Portovelo Gold Mines

Producer in El Oro, Ecuador with commodities Lead, Zinc, Gold, Copper, Silver, Cadmium
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Alteration
  8. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Geologic structures
  11. Ore body information
  12. Controls for ore emplacement
  13. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Mining district
  15. Ownership information
  16. Workings at the site
  17. Links to other databases
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10068846
MRDS ID W002104
Record type Site
Current site name Portovelo Gold Mines
Alternate or previous names Cima

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -79.58925, -3.63962 (WGS84)
Elevation 600
Relative position 2 KM SOUTH OF ZARUMA WHICH IS 150 KM S OF GUAYAQUIL AND 50 KM INLAND FROM PACIFIC COAST

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

El Oro(province)

Ecuador(country)

South America(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country State
Ecuador El Oro

Commodities

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

Comments on the commodity information

  • POLYMETALLIC GOLD-QUARTZ VEINS

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Argentite Ore
Bornite Ore
Chalcocite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Pyrite Ore
Pyrrhotite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Calcite Gangue
Gypsum Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Propylitization, Silicification; 30 Cm Clay-Sericite Alteration Envelopes; Some Secondary Hematite.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic)
    Rock unit name Celica Formation;;
    Rock description Celica Formation;;
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Miocene

Nearby scientific data

(1) -79.58925, -3.63962

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Portovelo-Pinas Nw-Se Fault

Ore body information

  • General form NARROW, PARALLEL
    Strike N-S
    Dip 25-80 DEG. E
    Thickness 2M
    Length 15000M
    Width 3M
    Depth to top 0M
    Depth to bottom 660M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • N-S Fracture/Fissure Systems At Portovelo/Minas Nuevas

Comments on the geologic information

  • PORTOVELO/MINAS NUEVAS VEINS TREND N-S, WHILE AYAPAMBA VEINS TREND NE-SW.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Large
Significant No
Discovery year 1549
Discoverer Captain Mercadillo
Year of first production 1549
Production years 1878-1971

Mining district

District name Portovelo-Zaruma

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Campania Industrial Minera Asociada, S. A.

Comments on the production information

  • CUMUL. PROD. COVERS 1925 - 1931 & 1953 - 1955 FOR AG; 1931 & 1953 - 1955 FOR CU; AND, 1925 - 1931 & 1953 - 1955 FOR PB. PRESENTLY MINING 7-10 G/TON AU; 4 MILLION OUNCES OF AU HAVE BEEN MINED.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • 1) IN 1953, THE ORE GRADE WAS: 0.23 OZ/TON AU, 1.1% ZN, 0.36% PB, 0.29% CU, 30-35 G/TON AG. 2) 100,00 TONNES AT 7 G/T AU AND 3% CU. 3) 250,000 T GRADING 1.09% CU, 1.74% ZN, 0.218 TR OZ/T AU, 2.03 TR OZ/T AG.
  • MINES APPEAR TO BE ESSENTIALLY EXHAUSTED AT PRICE OF $35 / OZ BUT MIGHT CONTINUE AT MUCH HIGHER PRICE LEVELS

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Length 2000M
    Overall depth 660M

Comments on the workings information

  • THREE MINE AREAS: PORTOVELO, MINAS NUEVAS 9 KM TO NORTH, AYAPAMPA 12 KM TO NORTHWEST.

Comments on development

  • ECON.COM: MINES IN LAST PHASES OF OPERATION, RETREATING TAILINGS ACCUMULATIONS. MINES FLOODED.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    UNDP, 1969, GOLD AND BASE METAL SULPHIDES-PORTOVELO, REPORT NO. 2

  • Deposit

    BILLINGSLEY, P. 19-26, ZARUMA GOLD DISTRICT, AIMME, VOL. 74, P. 255-275

  • Deposit

    PALADINES, P.A., SAN MARTIN, D.H., AND SUAREZ, L.H., 1980, MAPA METALOGENICO DE LA REPUBLICA DEL ECUADOR: MINISTERIO DE RECURSOS NATURALES Y ENERGETICOS, SCALE 1:1,000,000.

  • Deposit

    MINISTERIO DE RECURSOS NATURALES Y ENERGETICOS, 1982, MAPA GEOLOGICO NACIONAL DE LA REPUBLICA DEL ECUADOR, SCALE 1:1,000,000.

  • Deposit

    GOOSSENS, P.J., FOZZARD, P.M., AND MOSQUERA, C.C., 1969, MINERAL INDEX MAP REPUBLIC OF ECUADOR: NACIONAL DE GEOLOGIA Y MINERA, MINISTERIO DE INDUSTRIAS Y COMERCIO, QUITO, ECUADOR, SCALE 1:1,000,000.

  • Deposit

    INEMIN INSTITUTO ECUATORIANO MINERALIA, 1987, MAPA CATASTRAL MINERO ECUATORIANO.

  • Deposit

    GEMUTS, I., LOPEZ, G., AND JIMENEZ, F., 1992, GOLD DEPOSITS OF SOUTHERN ECUADOR, SOCIETY OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGISTS NEWSLETTER, NO. 11, OCT. 92, PP. 14-16.

  • Deposit

    STOLL, W.C., 1962, NOTES ON THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF ECUADOR, ECON. GEOL., 57(5), P. 799-808.

  • Deposit

    PUIG, C.A., 1984, ECUADOR LOOKING TO MINING INCOME TO SUPPLEMENT OIL REVENUES, ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL, 185, P. 85,89,92.

  • Deposit

    THOURNOUT, VAN AND MERLYN, M., 1990, NUEVO MODELO METALOGENICO EN PORTOVELO, MINERIA ECUATORIANA, NO. 2, P. 17-19.

  • Deposit

    GUSIAMANO, A.J., 1982, ESTUDIO MINERALOGICO DE PORTOVELO, FLYSCH, NO. 3, P. 95-128.

  • Deposit

    1964 UNDP

  • Deposit

    MANY AT MINE. UNDP REPORTS AT UN, NY OF LIMITED DISTRIBUTION

  • Deposit

    1968 UNDP, REPORT ON NEGATIVE RESULTS

  • Production

    UNDP, ECUADOR, REPORT NO 2, 1969

  • Reserve-Resource

    UNDP, ECUADOR, REPORT NO. 2, 1969

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit First Production Year: 1549 SPORADICALLY, FROM 1878 FORMALLY
Deposit 20 BRANCHING VEINS UP TO 1000 M LONG AND 600 M DEEP.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-FEB-1974 Irving, Earl M. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-MAY-1993 Lopez, Tony U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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