Helvecia Mine

Producer in La Rioja, Argentina with commodities Lead, Zinc, Silver, Barium-Barite, Copper
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. Ore body information
  11. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  12. Ownership information
  13. Production statistics
  14. Reserves and resources
  15. Links to other databases
  16. Bibliographic references
  17. General comments
  18. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10056543
MRDS ID TC00585
Record type Site
Current site name Helvecia Mine
Alternate or previous names Helvecia I, Helvecia Ii, Cerro Urcushum

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -68.76059, -29.55857 (WGS84)
Elevation 2900
Relative position 30 KM W OF GUANDACOL, 28 KM W OF SAN BERNARDO

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

La Rioja(province)

Argentina(country)

South America(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country State
Argentina La Rioja

Comments on the location information

  • ENTRANCE ROAD AVAILABLE
  • WITHIN AN AREA OF 34-40S TO 36S AND 69-30W TO 70-30W ENTRANCE ROAD AVAILABLE

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Lead Primary
Zinc Critical Primary
Silver Primary
Barium-Barite Critical Primary
Copper Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Barite Ore
Calcite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Gypsum Ore
Hemimorphite Ore
Hydrozincite Ore
Jarosite Ore
Malachite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Smithsonite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Tetrahedrite Ore

Analytical data

Result OXIDIZED ORE AVERAGES 40-49% ZN, 0.2-0.4% PB, 40-70 G.MT AG, OVER 0.5-1.2 M. UNDERGROUND 37.1% ZN, 2.2% PB, 135 G/MT AG OVER 3.5 M.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 224
USGS model code 32a
Deposit model name Mississippi Valley, S.E. Missouri Pb-Zn
Mark3 model number 42

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Intermediate Volcanic Rock > Andesite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Triassic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Sandstone
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
    Rock unit name San Juan Formation;
    Rock description San Juan Formation;

Nearby scientific data

(1) -68.76059, -29.55857

Economic information

Ore body information

  • General form TABULAR, LENSES, PODS
    Thickness 1.2M
    Length 600M
    Width 600M

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Both
Significant No
Discovery year 1898
Year of first production 1945
Year of last production 1983

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Cerro Negro Mining Co.; Compania Minera Aguilar (1970'S); Plata Mining )
    First year 1995
  • Type Owner
    Owner Cerro Negro Mining Co.

Production statistics

  • Year 1981
    Material ORE
    Accuracy Estimate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^5% Pb
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Ore Lead Lead 5wt-pct

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1991
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Lead Pb 8 wt-pct Lead Major 1991
    Zinc Zn 18 wt-pct Zinc Major 1991
    Silver Ag 80 g/mt Silver Major 1991

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • TENTATIVES

Comments on development

  • TOTAL$: 1 ; ECON.COM: EXPERIMENTAL PLANT PROJECT BY PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT
  • TOTAL$: 3.5; PROPERTY CONSISTS OF 2000 HECTARES AND 11 MINING LICENSES TO PAST-PRODUCING MINES

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Analytical Data

    ANON. (1995)

  • Deposit

    DIRECCION NACIONAL DE MINERA Y GEOLOGIA, 1991, REPORT ON THE ARGENTINE MINING SECTOR, ARGENTINE SELECTED MINING PROJECT: BUENOS AIRES

  • Deposit

    ANGELELLI, VICTORIO, 1984, YACIMIENTOS METALIFEROS DE LA REPUBLICA ARGENTINA, VOL. II: BUENOS AIRES, COMISION DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS, P. 393-704.

  • Deposit

    ANONYMOUS, 1995, PLATA TO FOCUS ON ARGENTINE ZINC PROPERTY: THE NORTHERN MINER, V. 81, NO. 9, P. 1-2.

  • Other Database

    CIMRI

  • Production

    ANGELELLI,VICTORIO, 1984, P. 497

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit ORE BODIES OCCUR AT UNCONFORMITY BETWEEN ORD AND CARB. SOME KARST TOPOGRAPHY.
Deposit SEE RECORD NUMBER AR00261 ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT
Deposit First Production Year: 1945 (SIGNIFICANT)

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUL-1991 Bolm, Karen S. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 07-JUN-1995 Page, Norman J. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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