:irr.a:e Labor Labor -23 -23 - ---- Lober-- ------II II ~ ~ -- ~ ~ - ~ ~ ~ ~ ---- -26-27-28 -26-27-28 Wood Wood at at rights rights " " Vater Vater and and -25-26 -25-26 Water Water Available Available - Gravels Gravels River River Neel-GiJa Neel-GiJa - ~orkin9 ~orkin9 -23-24-25 -23-24-25 Cata Cata l'~ l'~ Cost Cost ----- It It Gravels Gravels Hydraulic Hydraulic Working Working of of Costs Costs of of 20-21-22-23 20-21-22-23 Statistics Statistics II II ------9 9 17-18- Operation Operation - of of Method Method 1 .. .. ------ Sands Sands Black Black 13-11.-15-16-17 13-11.-15-16-17 ., ., Sampling Sampling " " and and -lZ-i3 -lZ-i3 Gravel Gravel -- of of Testing Testing yardage yardage DOUBTFUL DOUBTFUL -11-12 -11-12 of of Gravel Gravel .. .. - yardage yardage n n ASSURED ASSURED to. to. --- ?A~iIALLY ?A~iIALLY of of Gravel Gravel It It ----- Yardage Yardage 8-9-10 8-9-10 -- Positive Positive of of Gravel Gravel II II - - 7 7 - - Gravel Gravel Terrace Terrace of of Source Source of of .. .. Character Character " " 4-5-6-7 4-5-6-7 Gravels Gravels Terrace Terrace • 3 3 • ---- Geology Geology It It ---- Climate Climate J J ~ ~ It It - - 2 2 - Jity Jity Accessibi Accessibi II II ------Title Title of of - 2 2 - :t~:us :t~:us .. .. ------ Names Names Claim Claim 1 1 Page Page ------ properties properties of of Location Location E X X E I I N 0 0 N - " " \ \ \ I I \ \\ \\ , , - 4 - :C:OlCCY The geology of this region is fully described in Professional Paper No.·~3, ''Morenci and Clifton Quadrangle", by Waldemar Lindgren. It being so thorough and painstak- ing that it seems of little use to revamp any of its contents. I therefore shall quote ex- hc"j .4/7'.11 e; "I' [V,Je cer;:>:s fran his report. / General Character and Distribution. "The boul- .... Ad). ~ II ,h 1/ ,.I ders of the conglor.erate are of local origin, Ag/~/' ~~/Jt and their derivation from particular mountain lur /,; ~",J o.r t"'/" with it are layers of lightly coherent sand and of trass and sheets of basalt; the latter, in some cliffs, predominating over the conglomerate. ~ til .. Beginning at the mouth of Bonito Creek below which point their distinctive characters are lost, they follow the Gila River for more than one hundred miles toward its source. Below Bon- L .. ito Creek it merges insensibly with the de- L -(I" tritus of Pueblo Viejo Desert. It is, indeed, one of the "~ua ternary Grave 1s .. of the desert L • interior, and; s distinguished from its f~mily Vandrenkamp '-. Vandrenkamp Vandrenkamp , , .*~ .*~ and and the the underlying underlying b.saltic b.saltic and and rhyol1t;c rhyol1t;c tuffs tuffs conglomerate, conglomerate, and and the the dividing dividing line line between between this this canic canic rocks rocks are are extremely extremely abundant abundant ~ ~ the the Gila Gila rock. rock. Along Along the the lower lower part part of of Eagle Eagle Creek Creek vol- from from the the dee~ly dee~ly weathered weathered outcrops outcrops of of the the same same porphyrYI porphyrYI often often indeed, indeed, difficult difficult to to distinguish distinguish consist consist almost almost exclusively exclusively of of coarse coarse diorite diorite - miles miles southwest southwest of of Morenci, Morenci, where where the the gravels gravels instance, instance, below below the the area area of of porhyry, porhyry, a a few few :Ocy, :Ocy, however however oca oca 1 1 11 11 J J predomi predomi y y na na te; te; thus, thus, for for vel vel cani cani c c f10ws f10ws than than at at present. present. Other Other rocks rocks er er part part of of the the quadrangle quadrangle was was covered covered by by posits posits were were being being accumulated, accumulated, a a v v much much larg- { { .. .. '; '; i i we we consider consider that that at at the the time time when when these these de- and and rhyolites rhyolites predominate, predominate, as as is is natural natural when when of of the the mountains. mountains. In In most most places places basalts basalts containing containing fragments fragments of of all all of of the the older older rocks rocks non-persist;n; non-persist;n; streaks streaks or or lenses lenses of of sand, sand, and and a~pearing a~pearing more more or or less less distinctly distinctly stratified stratified by by 51St5 51St5 almost almost exclusively exclusively of of coarse coarse subangular subangular gravels, gravels, The The material material of of the the G~la G~la River River e/ e/ formation formation ?j/f~J/~/7 ?j/f~J/~/7 con- .- !ntfp~ !ntfp~ " " destroy; destroy; ng ng ; t t ; instead instead of of addi addi ng ng to to its its depth depth * * _ _ * * r r I I cross cross it it are are sinking sinking themselves themselves into into it it and and only only by by the the fact fact that that the the water-courses water-courses which which ...... 5 - 5 ~"~ ~"~ Vandrenkamp Vandrenkamp ',,- J J lar lar i i to to what what they they are are at at present. present. The The vol- climatic climatic conditions conditions were were then then probably probably very very si~ si~ I, I, down down vast vast masses masses of of the the crumbling crumbling rocks. rocks. The The which which interm; interm; ttently ttently torrential torrential l l ~ ~ streams streams brought brought which which then then covered covered so so much much of of the the quadrangle, quadrangle, from from was was it it active active among among the the loose loose masses masses of of lava, lava, progressed progressed rapidly rapidly in in the the mountains. mountains. Especially Especially ing ing and and transporting transporting powers, powers, while while disintegration disintegration reaches reaches of of the the ri ri ver ver s s gradua gradua 11 11 y y lost lost thei thei r r erod- deposited deposited during during an an epoch epoch in in which which the the lower lower is is unquestionably unquestionably of of fluviatile fluviatile origin, origin, and and was was Mode Mode of of De~osition. De~osition. - - ihe ihe Gila Gila conglomerate conglomerate opportunity opportunity to to oxidize oxidize the the iron. iron. places places where where long-continued long-continued ex?osure ex?osure has has had had is is reddish reddish to to gray; gray; sh sh white, white, especially especially in in mented. mented. ihe ihe color color of of the the Gila Gila conglomerate conglomerate dominate, dominate, the the conglomerate conglomerate is is often often well well ce- 1arser 1arser pebbles. pebbles. Where Where volcanic volcanic rocks rocks pre- reason reason by by of of the the gradual gradual weathering weathering out out of of the the bluffs bluffs of of Gila Gila congiomerate congiomerate usually usually pitted pitted many many places places produced produced steep steep or or nearly nearly perpendicular perpendicular "i "i J J / / the the mouth" mouth" /,,1 /,,1 of of Spri Spri e-/" e-/" creek, creek, r.g r.g the the erosion erosion has has in in /7 trJr trJr Gila Gila River River from from or or the the mouth mouth Bonita Bonita Creek Creek to to ,t. ,t. f"f f"f Jf" Jf" # # ",/I ",/I in in places places becomes becomes * * indistinct. indistinct. * * Along Along the the .5t~ .5t~ / / f f ;J'> ;J'> fiJi fiJi f f - 6 - ., ., . . 'if! 'if! Vandrenkamp Vandrenkamp L L .• .