YAVAPAI COUNTY
Yavapai County is in the central part of Arizona, ranks first in the State in gold production through 1959. The JEROME DISTRICT (Verde) is the largest gold producer, having contributed about 1,565,000 ounces to the total lode production. Though mineral deposits were known in this area long before the Civil War, the first prospectors were Union soldiers with mining experience from California. Placers at Rich Hill were discovered in 1862 and those along Hassayampa and Lynx Creeks were discovered in 1863. Silver ore, first discovered in the Big Bug district in 1870, was found at other localities in Yavapai County in the 1870's. Claims were located in the Jerome district in 1876.
The production by ounces is as follows:
Prior to 1900,
477,703 lode and 193,500 placer
1900 to 1934,
1,1934,447 lode and 33,204 placer
1935 to 1959,
1,064,000 lode and 40,100 placer
Total 3,476,150 lode and 266,804 placer
MARTINEZ DISTRICT: is in southwestern Yavapai County in the southeastern Date Creek Mountains a few miles northwest of Congress. Gold was produced almost entirely from quartz veins and mostly from the Congress mine. The first discoveries were made in 1870, but the ore was not free milling and thus progress was impeded until a cyanide plant was built in 1895. High production was maintained until 1910. Except for a span of intensive operation by lessees during 1938-42, the mine was virtually idle from 1910 through 1959. The total minimum gold production of the Congress mine from 1887 through 1959 was about 396,300 ounces.