This notation features an overview of the Greaterville Placers of Arizona.
In 1874, the Greaterville placers were discovered by a guy named A. Smith. For a number of years they were mined by 3 different companies. Until 1989, the area was privately owned. But then the government swapped land for this 3000 acre area and made it part of the Coronado National Forest.
Southeast of Tucson there is a town by the same name, Greaterville. The town lies 9 miles north of Sonoita at the foot of the Santa Rita Mountains. The gulches that exist there encompass 72 square miles. There are 15 gulches that have produced flake and nuggets. It is the richest placer gold in southern Arizona. The bedrock has ups and downs that form natural riffles where the gold is trapped. I have worked such areas and have found that clay frequently is deposited in these areas also along with gravel.
The origin of the gold is higher up in the Santa Ritas. The Yuba, St. Louis and Quebec mines are at the source. It is found in porphyry which is frequently the source of gold in Arizona. Porphyry is usually a red cast rock with great numbers of veins of quartz running all through it.
I found myself jumping from URL to URL to read about this place. It's a typical western story of Indian attacks, hard people, the value of water, and dreams of wealth that didn't exactly pan out. For current photos, see http://nuggetshooter.com/articles/GreatervilleKentuckyCampbyStan.html
http://tucson.com/news/local/mine-tales-the-ghost-towns-of-greaterville-and-kentucky-camp/article_5027b9be-71dc-5951-b11d-665737ef5309.html
http://www.azgs.az.gov/Mineral%20Scans/gold_bull168_ocr.pdf
For beautiful photos and a map of the area, see http://www.mindat.org/loc-35769.html
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