San Domingo Placers

The San Domingo Placers is a sand and gravel, construction and gold mine located in Maricopa county, Arizona at an elevation of 2,799 feet.

About the MRDS Data:

All mine locations were obtained from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System. The locations and other information in this database have not been verified for accuracy. It should be assumed that all mines are on private property.

Mine Info

Satelite View

MRDS mine locations are often very general, and in some cases are incorrect. Some mine remains have been covered or removed by modern industrial activity or by development of things like housing. The satellite view offers a quick glimpse as to whether the MRDS location corresponds to visible mine remains.

Site Name

Primary: San Domingo Placers
Secondary: Santo Domingo

Commodity

Primary: Sand and Gravel, Construction
Primary: Gold
Tertiary: Platinum

Location

State: Arizona
County: Maricopa
District: San Domingo District

Land Status

Land ownership: Federal
Note: the land ownership field only identifies whether the area the mine is in is generally on public lands like Forest Service or BLM land, or if it is in an area that is generally private property. It does not definitively identify property status, nor does it indicate claim status or whether an area is open to prospecting. Always respect private property.

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Owner Name: United Placers Industries, Inc.
Years: 1962 -

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Deposit Type: Stream Placer
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1870
Year Last Production: 1962
Discovery Year: 1870
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: M

Physiography

General Physiographic Area: Intermontane Plateaus
Physiographic Province: Basin And Range Province
Physiographic Section: Sonoran Desert

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Placer Au-PGE

Orebody

Form: PROBABLY POCKETS AND BARS

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Analytical Data: AVERAGE GRADE FROM 1870-1880 WAS $0.68/CY
Analytical Data: GOLD AVERAGES $0.40-0.80/CY
Analytical Data: GOLD IS 925 TO 965 IN FINENESS

Materials

Ore: Gold
Ore: Gravel
Ore: Platinum

Comments

Comment (Location): DRAINAGE SYSTEM OF SAN DOMINGO WASH, EAST TRIBUTARY OF HASSAYAMPA CREEK. WESTERN FOOTHILLS OF WICKENBURG MOUNTAINS. LOCATION GIVEN IS ABOUT 1 MI UPSTREAM FROM MOUTH OF SAN DOMINGO WASH INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1964)

Comment (Commodity): GOLD IS COARSE AND ANGULAR. UNVERIFIED REPORT OF PT

Comment (Workings): PLACER WORKINGS 6-7 MI LONG BY AN IRREGULAR WIDTH. NOT CONFINED TO THE STREAM BEDS BUT ARE ALSO FOUND ON SOME OF THE GRAVELY MESAS. GRAVELS WORKED BY DRY WASHING OR BY ROCKERS WHEN THERE WAS SUFFICIENT WATER. DRYLAND DREDGE OPERATED 1960-1962.

Comment (Geology): GOLD IS MOSTLY NEAR BEDROCK IN THE UPPER REACHES OF THE GULCHES, BUT IS MORE WIDELY DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT THE GRAVELS OF THE LOWER COUNTRY

Comment (Deposit): MRDS RECORD M045471 HAS BEEN DELETED.

Comment (Production): MANY OF THE NUGGETS WERE WORTH ABOUT $1 AND SOME WORTH $30 IN THE EARLY DAYS; IN 1925, $10-$15 WAS COMMON. SAN DOMINGO DISTRICT HAS THE LARGEST PLACER GOLD PRODUCTION IN MARICOPA CO. GRAVELS AVERAGED 0.032 OZ/CY AU (APPROX. 0.021 OZ/TON) FROM 1870-1962. MOST OF THE AREA'S ACTIVITY TOOK PLACE BETWEEN 1870 AND 1880, BUT THERE WAS CONTINUOUS ACTIVITY FROM 1905-1951

Comment (Development): WORKED INTERMITTENTLY.

Comment (Deposit): THE SOURCE OF THE GOLD IS BELIEVED TO BE QUARTZ VEINS IN THE NEARBY PRECAMBRIAN ROCKS

References

Reference (Other Database): CIMRI

Reference (Reserve-Resource): ORRIS AND BLISS, 1985

Reference (Deposit): GALBRAITH, F.W., AND BRENNAN, D.J., 1970, MINERALS OF ARIZONA: ARIZONA BUREAU OF MINES BULLETIN 181, P. 5.

Reference (Deposit): ORRIS, G.J., AND BLISS, J.D., 1985, GEOLOGIC AND GRADE-VOLUME DATA ON 330 GOLD PLACER DEPOSITS: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OPEN-FILE REPORT 85-213, 172 P.

Reference (Deposit): QUIRING, HEINRICH, 1962, PLATINMETALLE IN DIE METALLISCHEN ROHSTOFFE 16 BAND: STUTTGART, FERDINAND ENKE VERLAG, P. 245.

Reference (Deposit): JOHNSON, M.G., 1972, PLACER GOLD DEPOSITS OF ARIZONA: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1355, P. 21-23.

Reference (Deposit): WILSON, E.D., 1961, GOLD PLACERS AND PLACERING IN ARIZONA: ARIZONA BUREAU OF MINES BULLETIN 168, P. 59-60.

Arizona Gold

"Where to Find Gold in Arizona" looks at the density of modern placer mining claims along with historical gold mining locations and mining district descriptions to determine areas of high gold discovery potential in Arizona. Read more: Where to Find Gold in Arizona.