The Castle Dome Mountains (Tolkepaya

Yavapai The Yavapai ( ) are a Native American tribe in Arizona. Their Yavapai language belongs to the Upland Yuman branch of the proposed Hokan language family. Today Yavapai people are enrolled in the following federally recognized tribes: * Fort ...

: Wi:hopuʼ) are a mountain range in

Yuma County, Arizona Yuma County is a County (United States), county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona, one of 15 List of counties in Arizona, counties in the state. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 203,881. ...

, within the

Kofa National Wildlife Refuge The Kofa National Wildlife Refuge is located in Arizona in the southwestern United States, northeast of Yuma and southeast of Quartzsite. The refuge, established in 1939 to protect desert bighorn sheep, encompasses over of the Yuma Desert ...

. Castle Dome Peak, the high point of the range, is a prominent

butte In geomorphology, a butte ( ) is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and table (landform), tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from the French l ...

and distinctive landmark. The peak is high, and is located at 33°05′04″N 114°08′36″W. Castle Dome was named by American soldiers at old

Fort Yuma Fort Yuma was a fort in California located in Imperial County, across the Colorado River from Yuma, Arizona. It was established in 1848. It served as a stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail route from 1858 until 1861. The fort was retired from ...

in the 1880s. Early Spanish explorers called the same peak ''Cabeza de Gigante'', "Giant's Head."

History

Mining

The Castle Dome mining district is one of Yuma County's oldest and most productive mining locations. Its proximity to the

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

and relatively low rates of freight at the time permitted the mining of even low grades of ore which wouldn't have been profitable at other locations. In addition to silver and lead, the area is rich in numerous other minerals, including

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

, and many others. Total production from the Castle Dome mines included of lead, of silver, of zinc, of copper, of gold, and of

placer gold Placer mining () is the mining of stream bed deposits for minerals. This may be done by open-pit mining or by various surface excavating equipment or tunneling equipment. Placer mining is frequently used for precious metal deposits (particularly ...

production, mostly prior to 1900.

Settlements

The area was home to the town and mining camp of Castle Dome based around the Castle Dome Mine which first produced

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

and later

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

. The post office opened in 1875 and closed in 1876. Castle Dome

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

is now a museum site, the Castle Dome Mines Museum, with twenty or so restored period buildings. Castle Dome Landing was the port and supply point nearby on the Colorado River. The townsite is now submerged beneath the Imperial Dam reservoir.Castle Dome Landing
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Mineral collecting

The Castle Dome mining district is a popular district for mineral collectors. The region is known for striking combinations of

cerussite Cerussite (also known as lead carbonate or white lead ore) is a mineral consisting of lead carbonate with the chemical formula PbCO3, and is an important ore of lead. The name is from the Latin ''cerussa'', white lead. ''Cerussa nativa'' was ...

fluorite Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is the mineral form of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It belongs to the halide minerals. It crystallizes in isometric cubic habit, although octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon. The Mohs scal ...

vanadinite Vanadinite is a mineral belonging to the apatite group of Phosphate minerals, phosphates, with the chemical formula lead, Pb5(vanadium, Voxygen, O4)3chlorine, Cl. It is one of the main industrial ores of the metal vanadium and a minor source of ...

wulfenite Wulfenite is a lead molybdate mineral with the formula Pb Mo O4. It often occurs as thin tabular crystals with a bright orange-red to yellow-orange color, sometimes brown, although the color can be highly variable. In its yellow form it is some ...

barite Baryte, barite or barytes ( or ) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate (Ba S O4). Baryte is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of the element barium. The ''baryte group'' consists of baryte, celestine (strontium sulfate), ...

, and

mimetite Mimetite is a lead arsenate chloride mineral () which forms as a secondary mineral in lead deposits, usually by the Redox, oxidation of galena and arsenopyrite. The name derives from the Greek ''mimetes'', meaning "imitator" and refers to mimeti ...

, as well as galenite and

anglesite Anglesite is a lead sulfate mineral with the chemical formula PbSO4. It occurs as an oxidation product of primary lead sulfide ore, galena. Anglesite occurs as prismatic orthorhombic crystals and earthy masses, and is isomorphous with barite and ...

. The Hull Mine and Puzzler Mine in particular have produced atypical green vanadinite and mimetite as well as yellow-hued wulfenite.

References

External links

Castle Dome ghost town museum photo gallery

Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. History Early years The newspap ...

article on Castle Dome ghost town
Famous mineral localities: The Castle Dome District, Yuma County, Arizona
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{{Authority control Yuma Desert Mountain ranges of the Sonoran Desert Mountain ranges of the Lower Colorado River Valley Mountain ranges of Yuma County, Arizona Mountain ranges of Arizona