Location
In the vicinity of Mount Benedict southwest of the Santa Cruz River, T. 23 S., R. 14 E.
Topographic Map
Nogales 15-minute quadrangle.
Geologic Map
Wilson, Moore, and O'Haire, 1960, Geologic map of Pima and Santa Cruz Counties, scale 1:375,000.
Access
From Nogales, about 2 miles northeast on State Highway 82 to dirt road leading northwest about 2 miles to mines on the south slope of Mount Benedict.
Extent
Schrader (1915, p. 355), reported that placers occur in Guebabi Canyon, which drains the northwest flanks of the Patagonia Mountains and crosses an alluvial plain to the Santa Cruz River.
Placers occur on the east side of Mount Benedict near the Santa Cruz River (Bird, 1916, p. 10). This area is about 1-3 miles southeast of the mouth of Guebabi Canyon.
Production History
The recorded production of placer gold from the Nogales district is very small, and the exact location of the placers worked is unknown, although Schrader (1915) suggests that the placers in the Guebabi canyon were among the oldest and largest placer mines in the area. F. S. Simons (oral commun., 1971) reports that no evidence was seen to indicate the presence of placer gravels and that the occurrence of gold in the canyon is unlikely.
Source
The placers found on the east side of Mount Benedict were probably derived from gold-bearing veins known to occur in this isolated mountain of Precambrian granite.
Literature
Bird, 1916: Notes presence of placer gold on slopes of Mount Benedict near the Santa Cruz River.
Mining Review, 1910b: Reports high concentration of placer gold in gravels surrounding Nogales; an exaggerated account.
Schrader, 1915: Location of placers in Guebabi Canyon; extent of gravels; early placer-mining activity.
Wilson, 1961: Quotes Schrader.
