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"A Miner's Dream" is what one veteran geologist exclaimed, when looking at a wall of veins at the Twin Tunnels, high up on the property, above the Beehive Mine.  Two exploratory tunnels were punched into the vein, which drops down at an angle of about 30 degrees.  Its believed they were trying to intersect the main tunnel from the Beehive, but didn't.   More photos of this amazing vein structure are below.  The property goes up above these veins to allow opening up the area, and under the Apex rule, the vein can be followed whereever it goes, even underneath adjacent property and other claims, per standard mining law and convention.  Below, a shot of the area from higher up, a panorama of the double veins. Note the small feeder veins on the hill as well.

The road to the home traverses a valley along the legendary Rich Hill, and the entire area is one of Arizona's most active mining areas, in the Weaver District.  By the 1880's, about 50,000 ounces of gold were taken out in placer claims, and then the hard rock lode claims began to get worked.   Experts  say the Octave produced more gold than all the placer claims in the area combined!!!  Historical reports say between 1895-1925, the Octave produced 53,000 oz/Gold and 75,000 oz/Silver, and the mine was once operated by Asarco.  It's reported that every inch of Rich Hill has been claimed, and the Octave and Beehive property being offered are all patented historic claims that follow the Octave vein and it's offshoots up the mountains. This location here is near the town of Weaver, on the road to the home and property.  A live-in caretaker protects the site and it's minerals.
See more on the history and geology of the region by scrolling down.
Below, The Octave tunnels were featured numerous times in the SyFy show "Ghost Mines"

In addition to SyFy channel's hit show "Ghost Mines" featuring trips deep into the Octave Mine  on two episodes, Fox News did a national taping on the Octave property that will aired on  Fox's "The Property Man with Bob Massi"  Photos above as Bob Massi introduces the Octave segment from a remote site with a Fox News crew.   Highlights here:
Photos below:  The Octave, just a small part of the property being offered, was one of Arizona's most historic properties, with documented gold production of over 200,000 ounces.  Over $300 million of precious metals already mined, and on only 30% of the property! The buildings are all gone now, but the minerals of the rich vein remain, snaking underneath the 266 acres of patented land. Below is an aerial of Rich Hill in the Weaver Mining District, one of the most active districts in Arizona. The Octave property starts at the lower right of the photo.
There is plenty of gold to be mined from the rich Octave vein, but what about the 25 miles and more of empty tunnels on the property?  Here's a good thought-starter, gathered from smart miners around the world.  20 other uses for mine tunnel, other than mining!  Check it out:  
Historical photos courtesy Sharlot Hall Museum.

Below, Rich Hill from the air. The Octave is on the lower right.

 

 

(above left) Home compound. The caretakers trailer is on the right. There's a small working pit with equipment on the left.  (photo right) At the bottom of the hill, the workings of the original Octave mine. The road to the house is on the left side. Septic system has been certified and pumped for immediate sale
(below) Once you get up to the house, here's the big picture of the top half of the property. This is the Beehive section, and believed to be more highly-mineralized that the Octave, although with less production data available.

Photo, upper left, Site of the Beehive Mine mill, about half-way up the mountain   On the right, just like the Old West, colorful watchman Danny, who's been featured on TV, patrols the property.  Like someone said, "If the Octave didn't have such good gold, the size of his gun would be much smaller!"

(Photos above and below, left)   Examining the massive headwall of the Octave Mine, where the large gold vein dipped below it at 30 degrees. The labyrinth of tunnels in the Octave exceeded 25 miles. These shots were taken at the 500 feet level.  The ample ground water in the area has filled the tunnels below approx. 800 feet.
(below, right) Huge excavation of the Nugget Pit, which was scrapped down to the prime ore-bearing rock. Note near the top where the pit was started. The bottom of the pit broke through some of the old tunnels. Photo bottom left, sampling ore in Twin Tunnels

Photo below, at the Twin Tunnels, large quartz vein seems to explode in size.  This area has impressive exposure of the underlying vein structure. There are tree branches in front of the vein, partially obstucting the view.

Photos of the included residence below:            

 

Spacious 2 bedroom home with all the comforts, halfway up the mountain!  Here's the Great Room with dining and TV area.  Below, a kitchen with refrigerator, Viking Range and a stackable washer/dryer in an adjacent room

Master Bedroom of the home, and there's also an adjacent children's room with bunk beds.  Plenty of patio space surrounds the home with three view patios and even a screened in porch. Beyond the porch, note the caretaker's trailer, which is inside a remotely-activated gate. The property is partially fenced about 120 acres) with barb wire and there is an extensive stone wall surrounding the home and yard.