• ~~ ~~ erates. erates. of of the the stream, stream, much much later later than than the the Gtla Gtla conglom- ( ( indicate indicate a a temporary temporary £/AJydfl,j,77 £/AJydfl,j,77 check check in in the the erosive erosive power power The The deposition deposition /d/a/J,/,,~(' /d/a/J,/,,~(' of of the the c. c. , , gravel gravel IT IT in in terraces terraces would would OU$ OU$ gravel, gravel, deposited deposited in in four four d~stinct d~stinct terraces. terraces. lower lower course, course, wef;nd wef;nd a a large large acreage acreage of of aurifer- river river from from 50 50 to to 200 200 feet feet above above the the stream stream in in L..I--1 L..I--1 its its J7r~/1 J7r~/1 and and Map Map No.1), No.1), on on the the northwest northwest side side of of the the Gila Gila NCI NCI i--; i--; / / Between Between B~nito B~nito and and Spring Spring Creeks Creeks (See (See photo photo TERRACE TERRACE G~;;VELS G~;;VELS possibly possibly modify modify this this conclusion." conclusion." ~ ~ 6~J" 6~J" /j~/Ad/1c1./1 /j~/Ad/1c1./1 'l 'l stu stu die die sex sex en en t t de de / / dove dove r a a r wi wi ;A ;A de de r f ; e 1 d d 1 e ; f r rna rna y y v e r r e v y y I" I" 9 9 or or dislocated dislocated by by faulting faulting in in this this area, area, though though known, known, the the Gila Gila conglomerate conglomerate has has not not been been warped warped plac~s, plac~s, deeply deeply dissected dissected surface. surface. As As far far as as conglomerate conglomerate de?osited de?osited on on an an uneven, uneven, and and in in of of the the igneous igneous activity. activity. for for we we find find the the Gila Gila less less continued continued for for a a short short time time after after the the close close of of the the next next mass. mass. This This epoch epoch of of erosion erosion doubt- being being often often deeply deeply dissected dissected before before the the eru?tion eru?tion conditions conditions of of active active erosion, erosion, ~:'ie ~:'ie J;~:crent J;~:crent f1~ f1~ ...... s s canic canic outbursts outbursts of of the the Tertiary Tertiary :ook :ook place place under under • 7 - 7 • li li ~::,;·r ~::,;·r . . rY. rY. ... - s - CHARACTER AND SOURCE OF TE~RACE GRAVELS COpi(') 7he terrace gravels are of auriferous origin, by t/e", tJ) A t', ".;J, IJ deposited by erosive agents, and, being a much later '~lfr, b,;f.~,j f),j~ flow than the Gila conglomerate, the Gtla conglomer- ;., L:A ,/}/{'/J ate forms tr~ bed-rock or stratas of gold concentra- tion. ihese gravels no doubt are part of a remnant of an old ancient river channel. The channel may be traced by its exposed edges and rims in several p~aces. All the boulders and stratas of gravel have a slight dip of 10 degrees to the northwest, whereas the Gila ~if., conglomerate dips 20 degrees southwest. ihese gravels ~<-'\... indicate a te~porary check in their erosive ~~. due no doub: :c :he erosion sradual1y ceclini~g in inten- sitYI thus forming the ~ny terraces. The gold being \ \ of ancient origin, being derived from disintegration of the immeasurable gold-bearing quartz veins in the igneous rocks of post-paleozoic age. The gravel consists of average size boulders, from the si:e of a bucket to that occasionally of a large barrel, and sand of a very loose nature, all washed smooth and well rounded. No ?i~e clay or ... cemented gravel ; s to be found of any consequence, except, occasionally now and then I observed a thin . .ct I layer of about two feet in thickness of gravel ce- \t/ mented by some carbonate of lime witn oxide of iron Vandrenkamp Vandrenkamp Vandrenkamp '/{ '/{ very very essential, essential, to to fix fix the the value value of of the the gravel, gravel, the the or or how how it it was was deposited deposited - but, but, it it is is important, important, and and gold gold comes comes from from found found so so abundantly abundantly in in the the gravel, gravel, It It is is not not ~Qterially ~Qterially significant significant where where the the throughout, throughout, but but not not in in commercial commercial quantity. quantity. the the Gila Gila conglomerate conglomerate contains contains a a little little free free gold gold doubt doubt having having come come out out of of the the Gila Gila conglomerate, conglomerate, as as throughout throughout the the twenty twenty feet feet of of gravel, gravel, this this no no < < A A few few colors colors of of free free gold gold were were found found in in each each hole hole depth depth of of thirty-two thirty-two (32) (32) feet feet encountered encountered hot hot water. water. the the crill crill entered entered the the Gila Gila ccngicmerate, ccngicmerate, and and at at a a to to bedrock bedrock in in each each hole hole was was twenty twenty (20) (20) feet feet where where the the Gila Gila river river to to determine determine this this factor. factor. The The depth depth \H6i \H6i writer writer drilled drilled three three (3) (3) test test holes holes in in the the bed bed of of ial ial and and of of rocks rocks found found in in the the Gi Gi la la conglomerate. conglomerate. The The it" it" ,/" ,/" river river bed bed are are largely largely composed composed of of ~ ~ cetritus cetritus mater- underneath underneath a a heavy heavy wash. wash. The The gravels gravels in in the the Gi1a Gi1a . . north north bank bank of of Spring Spring Creek, Creek, thence thence cisappearing cisappearing river river channei channei makes makes a a swing swing northwest northwest along along the the eroded eroded into into the the bed bed of of the the Gila Gila River. River. The The old old cient cient river river channel channel in in the the form form of of terraces, terraces, never never The The gravels, gravels, as as shown shown deposited deposited by by an an old old an- l/~" l/~" 0//1 0//1 ~ ~ grates grates instantly. instantly. ~ ~ /;y /;y Cr; Cr; / / ylft ylft V'" V'" ,/ ,/ 1:'/1 1:'/1 C C O.,A O.,A which, which, when when coming coming in in contact contact with with water., water., disinte- - 9 - ...... / / Vandrenkamp Vandrenkamp height, height, were were cut cut vertically vertically in in the the different different strata. strata. \/ \/ from from 't- six six (6) (6) feet feet in in width width to to thirty thirty (30) (30) feet feet in in in in depth, depth, and and all all along along the the face face of of the·bank the·bank in in cuts cuts open open pits pits and and shafts shafts from from six six (6) (6) t~th;rty t~th;rty (30) (30) feet feet heights, heights, a11 a11 along along the the top top of of !ir!! !ir!! the the terrace terrace in in ~ ~ terrace. terrace. The The gravel gravel was was taken taken at at different different pits pits and and cuts, cuts, showins showins the the ensemble ensemble of of sampling sampling of of On On Plate Plate No. No. will will be be found found the the plan plan of of shafts, shafts, open open cuts, cuts, group group them, them, and and find find the the average. average. was was to to start start on on the the different different pits, pits, shafts, shafts, old old and and new, new, ods ods in in my my sampling. sampling. The The best best location location for for my my sam~ling sam~ling rocker, rocker, the the pan pan or or sluice. sluice. I I employed employed all all three three meth- method method of of testing testing and and sampling sampling a a g~avel g~avel ~ro?erty ~ro?erty is is by by is is the the values values in in free free gold gold per per cubic cubic I"'" I"'" yard. yard. The The ! ! only only ) ) f. f. . . the the character character of of the the gravel, gravel, the the .I .I next next important important Vof"1 Vof"1 ~A ~A phase phase f? f? Having Having ascertained ascertained the the ap?rox;~cte ap?rox;~cte yardage, yardage, c",/,t'oI c",/,t'oI and and hy hy TESTING TESTING OF OF G~AVEL G~AVEL AND AND SA~PLING SA~PLING II II ce?th ce?th of of gravel gravel ------ 120 120 II II width width " " " " .. .. 2,600 2,600 Approximate Approximate length length between between extreme extreme points points 5,280 5,280 - Feet: Feet: have. have. The The measurements measurements of of the the acreage acreage are are as as follows, follows, yardage yardage of of approximateOly approximateOly ZtS,760,OOO ZtS,760,OOO to to what what we we already already pay pay gravel gravel in in its its entirety, entirety, it it wi wi 11 11 add add an an add; add; ti ti onal onal DCUBTFUL. DCUBTFUL. In In the the event event we we find find this this ground ground to to contain contain nevertheless nevertheless I I will will have have to to include include this this acreage acreage as as ~.:~.) ~.:~.) - 13 13 - ;·r:j·J· ;·r:j·J· '~~ '~~ - 1~- co/;<*J From three (3) to twelve (12) pans were taken in by each pit and shaft; and from one-half (~) cubic yard V ~Jf) ()//tt' to as many as two (2) cubic yards of gravel were token from pits, shafts, and cuts, and washed by rocker or sluiced, exclusive of the bed-rock. All samples were taken in a box r.easuring one cubic yard, or o3 I x9'xl'. This box was filled with gr2 vel and boulders, aliowance being made for the volume of the boulders; then washed either by rocker or through the sluice box containing ! j riffles. The free gold was then separated by a~~l- I sarr.a:i on from the "black sands", wei ghed on eSj)ecial I .. [1 gold scales, and values calculated, using for un;: value I per mi 1 ligrarn :he fineness of the gold as ~r mint re- ceipts. The results thus obtained being sixty cents ! (60¢) per cubic yard for the entire six hundred for~y ! (6~O) acres. Thi s acreage has been determi ned by measurements, spacedoby myself, the average of which has been found to be as follows! Approximate length - 11 ,220 feet 1\ width 1 ,,820 II II depth 30 \I \ Accordi n9 to these fi gures, the importance of ~.o deposit approximates 17,017,000 cubic yards of PCS!TIVE gold bearing auriferous gravel, or; in round figure$, sixty cents (60¢) per cubic yard, a POSITIVE value of J'l~ Vandrenkamp· 0 .11' . t.":.