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  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Blue Copper Mine

Past Producer in Pinal county in Arizona, United States with commodities Copper, Silver, Gold
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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 10048323
MRDS ID M899898
Record type Site
Current site name Blue Copper Mine
Alternate or previous names Durham Hills Mine, Blue Hill Copper Mine, Big Bull Mine, Busy Bee
Related records 10161976

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -111.13291, 32.73093 (WGS84)
Elevation 829
Location accuracy 100(meters)
Relative position 1 MILE SE OF NORTH HILL; NORTHERN MOST OF THE DURHAM HILLS, Large Group Of Adits And Shafts

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Pinal(county)

Arizona(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Durham Hills(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Casa Grande(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Tucson(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Middle Gila(hydrologic unit)

Middle Gila(hydrologic accounting unit)

Middle Gila(hydrologic subregion)

Lower Colorado(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Arizona Pinal

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Gila and Salt River 008S 012E 17,19,20,7 SW (17); NE4 (19) Arizona

Comments on the location information

  • UTM IS WHERE 2 ADITS ARE SIDE BY SIDE IN SW 1/4 SECTION 17 ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1979)

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary
Silver Secondary
Gold Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcocite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Chrysocolla Ore
Malachite Ore

Alteration

  • (Local) Kaolinization, Silicification, Chloritization

Analytical data

Result FLUX ORE ASSAYED 3.5% CU.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Quartz Monzonite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Paleocene
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Rock unit name Oracle Granite;Samaniego Quartz Monzonite
    Rock description Oracle Granite;Samaniego Quartz Monzonite
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist
    Rock unit name Pinal Schist
    Rock description Pinal Schist
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -111.13291, 32.73093
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Fault Along Contact, N20-N30w, 10-30e Dip

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR
    Strike NW
    Dip 10-30 E

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Schist- Granite Contact, Fractures With Veinlets

Comments on the geologic information

  • ORE HAS HIGH ALUMNA CONTENT

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Year of first production 1948
Year of last production 1962

Mining district

District name Durham-Suizo District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Mc Farland-Hullinger
    First year 1966
  • Type Owner
    Owner Utex Oil Co., Salt Lake City, Utah

Comments on the production information

  • ADMR REPORTS PRODUCTION IN 1929 AND 1966, YEARS NOT REPORTED IN ABGMT-USBM FILE DATA

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Overall depth 30.48M

Comments on the workings information

  • 2 SHAFTS, OLD; TUNNEL DRIVEN WESTWARD INTO HILL. SHALLOW AND DEEP DRILLING, NUMEROUS PIT AND BULLDOZED CUTS. ORE TAKEN TO A DEPTH OF 25 FT. FROM PITS. SHAFTS 30 80 AND 100 FEET DEEP

Comments on development

  • OPERATORS INCLUDED DRAKE ENTERPRIZES, GUZMAN AND SCHWARTZ '61 F.M. ELRATH, H. MCMILLAN R.J. EDWARDS. 20 UNPATENTED CLAIMS OWNED BY UTEX IN 1965, MCFARLAND AND HULLINGER, 1966. THE MINE WAS IN PRODUCTION INTERMITTENTLY.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    ADMR BLUE COPPER FILE

  • Deposit

    C.F. BARTER, 1962. GEOLOGY OF THE OWL HEAD MINING DISTRICT, PINAL COUNTY, ARIZONA. U.A. M.S. THESIS.

  • Deposit

    ABGMT-USBM FILE DATA

  • Deposit

    BANKS, N.G., FIELD EXAM, 1976.

  • Other Database

    CIMRI

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit SOUTH ORE BODY 1200 FT LONG, WIDTH IN RANGE OF 75 TO 150 FT-ALL WORKINGS ON THIS BODY. NORTH ORE BODY, 300 FT BY 150 FT MAY BE TOO LOW IN GRADE FOR PRODUCTION. VEINLETS IN BOTH GRANITE AND SCHIST
Deposit THIS RECORD CONTAINS DATA FROM DUPLICATE RECORD M241486 OF JOY HARNER WHICH HAS BEEN DELETED FROM MRDS. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT; 3 FIELD OBSERV

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAR-82 Gest, Don E. Arizona Bureau of Geology and Mineral Technology
Updater 01-MAR-81 Harner, Joy L. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

Maps centered on this site

Authoritative Arizona resources

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