Company Name: Congress Mine
Company Location: Near Congress, Arizona, in Yavapai County
Company Information:
From the Arizona Daily Star, 30 Dec. 2013:
President William McKinley visits the Congress Mine in May, 1901, just a few months before his assassination (in Buffalo, NY):
Book on the Congress Mine, by Rose Mary Goodson (1993):
Recent history of re-working the Congress Mine (from SEC.gov archives):
From the above entry, “On March 5, 1980, Ken Phillips, PE wrote in a letter to Salisbury Adams that the Congress Consolidated Gold Mining Company was reworking some of the old dumps and planning to begin mining operations in the future.” From the two 10oz examples shown below, it seems plausible that ore concentrates were sent to Engelhard for refining, sent back in the form of bars, and then counter stamped “Congress Mine 1980” as a marketing tool for investors, or as a type of “proof” of ore quality. Engelhard was quite active in Arizona at the time, and we know they had some type of interest in the Oro Grande Mine, about 10 miles Southeast of the Congress Mine. Interestingly, Engelhard also owned and operated a surface strip mine in Apache County, where they recovered clay soils for use as a clarifying agent in the oil industry.
Known sizes: 10oz, 50.47oz
Gallery:
| Obverse | Reverse | Additional | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  | Consecutive 10oz examples produced by Engelhard, and counter stamped “Congress Mine 1980”. (See above for discussion on these) Discovered in Phoenix, AZ, which is South of the Congress Mine. | |
 |  | 50.47oz ingot identified by Heritage as being a 1917 or earlier example from this same mine. The author suspects that this may be a much later example, 1960's-1980's, due to the stamping and sans-serif fonts. Not all fonts match the counter stamping on the Engelhard bars, but it's interesting to note that all the “S” stamps are upside down, consistent on all 3 examples. |