Description:
Eighty-seven placer districts in Arizona are estimated to have produced a minimum
of 564,052 ounces of placer gold from 1774 to 1968. The location, areal extent,
past production, mining history, and probable lode source summarized for each
district are based on information obtained from a wide variety of published
reports relating to placer deposits. Annotated references to all reports that contain
information about individual deposits are given for each district.
Most of the placer gold found in Arizona was derived from systems of small
gold-quartz veinlets and stringers scattered throughout the bedrock of the adjacent
mountain ranges. In only a few localities was the gold in large placer deposits derived
from well-defined vein systems mined for the lode-gold content. The most
productive placer mining era was 1858-80, when rich deposits of placer gold were
found in the southwestern and central parts of Arizona and hundreds of individuals
worked the rich surface accumulations of gold. Subsequent placer mining was done
by individuals working small deposits in many areas of the State using small-scale
portable equipment, such as rockers, sluices, and drywashers. Large-scale dredge
operations were active in a few districts.