Mine Tales: Southern Arizona marble quarries rivaled Italy's famed Carrara

 

The Ligier black marble quarries, discovered in 1909 three miles south of the town of Dragoon, were considered comparable in quality to the famous Carrara marble quarries of Italy.

 

Discoverer and namesake L.R. Ligier noted the black, weakly marbleized limestone with white calcite stringers in the Golden Rule metallic mineral district in the Gunnison Hills of the Dragoon Mountains.

 

He wanted to immediately exploit the site, as the high-grade marble would polish well and be resistant to weathering. However, litigation, world wars and protracted economic crises prevented production until the late 1940s.

 

The quarries became a family affair operated by the Ligier brothers, who shipped marble to Los Angeles, St. Louis, Kansas City, New York and Carthage, Missouri. The Ligier quarry shipping operation benefited from being only several miles from the main line of the Southern Pacific Railroad.

 

(as found at Tuscon.com ) 

D.G. Ligier corresponded regularly with potential investors to finance the operations, even soliciting Charles H. Dunning of the Department of Mineral Resources for the state of Arizona for a contribution of more than $200,000. Ligier claimed the Dragoon Mountains quarry would become the future marble capital of the world. He emphasized the paucity of decorative marble quarries existing at that time in the United States and the need for decorative marble in the manufacture of tabletops, ashtrays, lamp stands and inkwell sets.

 

A crushing and screening plant was in operation several miles from the quarries by 1963. Eight men worked the plant, quarries and general maintenance duties. Equipment included a cyclone dust collector, 30-ton crude ore bin, jaw crusher, hammer mill and three storage bins for marble. The operation was not without risk, as one man was killed on a loader. The Marble Quarries Machinery Co. was asked to provide greater-capacity processing equipment, thus enhancing the production and profit figures.

 

Intermittent production continued when the Marbella Co. leased the property in 1976, producing rose-colored marble. Jim Chapman served as the mine’s superintendent after the Lieger marble quarries were reopened in 1985, owned by the Ligier estate. Several of the claims, including those known as the Godfather, produced dimension marble for fireplaces.

 

The mine is now within the boundaries of Coronado National Forest. Its surface area is comprised of fractured rock and devoid of soil and vegetation. Several attempts recently were made to reopen the quarries accessible on Lizard Lane or Forest Service road 689, formerly known as Dragoon Marble Quarry Road. One involved Alpha Calcit Fullstoff, an international producer of ground calcium carbonate, and its subsidiary company Alpha Calcit Arizona, beginning in the late 1990s. The company acquired the unpatented mining claims to the property and intended to mine the marble for use in high-quality paper production.

 

 

Further development at the quarries has been hindered, however, due to its classification by the Forest Service as being part of the Upper Dragoon Roadless Area. This classification remains controversial based upon the quarries’ altered landscape, small acreage and ease of accessibility by road.

 

SOURCES:

 

Bain, G.W. 1963. Marble Occurrences in the Dragoon Pass Area, unpublished geological assessment, 33p.

 

Duhamel, Jonathan. How bureaucratic errors are blocking a Marble Mine in Southern Arizona. Arizona Daily Independent. April 24, 2016. Accessible online at https://arizonadailyindependent.com/2016/04/24/how-bureaucratic-errors-are-blocking-a-marble-mine-in-southern-arizona/

 

Ligier Black Marble Quarries. 2011-01-2198, ADMMR mining collection, Arizona Geological Survey.

 

Ligier Black Marble Quarries. 2011-01-2199, ADMMR mining collection, Arizona Geological Survey.

 

William Ascarza is an archivist, historian and author of seven books available for purchase online and at select bookstores. These include his latest, “In Search of Fortunes: A Look at the History of Arizona Mining,” available through M.T. Publishing Co. at tucne.ws/7ka His other books are “Chiricahua Mountains: History and Nature,” “Southeastern Arizona Mining Towns,” “Zenith on the Horizon: An Encyclopedic Look at the Tucson Mountains from A to Z,” “Tucson Mountains,” “Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum” with Peggy Larson and “Sentinel to the North: Exploring the Tortolita Mountains.” Email Ascarza at Mining@tucson.com 

 

Copyright