Polaris Group

Past Producer in Greenlee county in Arizona, United States with commodities Gold, Copper, Silver, Lead, Zinc
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. Workings at the site
  19. Links to other databases
  20. Bibliographic references
  21. General comments
  22. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10048278
MRDS ID M800401
Record type Site
Current site name Polaris Group
Alternate or previous names Parrot Group, Golden Eagle, Evans Point Gold Placers

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -109.30843, 33.13482 (WGS84)
Elevation 1451
Relative position 6 MILES NORTH OF CLIFTON AT THE HEAD OF DORSEY GULCH

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Greenlee(county)

Arizona(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Mitchell Peak(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Clifton(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Clifton(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

San Francisco(hydrologic unit)

Upper Gila(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Gila(hydrologic subregion)

Lower Colorado(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Arizona Greenlee

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Gila and Salt River 003S 029E 25,36 SE OF SE (25); NE OF NE (36) Arizona

Comments on the location information

  • ABOVE LOCATION COORDINATES DESCRIBE POLARIS MINE; POLARIS GROUP CLAIMS LOCATED IN SECTIONS 25,26,35,36 OF TOWNSHIP 35 RANGE 29E AND SECTIONS 30,31 OF TOWNSHIP 35 RANGE 30 E ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1973)

Commodities

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

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Bornite Ore
Chalcocite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Kaolin Gangue
Sulfur Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Surface Oxidation To Unknown Depths

Analytical data

Result ASSAY VALUES AVERAGED 3% CU, 4 TO 15 OZ AG

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Quartz Monzonite
    Rock unit name Precambrian Granite Basement;Morenci Granite Porphyry
    Rock description Precambrian Granite Basement;Morenci Granite Porphyry
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Tertiary
    Chronological age 55.5
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Tertiary
    Chronological age 55.5
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite
    Rock unit name Modoc Limestone;Morenci Shale;Longfellow Limestone
    Rock description Modoc Limestone;Morenci Shale;Longfellow Limestone

Nearby scientific data

(1) -109.30843, 33.13482

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Granite Mass Cut By W-E Trending Dikes Of Porphyry, Diorite, And Phonolite; Dikes Run At Acute And Right Angles To Vein System
Type of structure Local
Structure description N-Trending Quartzitic Fissure Veins With Well-Defined Contacts Between Granite And Sedimentary Rocks; Polaris Property Contains 10 Nearly Vertical Quartz And Porphyry-Filled Veins That Are Traceable On Surface

Ore body information

  • General form CONTIGUOUS LENSE AND SHOOT DEPOSITS
    Strike N-E; GOLDEN EAGEL STRIKES N50E
    Dip 80NW
    Thickness 45.72M
    Length 1828.8M
    Width 30.48M
  • General form CONTIGUOUS LENSE AND SHOOT DEPOSITS
    Dip 80NW

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Ne Trending Fissure Veins; W-E Trending Porphyry Dikes

Comments on the geologic information

  • POLARIS PROPERTY LIES ENTIRELY ON HOST GRANITE EXCEPT ALONG NW SIDE OF GROUP WHICH LIES ON A BELT OF LIMESTONE AND SHALES; INTRUSIVE DIKES OF RHYOLITE AND PHONOLITE DEVELOPED AFTER VEIN EMPLACEMENT

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1890
Discoverer Small Groups, Later Forming Polaris Mining And Milling Co
Year of first production 1911
Year of last production 1943

Mining district

District name Copper Mountain District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Amax Inc.
    First year 1981

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Length 762M
    Overall depth 76.2M

Comments on the workings information

  • POLARIS MINE OPENED BY 105 FT BLACK PRINCE SHAFT, 100 FT NONESUCH SHAFT 140 FT GOLDEN EAGLE SHAFT, 560 FT BLACK PRINCE TUNNEL, 320 FT FRACTION TUNNEL, 307 FT GOLDEN EAGLE TUNNEL, 532 FT PHONOLITE TUNNEL; SURFACE MINING FROM PLACERS AND ORE LENSES ENRICHED BY REDEPOSIT

Comments on development

  • OPERATORS INCLUDED POLARIS MINING AND MILLING CO; BECKER FRANZ CO; ARICANA MINING CORPORATION; BANNER MINING CO; BOYLES BROTHERS DRILLING CO; VICTORY MINING CO; EVERT L. HAGAN; J.A. HAGAN; SOUTHWESTERN DEVELOPMENT AND IMPROVEMENT CO; POLARIS GROUP NAMES CHANGED TO PARROT GROUP IN 1943 WHEN VICTORY MINING CO OPERATED PROPERTY

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    ABGMT-USBM FILE DATA

  • Deposit

    ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF MINERAL RESOURCES FILE DATA, UNDER POLARIS GROUP AND PARROT GROUP

  • Deposit

    ABGMT CLIPPINGS FILE, UNDER POLARIS MINING AND MILLING CO, VICTORY MINING CO

  • Deposit

    STEVENS, H.J., 1911, THE COPPER HANDBOOK, VOL. X, PAGE 1422, POLARIS MINING AND MILLING CO

  • Deposit

    BENNETT, K.C., 1975, GEOLOGY AND ORIGIN OF THE BRECCIAS IN THE MORENCI-METCALF DISTRICT, GREENLEE COUNTY, ARIZONA: M.S. THESIS, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, 153P.

  • Deposit

    BLM DISTRICT SHEET 838

  • Deposit

    USGS PP 43, P. 363

  • Deposit

    USBM FILES; AMAX INC.

  • Deposit

    WEED, W.H., 1916, THE MINES HANDBOOK, VOL. XII, PAGES 933-934, POLARIS MINING AND MILLING CO

  • Deposit

    MINING REPORTER V. LIII, NO. 16, (APRIL 19, 1906), REVIVAL OF GOLD MINING IN CLIFTON-MORENCI, AZ, DISTRICT

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit POLARIS PROPERTY LOCATED ON 3 VEINS (GOLDEN EAGLE, BLACK PRINCE, RUSSIAN BEAR/FAIRVIEW); PLACER DEPOSITS IN ALL DRAINAGES FROM PROPERTY; 60 PATENTED AND UNPATENTED CLAIMS TOTALLING 1100 ACRES PLUS 70-ACRE MILLSITE; VEINS AVERAGE 1 TO 5 FT WIDTH AND TEND TO INCREASE IN SIZE WITH DEPTH
Deposit SEE ALSO: GOLDEN EAGLE PROSPECT; GOLDEN EAGLE SHAFT AND TUNNEL NOW CONSIDERED PART OF POLARIS MINE WORKINGS ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-DEC-1981 Calder, Susan R. Arizona Bureau of Geology and Mineral Technology

Beyond USGS

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

Operator history (post-MRDS)

MRDS records operators as of each record's last update (≤ 2019). Some of the operators listed here have since changed hands or dissolved:

Curated by qvyshift.com from publicly-reported M&A activity (SEC filings, press releases, USGS Mineral Yearbooks). Not authoritative — verify against primary sources before relying on it. The MSHA panel above is the current authoritative source for actively-permitted mines.

Authoritative Arizona resources

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