Mine Shaft Found north of Tucson

[Ed144]

I've been exploring the slopes of the Santa Catalina Mtns north of Tucson. I happened upon a vertical mine shaft in a remote area. The shaft is located on NFS land in north Pima county north-east of Catalina State park. It appears to be about 8' x 8' vertical shaft going down at least 30'. When I found it about 3 weeks ago it had water at about the 20' level. Now the water is about 30' down. It is located on the south side of a low hill that is highly mineralized with black magnetite sort of rock. There are areas of so much magnetite that my Garrett Axiom PI detector is useless. Detecting at the mine entrance showed various bits of broken iron likely from drills or chisels, and one blasting cap(?). I located an old camp nearby with a roughly built-up path to it. The camp had some tins with soldered lids, so maybe dates about ~1900. The iron I found seems too old to be 1900. I'm familiar with ~480 year old iron flakes and workings and they seem similar. Whoever made the shaft dug their way down through solid granite. Perhaps there are horizonatal adits that are below the water level. I'm wondering what some of the experience hard-rock miners think of the shaft and workings? Thanks for any comments. Ed, SaddleBrooke, Az.

 

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[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

How did you get that close up horizontal photo 20-30 feet down at the water line in full sun? That wall does not look like granite. Next time you are there pick up a fresh surface with your estwing rock hammer.

 

[Ed144]

I leaned over the shaft and used optical and electronic zoom on the camera. I thought a close-up of the wall may give a clue how it was dug. A photo of the mine dump is attached.

 

[Ed144]

Another photo of the shaft.

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

Take a real close inspection of the tailing. That should tell you what they were after. Old timers never got it all.

Check the known geological information for that locations, it should give you a clue.

 

[cyzak]

Throw a big magnet and see if you can pull anything up. They did not sink that shaft for nothing.

 

[arizau]

Throw a big magnet and see if you can pull anything up. They did not sink that shaft for nothing.

I've been exploring the slopes of the Santa Catalina Mtns north of Tucson. I happened upon a vertical mine shaft in a remote area. The shaft is located on NFS land in north Pima county north-east of Catalina State park. It appears to be about 8' x 8' vertical shaft going down at least 30'. When I found it about 3 weeks ago it had water at about the 20' level. Now the water is about 30' down. It is located on the south side of a low hill that is highly mineralized with black magnetite sort of rock. There are areas of so much magnetite that my Garrett Axiom PI detector is useless. Detecting at the mine entrance showed various bits of broken iron likely from drills or chisels, and one blasting cap(?). I located an old camp nearby with a roughly built-up path to it. The camp had some tins with soldered lids, so maybe dates about ~1900. The iron I found seems too old to be 1900. I'm familiar with ~480 year old iron flakes and workings and they seem similar. Whoever made the shaft dug their way down through solid granite. Perhaps there are horizonatal adits that are below the water level. I'm wondering what some of the experience hard-rock miners think of the shaft and workings? Thanks for any comments. Ed, SaddleBrooke, Az.View attachment 2205576View attachment 2205577View attachment 2205578View attachment 2205579

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I've been exploring the slopes of the Santa Catalina Mtns north of Tucson. I happened upon a vertical mine shaft in a remote area. The shaft is located on NFS land in north Pima county north-east of Catalina State park. It appears to be about 8' x 8' vertical shaft going down at least 30'. When I found it about 3 weeks ago it had water at about the 20' level. Now the water is about 30' down. It is located on the south side of a low hill that is highly mineralized with black magnetite sort of rock. There are areas of so much magnetite that my Garrett Axiom PI detector is useless. Detecting at the mine entrance showed various bits of broken iron likely from drills or chisels, and one blasting cap(?). I located an old camp nearby with a roughly built-up path to it. The camp had some tins with soldered lids, so maybe dates about ~1900. The iron I found seems too old to be 1900. I'm familiar with ~480 year old iron flakes and workings and they seem similar. Whoever made the shaft dug their way down through solid granite. Perhaps there are horizonatal adits that are below the water level. I'm wondering what some of the experience hard-rock miners think of the shaft and workings? Thanks for any comments. Ed, SaddleBrooke, Az.View attachment 2205576View attachment 2205577View attachment 2205578

