Van Ricken Claim near Canada del Oro Pinal County?

[Ed144]

I'm researching mining activity in the Santa Catalina Mtns area north of Tucson. Has anyone ever found the old Van Ricken claim (1939) which is supposed to be east of Saddlebrooke? The 1939 Dept of Mineral Resources report shows it was 7 adjacent developmental load mine claims. Resources were Lead, Molybdenum, Vanadium, Gold and Silver. The location is "at the falls in canyon where present road leads into Canada del Oro." Early maps show only one place the old road crosses the Canada del Oro, and it is near a large gulch east of Saddlebrooke. The workings were "Incline 34 feet, tunnel 290 feet cross cut." Also "plenty of water in shaft at 34 feet." Does this mean a tunnel accessing a 290' cross cut tunnel? The ore description was "two well defined veins," and "veins from 5 to 9 feet wide, 200 tons in canyon, 700 tons in dump." The claim is listed as never going into production. It seems too big of an operation (900 tons total) to not have produced something. Perhaps someone lost their shirt trying to develop the claim? I'm going to go out and locate the claim. Perhaps do a little detecting if it is not on private land.

 

[Clay Diggins]

The Van Ricken group of 7 claims were east of Saddlebrook possibly in Section 24. They can be reached by way of Forest Rd 4496, Rancheria Spring from the east or across State land from the west.

Van Horn (the operator) described the location as:
"At falls in Canyon where present road (1939) leads into Canada del Oro."
That might be the adit and prospects in 10S 15E Sec 16 on private land. Or the forest road in 10S 14E Sec 24

I don't know the exact location of the workings but by all accounts the VanRicken prospect was not located on Forest land. That means it's either State land (likely) or private land. You can not prospect State lands without purchasing a prospecting permit for the section(s) you are interested in. To prospect private lands will require written permission or a contract with the land owner.

These prospects were valued for their Lead/Vanadium content. The gold content was in the Galena. The high percentage of lead pretty much kills any thoughts of developing the deposit today.

Here is a link to the State records for the VanRicken group.

Heavy Pans

 

[Ed144]

The Van Ricken group of 7 claims were east of Saddlebrook possibly in Section 24. They can be reached by way of Forest Rd 4496, Rancheria Spring from the east or across State land from the west.

Van Horn (the operator) described the location as:
"At falls in Canyon where present road (1939) leads into Canada del Oro."
That might be the adit and prospects in 10S 15E Sec 16 on private land. Or the forest road in 10S 14E Sec 24

I don't know the exact location of the workings but by all accounts the VanRicken prospect was not located on Forest land. That means it's either State land (likely) or private land. You can not prospect State lands without purchasing a prospecting permit for the section(s) you are interested in. To prospect private lands will require written permission or a contract with the land owner.

These prospects were valued for their Lead/Vanadium content. The gold content was in the Galena. The high percentage of lead pretty much kills any thoughts of developing the deposit today.

Here is a link to the State records for the VanRicken group.

Heavy Pans

Thanks Clay. I already downloaded the state record on the claim. I like to hike so hunting for an old claim is part of the fun. Finding some of these old claims is similar to geocache hunting without accurate GPS coordinates. Investigating the geology is also interesting.

 

[Clay Diggins]

I think the real challenge will be in finding that waterfall. Good luck, it's a beautiful area to explore.

Heavy Pans