Silver Nugget Mine and Richmond Basin mining district

Richmond Basin 2.0 - 3.0

The Richmond Basin is a large area with a long history of mining for Zinc, Silver, Lead and Gold.. This Jeep trail will take you on a loop through the heart of the area. You will see remains of the Silver Nugget five-stamp mill, as well as many abandoned mines in the small area now commonly known as Richmond Basin.

Both Silver Nugget and Richmond Basin can be reached on 2.0 roads if you want to do in-and-out trips. The road into Richmond Basin has a spur to the north with nice views of Four Peaks and Roosevelt Lake.

The loop on this site takes you from one to the other without returning to the highway. The connection is remote, very scratchy and is not for the faint of heart. Nugget Wash and the eroded climb from Nugget Wash Basin up to Richmond Basin are rated 3.0. A GREAT trail for the right vehicles.

Ghosttowns.com has a page about the town of Nugget and the Silver Nugget Mine, but not all of it agrees with what we saw on the ground. Mindat.org states there was a 5-stamp mill - perhaps it was with the arrastra shown here.

There are numerous mines all along the route, but the biggest concentration is in the area known as Richmond Basin. Seemingly bottomless shafts have been closed with covers designed to allow bat entry. Areas of "black sand" point to exploration for gold. Up to 1000 people lived there back in it's heyday.

There is a GPS - gpx track at the bottom of the page.

Remains of Richmond Basin Mill

Black sand surrounds mine shaft

Eroded hill

There are interesting mill remains along the Silver Nugget section.

Silver Nugget Mill

Silver Nugget arrastra

I received the following note from Mike and Cindy:

Greetings Steve & Jayne. A note about The Nugget site. Myself and Cindy have lived in the old Copper Hill area for a long time. The Nugget site has always been a favorite area for me to explore for about 2 years. What ghosttowns.com explains is only about a 3rd reliant. So here are my findings. The Salado indian ruins are actually on the south side of the mill ruins just on the other side of a barbed wire cattle fence. Not much left but rock outlines but still neat to walk through. The only evidence of Nugget camp itself is about a mile or so along the road which crosses the wash past the nugget spring. When you come to a fork in the wash there is a vertical culvert that reads dead end, and the trail leads to the right, the site is on the left side at this point among dense trees and brush. I have investigated up and down the wash and there are no foundations or tent house flats up and down the wash as ghosttown.com claims. But at this point which I have found, You can find retaining walls of rock, scant evidence of roofing tin, tin cans, old wood, and a small cabin structure of wood. The structure is hard to find due to the trees, but appears to been apart of Nuggets time. it has collapsed over the decades. After many ghost town investigations and research I have found that a saloon or general store could have been nothing more than a ranch tent structure. Nugget may have been a smaller mining camp than most books claim. On the other hand, the mill site was quite an operation in itself and came shortly after the mine and camp was established. Happy and safe trails to both of you and always fun to share adventure with folks. sincerely Mike & Cindy

We had not known about the Indian ruins south of the mill ruins, so we visited them in 2018.

Perhaps a building outline

Fairly deep wall

From a book on Arizona Mining Districts:

GLOBE, GILA COUNTY
This is a large district, embracing what is sometimes called the McMillen District, which, it is claimed, was irregularly formed, and the Richmond Basin. It includes the Apache Mountains and the northeastern slope of the Pinal Mountains. The Pioneer District bounds it on the west. This section of the country affords fine facilities for mining. The forests of pine and other timber furnish good lumber and wood for fuel, while Pinal Creek and other small streams furnish ample water for milling purposes. The ores are gold, silver, copper, and lead. Large, well-defined veins, with prominent croppings, are found throughout the district, and mineral float frequently covers the surface. The climate is mild and healthful.

The Richmond Basin is situated fourteen miles northeast of Globe, in a hollow plateau of the highest part of the Apache range. The mountains immediately back of it, forming the eastern barrier, rise boldly in Alpine peaks hundreds of feet above the plateau. The prevailing rock in this section is porphyry, which forms the walls of the mineral veins, and gives assurance of their permanence. These solid rocks have been rent and torn asunder, and washed away, leaving the silver ore on the surface of the basin, where so many nuggets of the native silver metal have been found. In this basin are located the Mack Morris, Richmond, East Richmond, Silver Nugget, and other valuable properties.