¥. ,., . , .~ ~ ."-.-; On Plate No.2, third terrace, not enough ~o~k has b~en done :0 cetermine any ?CSITlVE or ?RCSABLE value of the ground. ihe same method snould be adopted in pros?ecting by shafts, pits and cu:s; my time being limited, it could not be cone. 1 never the 1e ss tI?anned" an d "rocked" the I \t r.-any places, as shown marked "?p •• on the ?late. ihe results obtained were the same, as on first and second terrace, and in several places I ob- tai ned as many as forty-three (~3) colors to the pan, and from the size of the colors the value of sixty (60) cents is conservative for this acreage, although I c~n not include it as pay gravel, therefore will place it in the DOUBTFUL colu~~ until such time when it has been fully prospected. In the event it should be found that the nien hundred sixty (960) acres contains pay gravel throughout, it adds an .. additional ~S,760,OOO cubic yards. I have every rea son to bel i e ve t t wi 11 • \ )' , il t. l V.ahtJ:tr.t:Hlkamp Vandrenkarnp Vandrenkarnp \,V \,V ;s ;s exceedingly exceedingly low, low, a~d a~d becomes becomes richer richer as as we we near near the the ~ ~ de?os;t. de?os;t. Near Near the the surface surface the the metal metal content content usually usually · · 1 1 difficult difficult problem, problem, due due to to the the great great variation variation of of the the concentrates concentrates to to a a cubic cubic yard yard of of grav~l, grav~l, is is a a very very gr gr a a ve ve 1 1 to to a a scertai scertai n n he he t t exact exact amount amount of of ttb ttb 1 1 ack ack sand" sand" In In order order to to thoroughly thoroughly sam?le sam?le a a large large body body of of ucts ucts would would in in r.~ny r.~ny cases cases be be of of much much value. value. ail ail n g s ; ; s g n i i t t whe whe rea rea s , t t , s he he lib lib 1 a c k k c a 1 san san d d II II and and sand sand pro pro d- I I ing and and dredge dredge mining, mining, these these were were thrown thrown away away with with the the lie lie oxides. oxides. In In former former years years qf qf hydraulic hydraulic placer placer min- Osmium, Osmium, Zircon, Zircon, Monasite, Monasite, and and other other metals metals or or rnetal- :ain,ng :ain,ng considerable considerable ~uantities ~uantities of of Platinu~, Platinu~, Iricium, Iricium, river river :'eds :'eds car~y car~y 'I:,lack 'I:,lack sana and and concentrates concentrates con- ll ll In In addition addition to to free free gold, gold, many many of of the the ancient ancient ,r; ,r; v~/\ v~/\ j)j/1~ j)j/1~ ~ ~ BLACK BLACK SANDS SANDS 1'~) 1'~) by by co co S~5J553,200.00 S~5J553,200.00 Second Second Terrace Terrace - 35J3l.j3,OOO.OO 35J3l.j3,OOO.OO First First terrace terrace $10,210,2C~.OO $10,210,2C~.OO --- free free cold cold in in the the two two terraces terraces is: is: tions. tions. Having Having the the yardage yardage and and the the value, value, the the amount amount of of the the deposit, deposit, and and therefore therefore wili wili adopt adopt it it in in my my calcula- -- I I have have not not ove~est;mated ove~est;mated the the value value in in free free oold oold of of per per cubic cubic yard yard is is very very close close to to the the reality, reality, and and that that ~rospects ~rospects taken taken that that my my figure figure of of sixty sixty (60) (60) cents cents Amount Amount of of Gold. Gold. I I am am confident confident from from all all the the - 17 17 - - 18 - COl'jt!'./ by bee-rock; therefore, the metal content has to be V~.,. 0//1 (J gauged by a mechanical separation of a large sample. It mus~ be remembered that, roughly s~eaking, a drill sample wi 11 only represent something like one part in 200,000 to one part in 1,000,000, of the body of material :0 be worked. (Dredging for Gold in Calif- ornia, by D'Arcy Weatherbe.) The sampling of tai lings is even more dif- ficul~. The difference of opinion on the sub- ject is an added proof of the well known difficult- ies of correct sarn?ling and of the great variation of the perso~al equa~ion in this work. I do no: consider that sufficient or detailed tests have been rnude to form a definite conclusion as to t he go 1 d va 1ue per ton of lib 1ack sandI! concen- trates ava; lable per cubic yard of gravel, until a more complete working test on a larger scale has been made. The purpose of my examination is merely to obtain data as to the advisab~lity of saving the lib 1ack sand" concentrates; and judgi ng frem tests made, and from past experience on similar gravel de - posits, the "black sandI! concentrates found in this property represent a by-product of considerable value. ~ • _ Vandrenkarnp Vandrenkamp Vandrenkamp dey; dey; ces. ces. condi condi tions tions possible, possible, under under .~ .~ the the old old gold-saving gold-saving much much of of i: i: is is lost, lost, even even under under the the most most favorable favorable many many cases, cases, the the gold gold is is so so extremely extremely fine fine that that , , lurgical lurgical end end of of placer placer mining mining are are unknown. unknown. In In ihe ihe losses losses in in precious precious metals metals in in the the metal- / / portance. portance. mention mention them them as as they they are are of of great great commercial commercial in- on on a a larger larger scale scale have have been been concluded. concluded. I I merely merely include include them them as as POSITIVE POSITIVE value value unti unti 1 1 further further tests tests ty ty are are extremely extremely rare rare of of the; the; r r klnd. klnd. I I shall shall not not 7he 7he sold sold bearing bearing "black "black sands·· sands·· in in this this 10cali- ne er:neless, er:neless, v ~hey ~hey are are :0 :0 a a certain certain ex:ent ex:ent true. true. $91,106,440.00. $91,106,440.00. These These figures figures appear appear stagser1ngj stagser1ngj 75,922,000 75,922,000 cubic cubic yaros. yaros. This This would would o~oun: o~oun: to to , , tc~al tc~al yarcase yarcase avai avai lable lable in in ~he ~he :wo :wo terraces terraces be\ng be\ng addi:ional addi:ional value value of of $1.20 $1.20 to to every every c\'::'1c c\'::'1c yard. yard. The The ~er ~er ton, ton, of of twelve twelve dollars dollars ($12.00) ($12.00) it it wouid wouid udd udd an an Acce~ting, Acce~ting, therefore, therefore, the the l0w-4est l0w-4est assay assay vaiue vaiue in in gold. gold. as as much much as as forty-eight forty-eight coilars coilars ($~8.00) ($~8.00) per per ton ton an an assay assay value value from from twelve twelve dollars dollars two two hundred hundred (200) (200) pounds pounds to to ,png ,png a a cubi cubi c c yaro yaro ______\ \ coveree coveree by by sluicin; sluicin; and and reeker reeker tests tests amounts amounts to to [ [ The The tota tota 1 1 wei wei gnt gnt of of "bla~k "bla~k sandI! sandI! concentrates concentrates re- 7he 7he results results of of th~ th~ tes:s tes:s are are 1/;.11 1/;.11 ~ost ~ost f)j/)f f)j/)f sur~rising. sur~rising. co,;") co,;") by by - i i - - 9 EXCERPTS FROM: Investigative Report of "Dorothy B" Auriferous Gravel and Black Sand Located in Graham County, Arizona by Max Van Dine Unpublished 1981 l, L , )iJ1 )iJ1 tt , , L Braatelien Braatelien S S Dorothy Dorothy and and H. H. Edwin Edwin by by owned owned Properties Properties VANDINE VANDINE 14AX 14AX BY BY ~,: ~,: .• .• , , 'Ir-" 'Ir-" , , 1981 1981 APRIL, APRIL, UPDATED UPDATED ARIZONA ARIZONA COUNTY, COUNTY, GRAHAM GRAHAM in in located located SAND SAND BLACK BLACK AND AND GRAVEL GRAVEL AURIFEROUS AURIFEROUS :B" :B" "DOROTHY "DOROTHY OF OF REPO~T REPO~T INVESTIGATIVE INVESTIGATIVE , , .., .., . . , , ,J ,J ~~~~: ~~~~: ..., ..., . { { . ~:" ~:" i JJ JJ . . , , tP: tP: '/'" '/'" ","'" ","'" i i :.;.~: :.;.~: .;;: .;;: '\ '\ . . :~~::::. :~~::::. ~:· ~:· . . J J ,;" ,;" _ _ "- ;r~~~'~lw.~:Il;i'hP.t;\*:f~~i\.1?&~~";'f.~_\l:';;::'"Jr~~~C':{'~:~::''' ;r~~~'~lw.~:Il;i'hP.t;\*:f~~i\.1?&~~";'f.~_\l:';;::'"Jr~~~C':{'~:~::''' .!~ .!~ "~~~t~ "~~~t~ .. .. ,!' ,!' JI••• IIII •• l\i.