Order L-208, A Gold Mine Waiting to be Mined Again

Ever hear anything about the War Minerals Board Order L-208? If you haven't, and you are a gold prospector, it is something you will want to learn about, because it can lead you to a good, abandoned gold mine!

It turns out that during world war II, the US government ordered all non-essential mines (i.e., gold mines) to close and focus all efforts on the war. After the war, many of these commercial gold mines that were producing gold at a price of $35.50 per ounce when closed during the war, never reopened because many did not come back from the war, lots of the closed mines and mills fell into disrepair, many flooded, and after the war, our country focused on infrastructure, rather than gold. 

So, imagine you found one of these old mines in Arizona. Today's gold price (2/23/2022), according to the blogspot "Searching for Gold" is $1,908 per ounce, or nearly 54 times higher than it was when during World War II. So, nearly every L-208 mine likely is commercial at todays price! 

These and other mines are described, in a new book available on Amazon entitled, "Gold in Arizona". And there are many other gold anomalies described in the book, including those associated with detachment faults. So, the book provides information on dozens of detachment faults and prospects in these unusual types of faults that run from the northwestern part of the state to the southeastern part of the state.

Kindle version on Amazon

It took a few years, but finally, Gold in Arizona - A Prospectors Guide was published in December, 2019. After researching gold deposits in Arizona, it is clear to me that Arizona is not only the copper state, but would better be known as the Copper-Silver-Gold state. 

Hard to believe, but Arizona has produced much more than 500,000,000 ounces of silver and 16,000,000 ounces of gold along with all of its copper, zinc, lead and turquoise. So, in this book, many of the old mining districts are described with many of the mines. And, there are many deposits that have been overlooked, and many that have only been partially prospected.

Ezra 8:27

Moss Gold mine, San Francisco District, Oatman, Arizona

“With thy wisdom and with thine understanding 

thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten

 gold and silver into thy treasures:” Ezekiel 28:4

Arizona is known for many, giant copper porphyry deposits. The state's endowment of base metals, sometimes results in other deposits being overlooked by mining company execs even though the state has dozens of very attractive gold, silver, and massive sulfide and replacement deposits. The copper porphyries occur in extensive volcanic fields, filled with volcanic and plutonic rocks associated with large envelopes of hydrothermal and metasomatic alteration and mineralization. Overall, such geological environments are favorable for porphyry copper, gold, silver, lead, zinc, molybdenum deposits, associated copper, lead, zinc, manganese massive sulfides, replacement copper, silver deposits, gold, silver, copper vein deposits, and some gemstones and lapidary material (i.e., fire agate, opal, chalcedony, quartz crystals, chysocolla, turquoise, wulfenite, geodes, etc). Overall, the copper state has many very attractive gold deposits described in various geological reports and thesis studies at the US Geological Survey, Arizona Geological Survey, Arizona Geological Society, and publications and geological thesis projects at various universities in the state.

Reports by the Arizona Geological Survey and USGS, and papers by Hausel (2010, 2011a, 2011b, 2013) and books (Hausel, 2019, 2020) provide summaries of the many gold deposits in Arizona. One of these gold deposits, known as the Moss, was reopened in 2018. The historical mine not only has significant gold mineralization left in-situ by early miners, but also appears to have very good potential for discovery of additional gold resources in the nearby area extending both east and west of the historical workings.

Moss and Mossback mines, San Francisco (Oatman) district, Arizona showing locations of 
anomalies (yellow pins) and lineaments (red lines). Google Earth

The Moss lies 2-miles, on-trend, west of the Mossback mine (inactive), 5.5 miles northwest of the Gold Road mine (active), 11 miles southeast of the Katherine gold mine in the Union Pass district, and is the northernmost extent of known gold mineralization in the San Francisco district of the Black Mountains. Nearby towns include Bullhead City (6-miles west), and Oatman (6-miles southeast). 

The Moss mine is located on the Moss vein: the vein, which has an N60oW-trend and 60o to 70oSW-dip. The mineralized structure is 45-feet wide locally, and pinches and swells along strike (Wilson and others, 1981). Gardner (1936) reports the structure to range from 20- to 100-feet wide: with mineralization in extensive stockworks and silicified zones. The deposit is described as epithermal, low-sulfide, quartz-calcite vein and stockworks system extending over a strike length of at least 4,500 feet (Nolan, 2010). Gardner (1936) indicates the vein could be traced for more than a mile along strike. 

The vein is hosted by Tertiary, Moss quartz monzonite porphyry (Gardner, 1936; Noland, 2010), with the structure being open along strike and at depth. In the past, shafts were sunk 100- and 230-feet deep with 1,700-feet of drifts. A calcite-quartz stockworks vein occupies the hanging wall of a high-angle fault and is overlain by as much as 100-feet of low-grade, mineralized, stockworks and siliceous breccia classified as low-sulfide, adularia-sericite, epithermal vein typical of many near surface, hydrothermal systems. Such deposits are often related to paleo-hot springs and/or shallow geothermal systems. The vein has some fluorite (Lausen, 1931). 