Nugget Wash

Deep mine with interesting color

1881 book by Patrick Hamilton;

Richmond Basin - The camp is situated on the western slope of the Apache mountains and about fourteen miles north of Globe. Wood and water are plentiful. The veins are strong and well defined. This camp is famous for the native silver nuggets which were found on the surface. It is estimated that over $80,000 in pure silver was picked up in this locality. The McMorris, the leading mine of the camp, is a vein nearly 8 feet wide. The ore is a native silver, silver glance, and bromide of silver. The main shaft is down 400 feet. An incline has been sunk 300 feet, and a tunnel driven 100 feet. There are three levels aggregating 700 feet. The mine has been one of the most productive in Gila county, and the yield up to date is estimated at $400,000. Steam hoisting-works have been erected and also a ten-stamp mill.

The West Richmond is an extension of the McMorris. It shows a vein 8 feet wide. It has a shaft 96 feet, and one of 35 feet. The Dundee is a 4-foot vein that assays $60 per ton. It is a fine-looking prospect. The East Richmond is a 9-foot vein, has produced very rich ore, and is opened by two shafts, 100 feet and 30 feet, respectively. La Plata has a ledge 7 feet in width. A shaft has been sunk 60 feet, and a tunnel run 120 feet. It is an extension of the McMorris,and has been sold for $60,000. The Cora, South Plata, Rifleman, Belle Boyd, and a great many others in this camp, show every indication of developing into valuable paying properties.

The Silver Nugget takes its name from the “planchas" which were found within its limits on the surface. Some of these lumps of silver weighed five pounds. The ore of the Nugget, is free-milling. The vein is large, and is opened by two shafts, one of 160, and one of 100 feet, and a drift 180 feet in length. The ore is worked in a five-stamp mill.

Bat access cover

Retaining wall

1916 book by James H. McClintock

The mines of Richmond Basin were discovered by Dickey & Olvaney, who located the Richmond East and Richmond West claims for themselves and the MacMorris for a grub-stake partner, one MacMorris of Prescott, together with Cook & Styles of Florence. The last claim proved the best. In 1885, for $90,000, it was sold to Fisk & Stout of New York, who formed a company for its operation. The senior member of the firm was Gen. Clinton B. Fisk, the first national prohibition candidate for President. He sent his son out to Globe to establish a bank.

At Wheatfield the company built a ten-stamp mill that ran for three years, with returns of $1,750,000. Good values were found in the ore from the upper levels, but from 400 to 800 feet of depth little ore was found. Superintendent Baldwin, who last was in charge, started for the East to consult with the directors and was accidentally killed while crossing the Sierras. It is also told that a senior of the company, coming from New York, made a close inspection of the mine and immediately ordered out every workman and closed it down, as he supposed forever. Despite this decision, considerable money has come of late out of the old MacMorris, from ore overlooked in the early workings.

One of the richest silver mines of the district was the Silver Nugget, in Richmond Basin, located by a German prospector, who sold it, for a mule, to the four Chilson brothers, whose first shipment to the Selby works in San Francisco was of $60,000 worth of almost pure malleable native and horn silver, picked up from granite bedrock on the surface of the ground. Most of it was in chunks that could be tossed into a wagon. There was a ledge, however, which was worked down about 100 feet, with the finding of several pockets of the same rich ore. The Chilsons sold for $100,000, to a New York company, which built a mill and which never realized a cent from its investment.

Updated 2018. Our 2018 trip found severe erosion in Nugget Wash. Several sections of the road were washed out and we had to drive up the creek bed. This new track is reflected in the gpx file. The 2-3 miles northeast of Silver Nugget is even more scratchy and brushy than it was. We suggest you start this trip on the Silver Nugget end so if you are discouraged by the brush, or if the erosion becomes more severe, you do not have far to backtrack.

We like to say there are 3 rules in Jeeping, all of which come into play in these photos from the eroded area.

Protect your Pumpkin
If there is any doubt about clearance Put a Wheel On It
A hole is only a problem if you fall in it.

2018 in the wash

2018 Hole in road was a problem

richmond_basin_2.0_-_3.0.gpx
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richmond_basin_2.0_-_3.0.pdf
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Richmond Basin 2.0 - 3.0

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