I've been exploring the slopes of the Santa Catalina Mtns north of Tucson. I happened upon a vertical mine shaft in a remote area. The shaft is located on NFS land in north Pima county north-east of Catalina State park. It appears to be about 8' x 8' vertical shaft going down at least 30'. When I found it about 3 weeks ago it had water at about the 20' level. Now the water is about 30' down. It is located on the south side of a low hill that is highly mineralized with black magnetite sort of rock. There are areas of so much magnetite that my Garrett Axiom PI detector is useless. Detecting at the mine entrance showed various bits of broken iron likely from drills or chisels, and one blasting cap(?). I located an old camp nearby with a roughly built-up path to it. The camp had some tins with soldered lids, so maybe dates about ~1900. The iron I found seems too old to be 1900. I'm familiar with ~480 year old iron flakes and workings and they seem similar. Whoever made the shaft dug their way down through solid granite. Perhaps there are horizonatal adits that are below the water level. I'm wondering what some of the experience hard-rock miners think of the shaft and workings? Thanks for any comments. Ed, SaddleBrooke, Az.View attachment 2205576View attachment 2205577View attachment 2205578View attachment 2205579

The Canada del Oro mining district is pretty well documented. You may be able to identify the original mine claim by using gps coordinates of the shaft and, perhaps, locating it on the map(s) on the "Mylandmatters" web site. In addition, there are likely to be other mapped sites nearby that you can try to locate to detect.
Don't forget to detect drainages below the sites for gold. I knew a man back in the early 1970's that used to placer mine that area with his buddies.
Good luck.

 

[Ed144]

Thanks for the comments. I've been unable to find any nearby historic claims at Mylandmatters, Thediggings or other sites. It is closest to the old Sutherland Ranch which is shown on a 1905 topo map. There are some historic claim records at higher elevations, mostly copper. I will try to rig a magnet and see what I can pull from the shaft. I may also be able to measure how deep it is. It is worth another hike out there with the detector. If anyone would like to see the site contact me via message. It is about a 1.5 hour hike one-way to the mine on a rocky road and some trails.

 

[arizau]

Thanks for the comments. I've been unable to find any nearby historic claims at Mylandmatters, Thediggings or other sites. It is closest to the old Sutherland Ranch which is shown on a 1905 topo map. There are some historic claim records at higher elevations, mostly copper. I will try to rig a magnet and see what I can pull from the shaft. I may also be able to measure how deep it is. It is worth another hike out there with the detector. If anyone would like to see the site contact me via message. It is about a 1.5 hour hike one-way to the mine on a rocky road and some trails.

I take it that you used Mylandmatters and after clicking "historic claims"or "historic mining activity" that nothing came up for that immediate area? That seems an oddity for the site especially for that area. I assume it is off the Charloux(sp) Gap road.

 

[Ed144]

I take it that you used Mylandmatters and after clicking "historic claims"or "historic mining activity" that nothing came up for that immediate area? That seems an oddity for the site especially for that area. I assume it is off the Charloux(sp) Gap road.

It is further south than the Charouleau Gap road, just north of the Cargodora canyon road, FS643. There no historical claims shown in that area. It is a mystery.

 

[Phil]

There are days when I feel like the toughest guy on the planet after moving a few ton of rock. Then I look at pictures like yours, and realize we are a bunch of girls compared to the old-timers.

Blasting a hole in solid granite with hand tools....................Those guys were tough.

Whoever the miner was, he was very experienced. Combine that with the fact there are no claim records, and there are two possibilities. 1) It's an old spanish mine, or 2) It's a Great Depression mine that was worked illegally, and the gold was sold in Mexico.

If it were me, I would put a claim on it and do some prospecting. The old timers left a lot of gold behind, so I would wait until the shaft dries out, then use a vacuum cleaner on the floor of the shaft and tunnels. You would be amazed how much gold you can recover from the floor of old mines.

The good news is, the water means you won't have to deal with snakes. Bad news is, when that water drains out, the ceiling is going to be soft so if you see, or feel very small pebbles hitting you in the head, drop whatever you have in hand, and run. And be sure to pump air into the mine before going in. Always remember...................The only thing an air meter does, is give you enough time to say a final prayer.

 

[Assembler]

Thanks for the comments. I've been unable to find any nearby historic claims at Mylandmatters, Thediggings or other sites. It is closest to the old Sutherland Ranch which is shown on a 1905 topo map. There are some historic claim records at higher elevations, mostly copper. I will try to rig a magnet and see what I can pull from the shaft. I may also be able to measure how deep it is. It is worth another hike out there with the detector. If anyone would like to see the site contact me via message. It is about a 1.5 hour hike one-way to the mine on a rocky road and some trails.

What do the County Records show?

Have you found any values so far?

 

[Ed144]

I have no experience with hard rock mining, tunnel safety, air monitoring equipment, etc. One would need to rig a line and rappel down into the shaft to access it. I'm fit enough to rappel down, but would need to find the proper equipment. The shaft is on the side of a wash. This means it would be possible to drop a hose down into the water and run it down the wash to a lower level to siphon the water out of the shaft. There must be horizonatal adits below water level in the shaft. I have not researched count records. The shaft is in Pima county and on Coronado National Forest land. Are there any experienced hard rock miners out there that would consider teaming up on an exploration effort? Contact me if interested. Ed, SaddleBrooke, Az.

