Abandoned Mines

Stay Out Stay Alive is a national public awareness campaign to warn the public about the dangers of exploring and playing on mine property. The campaign is a partnership made up of federal and state agencies, private organizations, businesses, and individuals.

The earliest indication of mining in Arizona may be as old as 1000 BC when inhabitants of the area were already using turquoise, coal, clay and many minerals in their daily life. Even before the Spaniards came to the southwest, Native Americans were using copper and turquoise to fashion jewelry that was traded over much of North America.

In September of 2007, an all night search ended tragically Sunday morning near Chloride, a small town in northwest Arizona, after two girls, one 13-year-old and one 10-year-old,  fell into an abandoned mine shaft.  The girls were riding an ATV early Saturday evening when they plunged into the 125-foot-deep mine shaft.