By Tom Ashworth — IMPERIAL COUNTY, CALIFORNIA County

Source: Tom Ashworth's Prospectors Cache (tomashworth.com / Tom Ashworth). Author: Tom Ashworth. Original page: imperial_ca.shtml. Area: by Tom Ashworth. Map coordinates are an approximate county/area centroid — not a precise claim site. LOCATION COUNTY: Imperial County STATE: California Gold occurs throughout Imperial County in its arid mountain ranges. Here is where the classic pick, pan, shovel and burro prospector of the nineteenth century crisscrossed the desert between water holes. A minimum estimate of 235,000 ounces of lode and placer gold have come from this county. Northwest of Yuma, Arizona, in the southeast part of the county you will find Ogilby site of the Cargo Muchacho district, it had many old mines worked since Mexican times with a total production about 193,000 ounces. Gold can be found in all regional arroyo bottoms, benches, terraces. This is dry wash placers with abundant gold. There are many abandoned area lode mines that produced gold. Most of the gold is fine, grain, wire, nuggets, often with copper. On the Colorado River due north of Yuma, Arizona you will find Picacho Camp in the extreme southeast corner of the county. The Chocolate Mountains area placer and lode claims produce considerable gold. In the southwest you will find the Picacho Mountains that had many gold bearing veins in gneisses and schist's overlain by lava's, tufts, and conglomerates. The Paymaster district, minor lode gold production to the South by 5 miles the Picacho Mine, Bluejacket, and others produced some lode gold. A ghost town named Tumco was also a good producer from several area mines.