The American Flag mine was discovered in 1874 by W. M. Shoulters, who is said to have sold it, after working it a short time, to John Pemberthy, William Richard, John Corin, and Joe Prisk for $25,000. These men developed it principally by adit drifts. The water level is said to lie at about 700 feet below the surface. The mine is now owned by a company of which John Pemberthy and H. H. Watkins, of Kingman, are members.

The country rock is granite. The main vein is from 1 to 4 feet in width, and the ore shoot is said to be relatively large. The ore contains principally antimonial silver, some gold, and a little zinc. Much of it is rich. The production is reported to be about $400,000, sold from the mine, in ore that averaged more than $100 a ton ($100 in 1909 adjusted for inflation equals $2,517). For 21 tons of the ore from the lower part of the mine shipped to Swansea, Wales, a net return of $11,500 is said to have been received.

The American Flag mines, also know as the Flag mines are located in the Hualapai Mountains, about 16 miles southeast of Kingman, Arizona. The mines sit 6,800 feet above sea level. The road leading up to the claim is accessible by 2WD vehicle and is maintained, some steep sections but nothing of real concern.

Recently we explored 880? of workings on the main mine, with no end in site. The mine is full of water. This is easily passable with waders, but has done well to keep most everyone else out. We also noted a lot of bats in the mine. The mine is gated, but the gate had been compromised previous to our visit. The adit stretches back for 780+ feet with a drift that has been backfilled 100 feet in. Historic documents note 2,000+ feet of workings.

The second mine is located up above the main mine. This shaft has been backfilled and the road that leads to it is in a state of disrepair. We had to hike a short distance to reach the shaft. We did note visible gold in the tailings. The road would have to be re-worked and the shaft excavated in order to access this section of the mine.

The third mine on the site is also located above the main portal and has also been backfilled. It appears to have been an adit, and would require an excavator to reopen it. Again visible gold was found in the tailings from as well.

As an interesting note, we were able to see the massive vein of silver at about 700 ft. It is indeed 3+ feet wide, and there is a lot of it left. It snakes around the spine of the mine and then appears to run up into the aforementioned shaft. There are small amounts of visible gold in the quartz veins that run below the primary silver lode.

Mineralogy and Ores

The American Flag Mine is an underground gold-zinc-silver-antimony-molybdenum mine. Primary Mineralization is a 2 foot wide vein of sulfide (sulphuret)silver ore. Ore lies in a brecciated zone and vertical fractures. Gold occurs in small vein deposits on quartz intrusions, Alteration is potassic, sericitic, argyllic, and prophyllitic with a pyrite halo. Gold is “free-milling” and can be extracted without chemical processing.

The American Flag mine was discovered in 1874 by W. M. Shoulters, who is said to have sold it, after working it a short time, to John Pemberthy, William Richard, John Corin, and Joe Prisk for $25,000. These men developed it principally by adit drifts. The water level is said to lie at about 700 feet below the surface. The mine is now owned by a company of which John Pemberthy and H. H. Watkins, of Kingman, are members.

The country rock is granite. The main vein is from 1 to 4 feet in width, and the ore shoot is said to be relatively large. The ore contains principally antimonial silver, some gold, and a little zinc. Much of it is rich. The production is reported to be about $400,000, sold from the mine, in ore that averaged more than $100 a ton ($100 in 1909 adjusted for inflation equals $2,517). For 21 tons of the ore from the lower part of the mine shipped to Swansea, Wales, a net return of $11,500 is said to have been received. (Schrader 1909)
1882 report.

An 1882 report of the Production of the Precious Metals in the United States recorded the following, “Among the best developed mines of this locality is the American Flag, which has a 2-foot vein of silver ore, which gives an average assay of $100 to the ton. It has been opened by shafts and drifts to the extent of 2,000 feet or more, and has produced a large amount of the richest ore ever mined in the county, most of which was sent to San Francisco for reduction.” (Folger p. 255).

1877 report
An 1877 report states “The American Flag Mine, silver bearing, owned by Mr. Shoulters, has been fully opened, and is very rich. Fifty tons of ore worked in the Mineral Park Mill, gave a product of from $300 to over $1,000 per ton in refined silver bullion.” (Hodge p.74)