~Iii.B~~~·;'~' ·i'&Jl;!ill~;~~:;!l,· :, ·l<:'I,·~~~~{~}~.;~~¥Mt:i~~~J~~~:lt;~;;;&:iJt.t~~:~:;~~ ~ '_'>::.Ji:~;:·:<;.~:%fti\o."f.,j~jj~i~~~·&;~·r?JHj.:;!:'fI;i~·~~·.;.·, __ ,-01.. ~I.1f: (J3~ ~ .. - / ~r / ). REl'ORT ON THE DOROTliY :E I·~INE LOCAT~D IN GRAHArv; COUNTY, ARIZONA BY MA.X. VAN DINE f /'1" y I Y; / l' y I O\\'NERS ARE DOROTh~ S. BRAATELIEN AND ED',';IN H. BRAATELIEN • REFERENC~;S; : Investigative report of the Neal Gila River auriferous gravel deposits Dated January 6, 1930, and Signed by F.B. 'Vah~enkamu Consulting Engineer. tiEOLOGY "MORENCI AND CLIFTON QUADRANGLE" BY "~ALD~RMAN LINDl1REN PROFESSIONAL PAPER #43 l (. ~ Van Dine ~ l ." ,j" ~~ t~ ,tV:'" 'J/t,~ r.·',#'"'7" I '¥i;;:",,:/' ~' -4- I /t '/''/,d4J, r r" I liEOICGY r ' ~he geology of this region is fully described in proffessional paper no. 43 "r·lorenci and Clif·ton Quad ra."'1ge " , by ~.' alderma.:r r Lindgren. It being so through and ~ainstaking that it seems of little use to revamp any of its contents. I therefore shall quote excerpts I ~~ d f h C' JI./l /1 / from his report. ~ v cjt7 G~N~RAL CHARACT:<:R .AND DIS~~I:5UTION, n?he boul- t ders of the conglomerate are of local origin, and their derivation from particular mountain flenks is often indicated by the slo~es of the l)lC beds. Its cement is calcareous. Interbedded r ' with its layers of lightly coherent sand and of trass and sheexs of basalt; The latter, in i J some cliffs, predominating over the conglomerate. Beginning at the mouth of Eonita Creek below which point their distinctive character are lost, L j they follow the Uila River for more than one hundred miles toward its source. Below ~on- \ l.J ito Creek it merges insensibly with the de t' tritus of Pueblo Viejo Deseet. It is, indeed, l. one of the "Quaternary Gravels" o:f the desert l, interior, and is distinguished from its :family .~ l .> ,. r r Van Dine I l J ~ ~.ir;,;- 'f." ~~y/:~:tft4~.: . <~''''J I ," -6- / td ~ode of Deposition. --- The Gila conglomerate is unquestionable of fluviatile origin, and was deposited during an epoch in which the lower reaches of the river gradually lost their eroding and transporting powers, while disintergation progressed rapidly in the mount~ns. Especially was it active among the loose masses of lava, which then covered so much of the quadrangle, from which internittently torrential streams brought down vast masses of crumbling rocks. The climatic conditions were then p~obably very similar to what they are at present. • The volcanic outbursts of the tertiary took place under conditions of active erosion, ~he different flows being often deeply dis sected before the eruption of the next mass. This epoch of erosion doubtless continued for a short time i41~ after the close of the ingenous activity, for we find the Gila conglomerate on an uneven, and in places, deeply dissected surface. As far as is known, the Gila Conglomerate has not been warped or dislocated by faulting in this area, though studies extended over a wider field may vary pOBsi bly modify this conclusion. < 11/0'/" lac I.: (; T C/O_L /:y or- t t/ (>/(3'" Vt/.fo"c.,,J, vQ"'l TERRACE GRAVELS e//~JI tt~ ..,..1' ~.J,(lv.,.(',/ Cor.,., ~,. 7 Between. Bonita and ~p!ing Creek (see Map) ~i.(.?/! f/ CI~ on the northwest side of the uila river from 50 I/thf 01/(//1). , /j to 200 feet above the stream in its lower course, (~~ 'J .61/1 (1.#J);~ (//'~,/ fa t.'Ad we find a large acreage of auriferous gra~el, de ,'{'/I . posited in four distinct terraces. The deposit ~ ) ion of the gravel in terraces would indicate a temp orary check in the erosive power of the stream, .. ~~ !l~ much later than the Gila Conglomerates. l " Van Dine 7.o./(?,.~ 7.o./(?,.~ d d '..-, '..-, ~ ~ £ £ t?y t?y tf/iO/e tf/iO/e or or rJ'.J1(;F rJ'.J1(;F Dine Dine Van Van I I /wi /wi ~\ ~\ ,..J.. ,..J.. ./" ./" / / r- ;(; ;(; c..- /y /y "Ad'/C.O/" "Ad'/C.O/" 0...., 0...., ~ ~ ,. ,. f\.. J J / / ° ° t t *****~************************** *****~************************** conglomerate. conglomerate. \V \V ij~ ij~ Gila Gila the the in in found found rocks rocks of of and and materials materials / / ,l ,l detritus detritus of of I I I I composed composed largely largely are are bed bed river river Gila Gila the the in in gravels gravels The The wash. wash. heavy heavy a a underneath underneath disappearing disappearing thence thence creek, creek, spring spring of of bank bank the the nor~h nor~h along along northwest northwest swing swing a a makee makee channel channel river river old old ihe ihe river. river. Gila Gila the the of of bed bed the the to to in eroded eroded never never terraces, terraces, of of form form the the in in channel channel river river ancient ancient old old an an by by deposited deposited shown shown as as ~ravels, ~ravels, ~he ~he stantly. stantly. in disintergrates disintergrates water water with with contact contact in in coming coming when when which, which, iron iron of of oxide oxide with with lime lime of of corbonate corbonate some some by by cemented cemented gravel gravel of of thickness thickness in in feet feet two two about about of of l~yer l~yer thin thin a a observed observed I I then then and and now now occasionally occasionally except, except, j j consequence, consequence, of of any any found found be be to to is is gravel gravel cemented cemented 0\ 0\ or or clay clay pipe pipe No No rounded. rounded. well well and and smooth smooth washed washed \ \ all all nature, nature, loose loose very very a a of of sand sand and and barrel, barrel, large large I I a a of of \ \ occasionally occasionally that that to to bucket bucket a a of of size size the the from from \ \ I I ! ! boulders, boulders, '",~ '",~ size size average average of of consists consists t gravels gravels The The I I age. age. post-paleozoic post-paleozoic of of rocks rocks ingenous ingenous the the in in veins veins quartz quartz gold-bearing gold-bearing immeasurable immeasurable the the of of tergration tergration " " disin- from from derived derived being being origin, origin, ancient ancient of of being being Gold Gold ~he ~he terraces. terraces. many many the the thus thus fo~ming fo~ming intensity, intensity, in in ning ning decli gradually gradually erosion erosion the the to to doubt doubt no no due due power, power, ive ive eros their their in in check check temporary temporary a a indicate indicate gravels gravels These These southwest. southwest. degrees degrees 20 20 dips dips conglomerate conglomerate Gila Gila the the as as where where northwest, northwest, the the to to degrees degrees 10 10 of of dip dip slight slight a a have have gravel gravel of of stratas stratas and and boulders boulders All All palces. palces. several several in in rim rim exposed exposed its its by by traced traced be be may may channel channel The The channel. channel. river river ancient ancient old old an an of of remnant remnant a a of of part part are are doubt doubt I I j j /1' /1' 14/Y" 14/Y" ('A ('A no no gravels gravels These These •. •. conglomerate conglomerate Gila Gila the the than than flow flow r/,r r/,r VilA· VilA· later later much much a a being being and, and, agents, agents, erosive erosive by by deposited deposited fJa fJa .. .. /ly /ly f f d< d< or1g1n, or1g1n, auriferous auriferous of of are are gravels gravels terraces terraces The The j" j" J,.i/ltl, J,.i/ltl, ,-t'/I, ,-t'/I, .tfr(hvl~')1 .tfr(hvl~')1 GRAV~LS GRAV~LS TERRACE TERRACE OF OF SOURCE SOURCE AND AND CHARACTER CHARACTER !(-// !(-// t<1/ t<1/ , , /J /J 5" 5" 'if[{1 'if[{1 -7- (')i"" (')i"" . . ,~~~"~ ,~~~"~ _r:o~::o _r:o~::o i. el'f ·,: .. )?:'" .., {I -8- I, have refered to the geology and charac ter of the gravels, as reported in the F.H.Vahren kamp report of 1930, and agree with his findings. . in r~ference to the~work done by him, I also agree with him on the work and testing done by him. I do point out that the positive yardage will differ slightly as he is known to be conservative in the extreme. I, recommend that extensive.exploratory work be done before a positive yardage and eval uation of the property in its entirety can be es tablished. Shafts would be the most practical, since the depth' should reach up to 200 feet in • place, to determine the depth to bedrock, and if ""; or not the nGravels" do reach to that depth. When, we accept the yardage de~ermined by t.H. Vanhrenkamp, which are verifiable, we find,and I Quote, II The terrace 50 feet above the water level of the Gila River, covering 640 acres of mining (' ground, and containing a total of 17,017,000 cu. \ ' yards of gravel. The second terrace 90 feet above the water level containing approximately 480 acres of minning ground, and approximately 58,905,000 cubic .yards of gravel. The balance of the 960 acres containing 45,760,000 cubic yards of undetermined values" l End Quote •• There is also an additional 620 acres in The Dorothy B properties not taken into or reported on the Vanhrenlcamp report that should have research and exploratory work done on them to establish the ~"\'c· value and yardage. L Van Dine ~ r-:. ~;;~ ...