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Minerals in the Mountains:
The colorful outcrops on Mingus Mountain in front of you yielded copper ore, argillite, and malachite and azurite (for paints and coloring) used by prehistoric people for trade goods or ornaments.
Long after the Sinagua abandoned this pueblo, mining companies arrived to extract ore from some of the richest copper deposits in the world: Jerome, the town built for the miners, is visible on the upper mountain slopes.
The process of extracting copper included crushing the ore, mixing it with water to form a slurry, and then removing the metal. The slurry residue (tailings) was pumped into the lowlands, forming the orange expanse below you. The area is periodically flooded to control dust. |