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Playa Real Mines

Past Producer in Guanacaste, Costa Rica with commodity Manganese
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Alteration
  8. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Geologic structures
  12. Ore body information
  13. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Mining district
  15. Ownership information
  16. Links to other databases
  17. Bibliographic references
  18. General comments
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10007817
MRDS ID CS00035
Record type Site
Current site name Playa Real Mines

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -85.84164, 10.38301 (WGS84)
Elevation 32

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Guanacaste(province)

Costa Rica(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country State
Costa Rica Guanacaste

Comments on the location information

  • 3 KM SW OF PUERTO VIEJO. ACCORDING TO SEARS (1919), AREA INCLUDES THE "70-METER HILL," "60-METER HILL," AND "40-METER HILL" MINES, ALL OF WHICH ARE WITHIN 300 M OF ONE ANOTHER. SEARS (1919) ALSO INCLUDES TWO OTHER MINES, EL ENCANTO AND LA ESPERANZA, AND ONE PROSPECT, PUERTO VIEJO (EL ZAPOTALILLO IN ROBERTS (1944)), IN PLAYA REAL, BUT THESE LAST THREE DEPOSITS ARE TREATED AS SEPARATE MINES BY ROBERTS (1944). HEIN AND OTHERS (1983) NOTE OCCURRENCES AT THE NORTH END OF THE BEACH AND IN A ROAD CUT 1 KM FROM THE BEACH.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Manganese Critical Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • DESIRED TO AVERAGE 50 % MN, 10 % SILICA.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Bixbyite Ore
Braunite Ore
Hollandite Ore
Pyrolusite Ore
Wad Ore

Alteration

  • (Local) Silicification

Analytical data

Result ORE SORTED FOR SHIPMENT RANGED FROM 23.92 TO 60.53 % MN. LOW IN FE AND P.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 97
USGS model code 24c
Deposit model name Volcanogenic Mn

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Shale

Nearby scientific data

(1) -85.84164, 10.38301
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Several Faults Cut Orebodies While Others Are Subparallel To Ore Lenses

Ore body information

  • General form THIN ELONGATE TO LENTICULAR, SUBHORIZONTAL BODIES, IRREGULAR POCKETS, RESIDUAL CAPPING
    Thickness 1.5M
    Length 150M
    Width 30M

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE SEDIMENTARY ROCKS CAPPING THE HILLS ARE ONLY ABOUT A METER THICK. HEIN AND OTHERS (1983) REPORT THAT CHERTS ARE TITHONIAN (LJUR) TO HAUTERVIAN (ECRET) IN AGE.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Year of last production 1918

Mining district

District name Santa Rosa District

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Guanacaste Manganese Co.

Comments on the production information

  • ACCORDING TO SEARS (1919), 13,100 METRIC TONNES WERE PRODUCED FROM JAN. 1915 TO OCT. 1918, WHILE ROBERTS (1944) CLAIMS 19,300 METRIC TONNES WERE PRODUCED FROM 1915 TO OCT. 1918. REASON FOR DISCREPANCY UNKNOWN.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • SOME MATERIAL HIGH IN SILICA REMAINS IN PITS AND ON DUMPS. THERE ARE ALSO SEVERAL SMALL OREBODIES EXPOSED UNDERGROUND THAT HAVE NOT BEEN FULLY EXPLORED.
  • SEARS (1919) NOTES THAT THE SUPERINTENDENT OF MINES CLAIMED THAT THIS ADDITIONAL 10,000 METRIC TONNES, INCLUDING ORE DERIVED FROM REWORKING OLD DUMPS, WOULD BE PRODUCED IN THE FUTURE.

Comments on the workings information

  • SHALLOW OPEN CUTS AND PITS LESS THAN 4.5 M DEEP; SEVERAL ADITS. THE ADITS WERE DRIVEN RELATIVELY EARLY IN THE MINE DEVELOPMENT AND TAPPED MOSTLY LOW-GRADE ORE, SHALE, CHERT, OR JASPER.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THIN ELONGATE, SUBHORIZONTAL BODIES, LENSES, AND IRREGULAR POCKETS OF PYROLUSITE AND WAD IN RED SHALE, CHERT, AND JASPER IN A N-TRENDING BELT ABOUT 500 M LONG AND ABOUT 100 METERS WIDE. THE "70-METER HILL" DEPOSIT, THE LARGEST IN THE AREA, IS ABOUT 150 M LONG, 3-30 M WIDE, AND AVERAGES 1.5 M THICK. MN OXIDES ALSO OCCUR AS A RESIDUAL CAPPING, WITH BRAUNITE IN THE CORES OF BOULDERS. HEIN AND OTHERS (1983) MENTION VEINS IN MASSIVE TO COARSELY BEDDED RED CHERT AND REPLACEMENT OF FINE LAMINATIONS IN THINLY BEDDED CHERTY SHALE.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAR-1986 Howe, Stephen S. U.S. Geological Survey PARSED HOST ROCK AND ASSOCIATED ROCK INFORMATION FROM OLD SINGLE VALUED FIELD TO NEW MULTIVALUED FIELD
Editor 27-APR-1995 Mosier, Dan U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

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