Tip Top Mine

Past Producer in Pima county in Arizona, United States with commodities Copper, Lead, Zinc, Silver, Gold, Molybdenum
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Public Land Survey System information
  6. Commodities
  7. Materials information
  8. Alteration
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Geologic structures
  12. Ore body information
  13. Controls for ore emplacement
  14. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  15. Mining district
  16. Land status
  17. Ownership information
  18. Production statistics
  19. Workings at the site
  20. Links to other databases
  21. Bibliographic references
  22. General comments
  23. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10039490
MRDS ID M050159
Record type Site
Current site name Tip Top Mine
Alternate or previous names Little Helvetia, Forbes, Copper Duke
Related records 10186571

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -110.79401, 31.86957 (WGS84)
Elevation 1280
Relative position 28 MILES S.E. OF TUCSON.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Pima(county)

Arizona(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Helvetia(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Fort Huachuca(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Nogales(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper Santa Cruz(hydrologic unit)

Santa Cruz(hydrologic accounting unit)

Middle Gila(hydrologic subregion)

Lower Colorado(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Bureau of Land Management(Bureau of Land Management AZ)

Bureau of Land Management AZ BLM(Type of land area)

BLM(Federal land areas administered by BLM)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Arizona Pima

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Gila and Salt River 018S 015E 15,14 NE (15) Arizona

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary
Lead Secondary
Zinc Critical Secondary
Silver Secondary
Gold Secondary
Molybdenum Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Bornite Ore
Chalcocite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Chrysocolla Ore
Cuprite Ore
Malachite Ore
Molybdenite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Diopside Gangue
Garnet Gangue
Magnetite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Silication

Analytical data

Result CORES ASSAYED 0.01-0.014% MO.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Rock unit name Granodiorite 54+-2my-Granodiorite;Granodiorite 1450+-10my Granodiorite
    Rock description Granodiorite 54+-2my-Granodiorite;Granodiorite 1450+-10my Granodiorite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Paleocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
    Rock unit name Bolsa Quartzite
    Rock description Bolsa Quartzite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -110.79401, 31.86957

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Homoclinal ; Reg.Trends: Tilting And Broad Open Folds In S. And Extensive Faulting In N.
Type of structure Local
Structure description Thrust And Normal Faulting-Fracture Zones

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR POCKETS, STRINGERS, LENSES, PODS

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Shear Zone Due To Granodiorite Intrusive

Comments on the geologic information

  • MAJOR.UNITS: BASIN AND RANGE ; GEOL.DESC: AGE OF MINERALIZATION BELIEVED TO BE THAT OF THE QUARTZ LATITE INTRUSIVE OF DREWES - 1971 ; REG.COM: STRUCTURE IN DISTRICT IS THRUST FAULTING AND HIGH ANGLE NORMAL FAULTING AND FOLDING

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1898
Year of first production 1899
Year of last production 1956

Mining district

District name Helvetia - Rosemont District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Anamax Mining Co.

Production statistics

  • Year 1926
    Period 1904-1926
    Material ORE CU
    Accuracy Estimate
    Description Cp_Grade: ^5% Cu, 0.4 Oz Ag/Ton
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Copper Copper 5wt-pct
    Silver Silver 11g/mt
  • Year 1953
    Material ORE CU
    Accuracy Estimate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^6.5% Cu, 3.5% Pb, 2.8% Zn
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Zinc Zinc 3wt-pct
    Major Lead Lead 4g/mt
    Major Ore Copper Copper 7wt-pct

Comments on the production information

  • NO AVAILABLE REFERENCE AT 9/28/92 TO CHECK THE CONVERSION OF UNITS FOR ANNUAL PRODUCTION FIGURES.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Length 1219.2M

Comments on the workings information

  • SHALLOW SHAFTS, TUNNELS, OPENCUTS.

Comments on development

  • OPERATORS INCLUDED D & P MINING CO., FORBES, TIP TOP MINING CO.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    SCHRADER, F.C., 1915, USGS BULL. 582.

  • Deposit

    ARIZONA BUREAU OF MINES, 1971, FIELDNOTES, V.1, NO. 2.

  • Deposit

    DREWES, H., 1971, USGS MAP I-613 (SAHUARITA QUAD).

  • Deposit

    CREASEY, S.C., 1955, U.S.G.S. BULL 1027F.

  • Deposit

    KEITH, S.B., 1974, INDEX OF MINING PROPERTIES IN PIMA COUNTY, ARIZONA: ARIZONA BUREAU OF MINES BULLETIN 189, P. 128.

  • Deposit

    1909 RECON F.C. SCHRADER, U.S.G.S. BULL. 582.

  • Deposit

    1971 DIREXPL ANACONDA-POSSIBLE NEW PORPH CU.

  • Deposit

    1971 GEOLMAP H. DREWES U.S.G.S. MAP I-613.

  • Other Database

    CIMRI

  • Production

    ANNUAL PRODUCTION FROM BULLETIN 582. CUM. PRODUCTION: (1) KEITH,1974, (2)ELSING,M.J.,1936, ABM BULLETIN 140.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THE STRATIGRAPHIC UNITS USED ARE THOSE OF H. DREWES - 1971, USGS MAP I-613. THIS RECORD CONTAINS DATA FROM DUPLICATE RECORD D003019 BY J. WILLIAM HASLER WHICH HAS BEEN DELETED FROM MRDS. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT
Deposit ORE GENERALLY IN LIME-SILICATE ZONES CONTROLLED BY FAULTS AND FRACTURES. DISTRICT IS POSSIBLY NEW PORPHYRY COPPER DEPOSIT.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUL-1972 Keith, William J. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-DEC-1977 Hasler, J. William U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

External references

Authoritative Arizona resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.