Description

Octave Mine, Rich Hill District, Yavapai County, Arizona.

As the easier, surface-level placer prospecting played out when Arizona was still a Territory, more attention and effort was turned to lode mining. It resulted in discoveries of rich gold and silver mines, and copper of course, in Yavapai County. The Octave Mine was one of the more successful digs.

The Octave Mine was a gold mine located in the Yarnell-Rich Hill District of Yavapai County, Arizona at an elevation of 3,399 feet. Its’ main commodity was gold, with secondary production of copper, silver, lead and tertiary amounts of zinc.

It was discovered initially in 1865. The mine was operated primarily from 1895 to 1980. During its' time it was considered to have a relatively small production size. The host rock of the mine was granite, typical for the geography of the area. The main method of mining undertaken at the Octave Gold Mine was by working underground via a single known shaft. The work was expanded to three shafts in the 1930's and 40's.

For a time, the Octave Mine was one of the largest gold producing properties in the Arizona Territory. It was also one of the first mines to be powered by electricity; the power plant was built near Wickenburg, Arizona by the Central Arizona Electric Company. Transmission lines ran eleven miles from Wickenburg to the Octave. An article in the August 27, 1908 edition of the Arizona Journal-Miner exclaimed "With the installation of the (power) plant, all machinery in the Octave mill and mines will be run by electricity."