Gold in the Arizona Areas

Right on the other side of the Colorado River from the district of Potholes you will be able to find the placer deposits that are in Arizona. Despite the possibility that the gold became deposited at the same time, the Potholes district in California is a lot bigger in size. It has been found that the Laguna Dam was the richest source of placer gold on the side of Arizona, given that some of the potholes that were in this area were up to one hundred feet above the river and a good number of gold nuggets were also found by the workers that were building the dam, there was also a fairly large quartz vein that was located in the area. In 1884 there was an attempt to try dredging the deposits. However this did not turn out to be successful the next year given that the dredge sunk due to a flood. The gold that has been found in this area is coarse and has a rust color to it. Geologists believe that the gold has come from irregular quartz veins in the huge pieces of black schist and granitic gneiss that go up above the river. There are a few other well known of and good locations that can be found in the Laguna Mountains. The McPhaul placers consist of ancient Tertiary gravels that are located on the south end of the range near the Gila River and just about one mile from the McPhaul Bridge. Another area that is close by, around one mile north of the Gila River) is Las Flores Gulch; this area has produced a little bit of gold in the past as well.