Surprise Venture Haul Road - Salt River Recreation Area

While strolling around on the west side of the Lower Salt River Recreation Area I've stumbled onto several abandoned mine sites over the years.  Recently, I looked up three of them on a Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources (ADMMR) website.  The three described by ADMMR in the Salt River Recreation Area are the Arizona Barite Mine, the Little LaDonna Prospect and the Surprise Venture (Big Red) Mine.  Based on what I'd found while out walking over the years, I thought that there were four old mines in the area.  However, it turns out that the Surprise Venture consisted of multiple sites.  I also found that I was confusing the Little LaDonna with the Surprise Venture for the last decade or so.

(Rev. 12/2015: This has become more confusing since I noticed that the GPS coordinates given by ADMMR match the shaft mine that I've been calling Little LaDonna.  Coordinates given for Little LaDonna are to the NW of the shaft. Also, I've been posting the mine locations at the Waypoints website as Azbarite.)

One of the first sites that I'd looked at turned out to be be the mill site for the Surprise Venture.  The Surprise Venture sites are pretty easy to identify because the mine owners were still proposing improvements as late as 1994.  I haven't been able to find documentation but I'm pretty sure that the recreation area is now closed to mining.  Per the map, there's a mill and a mine shaft on T2N R7E Section 17 and an excavation in Section 9 (Rev. 12/2015: circled area marks coordinates of Surprise Venture per ADMMR. However, the margin notes on the map indicate that it is the location of the Little LaDonna.  I believe that the contradiction is due to inaccuracies in the coordinates.).  The map below is dated 1983 but some of the ADMMR documentation dates back as far as 1962.

(TCS 2/6/17: Warning, the location of the millsite is shown below on the wrong wash.  It is actually located on the next wash system to the east. The millsite and shaft may have been in same general location.  Also, the actual haul road is closer to Bush Hwy.)

Revised 12/2015

Photo of West End of Haul Road Looking West

According to a 1962 Arizona Dept. of Mines and Mineral Resources (ADMMR) report, the owners were extracting granitic rock that contained specks of hematite and scheelite (see possible sample in photo above.  The sample was picked up along the haul road near the mine.).  Scheelite is a tungsten ore and tungsten was the primary commodity of interest.  There's some discussion in the owner docs of gold and silver being trace elements in the ore but I get the feeling that it may be exaggerated. The original claims were filed as Surprise Venture in the 1970's but the land was withdrawn from mineral exploration due to plans for Orme Dam.  The original claim consisted of a single shaft in Section 17 that was being mined as early as 1962.  The plans for Orme Dam were subsequently dropped and claims were refiled as Big Red Mining Co. in the early 1980's.  The new proposal included a mill site and plans to strip mine the ore instead of using a shaft mine.  As of 1985, the only production consisted of a trial run and the sites caretaker was proposing further improvements to get the shutdown facility back in operation.  Much later in 1994, there was a response from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality to a proposal for processing facility improvements.  There doesn't seem to be any further documentation beyond 1994.  As far as I can tell, the owners and operators have been part-timers.

Surprise Venture Highwall (Section 16)

The site map includes a symbol for a shaft mine near the fork in the haul road in Section 9.  I haven't see any sure signs of it yet but there was a large chunk of concrete near the site of the symbol that seem suspicious. I want to spend some more time looking for the abandoned shaft before I'm sure its at the location below. There's usually a lot more trash and ore in the vicinity of an abandoned mine.

The mill site includes ore dumps, trash piles and signs of what appears to be have been a trailer parking spot. The ores match similar piles at the mine site.

Ore Dump

Ore Dump

Ore Dump

The following photos show some of the trash and building materials at the suspected admin or caretaker sites.

Retaining Wall in Wash

Concrete Blocks (for leveling trailer?)

Buried Trash

Retaining Wall

There seems to have been activity here for 30 years or more.  It would be fun to look back in time to watch what was going on.  I'd guess that a family with children lived on the site for a while based on items in the trash heaps and a strange rock lined path that winds with no apparent logic for several hundred feet through the nearby washes and hills.  The path looks like the work of children with a lot of time on their hands and no internet access.

These sites are easily accessible from the Hawes Trail System or Bush Highway.

It's sure been fun researching this stuff and it sure beats the hell out of working.

Adios

Sanchez Homestead - Salt River Recreation Area

I went for a short stroll near the Salt River this morning and realized that although Summer has moderated somewhat, its still hot here in the Sonoran Desert.  During the Summer, I found a few old maps of the area and wanted to see if I could find some of the landmarks.  This morning I was looking for a site labeled "Sanchez" on the 1932 Dept of Interior General Land Office map which I assume was a homestead.

1932 Map of T2NR7E (Salt River Recreation Area)

I parked along the road to Coon Bluff in the Salt River Recreation Area and headed NNE.  I couldn't really find any of the old roads with any confidence but I could find the river bluff and then explore along it looking for signs of habitation.  Those signs are pretty sparse after 70 or 80 years.  I finally found a spot on some high ground near a boundary marker to T2NR7E and the intersections of Sections 3 & 4.  The first signs were rusty cans, some barbed wire scattered around the ground and piles of stones that could have been parts of an old foundation.  The boundary marker cinched it though.

Dwelling Outline?

Part of a Worn Horseshoe

Piece of Foundation?

Broken Cast Iron Stove Lid

Signs of Original Road?

Township (2N) and Range (7E) Marker within 100' of Site

I waited a bit late to get out and it was getting pretty toasty so while walking, I kept to the shady groves of mesquite.  The Salt River "wild" horse herd had the same idea.  I tried to avoid them but didn't have much luck.  They looked pretty good considering the long hot summer.  There were at least 2 colts and I didn't see much in the way of ribs showing.  I'm guessing that they were getting plenty to graze in and around the river.  I took a few pictures but the horses may be hard to pick out among the mesquite trees.

I hope to spend a lot more time in the area this fall.  There are a few more homestead sites to try and find.  I'd also like to research the BLM records for earlier sites and maybe grazing permits.  It might also be interesting to try and find out something about the homesteaders (Sanchez, Chavez and Monroy) on the 1932 map.  There are also apiaries (bee hives) shown on the 1932 map but I doubt that there would be any visible sign of them.

Oh well, hot or otherwise, its a beautiful day in Arizona.

Looking East from Coon Bluff Road

Adios