Cerro Afate

Occurrence in El Salvador with commodity Perlite
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Host and associated rocks
  7. Nearby scientific data
  8. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  9. Links to other databases
  10. Bibliographic references
  11. General comments
  12. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10057213
MRDS ID TC01703
Record type Site
Current site name Cerro Afate

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -89.46478, 14.14671 (WGS84)
Location accuracy 500(meters)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

El Salvador(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country
El Salvador

Comments on the location information

  • DISTRICT IS 12 MILES LONG AND 3 MILES WIDE. LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE GIVEN ARE SW AND NE ENDPOINTS OF ELONGATE ZONE ABOUT 18 KM LONG AND 3 KM WIDE (270 KM NE OF MANAGUA). THE LAT/LONG GIVE ABOVE IS FOR CENTRALIZED LOCATION. THE SITE ACTUALLY RANGES FROM 13-57-00N TO 14-03-00N AND FROM 084-34-00W TO 084-42-00W.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Perlite Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • AU/AG IN WEAKLY SULFIDIC ORES = 1, IN SULFIDE ORES = 0.12

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock

Nearby scientific data

(1) -89.46478, 14.14671

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • LEAK ISOTOPES INDICATE OLDER BASEMENT SOURCE OF LEAD. CRET SEDIMENTS EXPOSED A FEW KM TO THE S OF DISTRICT. ACID VOLCANICS AND INTERMEDIATE INTRUSIVES KNOWN IN AREA.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence
Commodity type Non-metallic
Significant No

Comments on the production information

  • AG/AU GRADES 1941-1950 RECOVERED GRADES; AVERAGE TENOR 0.2902/ T AU

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • (1) PROVEN AND PROBABLE AU ORE, > 1,000,000 ST OF WHICH IS IN THE NEPTUNE GROUP, (2) PROVEN AND PROBABLE POLYMETALLIC ORE OF VESUBIO ABOVE 750 LEVEL, (3) PROVEN POLYMETALLIC ORE OF VESUBIO ABOVE 750 LEVEL, (4) PROBABLE POLYMETALLIC ORE OF VESUBIO ABOVE 750 LEVEL, (5) PROBABLE POLYMETALLIC ORE OF VESUBIO BELOW 750 LEVEL, (6) PROVEN AND PROBABLE POLYMETALLIC ORE OF VESUBIO-NEPTUNE CO. THE GOLD RESERVES HAVE BEEN SUBJECTED TO NEAR SURFACE HIGH GRADE SELECTIVE MINING SINCE THE TIME THE RESERVES WERE CALCULATED IN 1991. THE POLYMETALLIC ORE RESERVES CALCULATED BY NEPTUNE ARE MORE RELIABLE SINCE INMINES CALCULATIONS ARE BASED ON THOSE OF BULGARGEOMIN (1982) KNOWN FOR A TENDENCY TOWARDS EXCESSIVE OPTIMISM. GOLD ORE CALCULATIONS MAY BE CONSIDERABLY MORE RELIABLE.

Comments on development

  • READ BURN'S GEOCHEMISTRY ARTICLE - $2 MILLION SPENT ON EXPLORATION 1979-1991. ; ECON.COM: 1923: MILL INSTALLED IN BONANZA WHICH TREATED ALL THE ORE; 1914: EDEN MINE OPENED, 1918-1921 USED 140 TON MILL, ORE FROM EDEN, CULEBRA, HIDDEN TREASURE, PHILADELPHIA, MORNING STAR TREATED HERE, MID-1920'S CLOSED; 1934 NEW MILL OF 500 TONS/DAY, LATER INCREASED TO 800 TONS/DAY OM 1944 PROCESSED ORE FROM DISTRICT. VEINS MINED BY SHRINKAGE STOPING AND CUT AND FILL WITH GANGUE BASE METALS. AT VESUPIO MINED BY SUB-LEVEL STOPING 2 PARALLEL PLANTS: 1) AU EXTRACTION BY AGITATION CYANIDATION - DESIGNED FOR 750 TPD, 2) PB AND ZN CONCENTRATES - SELECTIVE FLOTATION - 500 TPD. MOST EARLY PRODUCTION FROM OXIDE ZONE. OPERATING IN 1991 AT 250 TPD DUE TO POOR CONDITION OF PLANT. MOSTLY UNUSED SINCE 1977, IN VERY POOR CONDITION.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    LORENZ, W., AND MULLER, P., 1982, PERLITE IN EL SALVADOR, CENTRAL AMERICA: NEW MEXICO BUREAU OF MINES AND MINERAL RESOURCES CIRCULAR 182, P. 103-107

  • Other Database

    CIMRI

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit PROBABLY CONTAINED ABOUT 100 ST OF MINABLE GOLD IN VIRGIN STATE. SUB GROUP - NW STRIKE, 1-2.5 M WIDE, 1000 M LONG, MORE IRREGULAR AND BRANCHING, STEEPLY DIPPING (>65 DEGREES).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-FEB-1992 Page, Norman J. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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