By Goodwin "Goodie" Berquist

In 1863 when gold was first discovered in the Prescott area, all a miner needed was a pick axe, a strong back, determination, and a little bit of luck. By October 1, 1876, of the 11,605 mines located and recorded in the Arizona Territory, 7,298 were in Yavapai County. Area mines yielded silver, copper, iron, and lead, as well as gold. Rich deposits of gold nuggets were discovered and mined in these early years.

Today's "microscopic mining" is an entirely different proposition. What the modern miner seeks are tiny specks of gold invisible to the naked eye, gold often buried hundreds of feet below ground. Sometimes four tons of rock must be dug up and pulverized to produce a single ounce of gold. The price of gold on today's market is about $400 an ounce. A single sixty pound gold bar goes for $350,000. These days gold mining in America is a multi-billion dollar business and the U.S. output has risen 600% since 1980. Most of this gold is used to manufacture jewelry. 

The prospect of marketable gold here in Yavapai County is sufficiently promising that REDCO, a Reno-based exploration firm, filed 102 mining claims on forestry lands since 1976. The company estimates that gold will be found in one out of twenty of these claims. Sounds like an easy way to strike it rich, doesn't it? But the up-front costs for microscopic drilling can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

In February of 1990, Bond Gold International filed a plan with the U.S. Forest Service. The company leased land on the northern edge of Granite Mountain from REDCO, a plot 600 feet wide by 1500 feet long (about 20 acres). Bond Gold further announced that it planned to construct three miles of road to gain access to 25 drill sites. The company planned to drill to a depth of about 800 feet at each site; estimated cost $400,000. Bond Gold chose a locale six miles northwest of downtown Prescott. 

In neighboring Nevada, some mining ventures have resulted in unsightly open pits. In addition, the cyanide used to separate tiny specks of gold from surrounding rock is toxic to wildlife and can easily contaminate ground water. Despite company denial, local environmentalists feared Bond Gold's projected mine would bring irreparable damage. To prevent this from happening, something had to be done immediately. 

Two protest leaders emerged from Yavapai College. Nina Mohit (now Nina Perlmutter) is a philosophy professor who established the first college course in Arizona on ethics and the environment. Donn Rawlings in the English Department was president of the local chapter of the Audubon Society. Together they set out to prevent the desecration of Granite Mountain Mohit became the chief spokesperson for Granite Mountain Action (GMA), a local group that ultimately attracted over 600 supporters. Events moved quickly in 1990. After Bond Gold filed its plan in February, the Forest Service invited the public to respond. In June, the Service held an open house for interested citizens. Shortly thereafter, Mohit and her supporters held their own public forum with 150 citizens attended. 

Ignoring public protests, a local forestry official gave a go-ahead to Bond Gold in August, a decision appealed by GMA a month later. A stay of action was granted to allow higher officials to review the earlier decision. 

On October 1st, Bond Gold withdrew from the project, returning its lease to REDCO. REDCO, in turn, announced it intended to proceed. Meanwhile, Granite Mountain Action made plans for a major conference at Yavapai College to marshal support. The conference theme was titled "This Land is Our Land: Arizona Faces the Mining of the West." Lest anyone be uncertain about the nature of the program, the subtitle was "A Forum on Public Lands Abuse." Experts were brought in from out of state to inform listeners and stimulate discussion, most notably Phil Hocker, Director of the Mineral Policy Center at Washington, D.C. The workshop was well attended and received major coverage from the press. 

In a surprise move, REDCO offered to sell its mineral rights to GMA on November 9th, the day before the college conference took place. The asking price was $375,000. GMA leaders believed REDCO was too small a firm to undertake a project of this size on its own. They wished to discourage another mining company from picking up the claim. One way of achieving this goal was local political pressure. On December 18th, the City of Prescott Council passed a resolution opposing mining on Granite Mountain and requesting a Congressional moratorium until the controversial Mining Law of 1872 could be revised. 

And this is where the matter ended. By portraying a plan to mine for gold at the base of Granite Mountain as environmentally harmful, an ad hoc citizens group blocked the project. Two professors provided their students and the community of Prescott with an object lesson in democracy in action. 

(Goodwin Berquist is a volunteer at the Sharlot Hall Museum Archives) 

 

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(pb102f3i6)
Reuse only by permission.
In February 1990, Bond Gold International filed a plan with the U.S. Forest Service to drill for gold at 25 sites on the northern edge of Granite Mountain.