 

[autofull]

I have no experience with hard rock mining, tunnel safety, air monitoring equipment, etc. One would need to rig a line and rappel down into the shaft to access it. I'm fit enough to rappel down, but would need to find the proper equipment. The shaft is on the side of a wash. This means it would be possible to drop a hose down into the water and run it down the wash to a lower level to siphon the water out of the shaft. There must be horizonatal adits below water level in the shaft. I have not researched count records. The shaft is in Pima county and on Coronado National Forest land. Are there any experienced hard rock miners out there that would consider teaming up on an exploration effort? Contact me if interested. Ed, SaddleBrooke, Az.

so kool yet so very dangerous. be very very careful,

 

[cyzak]

When you drain the water out put the hose discharge into some type of sluice box. We had a mine full of water that we used a siphon on and an old timer told us do this way to make some of a recovery and boy did it pay off. I hope you have the same luck we did remember there are no guarantees in gold mining.

 

[Assembler]

When you drain the water out put the hose discharge into some type of sluice box. We had a mine full of water that we used a siphon on and an old timer told us do this way to make some of a recovery and boy did it pay off. I hope you have the same luck we did remember there are no guarantees in gold mining.

Heck since the water is mostly contained why not mix it up with the sediments first before draining?
A 2" - 3" water pump should do the trick.

 

[Ed144]

Thanks for the suggestions. One difficulty is the remoteness of the mine. It is about 1.8 miles hike to get to the shaft when I drive my Jeep Gladiator. A capable rock crawler could drive to within about 0.5 miles. I went to a Tucson Desert Gold Diggers meeting last night. Met a couple of fellows that may be interested in helping with the investigation. The next steps are to measure the shaft depth, attempt to retrieve anything magnetic from the shaft bottom, search for ore dump pile remains, and pan some of the ore material if possible. I'll post updates here if I make any progress.

 

[cyzak]

The generators and pump these days are small and light you would not have to get to much equipment. Hopefully you can find the right type of people to help you.

 

[Ed144]

We had a fairly cool day in the Tucson area so I hiked to the mine shaft again. It measures 9' x 9' and is square, descending vertically for 38'. The water level is at about the 25' point so there is about 13' of water in the bottom. This calculates to about 114 cubic yards of mostly granite material removed to create the shaft. There were no drifts or adits visible. If there are some drifts, they are submerged. I can't imagine why there would be so much water in the shaft unless a drift is bringing it in. Any drifts would likely go into the hillside following some ore or veins. I tossed a big magnet into the shaft and retrieved it about 20 times. Each time it came up with a lot of magnetite on it. One retrieval brought up a small greenish-black somewhat crystalline stone that is heavily magnetic. Under a loupe the greenish material is translucent. The black material is dull grey-black and shiny. The area has many hot rocks of apparently a black magnetite. In many areas the mineralization overwhelms my Garrett Axiom detector with an 11" mono coil. Another photo of the shaft is attached. Detecting turned up some nails and a can with solder-sealed rings on top. Contact me if anyone would like to explore this mine shaft further. It is about a 1.5 hour hike from parking on a 4WD road. There is not much more I can do alone. Any other comments, suggestions or ideas? Thanks, Ed, SaddleBrooke, Az.

 

[Assembler]

We had a fairly cool day in the Tucson area so I hiked to the mine shaft again. It measures 9' x 9' and is square, descending vertically for 38'. The water level is at about the 25' point so there is about 13' of water in the bottom. This calculates to about 114 cubic yards of mostly granite material removed to create the shaft. There were no drifts or adits visible. If there are some drifts, they are submerged. I can't imagine why there would be so much water in the shaft unless a drift is bringing it in. Any drifts would likely go into the hillside following some ore or veins. I tossed a big magnet into the shaft and retrieved it about 20 times. Each time it came up with a lot of magnetite on it. One retrieval brought up a small greenish-black somewhat crystalline stone that is heavily magnetic. Under a loupe the greenish material is translucent. The black material is dull grey-black and shiny. The area has many hot rocks of apparently a black magnetite. In many areas the mineralization overwhelms my Garrett Axiom detector with an 11" mono coil. Another photo of the shaft is attached. Detecting turned up some nails and a can with solder-sealed rings on top. Contact me if anyone would like to explore this mine shaft further. It is about a 1.5 hour hike from parking on a 4WD road. There is not much more I can do alone. Any other comments, suggestions or ideas? Thanks, Ed, SaddleBrooke, Az.View attachment 2207922

Any colors in the greenish stone?
Any colors in the dump material / rock?
Any other forms of iron?