Description

Crown King Mill and tailings pile.

The Crown King Mine was a gold and silver mine located in Yavapai county, Arizona at an elevation of 6,398 feet. It was named the "Crowned King Mine" originally, but the name of the mine and the town that grew up around it was shortened to "Crown King" in 1888.

Rich deposits of gold ore were found near its' surface in its early days. The mine and mill passed through a series of owners, beginning with the Crown King Mining Company from 1890-1895. The next owners worked the mine and mill until 1899, but a series of squabbles between differing factions of the company led to its closing; the Crown King Mine was closed in 1901 by court order. During the 1890-1901 period, the mine had an estimated production of $1,500,000 of which $200,000 was paid in dividends.

The Crown King was sold to new owners/investors beginning in the early 1900's. They benefitted from the extension of the Prescott & Eastern Railway into Mayer in 1899, and the completion, in 1904, of the Bradshaw Mountain Railway from Mayer to Crown King in 1904. Both additions helped substantially reduce the costs of transporting the ore concentrates and middlings from the mine and mill. As well, as extraction technology improved many tailing heaps were reworked and more valuable ores were extracted from them. Many tailings, previously considered "waste," rendered valuable minerals that were not able to be reduced and obtained to the maximum in earlier milling processes.