Surprise Venture Shaft Mine (per AZGS)
Posted by: 
Azbarite
N 33° 31.833 W 111° 38.517
12S E 440393 N 3710291
This is the site of an abandoned shaft mine listed as Surprise Venture with the Arizona Geological Survey. It is located south of Bush Hwy in the Salt River Recreation Area. AKA Big Red Mining Co.
Waymark Code: WMQ5TC
Location: Arizona, United States
Date Posted: 12/25/2015
Views: 4
According to a 1962 Arizona Dept. of Mines and Mineral Resources (ADMMR) report (see link below), the owners were extracting granitic rock that contained specks of hematite and scheelite. Scheelite is a tungsten ore and tungsten was the primary commodity of interest. There's some discussion in the owner docs of gold and silver being trace elements in the ore but I get the feeling that it may be exaggerated for any potential investors. The original claims were filed as Surprise Venture in the 1970's but the land was withdrawn from mineral exploration due to plans for Orme Dam. The original claim consisted of a single shaft in T2NR7E Section 17 that was being mined as early as 1962. However, this shaft is in the NE corner of Section 9. The plans for Orme Dam were subsequently dropped and claims were refiled as Big Red Mining Co. in the early 1980's. The new proposal included a mill site (separate waypoint to the west) and plans to strip mine the ore instead of using a shaft mine. As of 1985, the only production consisted of a trial run and the sites caretaker was proposing further improvements to get the shutdown facility back in operation. Much later in 1994, there was a response from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality to a proposal for processing facility improvements. There doesn't seem to be any further documentation beyond 1994. As far as I can tell, the owners and operators have been part-timers.
There is an open, shallow, abandoned shaft and piles of discarded building material and timbers in the area. The shaft around 6 feet deep and is mostly filled. Nearby (one wash to west), there is a barrel with a lockable cover buried in the side of a wash.
The are some confusing points regarding the shaft mine associated with this claim. The shaft's original location is shown near the haul road on the attached map but I haven't been able to see any signs of it. The documents in the reference list the coordinates given here but they don't match the mine map.
To locate the site from Mesa Arizona, drive north on Power Rd. to Salt River Recreation Area. Power Rd. turns into Bush Hwy. in the recreation area. Driving east on Bush Hwy., park on the south side of the road at a turnout approximately 0.60 miles east of the intersection with Phon D. Sutton Rd. Cross the stock fence and follow GPS coordinates overland south to GPS coordinates. The mine is located behind a large white quartz hill.
Reference:
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visit link)