Chloride Mining District, Wallapai Mining District, Cerbat Mountains, Mohave County, Arizona, USAi

Regional Level Types
Chloride Mining District	Mining District
Wallapai Mining District	Mining District
Cerbat Mountains	Mountain Range
Mohave County	County
Arizona	State
USA	Country

The Chloride district, the most important in the Cerbat Range, is situated about 20 miles north-northwest from Kingman, in the northern part of the Hualpai district, near the western slope of the Cerbat Mountains. It is comprised in an irregular area about 6 miles in diameter. As shown on the accompanying map, the principal mining locations are disposed roughly in two broad, irregular belts, intersecting each other near their middle points, one, about a mile in width, extending from the Samoa mines, at the crest of the range on the east, for about 6 miles to the west, terminating in the foothills or adjacent part of the Sacramento Valley plain about 2 miles west of Chloride. Its western half parallels the base of the mountains, which here depart from their normal nearly north-south course and extend several miles to the west, and its eastern half lies between the crest and the base of the mountain range on its western slope. The other belt parallels the north-south base of the range and lies mainly in its lower slope and the adjacent part of the Sacramento Valley. It diminishes in width from about 2 miles on the south to less than a mile on the north.

Chloride, the shipping and distributing point of the district, is situated a trifle northwest of its center, at the northern terminus of a branch of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, connecting with the main line at Kingman. It is favorably located at an altitude of 4,000 feet on an open gentle slope near the base of the mountains. It is also the distributing point for the Weaver, Minnesota, and White Hills districts and for Eldorado Canyon, Nevada.

Among the first locations made were the mines now known as the Silver Hill properties, just southwest of Chloride, and the Golden Fleece, Tintic, Independence, and others. Some of the ores were of too low grade for shipment to San Francisco and to Swansea. England, but later, when a mill was built at Mineral Park, they were reduced there. Others, however, were so rich that when shipped abroad they netted their owners large sums. The district has produced a very large amount of lead and several million dollars' worth of gold and silver. It is not possible to obtain even approximate figures of the production. The lack of water has -been one of the chief drawbacks of the camp, but with deep sinking plenty will be obtained.

GEOLOGY

The eastern part of the district is in part rugged, the topography being of the type produced by erosion and weathering of granite. In a distance of about 2 miles the surface descends from the altitude of 6,000 feet at the crest of the range to about 4,000 feet at its base, where it meets the plain of the Sacramento Valley. This plain is composed of detritus and wash derived from the range and contains deposits of caliche(?). The mountain slope is dissected by several main gulches, among which Samoa, Windmill, and Tennessee gulches are the chief. These drain southwestward into the Sacramento Valley. On the northwest the mountains are lower. Southward-sloping foothills, with no sharp line of demarcation, separate them from the adjacent plain of the valley.

The rocks are chiefly those of the pre-Cambrian complex. In the westward extension of the mountains, immediately north of Chloride, is an area of younger granitic rock, which is intruded into the pre-Cambrian, and at first glance is difficult to distinguish from the older granitic gneisses, especially as it also has a distinct schistosity. It is a medium-grained granitoid rock, much resembling the granite porphyry of the Mineral Park batholith. It breaks down easily and weathers greenish or yellowish brown, and seems to impart the latter color to about all but the upper portion of front of the range from Chloride northward. It is moderately schistose in a north-south direction, the dip of the schistosity being vertical, and it is sliced by a northwesterly sheeting which dips 70° NE.

The deposits occur in two systems of well-defined fissure veins. One strikes a little west of north and stands nearly vertical, another strikes about due northwest and dips steeply either to the northeast or to the southwest. Many of the ore shoots are located at points where spurs or feeders join the vein in an oblique direction. The ores principally contain silver and lead with some gold and copper. The gangue is quartz with some calcite and other carbonates. The primary ore minerals include pyrite, chalcopyrite, arsenopyrite, galena, zinc blende, molybdenite, and probably bornite. The secondary minerals are silver, hornsilver, argentite, ruby silver, and chalcocite, together with various oxidized lead and copper minerals. In a reconnaissance report, like this one, only some of the more important properties can be described to convey an idea of the deposits and developments of the region.

The following are the depths reached by the principal mines:
Juno - 600
Elkhart - 500
Tennessee - 600
Schuylkill - 500
Minnesota-Connor - 530
Lucky Boy - 400
Samoan - 300
Pinkham - 230
Midnight - 200
Altata - 200
Payroll - 400
Mollie Gibson - 200
Distaff - 180