Along the southern portion of the vein, a group of conjugate veins occur in the hanging wall that have a similar trend, but dip northerly. Much of the historical gold and silver production from the vein was from conjugate veins. 

In the 1980s, Harrison Mining dewatered the shaft and mined 3,000 to 5,000 tons of ore that averaged 0.29 opt Au. In 2004, Patriot Gold Corporation optioned the property and identified auriferous veins unrelated to the primary vein that include the Discovery and Ruth veins. In 2009, Northern Vertex picked up the property and drilled more than 670 holes (Preston, 2013). 

Using a 0.01 opt cutoff grade, the Northern Miner reported the deposit has 22.6 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 0.023 opt Au and 0.26 opt Ag, plus 3.9 million inferred tonnes averaging 0.017 opt Au and 0.2 opt Ag. In total, known resources include 603,000 ounces of gold and 6.6 million ounces of silver within 650 feet of the surface (Preston, 2013, Wilson and Redwood, 2012). 

Holes drilled in the western extension of the vein were designed to test near surface quartz-carbonate stockworks open to the south. Multiple zones of stockworks veining (randomly oriented veins and veinlets, sometimes referred to as stinger zones) encountered within 500 feet of the surface, suggest potential for widespread mineralization to continue south. Eight additional drill holes demonstrate strong development of quartz-carbonate veins, breccia and stockworks that continue from the surface to at least 650 feet deep. 

An airborne magnetic survey by Patriot Gold indicates the Moss structure is a well-defined, magnetic high. The survey identified 1.8-miles of unexplored magnetic structure, and also identified nine linear structures associated with known mineralization, and one 3.6 mile structure was likely an extension of the Gold Road deposit. Recently, a heap leach pad was constructed south of the Moss vein (35°5'43"N; 114°26’55"W) presumably to extract gold from low-grade ore. Northern Vertex poured its first gold bar in early 2018. 

At the eastern extent of the mineralized zone, the Mossback mine lies along the edge of Mossback Wash. The property was claimed in 1863 and a shaft sunk to a depth of 800 feet. The vein is in andesite and as much as 90-feet wide with an 80o dip. Vein-filling consists of brecciated andesite and calcite with subordinate amounts of quartz, with spotty ore. In addition, the area appears to have an extensive gossan based on aerial photography (Hausel, 2020).

Recently, Elevation Gold Gold Mining Company published mineral resource estimates of gold and silver for the Moss mine as of December 2019. They report measured, indicated and inferred resources totaling 489,000 ounces of gold and 5, 838,000 ounces of silver. 

Elevation Gold optioned the Moss in 2011 and constructed a pilot plant in 2014. After construction and commissioning of the mill and mine in 2018, Elevation Gold announced commercial production at the mine, effective September 2018. 

The operation features a an open pit. The ore is crushed, agglomerated and heap leached followed by processing in a metal recovery plant and refinery, with a final process of production of gold and silver doré bars. 

An updated mineral resource estimate incorporating results of a 2019 reverse circulation infill drill program was disclosed in a December 18, 2019 press release. Drilling to the west of the current mining operation demonstrated there are significantly more resources within and adjacent to the open pit. 

"The resource estimate update found that from the start of operations to December 31, 2019, mining operations depleted approximately 71,000 ounces of gold, however with drilling success, these mined ounces have been more than offset by an addition of 86,000 ounces of gold in the inferred category. In comparing the updated December 31, 2019 resource estimate to the resource estimate in the Technical Report, aggregate measured and indicated gold ounces fell by approximately 8% primarily due to depletion from mining activities, while inferred gold ounces grew by almost 300% due to the identification of new resources from infill drilling. Exploration upside potential at Moss is excellent as the deposit continues to remain open for resource expansion along strike (at both ends) and at depth". 

TECHNICAL REPORT

Technical Report, 2021 on the Mineral Resource, Mineral Reserve, and Mine Plan for the Moss Mine

Goldfield Arizona - A Good Tourist Town.

The Goldfield district lies in the foothills of the Superstition Mountains at the extreme northeastern edge of the Phoenix valley, 5 miles northeast of Apache Junction and 40 miles east of Phoenix. The district extends from Pinal into Maricopa County along the margin of Arizona’s Transition zone within the Basin and Range province. 

Gold was discovered in 1892, and led to construction of Goldfield boomtown. The town was occupied by more than 1,500 residents with a post office established on October 7, 1893. The rush was short-lived. By 1897, many mines lost their glitter, and miners packed up and left Goldfield to the ghosts. 

But the ghosts were again haunted by miners and prospectors when a second community was established at the original townsite, and renamed Youngsberg. Mines re-opened, and a mill and cyanide plant built to recover gold, and a Post Office established on March 15, 1920, two years after the end of the first world war. 

But the mines again lost their attraction and the town was vacated in 1926, leaving it in the hands of ghosts. Today, the town has been revived by tourist trade and the town stands once again with both the living and the dead. The tourist attraction, a replica of the old mining town, provides exhibits of old mines, a brothel, saloon, museum, livery, gift shops, galleries, gold panning and more. You can even take a mine tour and sometimes see a gunfight. It is a highly recommended stop when visiting the Phoenix east valley, whether you are sentient or ghost.

