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El Curiol Mine

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. Production statistics
  17. Links to other databases
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10007843
MRDS ID CS00069
Record type Site
Current site name El Curiol Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -85.76803, 10.30107 (WGS84)
Elevation 62

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

  • ABOUT 3 KM SE OF SANTA ROSA, ON THE ROAD TO SANTA CRUZ

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Manganese Critical Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • PYROLUSITE PREDOMINENT IN RESIDUAL DEPOSITS AND IN ORE MINED NEAR SURFACE, BRAUNITE IN ORE MINED FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE MAIN OPEN PIT.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Braunite Ore
Pyrolusite Ore
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Silicification, Supergene Enrichment

Analytical data

Result WITHOUT SORTING, AVERAGED 50% MN AND 10% SILICA
Result SOME ORE GT 55% MN WITH 1-2% SILICA.

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 Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -85.76803, 10.30107
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Steeply Dipping To Nearly Vertical Faults Between Cherty Shale And Diorite; Shear Zones

Ore body information

  • General form REPLACEMENT BODIES, LENSES, RESIDUAL ORE
    Strike E-W
    Dip STEEP, S
    Plunge 20
    Plunge direction EAST
    Thickness 30.5M
    Length 36.5M
    Width 6M

Comments on the geologic information

  • SEARS (1919) HAS THE DIORITE (WHICH HE THOUGHT WAS AN ALTERED PYROXENITE) AS THE FOOTWALL AND THE CHERTY SHALE AS THE HANGING WALL, AND ROBERTS (1944) HAS THE RELATIONSHIPS REVERSED. SEARS (1919) ALSO REPORTS A SMALL AMOUNT OF A RED METAMORPHIC ROCK ASSOCIATED WITH ORE IN ONE AREA. KUYPERS AND DENYER (1979) CONSIDER THE CHERTY SHALE A RADIOLARIAN CHERT AND THE DIORITE A BASALT. THE TWO OREBODIES CONVERGE AT THE CAVED SHAFT. THE MAIN (E-W) OREBODY IS CUT OFF BY A SHEAR ZONE ABOVE THE 53-M LEVEL IN THE EAST FACE OF THE MAIN OPEN PIT. THE MAIN OREBODY WIDENS DOWNWARD AND IS 2.5 - 3 M WIDE IN THE SHAFT AT A DEPTH OF 15 M BELOW THE BOTTOM OF THE PIT, BUT THE LENGTH OF THE OREBODY WAS NOT FULLY EXPLORED.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Year of last production 1920

Mining district

District name Santa Rosa District

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Guanacaste Manganese Co.

Production statistics

  • Year 1920
    Period 1916-1920
    Accuracy Accurate
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Manganese Manganese 50wt-pct
    Silica Silica 10wt-pct

Comments on the production information

  • MINED BY MANGANESE MINING AND MANUFACTURING CO. RESIDUAL ORE CONTRIBUTED CONSIDERABLY TO TOTAL TONNAGE.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • MAY BE IMPORTANT AS 2.5 - 3 M WIDE OREBODY NOT FULLY EXPLORED AT DEPTH BENEATH MAIN PIT. THE POCKETS OF MN OXIDE MINED IN SHALLOW PITS FROM THE NW-TRENDING OREBODY FOR 43 M FROM SHAFT WERE OF SMALL TONNAGE. THE SMALL DISCONTINUOUS LENSES OF ORE AT ONE TIME EXPOSED IN SHALLOW PITS WEST OF THE MAIN PIT WERE NOT VISIBLE IN MARCH 1942 DUE TO SLUMPING IN THE PITS.

Comments on the workings information

  • LARGE OPEN PIT, SHALLOW CUTS, ADITS, AND MAIN SHAFT (NOW CAVED)

Comments on development

  • MINE WORKED BY MANGANESE MINING AND MANUFACTURING CO., 1916-1920

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit TWO OREBODIES, MAIN ONE TRENDING E-W, THE OTHER NW. BOTH ARE REPLACEMENTS OF CHERTY SHALE AND, TO A LESSER EXTENT DIORITE, ALONG SHALE-DIORITE CONTACTS AND ALONG STEEPLY DIPPING TO NEARLY VERTICAL FAULT ZONES. MN OXIDE LENSES AND POCKETS ARE MORE SPORADIC WEST OF THE E-W TRENDING OREBODY AND AT THE NW TRENDING OREBODY. ALSO A CRUST OF HIGH-GRADE PEA- TO BOULDER-SIZED FRAGMENTS FORMING A RESIDUAL DEPOSIT NW AND S OF MAIN PIT.

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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