 

Screened-in porch area of the home and (above right) The master bath of the residence, with soaking tub and not visible on the right, a shower and flush toilet. The property is on a septic system
More on the Mines below:

Assay office of the extensive Beehive Mine workings                        Head frame over the Verno Tunnel

One of the many entrances to the Octave workings       Rock structure to the right of pictured tunnel entrance The Octave Mine has one of the most colorful histories of any operation in the Weaver District and has been referred to as "The Golden Queen of Rich Hill"  There have been books written just on this mine and it's operation.  See "Octave Gold Mine" by Dr. Erik Melchiorre published by Rock Doc Publications,  below

            

Impressive veining of the Twin Tunnels as the patented claims follow the veins up the mountain (photos below) show more of the twin tunnels structure

 

 

Important area above the Nugget Tunnel (above left, and an aerial on the right)  A huge excavation has been carried out by the owners, who removed over 100 feet of overburden to scrape down to the headwall and veins and Beehive tunnel, exposing the rich material.   (below, left)  "Nessie".,  at 238 grams, is the largest surviving specimen from the Beehive Mine, below see some of the other prized samples coveted by collectors so much found in the Nugget Pit and acid etched for cleaning.

Photos above-the flat area near the top of the property, approx. 30,100 sq. ft, measuring an estimated 208 X 145 feet.  The views are stunning and the flat area would be perfect for a variety of uses, from processing, to a home with helipad.  You're looking at views to the North, into the BLM and Forest Service wilderness, with Oak and Pine-covered mountains.  See more from the top by scrolling down below!

Geologic Analysis of Octave, Beehive Mines  

From the book “Rich Hill,  the history of Arizona’s Most Amazing Gold District”

By Dr. Erik Melchiorre, Dr. Dante Lauretta, Dr. M. Katherine Crombie, Chris Gholson

Published by Golden Retriever Publications

To order “Rich Hill” call toll free, 1-866-369-2468 or 1-303-449-5995  $24.95 + $3.95 s/h 

Octave Mine-One of Arizona’s best known mining properties, thought to be originally worked in the late 1860s.  The workings of the Octave mine consist of the main mine and nearby, the Joker mine, both which were mining the same ore body. The original Octave consisted of a decline that went 2000 feet deep, three shafts and several thousand feet of tunnels. The Joker workings  had a shaft that went down 1250 feet with approximately 3000 feet of tunnels.  The best ore production was from about 300 feet down.  Regarding the geology of the mine, it was a quartz-gold vein hosted within older granite and diorite.  The Octave vein dips at an angle of about 20-30 degrees to the Northwest and the strike aligned with 70 degrees East of North.  Old faults have also displaced the eastern side of the vein to about 400 feet deep, below the sediments of Weaver Creek. Toward the West, the vein was cut by old faults, similar to the Joker, but only offset the vein by around fifty feet.  The richest ore in the vein occurred where it was alongside and bounded by one of the Apache diabase dikes.

            The Octave Vein ranges from 5 inches to 5 feet thick and averages about 3 feet thick.  The vein consists of massive gray to white quartz, with rare disseminations (4%-5%) of pyrite and galena.  Older reports record small amounts of chalcopyrite.  Little gold occurs in native form with most being microscopic inclusions on or within sulfide minerals.  Of notable concentration was the pure galena, which assayed 100 oz. of gold and silver per ton and the pyrite which average 8 to 25 ounces per ton.

      Having produced some 80,000 ounces of gold, the Octave Mine remains by a very large margin, the single largest producer of lode gold in the Weaver District. Interestingly, the lode gold from the Octave is more than the estimates of placer gold production for all mining operations in the district. Between 1895 and 1925, over 75,000 ounces of silver were removed from the Octave

            ASARCO had last operated the mine on a large basis in the early 1940s.

The seller reports that experts believe one area at the Octave that bears further investigation is where the exposed veins run along the road from the White cross to the Joker shaft entrance. When Dr. Erik Melchiorre (author of "The Octave Mine") and the owner were walking the property a few years ago, the doctor said there maybe high gold values in one of the two main veins showing along there which would be easy pickings for a shallow surface operation. Also a nice specimen of crystalline gold in a narrow quartz stringer was found with a detector just uphill from the white cross a about 5 years ago so there is some specimen potential there as well.

