Desert Messenger

12 www.DesertMessenger.com October 21, 2015 SEE ROCKS PAGE 19 Nestled in the Cerbat Mountains slightly northwest of Kingman, AZ, is the quaint little town of Chloride. Today it is mostly known for its eclectic displays of yard art, bright- ly colored historic buildings, and rock art in a canyon just outside of town. But originally, Chloride was one of a trio of mining camps in the Hualapai District, along with Cer- bat and Mineral Park. Founded in the early1860's, Chloride came into being, like so many other towns in Arizona, because of its rich mineral resources. While there is some disagreement as to the exact year the town was founded, there is no debate over the fact that Chloride got its name from deposits of Silver Chloride. Though many metals and other ores were mined in Chloride, in- cluding gold, copper, lead, zinc, molybdenum, and vanadium, Silver and its compounds were by far the predominate ores of the time. Pros- pectors first located mineral re- sources in the Hualapai District in the 1840s, and although the mining camps were founded around 1860, mining did not become widespread there until a Treaty with the Huala- pai Indians was signed in 1870. By Jenn Jedidiah Free for RocksInMyHead™ Miners, Beatniks, & Interesting Rocks The Butterfield Stage served Chlo- ride from 1868 through 1919, as did the Santa Fe Railroad from 1898 until 1935. At its peak from 1900 to 1920 Chloride boasted a popula- tion of over 5,000 people, and was truly a wild west town. Mining was booming throughout the late 1800's until just before World War II. War- time created a scarcity of labor and caused the cost of extracting and processing ores to go up drastically, so most of the mines shut down. By the late 1940's, Chloride, and other camps in the District, were nearly ghost towns, and if it weren't for extreme mineral wealth of the area, Chloride would not exist today. The Wallapai mining district is approximately 10 miles long and 4 miles wide. The oldest rocks are Pre-Cambrian Granite. The rocks forming the low hills around Chloride are called Chloride Granite because, unlike the other Granites of the Hualapai District, Chloride Granite contains a unique blend of epidote, pegma- tite, and zircon in the recipe. But the interesting mixture of minerals doesn't stop there. In addition to the silver and gold that early miners sought, the rich oxidation zones in the center of the Cerbat Mountains are full of geologic wealth. The economic geology of the area is significant as it has produced, and continues to produce, a wealth of resources. Chloride's namesake, Sil- ver Chloride (AgCl) is an economi- cally important mineral with indus- trial uses. It is used in photography films and plates, electrodes, and in- frared applications. Silver Chloride is a white crystalline solid, which, when exposed to light, turns a deep grayish-blue and decomposes into Silver metal and Chlorine gas. Zinc and a mix of lead with silver was mined continuously from 1906 through 1948, with a total reported recovery of 54,760 tons of zinc and 35,736 tons of lead. Other impor- tant minerals produced in the Dis- trict are copper, azurite, malachite, vanadinite, chrysacolla, cuprite, smithsonite, and manganese oxides. There is an abundance of limo- nite and quartz, as well as pyrite, sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite, and molybdenum. Calcite, gypsum, turquoise and the very beautiful rhodochrosite, are also present, though rare. Though many of the Hualapai District mines lay abandoned, the Cerbat Mountains around Chloride still see mining today. The Emerald Isle mine has been reopened and then closed again several times, most recently in 2012. The Mineral Park Mine was still actively produc- ing copper, molybdenum, and gold until its closure in 2014. And the beloved Kingman Blue Turquoise still hails from stately Ithaca Peak and Turquoise Mountain. There are many remnants of camps and mines scattered throughout the Cerbat Mountains, and while exploring them one can find all sorts of beautiful and interesting col- lectibles. Though some loca- tions are on private land, for the most part the Hualapai Mining District lies almost completely within rugged BLM land. The wealth of the Cerbat Moun- tains is not just underground. The scenery is beautiful, too. Atop the foothills of granite poryphry are towering dikes of rhyolite creating all sorts of inter- esting formations from arches to spires. At the west edge of town, a gravel road leads back into the mine. A fork to the right takes you around to a canyon with petro- glyphs on the south side and an interesting contrast of 1960's era beatnik-style rock art on the op- posite cliffs. The town of Chloride ADVENTURES WITH ROCKS RJK CONSTRUCTION • No Job Too Small • Commercial • Residential • Remodeling LOCALLY OWNED & OPERATED Call Roy and Bob 928-345-5616 AZ License #13-1743 (Not a licensed contractor) 928-916-9812 RV ROOF COATING FREE Estimate Very Reasonable! 1YR FREE Service w/Roof Call Bob

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