Our April Map of the Month is this 1907 map of the American Southwest titled, the ”Greatest Mineral Belt in the World”. The map depicts the breadth of gold, silver, and copper through the mineral belt as it spans over California, Nevada, and Arizona.
The American Mine Investment Co. promoted the Arizona Gold Mines Company, who was the operator of the Bimetal Mine in Kingman, Arizona. Bimetal mines were highly profitable at the turn of the 20th century, as they offered two or more metals which could be extracted rather than the typical single ore. Showcasing the profitable mining company, as well as the vast mineral resources of the west, the American Mine Investment Co. created a map to persuade individuals to purchase capital stock in their mining company.
At the time of publication, 1907, mining booms in this corridor of the country were still in full swing. In the years following California’s notable gold rushes of the mid-to-late 19th century, companies and settlements began to populate into the Arizona and Nevada territories. Located between mountains and valleys, differentiated by hachures, miners found luck in the dry, rocky terrain. During the “Boomtown” years, prospecting in the territories pertained mostly to silver and copper, as gold was yet to be appreciable; the longevity of settlements were determined by the harshness of the environment and the mineral opportunities, thus leaving behind ghost towns and successive communities. By the early 1900’s, copper and silver fell short in their economic standing relative to gold, resulting in a second gold rush in the west, revitalizing mining towns in Arizona like Prescott, Congress, Kingman, and Florence. The Bimetal Mine in Kingman, as advertised by the American Mines Investment Co., was worth $70,000 when appraised in 1909, equating to $2,184,368.67 in today’s currency.
Though the major mining events from the 1880’s to the 1950s drove the economies of Arizona, California, and Nevada, copper’s economic presence has been notable for centuries. Indigenous people of the American southwest mined and traded minerals like copper and silver, establishing trade routes between tribes. Major discoveries from the natives included large silver and gold deposits, like the Lost Escalante Gold Mine near Tucson, Arizona. By the 20th century, it was common for tribes to work with, or establish their own, mining ventures to generate revenue for the people of the reservation.
While the extent of the mineral belt runs through California and Nevada, the richest concentration and widest extent of the belt rests in Arizona. The southwestern United States was subjected to intense volcanism 50-80 million years ago, which created hot magma beneath the Earth’s surface. When the magma began to cool, it released water from the melt and created copper. Though all three states recorded in the American Mines Investment Company’s map experienced volcanism, Arizona’s dry climate and mountainous terrain has preserved and exposed rich deposits, making it a large part of the greatest mineral belt in the world!
We hope you enjoyed this month's map! As with all of our Map of the Month features, if you’d like to learn more about this map, get a scan of this map, or schedule a visit to explore our maps in person, please submit a Map and Geo Service Request. We’ll be sure to get back to you within two business days, but typically sooner.
-Paityn Schlosser, Map and GIS Assistant