El Tungsteno

Past Producer in Sonora, Mexico with commodity Tungsten
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Mineral occurrence model information
  8. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Mining district
  12. Links to other databases
  13. Bibliographic references
  14. General comments
  15. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10049058
MRDS ID MX00273
Record type Site
Current site name El Tungsteno
Related records 10182846

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -109.61729, 28.33357 (WGS84)
Relative position ABOUT 5 KM FROM LA DURA, ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE ROAD TO CUIDAD OBREGON.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Pima(county)

Arizona(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country State
Mexico Sonora

Comments on the location information

  • ESTIMATE TO WITHIN 1 KM

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Tungsten Critical Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Scheelite Ore
Epidote Gangue
Feldspar Gangue
Magnetite Gangue
Muscovite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 45
USGS model code 15
Deposit model name W pegmatite

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cretaceous
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Pegmatite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -109.61729, 28.33357

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • A FEW KM E OF LA DURA A SMALL BODY OF GRANITE HAS INTRUDED QUARTZITE. QUARTZITE OUTLIERS CAP SEVERAL LOW HILLS WITHIN THE GRANITE AREA. DISCONTINUOUS DIKES AND IRREGULAR MASSES OF SCHEELITE-BEARING PEGMATITE OCCUR AT SEVERAL PLACES IN THE GRANITE.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No

Mining district

District name La Dura

Comments on the workings information

  • SCHEELITE-BEARING GRAVEL LAYER MINED THROUGH SMALL UNTIMBERED BURROWS ALONG BEDROCK SURFACE. NEARLY ALL HIGH-GRADE MATERIAL HAD BEEN REMOVED BY APRIL, 1943, WHEN A FEW GAMBUSINOS WERE DRY-WASHING THE UPPER GRAVELS AND OTHERS WERE MINING OUT THE RICHER POCKETS IN THE OUTCROPS.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    WIESE, JOHN H., AND CARDENAS, SALVADOR, 1945, TUNGSTEN DEPOSITS OF THE SOUTHERN PART OF SONORA, MEXICO: USGS BULL 946, P. 103-130

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THREE DISCONTINUOUS PARALLEL PEGMATITE DIKES STRIKE N AND FORM LOW STEEP-SIDED RIDGES SEPARATED BY NARROW GRAVEL-FLOORED WASHES. AT WEST END OF CLAIM QUARTZITE CAPS MESA A FEW M ABOVE LEVEL OF MINERALIZED DIKES. PEGMATITES COMPOSED OF FELDSPAR, QUARTZ, EPIDOTE, AMPHIBOLE, MUSCOVITE, SCHEELITE, AND MAGNETITE, ALL MED. GRAINED. NUMEROUS VUGS LINED WITH COARSE INTERGROWN CRYSTALS OF QUARTZ, FELDSPAR, AND SCHEELITE. SOME SCHEELITE PRESENT IN SOIL MANTLE ON HILLSIDES BELOW OUTCROPS AND IN SCATTERED THROUGHOUT GRAVEL OF THE ARROYOS, BUT RICHEST CONCENTRATION IS IN A THIN LAYER A FEW CM JUST ABOVE BEDROCK AT THE BASE OF THE GRAVEL. GRAVEL IS UP TO 2 M THICK AT THE CENTER OF THE CHANNEL. THE PEGMATITE LENSES TOO SMALL AND DISCONTINUOUS TO BE MINED PROFITABLY ON A LARGE SCALE.
Deposit TOTAL PRODUCTION OF THE DISTRICT TO MAY 1943 ESTIMATED AT 30 TONS OF CONC. CONTAINING 55% WO3, MAINLY FROM PLACERS. AT THE SAN MARCIAL AND LA ZOILA PROSPECTS JUST S OF EL TUNGSTENO, SMALL AMOUNTS OF SCHEELITE WAS REPORTEDLY MINED FROM SCATTERED PLACER DEPOSITS, BUT NO ECONOMICALLY WORKABLE BEDROCK DEPOSITS WERE NOTED. DISTRICT HAS BEEN THOROUGHLY PROSPECTED. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUL-1987 Staude, John-Mark G. (Page, Norman J.) U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-OCT-1987 Leonard, Kenneth R. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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