Rockhounding in Maricopa County, AZ: 601 USGS Mineral Sites (2026)

Check access before you go. Most sites listed here are old mines, quarries or prospects, and many are on private land or active mining claims. Get the landowner's permission, check the rules of the agency that manages any public land, and never enter mine workings. Locations are approximate.

Sketch map

Past ProducerProducerProspectOccurrenceStatus unknown

148 paw pins; nearby sites are grouped into one pin. Hover or tap a pin for the site name. 8 site(s) with USGS coordinates outside the outline are not pinned. County outline: US Census Bureau cartographic boundary file (2023). Locations approximate.

Woof’s favorite find

Lost Spaniard Mine

We picked it because its USGS record mentions 4 gem or collectible minerals (Quartz, Gold, Fluorite, Silver) and 7 of our card minerals overall. That ties with 1 other site(s), so we broke the tie by mine status (past producers first), then USGS record quality, then name. USGS lists it as producer for Lead, Silver, Gold, Copper, Zinc. Minerals mentioned: Quartz, Gold, Pyrite, Galena, Fluorite, Copper, Silver. Approx. location 33.688, -112.927. USGS record.

Ask first: a USGS record doesn’t mean you can visit. Find out who owns the land and get permission before collecting.

Field cards: what kind of sites?

208

Past Producer

Produced ore or material at some point in the past.

185

Occurrence

The mineral was noted here, without development.

108

Prospect

Explored or test-dug, with no recorded production.

Unknown

Status not recorded.

Producer

Was producing when the record was made.

Plant

A processing plant site.

Status terms come from USGS MRDS records.

Mineral cards

Gold
Mohs 2.5–3. Soft, heavy and bright yellow; it doesn’t tarnish. Mindat
247 sites
Copper
Mohs 2.5–3. Native copper is soft and turns green as it weathers. Mindat
180 sites
Silver
Mohs 2.5–3. Native silver tarnishes black. Mindat
162 sites
Quartz
Mohs 7. Six-sided points; smoky quartz is NH’s state gem. Mindat
71 sites
Fluorite
Mohs 4. Cubes in purple, green or yellow; many glow under UV. Mindat
62 sites
Mica
Mohs 2–3. Peels into thin, flexible, shiny sheets. Mindat
45 sites
Pyrite
Mohs 6–6.5. Brassy “fool’s gold,” often cubic. Mindat
40 sites
Feldspar
Mohs 6–6.5. Blocky crystals with flat cleavage faces. Mindat
29 sites

Counts are sites whose USGS record mentions the mineral or commodity. Hardness from Mindat.

Minerals recorded here

Gold 34Pyrolusite 22Cinnabar 15Chalcopyrite 12Psilomelane 12Manganite 12Galena 11Malachite 10Silver 10Hematite 9Quartz 8Muscovite 8

Commodities

Gold 233Copper 160Silver 149Lead 70Manganese 60Iron 34Mica 32Fluorine-Fluorite 32Mercury 27Feldspar 24

Sites (first 40)

