I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised by this, but there are still A LOT of gold mines in Arizona. Okay, to be fair, they’re not all gold mines. But I still wasn’t aware that there are over 1,000 mines just in Cochise County where I live.
I did know that there’s a pretty big copper mine up to the northeast of us in Morenci, Arizona, as they sometimes advertise for jobs all way down here, 150+ miles away.
We’ve also driven by the big lavender pit in Bisbee many times, and I’ve even been on the mine tour. But as far as I know none of the mines in Bisbee are still active. It’s more of a tourist attraction now.
Of course we’ve discovered abandoned mine shafts out on our hikes
But until we went out to Ash Canyon and saw the signs and the painted rock in my main picture, I really wasn’t aware that anybody was still actively looking for gold in our mountains.
With just the little bit of research that this post inspired, I discovered that it’s not just professionals who are looking for gold here in Arizona. Apparently I can do join the Desert Gold Diggers club and pan for gold myself.
I’m sure it would be more of a fun day out, than a way to potentially get rich.
But hey, probably better odds than playing the lottery.
Do you have any interesting things in your backyard that you were only vaguely aware of?
Til Next Time,
Todd
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