A BIG MYSTERY
• How and when information about the Prince of Arizona Mine was first given to Dan Jarvis cannot be remembered.
• Initial information about the old mine was first obtained by accessing the Maricopa County Assessors website. This is where the name of the owner of the mine was found.
• After a few telephone calls, the owner of the mine (Dora Thayer) was contacted. This is when strange things began to happen. She did not know that she was the owner of the mine. All evidence proved that she was, indeed, the owner.
• She (Dora Thayer) has given our club permission to go to the mine to see what is there.
FIELD TRIP LOCATION
• The Prince of Arizona Mine is located in Maricopa County, near Peoria. It is about 8 miles west of Sun City West.
• The mine was originally located in 1901 by a man named D. B. Morgan, and it was operational between 1920-1940.
• It is located at about 147th Avenue, north of Lone Mountain Pkwy., and west of Vistancia Blvd.
WE NEED A GPS EXPERT
• We know exactly where the Prince of Arizona Mine is located, and we have the exact GPS coordinates.
• We need those with GPS skills and desert road tracking abilities to help us get to the site.
MEETING LOCATION and TIME
• We will meet in Peoria at 9:00 a.m. at a McDonalds Restaurant located at 11627 W. Lone Mountain Pkwy.
• We will be in the parking lot between McDonalds and Frys Marketplace.
• See the travel directions to the meeting location below.
LIMITED PARTICIPATION
• We prefer a small group for this field, but anyone is welcome to go.
• Please use your best judgement whether or not to participate in this trip.
WHAT WILL WE COLLECT
• We have no clue what we are going to find, if anything worth collecting.
• In the past, when the mine was operational the rocks and minerals that were mined included descloizite, wulfenite, gold, silver, lead, vanadium, siderite, quartz, and andesite.
VEHICLE INFORMATION
• Because this is an exploratory field trip, we have never been to the site. We have no idea what the desert roads will be like as we get close to the mine.
• For this trip we would prefer those with higher profile vehicles with four-wheel drive, such as jeeps, quads, and side-by-sides.
• If the site turns out to be a good site, we will schedule a future field trip with better information about roads, vehicles, and parking.
RECOMMENDED THINGS TO TAKE
Club badge, basic rock collecting tools, buckets, trash grabber, water, lunch, shovel, hard hat, safety glasses, flashlight, ultraviolet light, and metal detector (if you have one).
FIELD TRIP FEES
There are no fees for this exploratory field trip.
TRAVEL DIRECTIONS TO THE MEETING LOCATION
• Travel directions will begin in east Mesa at the intersection of Highway 60 (Superstition Freeway) and the 202 Freeway.
• Turn north onto the 202 Freeway, and travel all the way to north-west Mesa to the intersection of the 202 Freeway and the 101 Freeway.
• Turn right (north) onto the 101 Freeway, and travel all the way to north Phoenix to the intersection of the 101 Freeway and Highway 17.
• Turn right (north) onto Highway 17, and travel about 7 miles to the 303 Freeway.
• Turn left (west) onto the 303 Freeway, and travel about 8-9 miles to the Lone Mountain Pkwy. exit.
• Turn right onto Lone Mountain Pkwy., and travel north-west approximately ¾ mile to McDonalds/Frys.
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