You never know what might turn up as another vein of the Octave is found.  While one owner sold the property around 1905, convinced that he had found most of the ore, in 1915,  a subsequent owner hired a crack mining engineer named J. Nelson Nevius who felt the mine had been mismanaged and the vein was not properly traced.  He had his workers start uncovering a vein and do some work around what was called the Joker Shaft.  They believed the main Octave vein had been offset by faulting in this area, and the awesome quality of what they found set a high-water mark for the property.  Nicknamed "The New York Stope," the tunnels there produced 25,000 ounces of gold.  The exceptionally-rich ore averaged one ounce of gold and one ounce of silver per ton, with the highest sample recording a jaw-dropping 6.1 ounces of gold per ton, while galena-bearing rock in the New York stope got as high as 12.84 ounces of gold/ton and almost as much silver.

Between the Octave and the Joker operations, there were more than 25 miles of tunnels, at 100-foot-intervals.

Early miners, in an attempt to get a piece this incredible Octave vein, filed claims all the way up the mountain, and included off-shoots of the vein.  This 266 acre offering includes that land.

Beehive Mine- Believed my many geologists as an extension of the Octave Vein, the Beehive vein has virtually identical mineralogy, orientation and structure. Notable minerals reported and confirmed include bornite, tetrahedrite and gold-silver tellurides.  The Beehive Mine is located at the center of the Golden Age claim where the vein intersects a north-west trending shear, or fault zone. The mine was first operated from the late 1890s to 1915 by the original owner. It was patented by a second owner, Andrew Peterson in 1900.

The Ziegler Tunnel, named for the first owner, is an inclined shaft that follows the vein down dip for 1100 feet. Various levels from the shaft had stopes on the high-grade ore.  There are no detailed working, which are now largely under water and inaccessible. Ore pockets averaged .5 to 5 oz. of gold per ton, and one exceptionally rich ore chute yielded over 250 ounces of gold.  In early 1920, Phelps Dodge Mining explored the property and reported “pocketey quartz.”  Unfortunately, the tonnage of ore required for a major mining operation was not blocked out and the asking price was too high.

In 1982, International Gold and Minerals Ltd. Drilled several exploratory holds to examine the vein at depth. Results must have been moderately promising, as in 1984, another larger company from Canada, began a second drilling program.  Crusier Minerals drilled several holes, and reported 4-8-foot-wide intercepts of the vein with depth, averaging .19 to .39 oz. gold per ton. 

According to the owner,  he has copy of a study done at the Beehive in 1982 that included a very modest rotary drill program (several thousand feet). The seller indicates it was fairly informative and was able to prove the continuity of the beehive vein structure to a depth of 650' on the dip and 2000' on strike. There were an insufficient number of intercepts with the vein (significant depth to intercept and consequently high drilling cost) to draw any real conclusions as to homogenous values throughout the zone of study which could be used to calculate reserves with any accuracy in my opinion. It is believed that this will be the same problem faced by any small drilling program.

These two mines represent but a small portion of the entire 266 acres of patented claims. being offered for sale.

Further detailed geologic analysis from Dr. Melchiorre's "The Octave Mine" includes "Granite to dioritic igneous rock hosts the Octave vein chiefly composed of quartz and strikes (runs) 70 degrees East of North and dips at an angle of 20 to 30 degrees to the Northwest.  The vein has experienced some degree of reverse faulting, as indicated  by a fault gouge and cleavage in the vein. Old faults have displaced the Eastern side of the vein to a depth of over 400 feet below the sediments of Weaver Gulch.  To the West, the vein has also been cut by old faults, but these faults, i.e.: The Joker Fault, only offset the vein by 50 feet or so.  The vein is traceable on the surface for at least 2500 feet of strike. A few small barren quartz veins cut the Octave vein and are offset by the fault with a displacement of less than 100 feet.  The richest ore in the vein occurs where it lies adjacent to and bounded by Apache diabase dikes. 

The Octave vein ranges from 5 inches to 5 feet thick and averages about 3 feet thick."

Other resources include:  "Octave Gold Mine-the Golden Queen of Rich Hill"  and "Gold Atlas of Rich Hill, Arizona",  both by Dr. Erik Melchiorre,  published by Rock Doc publications.

 

Jaw-dropping views from the top!  An enormous flat area as big as a football field, with 360 degree views of the wilderness and pine-covered mountains is amazing.  (above right) Rich Hill is visible.   This location could be perfect for a home with a possible helipad, or any one of a number of other structures.  Four Peaks, to the Northeast of the Phoenix area is even visible.  (below) A panorama of the view to the North and including a small portion of the level area, on the right. The property rises to 5,100 feet above sea level.

Aerial photos and parcel information. . . .     See this!
above photos, left, the road to the top, right, aerial of the top of the property looking toward Octave

(left) A view of the property from the South (Octave Mine) to the North (flat portion)  (photo above right) central area of the property where the home is located, note the steel trailer with mining equipment around the corner on the right.  Photo below  if looking to the North. Note on the bottom of the photo, the FM tower, and at the top, the flat area that marks the North part of the property.

