The Starlight Mine is a gold mine located in Yavapai county, Arizona at an elevation of 6,499 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
Elevation: 6,499 Feet (1,981 Meters)
Commodity: Gold
Lat, Long: 34.3975, -112.41222
Map: View on Google Maps
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.
Mine Description
The holdings of “Trapshooter” Reilly Gold Mines include the old Crook, Venezia, Starlight, and Mount Union mines, in Crooks Canyon. These mines are in the vicinity of Venezia post office, which, via the Senator Highway, is 15 miles from Prescott.
During the early days, these mines were rather extensively worked in the oxidized zone, which was generally from 40 to less than 200 feet deep. Later, sulphide ores were mined and treated in a 20-stamp amalgamation-concentration mill at Venezia and in the Mount Union mill. Much of this work was done by the late J. B. Tomlinson and lessees. From 1927 to about 1932, the property was held by the Westerner Gold-Lead Mining Company which, according to the U. S. Mineral Resources of 1930, milled about 100 tons of gold ore and shipped one car of lead-zinc ore. Since about 1932, the property has been held by “Trapshooter” Reilly Gold Mines. This company shipped some bullion and concentrates, but suspended operations in September, 1933.
The total combined production of these mines probably does not exceed $500,000. (57)
This area is composed of ridges and canyons with altitudes of 6,200 to 7,400 feet. It lies in the granite belt that extends southward through Mount Union and contains many dikes of rhyolitic to basic composition.
Starlight group: Lindgren gives the following description: “The three claims of the Starlight group lie about half a mile north of Venezia, at an altitude of about 6,600 feet. They were formerly owned by an English company . . . The developments consist of three short tunnels with a vertical interval of 200 feet. In the upper tunnel the vein strikes N. 30° E. and dips 60° W.
“The upper tunnel runs along the vein for 300 feet. The vein is 4 or 5 feet wide and carries several 6-inch streaks of heavy galena and zinc blende. These solid streaks are said to yield high assays in gold and silver. Some ore has been packed up to the Mount Union mill for treatment. There is said to be a shoot 270 feet in length along the tunnel."
“The gangue is quartz-filling with an indication of comb structure. In part the vein has been reopened and brecciated. Other gangue minerals are ankerite and fine-grained fluorite. Pyrite with coarse-grained black sphalerite and more or less galena make up the ore minerals. A dike of rhyolite-porphyry of normal appearance shows in some places along the vein. Some of the breccia is cemented by galena and sphalerite.”
According to local reports, the present company milled about 150 tons of ore from this group.
(57) Lindgren, W., work cited, pp. 123–25.
Text from Arizona Lode Gold Mines and Gold Mining, Arizona Bureau of Mines. Original 1934, revised 1967
Starlight Mine MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: Starlight Mine
Commodity
Primary: Gold
Secondary: Lead
Secondary: Silver
Tertiary: Zinc
Location
State: Arizona
County: Yavapai
District: Mount Union District
Land Status
Land ownership: National Forest
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
Type: Underground
Ownership
Not available
Production
Not available
Deposit
Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: S
Physiography
General Physiographic Area: Intermontane Plateaus
Physiographic Province: Basin And Range Province
Physiographic Section: Mexican Highland
Mineral Deposit Model
Not available
Orebody
Not available
Structure
Type: R
Description: Foliation In Precambrian Rocks Trends N35e To N45e
Type: L
Description: Dikes And Veins Parallel Foliation
Alterations
Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: None
Rocks
Not available
Analytical Data
Not available
Materials
Ore: Galena
Ore: Sphalerite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Pyrite
Comments
Comment (Geology): DEPOSIT IS VEIN WHICH CUTS PRECAMBRIAN GRANODIORITE. RHYOLITE PORPHYRY DIKES OF PROBABLE CRET-TERT AGE ASSOCIATED WITH VEINS
Comment (Production): ITEM ( 8 ) IS AN ESTIMATE FROM $ 75,000 PRODUCTION AT $ 20.67 PER OUNCE.
Comment (Workings): THREE SHORT TUNNELS WITHIN 200 VERTICAL FEET.
References
Reference (Deposit): USGS BULL 782, P. 123
Reference (Deposit): ELSING, M.J. AND HEINEMAN, R.E., 1936 , ARIZONA METAL PRODUCTION: ARIZONA BUREAU OF MINES BULLETIN 140 , P. 101
Reference (Production): ARIZONA BUREAU OF MINES BULLETIN 140 , P. 101
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.
