Location For those that do not know where Castle Dome City, it is located about 20 miles north of Yuma, AZ, about 10 miles east of route 95. It was the location of about 300 mines that produced mostly silver and lead and a bunch of small settlements that moved as the ore petered out. The mines were established in the 1860’s and were active through World War II, at that time they supplied over 9,000,000 pounds of lead to the war effort.
Town History A town was established by Allen and Stephanie Armstrong starting in 1993 when they relocated many of the buildings from the surrounding area and basically built a town. They explored the undergrounds and acquired the artifacts that are now displayed in the museum and throughout the town.
The activities planned for this visit was to get the stamp mill operational, check out the machine shop and do a tour of the Hull mine.
3-STAMP MILL MAINTENANCE
Main drive belt & operational checks
3-Stamp Mill History I do not have much history of the stamp mill’s origination. The restoration the 3-stamp mill started in July of 2013 and completed the static restoration around December 2014. We had several problems getting a driver for the mill since there was not enough power for an electric motor. Castle Dome is not on the electric grid. Their power comes from solar and wind. We had some unfortunate problems with getting a driver for the mill until the February 2021 when one of the work campers volunteered to take on the task of powering the mill. Glenn obtained the necessary engine and shafting arrangement and got the stamp mill running. This trip was to finish the actions to make the stamp mill operable and run the stamps to declare it operational. We re-stitched the main drive belt, inspected the mill and test ran the mill. During the test run a weld on the bull wheel camshaft keeper failed and the bull wheel almost came of the mill. Fortunately, we had a spotter observing the run catch it prior to falling off. Castle Dome City now has an operable 3-stamp mill! See the attached PowerPoint.
MACHINE SHOP TOUR
Contents from Pahrump, NM
Machine shop It has been about 3 years since we visited Castle Dome and Allen has obtained pretty much the contents of the mining town Pahrump, NV and transported it to Castle Dome. The machine shop was one of attractions that we had not seen yet and it was impressive. I have attached a PowerPoint of the contents of the shop.
HULL MINE TOUR
Trammer ride, Walking Tour & florescent Display
Hull Mine Tour This was another attraction that we had not yet seen. All I can say was that it was impressive and you will have to see it for yourself. The entire mine was safety inspected and meets all of the requirements of a safe mine. All new timbers were used, rock bolts and screening used where potential loose rock could occur. The fluorescent room was to largest concentration of fluorescent minerals that I have seen with black light insitu in one mine. I think it is a good rival to the fluorescent minerals at Sterling Hill, NJ. I have seen their display and it was impressive. The colors were outstanding. The tour was very well laid out. Again, you have to see it to believe it. The PowerPoint does not do it justice, but will give you an idea of the magnitude of colors.
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