Photos below are of the four official county photographs with approx. property lines and a text description of each parcel, patented claims on it, size and ownership.

 

 

Parcels included in the sale owned by either Ben Jaffe Revocable Trust or

Octave Development LLC: 

Parcels included and ownership: 

204-22-010 (Thunderbolt and Verno, total 38.56 AC, known as Bishop group) Owned by, Ben Jaffe revocable trust

Location:  The Thunderbolt and Verno Lode mining claims, located in the Weaver Mining District, being shown on Mineral Survey # 1424, as granted by patent recorded in book 54 of deeds, page 95, records of Yavapai County. 

204-23-026 (Golden age, Golden star, Golden cloud, golden standard, golden standard extension, Beehive, Highland, total 123.17 AC, known as beehive group) Owned by, Ben Jaffe revocable trust

Location:  The Golden Age, Golden Cloud, Golden Star, Gold Standard, East Extension, Beehive and Highland Lode Mining Claims, designated by the Surveyor General as lot no. 1422, in the Weaver Mining District, US Patent whereof is recorded in Book 63 of Deeds, pages 459-466. 

204-22-011 (Golden rod, Uncle Sam, New era, Antelope, Grey devell, total 85.07 AC, Known as part of the Octave group) Owned by Octave development llc. of which I am the manager.

Location: Parcel 1:  The Antelope, Grey Devell and the Dun Billy lode mining claims designated by the Surveyor General s Lot 1248, Weaver Mining District, Yavapai County, Arizona, United States Patent whereof is of record in book 43 of Deeds, pages 143-148, in the office of the Yavapai County recorder.

Excepting from the Dun Billy all surface placer deposits, but including therein all mineral bearing veins and lodes within the boundaries of said claim, extending vertically downward.

Parcel 2: The Golden Rod and Uncle Sam lode mining claims designated by the surveyor General as lot 1310, Weaver Mining District, Yavapai County, Arizona, United States Patent whereof is of record in Book 49 of Deeds, pages 547-552 in the office of Yavapai County Recorder.

Parcel 3: The New Era mining claims designated by the Surveyor General as lot 1423, Weaver Mining District, Yavapai County, Arizona, United States Patent whereof is of record in book 54 of Deeds, pages 100-103, in the office of Yavapai County Recorder.

 204-22-012 (Dun Billy, total 19.98 AC, Known as part of the Octave claims) Owned by Octave development llc.

Location: included in previous entry above for parcel 204-22-011

Regarding Mineral Studies and Assays information.  The current owners have not done any additional analysis of the mineral content of the property since so much historical information is a matter of record. They would welcome any buyer's representatives to come on the site and pick any area where they would like to do further hand-analysis  of the minerals.   No heavy equipment that would greatly disturb the property will be permitted.

No unauthorized visits to the property will be allowed and all prospective buyers must be accompanied by the listing agents.  There are multiple caretakers on the site 24/7 to guard against unauthorized entry.
Serious and qualified buyers only, please.  Please no calls about joint ventures and partnerships.  Seller wishes to sell the land outright.
Contact Preston Westmoreland for any further information or to schedule a trip to the property. It is about a one hour and thirty minute  trip by vehicle to the mine property and at least 5 hours should be allotted for an on-site visit.  Call Preston at 602-377-0060  Be sure to watch the video tour  in high definition on vimeo.com  See it featured by Bob Massi on Fox's "The Property Man"   
     Watch this,  could the price of gold be ready to skyrocket? Some economists believe so, because of the trillions of Fiat dollars (money with no backing) being paid for economic stimulus because of Covid 19:  See what they say about the Octave:    
Zillow's writers feature the Octave, also on the NBC/Today show webpage: 
And here's Bob Massi's story on gold hill and the Octave, an amazing tunnel adventure. Please note, Gold Hill is no longer available.   Fly the 3 mile property: 
Please note: Sellers are not currently seeking partnerships, joint ventures and leasing agreements.  An option may be purchased for exploration work and due diligence and would be put toward the agreed upon purchase price of the property.

In memory: To Bob Massi, long-time Fox News host of the Property Man, and a successful Las Vegas attorney. Bob sadly passed away in 2019 after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.  Working with Bob and his Fox news crew on our gold mine story was one of our greatest thrills.   His producer "Danger" Dan Cohen later said that the mine story was one of Bob's favorite, and in fact, he promoted it on Fox and Friends morning show. (below)

For further information or to tour these properties, call Preston and Nancy Westmoreland, at Russ Lyon Sotheby's International at: 602-377-0060    
Where everything we touch turns to Gold!
email:  preston.westmoreland@russlyon.com