Arizona's Famous Specimen Mines

Arizona's fame as a mineral state has been derived primarily from a few spectacular deposits of minerals, mostly wulfenite which comes in more forms and colors and in finer specimens in Arizona than the rest of the world combined. Some of these "finds" resulted from mining activities, other from amateur collector's efforts.

The most famous of Arizona's mineral occurrences is the Mammoth-St. Anthony mine, near Tiger. This prolific mine has produced over 95 common, rare, exceptional, or unique species. Located in 1879 as a gold mine, it also produced vanadium and molybdenum, used in steel making, and also lead and zinc. Production was not continuous and the mine closed in 1952. Best known from the mine are the minerals wulfenite, diaboleite, leadhillite, cerussite, caledonite, azurite, malachite, linarite, and dioptase, as well as other rare lead and copper minerals.

Mineral producing areas in the mine were startling in size. One 750 foot vertical fracture, 4 to 6 inches wide, was found lined with orange yellow wulfenites to two inches on an edge. Emerald green dioptase specimens came from the Mohawk Shaft in such abundance that Dick Jones collected 18 large boxes of specimens in one afternoon just from the conveyor belt! Such was the specimen production at Tiger.

The Red Cloud mine, near Yuma, was registered as a claim in 1878 and was worked intermittently until 1917. It produced primarily lead and silver. The Red Cloud mine has produced the finest wulfenite crystals in the world, splendid vibrant red tablets in groups and single crystals exceeding two inches on an edge. The finest were found by Ed Over, an amateur. The Smithsonian Institute now has a special display dedicated to Ed and his best "finds."

The Old Yuma mine, near Tucson, is an old gold mine famous for brilliant orange wulfenite and bright red vanadinite. Black wulfenite with specks of gold right in the crystal has also been mined there. The Old Yuma wulfenites are the nearest rivals to the famous Red Cloud specimens. The vanadinite crystals are Arizona's best, up to an inch in length. One pocket found by Dick Jones measured over two feet across and produced hundreds of rock fragments covered with half inch crystals. Dick also had the thrill of opening a seam which literally cascaded loose orange wulfenite crystals into his outstretched shirt. This proved later to be a large pocket of choice wulfenites with snow white cerussite crystals.

South of Tucson, the Glove mine has produced some 27 distinctly different types of wulfenite. A lead-silver mine, it also yielded vanadinite, descloisite, and smithsonite, ores of lead, copper, and zinc. Smithsonite is named after James Smithson, founder of the Smithsonian. One of Arizona's best wulfenite finds occurred at the Glove in 1954, when a Tshaped cave measuring ten feet by eight feet was opened by miners. The cave was lined with magnificent wulfenite crystals to seven inches across. Unfortunately, much of this irreplaceable specimen material could not be recovered as mining continued. Mining is for profit so drilling, blasting, and ore recovery can not always stop for specimen recovery. Amateur organizations, such as Friends of Mineralogy, are working directly with mining companies today to prevent such loss. Fortunately for the Glove, a smaller cave was opened soon after the first and the operators did allow local collectors to recover much of the excellent wulfenite. At the Defiance mine, near Gleeson, another example of mining versus mineral preservation occurred in 1955. To the credit of the operators they also allowed local collectors to recover many specimens. This occurred when a large inclined fault encountered a horizontal watercourse underground. A blast subsequently opened up the end of a cavern which measured two to ten feet high, up to ten feet wide, and NINETY FEET LONG! The inner surface of the watercourse was lined with brownish to yellow diamond shaped wulfenite crystals. Mining activities hardly ceased but operators allowed the collectors to work ahead of the drilling and blasting to extract and preserve much of the find.

High in the Patagonia Mountains lies the Flux mine, found in the 1850s when the area was still part of Mexico. A zinc, lead, silver producer, the Flux operated sporadically to 1956. This mine is especially noted for cerussite, in long (to 4 inches), white, brittle "jackstraw" crystals on black matrix, like icicles hanging from a dark roof.

Near Globe is the Apache mine, unusual because the ore mined was almost exclusively vanadinite crystals. In 1930 some 5,577 pounds of these red crystals were shipped as a lead-vanadium concentrate. Formed in simple hexagonal crystals, the vanadinite lines, cracks and coats fragments of host rock. These crystals rival those of the Old Yuma mine for quality.

Every copper deposit in Arizona has added a measure to the fame of her mines. Bisbee, however, stands at the pinnacle of this fame. Serious work began here in 1885 and is still going on today. Best known from Bisbee are azurite crystals in a variety of sizes up to 5 inches. These were found in the early days while mining the rich upper deposits. Deep blue in color, these crystals can be seen in every major mineral collection in the world. Associated with the blue azurite comes bright green velvety malachite. Together they have made Bisbee famous. Bisbee has also produced outstanding transparent ruby red cuprite crystals to an inch across. Shiny native copper, silky blue aurichalcite, snow white calcite, rainbow-like bornite, brassy chalcopyrite all adding to the fame of Bisbee. For the lapidary, Bisbee has produced the finest Arizona turquoise, hard, deep blue nuggets much sought by collectors.Two other outstanding gem materials produced in Arizona are peridot and amethyst. Amethyst, a hard, durable form of quartz, is a beautiful violet color. Arizona's amethyst ranks among the world's best and comes from vein deposits at the top of one of the peaks known as Four Peaks, east of Phoenix.

Peridot is the gem name for the mineral olivine, which is very common in the volcanic rocks of Arizona. Fine, rounded grains of gemmy green peridot are sometimes found in sizes large enough to permit faceting into beautiful jewelry stones.The San Carlos Indian Reservation is Arizona's best source of supply currently. A second, more unusual occurrence is the peridot found on ant hills where it has been brought up from underground by the industrious homebuilders.

In closing, it is important to note one significant purpose of this endeavor. The mineral collections of today must, to a large extent, serve man's future, for today's mining techniques do not lend themselves well to the discovery or preservation of crystal pockets. The natural artistry, the remarkable design, and the esthetic beauty found in well crystallized mineral specimens must be preserved for generations to come through the co-operative effort of amateur and professional. The spider's web, the frosted pane, the delicate bloom are transitory while in minerals, nature's original hand can endure.