=:::: "~'J.~~ I··~EJ.~ .s~.: -11- ~(t- . TESTING OF GRAVEL AND SAMPLING co/i~J -1/-,."...., Ih,AJi't'/1- Having ascertained the approximate yardage, and k",~ the ch~racter of the gravel, the next important phase (,./3- l f) is the values in free gold per cubic yard. The only method of testing and sampling gravel property is by rocker, the pan, or the sluce. I employed all three methods in my sampling. The best locations lor my samp I ling was to start on the different pits, sharts, old and (/"'''' OJ:~j new, open cuts, group them, and rind the average. ()~-eAL~ > :.the gravel was taken at different heights, all fr?~e/ , I lit1P" ;;JrJle I along the top of the FIRST TERRACE in o?en pi ts and . f. shafts from six (6) to thirty (30) feet in depth, and i all al~ng the Iace of banks in cuts from six ~6) feet in I width to thirty (30) feet in height, were cut vertically ! I in the different strata. I \I' From three (3) to twelve \12) pans were taken in I each pit and shalt; and from one half (!) cubic yard to as many as two .(2) cubic yards of gravei w.ere taken from pits, shafts, and cuts, and washed by rocker or slUiced, exclusive of bedrock. All samples were taken in a box Measuring one cubic yard or 3'x9' xl'. This box was filled wi th gravel and boulders; allowanc·e being made for the volume of the boulders; then washed either by rocker or through the sluice box containing riffles. The free gold was then separated .by ama1ga~ mation from the "black sandsV weighed on special gold scales, and values calculated, using for uni t value per milligram the fineness of the gold as per mint reciepts. The acreage has been determined by measure f,rI ments, spaced and the average of which has been found I to be as follows. o. ~pproximate length --11,220 feet n width -- 1,820 feet u depth--- 30 feet Van Dine (1 (1 Dine Dine Van Van f f J; J; very very a a is is gravel, gravel, of of yard yard cubic cubic the the to to concentrates concentrates L " " L sand" sand" "black "black of of amount amount exact exact the the asertain asertain to to gravel gravel f f I I of of body body large large a a sample sample thoroughly thoroughly to to order order ·in ·in value. value. much much of of be be cases cases many many in in would would products products sand sand and and sandi. sandi. "black "black the the whereas; whereas; l l tailings; tailings; the the with with away away thrown thrown were were these these mining, mining, dredge dredge and and mining mining placer placer hydraUlic hydraUlic of of years years former former In In oxides. oxides. metalic metalic or or metals metals l l other other and and Honasite, Honasite, Zircon, Zircon, Osmium, Osmium, Iridium, Iridium, Platinum, Platinum, of of quantities quantities considerable considerable contains contains which which concentrates concentrates Sand" Sand" "black "black carry carry beds beds river river ancient ancient the the of of many many gold, gold, free free to to addition addition In In SANDS SANDS "BLACK "BLACK will. will. it it believe believe to to reason reason every every have have I I yards. yards. cubic cubic 45,760,000 45,760,000 additional additional an an adds adds it it throughout, throughout, gravel gravel pay pay contain contain acres acres (960) (960) sixty sixty and and hundred hundred the.nine the.nine that that found found be be should should it it event event the the ~n ~n prospected. prospected. fully fully been been has has it it when when time time such such li li l l untill untill column column uoubtful uoubtful the the in in it it place place will will fore fore there there gravel, gravel, pay pay as as it it include include not not can can I I Although Although figure. figure. original original the the than than more more ,be ,be should should , , ·ground ·ground the the of of value value the the colors colors the the of of size size the the from from and and pan, pan, the the to to colors colors (43) (43) forty-three forty-three as as many many as as obtained obtained I I places places several several in in and and terraces, terraces, and and ~econd ~econd FIRST FIRST the the on on as as same, same, the the were were obtained obtained results results the the places, places, many many in in "rocked!f "rocked!f and and "panned" "panned" nevertheless nevertheless I I done. done. be be not not could could it it limited, limited, ing ing l l be time time my my cuts; cuts; and and shafts,pits shafts,pits by by prospecting prospecting in in adopted adopted be be should should methos methos same same The The ground. ground. this this of of value value probable probable or or positive positive any any determine determine ·/~f~ ·/~f~ to to done done been been has has work work enough enough not not TERRACE, TERRACE, t~P t~P THIRD THIRD f/~ f/~ stated. stated. previously previously as as value value gold gold a a .having .having O~Jte:J-JgraVel, O~Jte:J-JgraVel, if if bearing bearing . t t . gold gold of of yards yards cubic cubic J J 58,905,000 58,905,000 mately mately approxi- contains contains terrace' terrace' second second 1'_ 1'_ ( ( the the f/7) f/7) on on /& /& t t deposi deposi ~h' ~h' cI/~/}) cI/~/}) Va'! Va'! /' /' the the find find we we figures, figures, these these to to According According .~~/I(, .~~/I(, : : !,,,jpcN !,,,jpcN Co Co -12- I~:-~U I~:-~U c·"",''',,".' c·"",''',,".' r=~~~: r=~~~: HHEj= HHEj= ( ( .(:!:::::. .(:!:::::. , , -----,~------. -----,~------. (~ (~ Dine Dine Van Van • • importance. importance. ~ ~ commercial commercial '~,t '~,t ...... great great of of are are they they as as them them mention mention I I kind. kind. their their of of rare rare extremely extremely are are location location this this in in Sand" Sand" "Black "Black The The yard. yard. of of cubic cubic per per sand sand black black pounds pounds (200) (200) hundred hundred two two IA} IA} Vef-1 I- . . f to to /(.If /(.If p amount amount test test rocker rocker and and slUiCing slUiCing by by covered covered t. h h ,·_I/.d ,·_I/.d '" '" A) A) t! t! re concentrates concentrates SAND" SAND" of of ~BLACK ~BLACK weight weight total total ihe ihe '{I '{I surprising. surprising. most most 'are 'are tests tests the the of of results results The The value. value. considerable considerable of of by-product by-product a a represents represents property property this this in in found found concentrates concentrates Sand Sand Black Black the the deposits, deposits, gravel gravel similar similar on on experiences experiences past past from from and and made, made, test test from from judging judging and and concentrates; concentrates; 'Sand 'Sand ~Black ~Black the the saving saving of of advisability advisability the the to to as as data data obtain obtain to to I I merely merely is is examination examination my my of of purpose purpose The The made. made. been been J J has has scale scale larger larger a a on on test test working working complete complete more more a a I I untill untill gravel, gravel, of of yard yard cubic cubic per per available available centrates centrates con Sandsl! Sandsl! "Black "Black of of ton ton per per values values Gold Gold the the to to as as conclusion conclusion definite definite a a form form to to made made been been have have tests tests detailed detailed or or sufficient sufficient that that consider consider not not do do 1 1 It It work. work. this this in in equations equations personal personal the the of of variation variation great great the the of of and and sampling sampling correct correct of of difficulties difficulties known known well well the the of of proof proof added added an an is is subject subject the the on on opinion opinion of of difference difference The The difficult. difficult. more more even even is is tailings tailings of of sampling sampling ihe ihe weatherbe.) weatherbe.) D'Arcy D'Arcy by by Calif. Calif. in in Gold Gold for for (Dredging (Dredging worked. worked. be be to to material material of of body body the the of of 1,000,000 1,000,000 in in part part one one to to 200,000 200,000 in in part part one one like like something something represent represent only only will will sample sample drill drill a a speaking, speaking, roughly roughly that, that, remembered remembered be be must must It It ~amples. ~amples. large large of of separation separation mechanical mechanical by by gauged gauged 'I 'I /7-1 /7-1 /, /, be be to to has has content content metal metal the the bedrock;·thereiore, bedrock;·thereiore, Vt'A,I;(ltJ'''''''f Vt'A,I;(ltJ'''''''f the the near near we we as as richer richer becomes becomes low,and low,and exceedingly exceedingly is is rr~~ rr~~ usually usually content content metal metal the the surface surface the the Near Near deposit. deposit. the the CO/J of of variation variation the the grea~ grea~ to to Que Que problem, problem, Difficult Difficult ej ej -13- '" '" ·~H{i ·~H{i . . .;:~!.:.:. .;:~!.:.:. .