Goldfield is accessed from Route-88 (North Apache Trail). Along the way, you will drive by the Superstition Mountains Museum. This is a highly recommended stop with old stamp mills, and information on the Lost Dutchman mine. After your museum tour, Goldfield is just another 0.8-mile up the road on the left. The Goldfield 7.5-minute quadrangle encloses much of the district and shows locations of some mines and prospects.

Wilson and others (1967) report that the district is covered by a pediment surface overlying coarse-grained granite, granite breccia, granite pegmatite and indurated (hardened) arkosic conglomerate. The principal mines in the district lie along north-trending, (west-dipping) shear zones (faults). 

The most productive mineralized zone at Goldfield was known as the ‘Mormon stope’ mostly mined out prior to 1898 at the Mammoth mine, north of the town. A stope was developed on an ore shoot, discovered north of the main Mammoth shaft at an intersection of a cross-fault with a shear zone, which provided permeability favorable for gold to flood the structure. The caved portion of the stope is 100-feet by 25-feet where granite is stained by limonite with irregular stringers of coarse-grained, white, quartz. Limonite (some gold-bearing) is likely derived from pyrite oxidation.

The district is best known for sporadic, fault-controlled, rich, ore shoots in large blocks of low-grade gold ore. During its heyday (1893 to 1898), the Mammoth, Bull Dog, and Black Queen mines produced about 60,000 ounces of gold and 20,000 ounces of silver. You can find out the value in present day's dollars by using links on Searching for Gold. 

There are no known reports of placer gold in the district other than a passing statement by Dinsmore (1911) stating that within a 3 by 8 mile area, “gold may be panned anywhere”. A sediment-filled arroyo crosses the mineralized structure to the north and west of Goldfield, and likely has some gold. Based on some of the reported high-grade zones in the faults, it is likely a few nuggets and gold dust lie buried in sand and banks of the arroyo (search Google Earth for ‘Goldfield, AZ’). Like most stream beds in the desert, it is rare to see standing water in this drainage except after rare downpours. Since the drainage receives runoff from the nearby Goldfield Mountains, flash floods are not uncommon. 

Gold was discovered in this area following a flash flood that exposed granite porphyry breccia containing visible gold. The granite was covered by arkosic conglomerate before it was exposed by the flood waters (arkose is a sedimentary rock with considerable quartz and feldspar and of similar composition as granite). Prospectors reported some very old mine workings were found in the area, indicating gold had been sought by unknown miners prior to 1892. 

The principal mines are the Black Queen, Bulldog, Mammoth and the Old Wasp; however, other mines and prospects were dug including the Bluebird, Doc Palmer, Copper Crown, Tom Thumb, Fairstake, Treasure Vault, Golden Hillside, Highflyer, Lazy Doc, Goldstake and Gold Bond. These are described by Hausel (2020).

Gold in Arizona - A Prospectors Guide

The 2019 book edition on Amazon

Well, it took me long enough! Was beginning to think I would never finish this book on Gold in Arizona - but I did and it is now available at Amazon in both paper back and kindle. BUT, the paper back book is more up to date as I first tried my hand at publishing through Kindle (my first kindle book), and then after months of working with Amazons book templates (which were a pain in the neck), I finally finished a copy of the paper back book with updates, index, and additional editing. 

When I started writing this book, I was primarily trying to educate myself on Arizona's geology, which is different from the geology of Wyoming, Montana and Colorado that sit within, or long the flank of the Wyoming Craton (very old continental core). But I did have past experience in basin and range geology in Utah and New Mexico, where I had received part of my education as a geologist. 

The 2020 Kindle Edition

Thus, as I began compiling this book on Gold in Arizona, I never thought I would come across so many mines and prospects. Hundreds and hundreds - so many that I could not include them all in my 377-page book.

Actually, I could only get a limited sampling on mines because there are so many. What I did was look at the many, many districts and focused on the important characteristics and some of the more impressive mines. So, if you visit those districts on Google Earth, or by using the AZ Top Maps App on this blogspot, you will be taken to some of the more interesting mines that are listed with GPS coordinates in the book, and provided with ideas on how are where to prospect in these districts. 

Gold in an Arizona rhyolite 

One of hundreds of examples of detachment faults in Arizona. Note that
this one, like many others in the state, has a mine adit dug in the footwall
for gold. Both the footwall (the rock below the fault) and the hanging wall
 (the rock above the fault) may be mineralized in gold in these types of
deposits described in the book.

Is there any gold and silver in Arizona? You bet there is! Arizona produced considerably more than the 16-million ounces of gold and 500-million ounces of silver described in production statistics for the state.

In addition, there are relatively recently recognized gold deposits associated with what are known as detachment faults found over a giant region running from one side of Arizona to the other - and most of these are only partially explored with large regions remaining unexplored. And there are lots of the wet and dry gold placers. Yes, Arizona is known for copper, but it is also a significant source for gold.