Site	Commodity	Minerals recorded	Status	Approx. location
Lucky Mica, Fortner, and Boyd Lithium	Feldspar, Mica, Lithium	Albite, Beryl, Muscovite	Occurrence	33.856, -112.799
Frost	Feldspar, Mica	Albite, Mica	Occurrence	33.152, -112.211
North Morning Star Mine	Lithium, Feldspar	Amblygonite, Lepidolite, Spodumene	Producer	33.954, -112.573
Four Peaks Mine	Gemstone, Semiprecious Gemstone, Quartz	Amethyst, Hematite, Specularite	Producer	33.673, -111.332
Rowley Mine	Copper, Lead	Anglesite, Chalcocite, Covellite, Galena, Hematite, Malachite, Wulfenite	Past Producer	33.049, -113.025
Newsboy Mine	Gold	Anglesite, Gold, Vanadinite, Wulfenite	Past Producer	33.848, -112.670
Silver Cross Mine	Gold	Argentite, Chrysocolla, Gold, Hematite, Pyrolusite, Silver	Past Producer	33.921, -111.955
Rogers Well Barite Deposit	Barium-Barite	Barite	Producer	33.773, -113.230
Butte Mine	Barium-Barite, Fluorine-Fluorite	Barite	Occurrence	33.256, -112.946
Barium Deposit	Barium-Barite	Barite	Past Producer	33.588, -112.945
B & H Claim No. 6	Barium-Barite	Barite	Occurrence	33.241, -112.910
Lemons Fluorspar	Fluorine-Fluorite	Barite, Fluorite	Occurrence	33.712, -113.299
White Rock Deposit	Fluorine-Fluorite, Barium-Barite	Barite, Fluorite	Occurrence	33.731, -113.280
Princess Ann	Barium-Barite, Fluorine-Fluorite	Barite, Fluorite	Past Producer	33.732, -113.285
Granite Reef Mine	Barium-Barite	Barite, Silver	Past Producer	33.542, -111.645
Gillespie Dam Area	Volcanic Materials	Basalt	Occurrence	33.225, -112.792
Morning Star Prospect	Feldspar	Beryl, Muscovite	Past Producer	33.953, -112.574
Lost Spaniard Mine	Lead, Silver, Gold, Copper, Zinc	Bornite, Cerussite, Chalcopyrite, Galena, Laumontite, Malachite, Shattuckite	Producer	33.688, -112.927
Buckeye Mine	Copper	Bornite, Chalcocite, Chalcopyrite, Chrysocolla, Cuprite, Malachite	Occurrence	33.227, -112.873
Thunderbird Mine	—	Bornite, Chalcocite, Chrysocolla, Cuprite, Gold, Malachite	Occurrence	33.823, -112.012
Red Mountain Mine	Copper	Bornite, Chalcopyrite	Past Producer	33.655, -111.787
Rock Ledge Mine	Silver, Copper, Gold	Bornite, Chalcopyrite, Malachite	Occurrence	33.990, -111.932
Aguila	Bromine, Boron-Borates	Brine	Occurrence	33.900, -114.134
Sam Group	Calcium	Calcite	Occurrence	33.893, -112.489
Black Mountain Claims	Uranium	Carnotite	Occurrence	33.857, -113.055
Milton Ray Claims	—	Carnotite	Occurrence	33.847, -113.090
Black Butte Uranium Corp	Uranium	Carnotite, Gypsum	Occurrence	33.855, -113.142
Black Butte	Strontium	Celestite	Occurrence	33.854, -113.014
Lucky Strike Claim	Uranium	Chalcocite, Chalcopyrite, Chrysocolla, Galena, Willemite, Wulfenite	Occurrence	33.943, -112.518
Dixie Copper Mine	Copper	Chalcopyrite	Past Producer	33.667, -111.767
Vulture Mine	Gold	Chalcopyrite, Electrum, Gold, Silver, Sphalerite, Spodumene, Vanadinite, Wulfenite	Past Producer	33.821, -112.836
Gold Cliff Group	Tungsten, Gold, Silver	Chalcopyrite, Ferberite, Fluorite, Gold, Molybdenite	Past Producer	33.883, -111.914
Valley View	Manganese	Chalcopyrite, Galena, Sphalerite, Wulfenite	Producer	33.765, -113.112
Little San Domingo Mine	Tungsten	Chalcopyrite, Gold, Hematite, Limonite, Malachite, Powellite, Pyrite, Scheelite	Occurrence	33.943, -112.563
Delta Mine	Gold	Chalcopyrite, Gold, Silver	Past Producer	33.329, -112.098
Lucky Lode Prospect	Iron, Titanium, Metal	Chalcopyrite, Hematite, Ilmenite, Sphene	Occurrence	33.574, -112.591
Blue Knob Nos 30, 31, 32 Prospects	Copper, Iron, Platinum, Gold, Silver	Chrysocolla, Malachite	Occurrence	33.614, -112.849
Golden Duck 1-8 Claims	Uranium, Copper	Chrysocolla, Torbernite	Occurrence	33.934, -112.499
Pine Mountain Group	Mercury	Cinnabar	Past Producer	33.979, -111.449
Mercury Group	Mercury	Cinnabar	Past Producer	33.567, -112.040

Fossil collections

The Paleobiology Database lists 2 fossil collection records in Maricopa County. These are research records, not public dig sites.

Nearby counties

Yavapai County · La Paz County · Gila County · Yuma County · Pinal County

Arizona mineral guides

Back to all Arizona counties.

Is It Legal to Collect Rocks on Public Land? BLM, Forest Service and National Park Rules

How we built this page: we counted named sites in the USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) for this area, left out sand, gravel, crushed stone, clay pits and unnamed sites, grouped them by Census county, and linked every site to its USGS record. We did not visit these sites, and MRDS does not tell you who owns the land or whether collecting is allowed.

Source: USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS). USGS ceased systematic updates to MRDS around 2011, so status and details may be out of date. Each site links to its USGS record.

Updated October 2026

Rockhounding in Maricopa County, Arizona

Sketch map

Lost Spaniard Mine

Field cards: what kind of sites?

Mineral cards

Gold

Copper

Silver

Quartz

Fluorite

Mica

Pyrite

Feldspar