~.- EXCERPTS FROM: Safford International Resources, Ltd. undated, untitled, unpublished ALL UNDERLINING IN ORIGINAL l j l " L J SAFFORD INTERNATIONAL RESOURCES, LTD. INTRODUCTION . The gold mining industry involves several types of mining techniques that employ different technologies, depending ~ upon the physical-chemical. structure of the gold bearing material or are. Traditionally, the basic techniques used' are heap leaching, hard rock, and placer. And years ago, 8 popular but envlromentally devastating method was ~ydraulic ~- mining which excavated massive amounts of gravel '(and every thing else, including top soil) by using high-pressure ~ater shoot from nozzles. This method is no longer used 1n the United states and Canada. The implimentation of heap leaching end hard rock methods is normally very costly and closely regulated by various State and federal agencies. Last but not least Is placer mining, a relatively inexpensive method to recover substantial amounts of gold. As gold particles get finer, other physical forces start working and reduce the dominant role that specific gravity plays in the recovery process. FIne! minute gold ~articles can' and do become physically and dynamIcs ly suspended n wash water and are carried through the recovery proce5s a10n with the ta11in95 and never s arated or concentrate. Thisrequentlyt occurs when he ydrodynamlc water ow ra e does not allow the fine gold particles to settle out under the influence of gravity--a function of .ater velocity and time. Most commercially designed and built placer-rold recovery systems available today do not recover mlcro-f ne free gold partIcles less than 100 microns In size because of this lack of parity between velocity and tIme. Consequently. lack of recognition by many In the mining industry of this basic law of physics has prevented the successful recovery of the smaller end of the fine gold values carried In placer ores. S.I.R. LTD. has to the most part resolved this physical problem by having available the technology to build and to operate placer recovery equipment that has superior recovery capabilities than conventional equipment. S.I.R., Ltd. ( 7 ) (8) (8) s. s. Ltd. Ltd. R., R., I. I. Arizona Arizona Arizona,." Arizona,." District, District, Mining Mining Safford Safford the the of of Structure Structure , , Geologie Geologie the the on on "Report "Report and and Lindgren Lindgren Waldemar Waldemar by by Society, Society, , , rvtt'J rvtt'J IAt IAt Geological------ Arizona Arizona No~ No~ 43. 43. Paper Paper Professional Professional t~uadrangle" t~uadrangle" I( I( AU~' AU~' fton fton ell ell and and "Morenci "Morenci f~.om f~.om excerpts excerpts are are -following -following The The ...... ~ector. ~ector. G.S) G.S) 5 5 . . private private the the and and Arizona, Arizona, of of University University Agencies, Agencies, Geological Geological state state and and Federal Federal from from reports reports Includln~ Includln~ available, available, are are propetty propetty the the of of area area general general the the of of documentation documentation geological geological Substantial Substantial , , CEOlOGY CEOlOGY case. case. the the is is now now as as vehicles, vehicles, drive drive 4-wheel 4-wheel use use to to having having without without accessible accessible it it make make to to construction construction road road of of miles miles number) number) (insert (insert than than distance--less distance--less short short a a require require will will 27 27 Section Section property. property. the the l , , l from from miles miles 15 15 about about Is Is which which Solomon Solomon of of town town the the from from Valley Valley River River Gila Gila the the through through and and up up follow follow which which roads roads gravel gravel maintained maintained County County over over acess1:ble acess1:ble readily readily are are 35 35 and and 34 34 Sections Sections . . \ \ operations. operations. round round year year for for conditions conditions climatic climatic favorable favorable very very for for ~aking ~aking level level sea sea above above feet feet 3.300 3.300 about about is is elevation elevation average average The The claims. claims. mining mining placer placer number) number) (insert (insert and and acres acres 2,000 2,000 approximately approximately encompassing encompassing Maps), Maps), Location Location - Appendix Appendix r r (See (See Meridian Meridian and and Base Base River River Salt Salt and and Gila Gila the the of of East East 28 28 Range Range South, South, 6 6 Township Township in in 35 35 and and 34, 34, 27, 27, sections, sections, contiguous contiguous Three Three " " District. District. Mining Mining Safford Safford the the in in Arizona, Arizona, County, County, Graham Graham in in located located is is agreement agreement option option an an under under has has Corporation Corporation the the which which property property The The ~'ROPERTV ~'ROPERTV :~ :~ ( ( I I • • page page OPERATIONS," OPERATIONS," PLACER PLACER "PROPOSED "PROPOSED heading heading the the under under herein herein given given are are program program this this of of Details Details claims. claims. placer placer acquired acquired the the of of values values f f mineral mineral the the up up prove prove to to System System Charbonneau Charbonneau the the using using r. r. mill mill placer placer production production small small a a build build to to LTD. LTD. S.I.R. S.I.R. of of intent intent the the is is It It j: j: , , . . agreement. agreement. lease lease a a under under Canada, Canada, Ontario, Ontario, In In system system the the using using J J presently presently is is who who l l user) user) of of (name (name by by also also but but Charbonneau, Charbonneau, Mrs. Mrs. by by only only not not years years ,t ,t number) number) (insert (insert approximately approximately for for tested tested field field been been has has equipment equipment r r ,. ,. The The option. option. under under has has LTD. LTD. S.I.R. S.I.R. property property the the to to adjacent adjacent properties properties placer placer prove-up prove-up to to used used being being is is and and developed developed fully fully is is system system The The gold." gold." "flour "flour as as to to referred referred sometimes sometimes is is gold gold fine fine extremely extremely this this particles; particles; micron micron size) size) particle particle (insert (insert to to down down nuggets nuggets from from particles, particles, gold gold micro-fine micro-fine and and macro- principally principally ore, ore, placer placer the the from from minerals minerals heavy heavy the the separate separate to to used used tabl~ tabl~ recovery recovery the the is is System System Charbonneau Charbonneau the the to to key key The The •. •. LTD LTD S.I.R. S.I.R. for for Development Development and and Research Research of of Vice-President Vice-President also also is is but but Directors Directors of of Board Board the the on on only only not not is is Charbonneau Charbonneau Mrs. Mrs. Charbonneau. Charbonneau. Helen Helen developer, developer, its its after after ~ ~ named named is is and and System" System" "Charbonneau "Charbonneau the the called called the the is is system system The The ,;' ,;' market. market. and and manufacture manufacture to to rights rights exclusive exclusive holds holds Eicher Eicher Dr. Dr. ~~hlch ~~hlch system system recovery recovery placer placer proprietary proprietary a a use use and and to to manufacture manufacture , , rights rights unlimited unlimited the the h~ve h~ve will will LTD. LTD. S.I.R. S.I.R. package, package, option option this this , , of of part part As As Eicher. Eicher. R. R. Walter Walter Dr. Dr. from from claims claims placer placer certain certain purchase purchase to to agreement agreement option option an an negotiated negotiated has has LTD. LTD. .I.R. .I.R. i'" i'" " ' ' " ...... ,<' ,<' ,,-r": ,,-r": • • .c' .c' ,:- ,:."