Gold Basin Mining District, White Hills, Mohave County, Arizona, USAi

Regional Level Types
Gold Basin Mining District	Mining District
White Hills	Group of Census-designated Places
Mohave County	County
Arizona	State
USA	Country

The Gold Basin mining district, of which Basin is the post-office, is situated in the eastern part of the White Hills (fig. 18). It extends over a hilly area about 6 miles in diameter, sloping to Hualpai Wash on the east, and ranges from 2,900 to 5,000 feet in elevation. The northeastern portion, where most of the mines are situated, is rugged, being marked by longitudinal fault scarps and scored by several deep transverse washes, of which the principal ones are Banker, 0. K., and Cyclopic, situated about 2 miles apart. The nearest railway station is Hackberry, 40 miles to the south, with which connection is made by stage line. Colorado River lies 16 miles to the north. Mineral was first discovered here early in the seventies, but remoteness from the base of supplies, together with scarcity of fuel and water, renders operations expensive and has materially retarded developments. Nevertheless, considerable progress has been made and much ore has been produced and worked in arrastres and mills.

The deposits occur mainly in fissure veins in the pre-Cambrian crystalline rocks. The veins dip southeastward or northwestward, mainly at angles of 40° or 70°. The gangue is quartz, in places with siderite, and the metal is gold, mostly free milling, but it is associated with lead or copper ores, copper stain being a good indication of the gold values. Pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, molybdenite, and wolframite are found, but the ore is largely oxidized, the water level not having been reached. Among the oxidized products are limonite, malachite, cerusite, and vanadinite.

The district contains about half a dozen small mines and about an equal number of good-looking prospects. The relative location of the most important is shown in the small sketch map (fig. 18). The principal mines are the Eldorado, Excelsior, Golden Rule, Jim Blaine, Never-get-left, 0. K., and Cyclopic. The production of the district is given as more than $100,000, most of which came from the Eldorado mine.