Dragon Mine

Operated multiple times throughout the last 100 years, this gold & vanadium mine features many ruins.

During World War I, in 1917, the ore from the Julia was found to be high in vanadium. The Dragon Mining & Development was incorporated later that year and raised money to operate the Julia workings under its new name. The Dragon produced vanadium as a byproduct for the war effort but continued to churn out gold, as several veins were valued at $3 to $30 of ore per ton. At the time, gold was valued at $20.67 per ounce. A 50 ton mill was constructed on site as well as an assaying plant, and concentrates of ore were able to extract as much as 6 tons per day. A newspaper report from May of 1918 proclaimed that because of the Dragon,  “Arizona will soon be doing just that much more toward her bit in helping Uncle Sam win the war”.

The main shaft was sunk to the 110’ level but after the end of the war, vanadium demand and gold prices plummeted and the property was forced to close down. By 1928, the mine was taken over by the United Vanadium Corporation. The owners had a market with the  Krupp-Steel Company of Germany. The Dragon was further developed  with investor capital and the mill on site was revamped and enlarged. Work continued for a couple years as the main shaft was sunk to the 267’ level. However, the onset of the Great Depression forced prices down again. The first ore shipments were sent out in 1930. While the operation was able to survive and churn out some ore by the late 1930s, the Dragon was forced to be abandoned a second time.

The mine sat idle for decades, but once again drew interest in the late 1970s and early 80s. Exploratory drilling was done in the area to determine if anything of value remained underground. The results were not sufficient and at this point, more interest lay in the massive mine dumps produced from earlier workings. The waste rock was estimated at 20-25,000 tons of material with small percentages of gold and vanadium remaining. The old tailings assayed at about 0.08 ounces of gold, 0.13 ounces of vanadium, and trace amounts of silver per ton. While these numbers were low, the large number of tailings meant there was still an estimated 1500 tons of gold left in the old ore which could be re-processed for a profit. Cyanide leaching was much more efficient and fairly cheap, and with a water source located in the shaft itself, it would be worth a shot.

Under new ownership and another new name -- the LuAnn -- leaching ponds were built in October of 1981 a few hundred yards southeast of the Dragon. Old tailings were reprocessed with limited success. After changing ownership, activity at the mine appeared to die out in the following years. By January of 1989, the leaching project had been abandoned. A field visit by the AZ Department of Mines and Mineral Resources found a heap pile measuring 150’ by 90’ by 6’ and contained about 5,000 tons of material from the mine. The leaching solution had been applied via plastic sprinklers and the material was eventually pumped through a series of carbon columns. The operation appeared to be incomplete, and no cleanup efforts were made before the property was abandoned. Today, the leaching ponds have been cleaned up and are slowly being reclaimed by the desert. 

The once bustling Dragon mine now sits in ruins. The numerous cement foundations likely date back to its initial workings in 1918, its revampment in the late 1920s, or maybe a combination of both. The large cement troughs and four post cement tank are some of the unique things left behind and only leaves partial clues as to their purpose. According to the mine file, an arrastre (old milling equipment) was found buried on the Dragon Property. The owner of the mine was in contact with the Department of Mineral Resources to donate it to their mining museum. It is unclear if it was ever recovered.

A small trash dump sits closer to the wash while the larger waste rock dump appears relatively unchanged. Down in the wash, longer troughs remain, possibly being used to divert or store water for the mining process. Two significant vertical shafts remain fenced off near the top. While one remains heavily timbered and partially collapsed, the larger one seems quite deep and was likely the main shaft. At some point, this was flooded, with a pump system operating to drain the mine and supply additional water to the milling operation. Countless other ruins remain strewn about the property. The Dragon Mine can be reached by following San Domingo wash north from the highway. At a windmill and corral, turn left out of the wash and continue onto dirt roads, heading northwest towards San Domingo Peak and eventually on to the Dragon Mine.