."'':('' ,:."."'':('' L, L, ...... ,~ ,~ .~ .~ 'r;:: 'r;:: '::;~::~ ~-;t?~};-ni~.~:'-;;o; .~s.l·ii:~·. :~.... GeologicalSoclety Digest, Volume XI, October 1978: oescrl tion of the teneral character of the area and distribution . ~ , of geo roglea! forma Ions ••• "materIa! of the Gila rUver formation ~ t"/ consists almost exclusIvely of coarse subanglar gravels, appear- d 1ng more or less distinctly stratified by non-persisting streaks L;~)q~~ or lenses of sanq, and containing fragments of all of the older (/{o{> rocks of the mountains. In most places basalts and rhyolites . prodominate, as is natural when we consider that at the time when these deposits were, being accumulated, a much larger part of the quadrangle was co~ered by volcanic flows than at present. Other rocks may, however, locally predominate; thus, for instance, below the area of porhyry, a few miles southwest of Morenci, [the town of Morenci is about 15 miles Northeast of the porperty] ~here the gravels consist almost exclusively of coarse dioriteporphyry, often , indeed, difficult to distinguish frQm the deeply weathered outcrops of the same rock. Along the lower p~~.of Eagle Creek volcanic rocks are extremely abu~dant in the Gila conglomerate, and the dividing line between this and the underlying basaltic and rhyolitic tuffs in places becomes indistinct ••• " I " (:;/fJ1~' ••• "along the Gila River [adjacent to Western boundary of Section /""iJrf'! 27, running from the Northeast to Southwest] from the mouth of ..$1*.111,//0/1 a;' 80ni ta Creek to the month of Spring creek, the erosion has in / ti/fJ'" many places produced steep or nearly perpendicular bluffs of (I, wI/I Gila conglomerate usually pitted by reason of the gradual weather-9/~r lng out of the larger pebbles. Where volcanic rocks predominate, "1"\ , " the conglomerate is often well cemented.. The color of the Gila conglomerate is reddish to grayish white, especially in places where long-continued exposure has had opportunity to oxidize the iron." r l •.. ~Gila conglomerate Is unquestionably of fluviatile origin, and was deposited during an epoch in which the lower reaches of the rivers gradually lost their eroding and transporting powers, while disintegration progressed rapidly in the mountains. Especially was it active among the loose masses of lava, which then covered so much of the quadrangle, from which intermittently torrential streams : brought down vast masses of the crumbling rocks. The climate conditions were then probably very similar to what they are at present. The volcanic outbursts of the Tertiary took place u~der conditions of active erosion, the different flows being often deeply dissected before the eruption of the next mass. This epoch of erosion doubtlessly continued for a short time after the close of the igneous activity, for we find the Gila conglomerate l ~ deposited on an uneven, and in places, deeply dissected surface. As far as kno.n, the Gila conglomerate has not been warped or dislocated by faulting in this area, though studies extended over a wider field may very possibly modify this conclusion." Discussing. the auriferous §ravel. In theerea ••• "we find I erge acre-J )!(}.j. age of aurlferous gravel, eposltedlnfour distinct terraces. /~ l .. " (" The deposition of the gravel 1n terraces would indicate a temporary t.l:"~~'/J check in the erosive power of the stream, much later than the ~, ~II""'/)/' GIla conglomerates." . .::1.-,.y /'.", f/4n ... (9) s. I. R., Ltd ·ati1Ako~f I' I/o",? O.:-1~ ' .. '.. !::"-.:::-;?-~ ... .~. ." DIscussing the character and source of the terrace gravels ••• ;".- "The terrace gravels are of auriferous origin, d~po5ited by '- erosive agents, and, b~ing a much later flow than the Gila conglomerate, the Gila conglomerate froms the bed-rock or strateas of gold concentration. These gravels no doubt Bre part of 8 remnant of eo old ancient river channel, The . channel may be tra~ed by its exposed edges and rims in several places. All the boulders and stratas of gravel have a slight dip of 10 degrees to the northwest, whereas the Gila conglomerate dips 20 degrees southwest. These gravel deposits indicate a temporary check in the rivers' erosi~e power, due no doubt to the erosion gradually declining in intensity, thus forming the many terraces. The gold, undoubtly, being of ancient origin, being derived from disintegration of the immeasurable gold bearing quartz viens in the ingneous rocks of post-paleozolc age. The gravel consists of average size boulders, from the size of a bucket to that occasionally of a large barrel, and sand of a very loose nature, all washed smooth and well rounded. No pipe clay or cemented gravel is to be found of any consequence, except, occasionally now and then in thin layers of about two feet in thickness of gravel cemented by some carbonate of lime with oxide of iron, which coming in contact with water, disintegrate5 instantly...... ~"?t" ~ .. ; The gravels, as shown deposited by an old ancient river channel .t" in the form of terraces, never eroded into the bed of the Gila ,.1,1 ,}'l River. The gravels in the Gila river bed are largely composed of. ~' detritus material and of rocks found in the Gila conglomerate. -.,'"r It is not materially significant where the gold comes from found ,. so abundantly in the gravel, or how it was deposited--but, it is important, and very essential, to fix the value of the gravel, the positive and _probable yardage of the deposit, the best working r in e tho d s, wate r sup ply, han d lin g, and 0 the r d a tap e r t a i n i n 9 to, OJ economic and succesful operation ••• n '- 6"cI ar"tuC//".P,by ·\\LI/fo'-j/I'4 .;.. ''Ov/)/) /-i ravel rooertv. the ;. is-extremelv-rare of--Its -kind.--and contains all ,.. for econimical-operation, and easy of access \. dividends under comoetent manaaement over a 1~ Stated byF'.-H. Vand~mkamp, Consulting Engineer, dated January 6th, 1930. Certified with Seal by J. Stone, Phoenix. , . (Includedin the Appendix is a copy of a Report by Peter G. Dunn, i·: l Chief Geologist, Quintana Minerals Corporation, Tucson, Arizona, .~ dated October, 1978, that also relates geological information about the area that encanpasses the property.) l , Copies of the reports from which the above excerpts .ere taken are· available upon request for more detailed information on the area. L'~~ Based on the hIstory of the area, the location of other mining claims r in the general area, the prior working~ in and near the property, , and the existing available geological reports, future geological studies will be limited to specific areas, not en masse. (10) ~. T 11 T.t-A · 1 l ~NIssaJO~d GNV NOI1Ja110J a1dWVS dO SHd~~OlOHd Z XIGNaddV DURING SAMPLE DB-1 DOROTHY B 1112 777 POUNDS COLLECTED AFTER a3J.J3110J saNDOd OL~ ZII! H XHJ.01IOa Z-Ha 31dWVS AFTER AFTER ,···;~~?;t;~:~-;.~f.;~ ,···;~~?;t;~:~-;.~f.;~ : : , l r r j.J j.J !" !" .. .. J J -~p: -~p: . . f.; f.; .i· .i· ~ ~ :- ~- -4,. -4,. " " >'.' >'.' ...... . . ;,;,- COLLECTED COLLECTED POUNDS POUNDS 3,733 3,733 CLAIM CLAIM ACRE ACRE 160 160 DB-3 DB-3 SAMPLE SAMPLE DURING DURING CUT) CUT) ALREADY ALREADY FEET FEET FEW FEW (BOTTOM (BOTTOM BEFORE BEFORE DURING DURING COLLECTED COLLECTED POUNDS POUNDS 532 532 CLAIM CLAIM ACRE ACRE 160 160 DB-3A DB-3A SAMPLE SAMPLE AFTER AFTER BEFORE BEFORE .:...... :..... ,~ ,~ ''; ''; i't:,~ i't:,~ .1 .1 J,q J,q ; ; .:.~::!:, .:.~::!:, "~ "~ - .. .. If' If' ,~~'~i- ,./.' ,./.' _ _ ',;'" ',;'" ...... ,~~-!·r'1"r ,~~-!·r'1"r (~ (~ .-;: .-;: .r .r ~ ~ . . ~,# ~,# '-~;~""" '-~;~""" ...... 'f 'f ...... : ..: '."i(' '."i(' . . . . ["If'2/:,""~ ["If'2/:,""~ "t"~' "t"~' - ;~~y;.r,:,; ;~~y;.r,:,; ." ." ~.~r.'~!~ ~.~r.'~!~ H"r'./' H"r'./' . . -~"?