WorldWide Drilling Resource

Alaska Miners Association Phone: 907-563-9229 Fax: 907-563-9225 ama@alaskaminers.org www.alaskaminers.org Northwest Mining Association Phone: 509-624-1158 Fax: 509-623-1241 nwma_info@nwma.org WorldWide Drilling Resource ® is proud to be a member of these mining associations. Women in Mining 866-537-9694 wim@womeninmining.org 49 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® AUGUST 2014 Jerome Arizona’s Copper by Harry W. Short Engineering Geologist Native Americans who came seek- ing the pretty colored stones at Jerome, Arizona, were considered the first min- ers in the area. The Spanish followed prospecting for gold, but found copper instead. They staked the first claims in the area and the United Verde ( green in Spanish) Company began mining oper- ations in 1883. There also is a rumor Spanish explorers discovered gold there in 1583. WWDR readers may wonder how these explorers found this place without road maps or GPS nearly 300 years before the first mining claims were filed there. Jerome was incorporated on March 8, 1898; and built on Cleopatra Hill (ele- vation 5435 feet). It grew from a small tent city to a prosperous town. The early mixture of miners consisting of Mexicans, Croatians, Irish, Spaniards, Italians, and Chinese contributed significantly to Jerome’s rich livelihood and its colorful history. Jerome was a boomtown of its time and attracted promoters, miners, and investors. Many financiers brought bil- lions of dollars in copper, gold, and silver from the area. Pack burros, mules, and horse-drawn freight wagons hauling the copper ore from the mining area were eventually replaced by steam engines and trucks. The city owed its existence to ore bodies which formed about 1.75 billion years ago along a ring fault in the caldera of an extinct volcano during the Precambrian Era (+400 million years ago). The Verde Fault has 6000 feet (1.14 miles) of vertical displacement which pushed the Precambrian and Paleozoic rocks to the surface in the Black Hills around Jerome. The area produced an estimated $375 million in copper, gold, silver, and zinc during its production heyday. Several fires and landslides (mass wasting) ravaged the area and destroyed whole sections of the town, but Jerome was always rebuilt. At the mercy of the ups and downs of copper prices, labor unrest, depressions, and wars, Jerome's mines closed in 1953. "King Copper" left town, and the population shrunk from a peak of 15,000 in the 1920s to a low of 50 people. To visit Jerome, it’s an easy 69-mile drive from Flagstaff on Highway 89A. Or from Prescott, take Highway 89 to Highway 89A a short distance northeast. It’s a 35-mile drive, but prepare for a life experience of its own driving this road. The last 12-mile section of the highway west of Jerome has 158 curves. It’s a fast trip downhill back to Prescott from Jerome. Harry Harry Short may be contacted via e-mail at admin@ worldwidedrillingresource.com Hillside buildings. Adandoned mine. Old mine tailings pile. !