~i~~~t~~ -~"?~i~~~t~~ '(~:; '(~:; " " .. .. ;.~. ;.~. -j: -j: • • ~ ~ .,..v..~,.,." .,..v..~,.,." ~ ~ .-"J';# .-"J';# ,. ,. , , .•... .•... .,J'"," .,J'"," "",,,.' "",,,.' .v;-- .,.. .,.. . . :!.~~ :!.~~ :} :} .. .. " " ;'!'. ;'!'...... ,,;:..::. ,,;:..::. .,' .,' :Z~~,di :Z~~,di ~l~~~il~iVj' ~l~~~il~iVj' ~"". ~"". .,'--.~ .,'--.~ . . ,...", ,...", , ~ ~ ~. ~. '--, '--, .~:"'*' .~:"'*' . . -.Ai--~;- a.::J.LL.::J.V U~IJ~110J SUNnOd 199 WIV1J ~lIJV 091 i]-HU ~1d:WVS f)NIlInU aaIJa110J SaNllOd v69 WIV1J aHJV 091 a-ao.[as: '£" a1dWVS , I DTTRTNr- , , , , COLLECTED COLLECTED POUNDS POUNDS 760 760 CLAIM CLAIM ACRE ACRE 160 160 DB-SA DB-SA SAMPLE SAMPLE AFTER AFTER BEFORE BEFORE AFTER AFTER COLLECTED COLLECTED POUNDS POUNDS 75 75 ABOUT ABOUT 1112 1112 B B DOROTHY DOROTHY DB-6 DB-6 SAMPLE SAMPLE BEFORE BEFORE ~~~~J V1INOH 1V ~sn NI ~~AVSa10~ ~~AN~a S.L'1llSalI XVSSV £: XICINadCIV 1/4 1/4 Pg. Pg. Ag Ag mg mg 4.385 4.385 Au Au mg mg 0.729 0.729 l l l l mg-Ag mg-Ag 4.385 4.385 Au, Au, = = mg mg Nil Nil Tails Tails Nil-Ag Nil-Ag Au, Au, mg mg = = 0.165 0.165 Wash Wash Nil-Ag Nil-Ag AU, AU, mg mg = = 0.447 0.447 Preg. Preg. cyanidation cyanidation Nil-Ag Nil-Ag Au, Au, mg mg = = 0.117 0.117 Amalgamation Amalgamation Calculations: Calculations: Assaying Assaying retained retained solution solution pregnant pregnant of of cc cc 870 870 and and filtered filtered was was sample sample hours, hours, 24 24 After After Lime. Lime. 3#/ton 3#/ton NaCN, NaCN, Sol Sol 5#/ton 5#/ton with with hours hours 24 24 agitated agitated grams grams 533.0 533.0 Cyanidation: Cyanidation: & & weighed. weighed. saved saved any, any, if if Gold, Gold, the the and and manner manner usual usual the the in in parted parted was was bead bead dore dore cupellation, cupellation, After After cupelled. cupelled. and and silver silver pure pure of of mg. mg. 25 25 approx. approx. with with foil foil lead lead in in wrapped wrapped then then was was residue residue This This dried. dried. residue residue and any any and washed washed acid, acid, nitric nitric dilute dilute using using dissolved dissolved then then was was Amalgamation Amalgamation test. test. cyanidation cyanidation the the for for saved saved were were amalgamation amalgamation from from Tails Tails wheel. wheel. Goldmate Goldmate a a of of use use by by mercury mercury amalgamated amalgamated the the from from separated separated then then was was Sample Sample hours. hours. 8 8 for for agitated agitated then then was was Sample Sample mercury. mercury. of of grams grams 100 100 plus plus added added were were pellets pellets NaOH NaOH grams grams 10 10 hours, hours, 4 4 After After ratio. ratio. pulp pulp 1:1 1:1 Solution Solution Acid Acid Nitric Nitric dilute dilute with with hours hours 4 4 for for (rolled) (rolled) agitated agitated grams, grams, 533.0 533.0 = = wt. wt. Dry Dry conc. conc. -20 -20 DB-1 DB-1 marked marked Sample Sample Amalgamation: Amalgamation: Q Q "'~./fH_O/';N' "'~./fH_O/';N' ~'v<",<,e/ ~'v<",<,e/ 1"y 1"y conc. conc. -20 -20 ~ ~ .. .. DB-1 DB-1 r r 1. 1. C;",/./ C;",/./ samples. samples. the the of of rest rest the the to to applies applies also also which which sample sample first first the the in in used used we we process process and and method method the the detail detail in in describe describe will will we we note, note, Please Please testing. testing. the the of of results results the the are are following following The The office. office. this this to to submitted submitted Testing Testing and and Assaying Assaying of of results results the the on on report report final final the the is is Herein Herein Thrasher, Thrasher, Mr. Mr. Dear Dear RESULTS RESULTS TESTING TESTING & & ASSAYING ASSAYING Thrasher Thrasher Larry Larry Mr. Mr. c/o c/o 85546 85546 AZ AZ Safford, Safford, Avenue Avenue 14th 14th 711 711 1995 1995 17, 17, October October Management Management Land Land of of Bureau Bureau ARIZONA ARIZONA SAFFORD, SAFFORD, 85713 85713 Az Az s. s. Tucson, Tucson, Ave. Ave. 10th 10th 1435 1435 1880 1880 Elltab. Elltab. i\l1l1UlJerll, i\l1l1UlJerll, itegilltereb itegilltereb 201995 201995 NOV NOV OOffirt OOffirt l\ssay l\ssay 3larnbs 3larnbs tI~ tI~ 622-3845 622-3845 (602) (602) ~~~lfY9h~~813 ~~~lfY9h~~813 3LM 3LM 622-0813 622-0813 (602) (602) ~~ ~~ FAX. FAX. ~ ~ FAX. (602) 622-0813 PH. (602) 622-0813 (602) 622-3845 3Jnrnhs ~Assay ODffirt itegilltere~ ASllalJerll, iEstab. 1880 1435 s. 10th Ave. Tucson, Az 85713 Bureau of Land Management October 17, 1995 c/o Mr. Larry Thrasher ASSAYING & TESTING RESULTS - CONTINUED 2. DB-2 -20 conc. '8 ~ rl!!'c'v~/cr/ ./ q/o/ Amalgamation: Dry wt = 713.0 grams Agitated 4 hours, diluted Nitric Acid, 15 grams NaOH + 140 grams mercury agitated 8 hours, yeild from amalgamated mercury = 0.191 mg Gold. Cyanidation: 713.0 grams agitated 24 hours with 5#/ton Sol NaCN, 3#/ton Lime Filtered and washed Calculations: Amalgamation = 0.191 mg. Au, Nil-Ag Cyanidation Prg. = 0.1654 mg. Au, Nil-Ag Wash = 0.1234 mg. Au, Nil-Ag Tails = Nil AU, Nil-Ag 0.4798 mg. Au, Nil-Ag 3. DB-3 -20 conc. Q ~rC-C.vc""'~~ .y p/d Amalgamation: Dry wt = 2504 grams, Agitated 4 hours with dilute Nitric Acid, 50 grams NaOH + 500 grams mercury, agitated 8 hours, yeild from amalgamated mercury = 3.488 mg. Gold Cyanidation: 2504 grams agitated 24 hours with 5#/ton Sol NaCN, 3#/ton Sol Lime, Filtered and washed. Calculations: Amalgamation = 3.488 mg AU, NiL-Ag Cyanidation Prg.= NiL AU, NiL-Ag Wash = NiL Au, NiL-Ag Tails = 0.859 mg Au, NiL-Ag 4.347 mg Au NiL-Ag l , Pg. 2/4 ~1 FAX. (602) 622-0813 PH. (602) 622-0813 IIi (602) 622-3845 3Iacobs Assay ODffite iRegistereb ASllunerll, Estnh. 1880 1435 s. 10th Ave. Tucson, Az 85713 Bureau of Land Management october 17, 1995 c/o Mr. Larry Thrasher ASSAYING & TESTING RESULTS - CONTINUED 4. DB-4 -20 conc. 0 ~ re c()-,,~,..~./ .:J' oJa/ Amalgamation: Dry wt. = 2180 grams, Agitated 4 hours with dilute Nitric Acid, 45 grams NaOH + 440 grams mercury, agitated 8 hours, yeild from Amalgamated Mercury = 1.090 mg Gold. Cyanidation: 2180 grams agitated 24 hours with 5#/ton Sol NaCN, 3#/ton Sol Lime Filtered and washed Calculations: Amalgamation = 1.090 mg Au Nil - mg Ag Cyanidation Prg. = Nil mg Au 2.820 - mg Ag Wash = Nil mg Au Nil - mg Ag Tails = Nil mg Au Nil - mg Ag 1.090 mg Au 2.820 - mg Ag 5. DB -20 conc. ® ~ r<:'COI/"'/~/ ./ ,/~ Amalgamation: Dry wt. = 534.0 grams, agitated 4 hours with dilute Nitric Acid, 11 grams NaOH + 110 grams Mercury, agitated 8 hours, yeild from Amalgamated Mercury = 3.222 mg. Gold Cyanidations: 534 grams agitated 24 hours with 5#/ton Sol NaCN, 3#/ton Sol Lime. Filtered and washed Pg. 3/4 ~ FAX. (602) 622-0813 PH. (602) 622-0813 (602) 622·3845 3Jnrnhs ~.Assay O1>ffire itegisiereb Assuuers. Estuh. 188D 1435 s. 10th Ave. Tucson, Az 85713 Bureau of Land Management october 17, 1995 c/o Mr. Larry Thrasher ASSAYING & TESTING RESULTS - CONTINUED Calculations: Amalgamation = 3.222 mg Au Nil mg Ag Cyanidation Prg. = Nil mg Au Nil mg Ag Wash = Nil mg Au 3.085 mg Ag Tails = Nil mg Au Nil mg Ag 3.222 mg Au 3.085 mg Ag This Concludes our Report. Respectfully, L , Pg. 4/4 L L ...... ---- ...... -=--- '" '" ...... $ $ Charges Charges U.-:.· U.-:.· ~Ol). ~Ol). ~ ~ ::::::;;. ::::::;;. ~"I."""":;:' ~"I."""":;:' ~I~ ~I~ ~/ ~/ n n ~"'ct~ ~"'ct~ I I .) .) ~ ~ V V i) i) /v /v II II - L~ L~ 1,&,,_- 1 1 Q. Q. ~IGHAE' ~IGHAE' "." "." r r I I I' I' v'\ v'\ ~~, ~~, ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~. ~. ~\f\~ ~\f\~ ~~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - ~ ~ --- /' /' .-../ .-../ f---- / / / / 001 001 <0 <0 001 001 <0 <0 0.35 0.35 0.022 0.022 ?) ?) ~ ~ 001 001 -- ~ ~ (/7/3 (/7/3 <0 <0 #3 #3 001 001 <0 <0 0.15 0.15 .005 .005 0 0 001 001 <0 <0 001 001 IJA-7) IJA-7) ( ( #2 #2 <0 <0 0.15 0.15 0.001 0.001 rOB-r) rOB-r) #1 #1 X X X- ~ ~ O.P.T. O.P.T. O.P.T. O.P.T. TON TON TON TON Pd Pd pt pt OlS.PER OlS.PER OlS.PER OlS.PER MARKED MARKED SAMPLE SAMPLE SILVER SILVER GOLD GOLD BLM BLM / / ...... By By THRASHER THRASHER Submitted Submitted LARRY LARRY Sample Sample ...... 19 19 ...... 95 95 5, 5, SEPI'EMBER SEPI'EMBER ...... No No Certificate Certificate 85713 85713 AZ AZ Tucson, Tucson, Ave. Ave. 10th 10th S. S. 1435 1435 ~ ~ 1$80 1$80 Estnh. Estnh. l\SSU!1crs, l\SSU!1crs, itegistcrcll itegistcrcll 622-0813 622-0813 ~ ~ (520) (520) Ph. Ph. ®ffit.c ®ffit.c Assay Assay 3JatLlbs 3JatLlbs 622-3845 622-3845 (520) (520) Fax. Fax. odvhJ odvhJ /1 /1 Chc:?// Chc:?//