1. Mineral Resources
  2. Online Spatial Data
  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Sapo Alegre Prospect

Occurrence in Puerto Rico, United States with commodities Copper, Molybdenum
Map
XML
JSON
KML
C
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. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Geologic structures
  12. Controls for ore emplacement
  13. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Links to other databases
  15. Bibliographic references
  16. General comments
  17. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10085481
MRDS ID W701072
Record type Site
Current site name Sapo Alegre Prospect

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -66.67864, 18.19788 (WGS84)
Relative position 8 KM SOUTHEAST OF UTUADO

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Utuado Municipio(county)

Puerto Rico(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Adjuntas(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Puerto Rico C(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Puerto Rico(hydrologic accounting unit)

Puerto Rico(hydrologic subregion)

Caribbean(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State
United States Puerto Rico

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary
Molybdenum Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Molybdenite Ore

Alteration

  • (Local) Biotite-Chlorite Zone In The Porphyry Near Its Contact With Surrounding Metavolcanics, Contains Cu, Mo, Au, Ag, Se, And Te; A Quartz-Sericite-Pyrite Zone Within The Porphyry, With Metals Of The Biotite-Chlorite Zone Nearly Absent

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 78
USGS model code 20c
Deposit model name Porphyry Cu-Au
Mark3 model number 34

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Eocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Eocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -66.67864, 18.19788
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Mineralized Zone Is Cut By Abundant Faults And Mineralized Fractures Spaced A Few Decimeters Apart

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Mainly Disseminated Chalcopyrite, Veinlet Molybdenite

Comments on the geologic information

  • OTHER ROCK TYPES EXPOSED IN THE DEPOSIT INCLUDE: THE SURROUNDING METAVOLCANIC ROCKS OF PROBABLE CRETACEOUS AGE IN CONTACT WITH THE PORPHYRY; AND POSTMINERALIZATION GRANODIORITE, QUARTZ MONZONITE, AND DIORITE IN SMALL DIKES, OF EOCENE AGE.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1957
Discoverer W.R. Bergey

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • TOO SMALL FOR ECONOMIC MINING (COX AND OTHERS, 1975).

Comments on development

  • THIS OCCURRENCE INCLUDES THE DISCOVERY OUTCROP THAT FIRST DREW ATTENTION TO THE COPPER RESOURCE POTENTIAL OF WEST-CENTRAL PUERTO RICO; IT WAS DISCOVERED WHILE SEEKING THE SOURCE OF STRONG COPPER AND MOLYBDENUM ANOMALIES IN STREAM SEDIMENTS IN THE RIO VIVI. SUBSEQUENT GEOLOGIC, GEOCHEMICAL, AND DRILLING WORK, MAINLY BY AMERICAN METALS CLIMAX CORP., SHOWED THAT THIS MINERALIZED ZONE WAS TOO SMALL FOR ECONOMIC MINING. HOWEVER, OVER 100 MILLION TONS OF 0.8 PERCENT COPPER ORE WAS PROVED IN TWO NEARBY DEPOSITS, PIEDRA HUECA AND CALA ABAJO.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    COX, DENNIS P., AND BRIGGS, REGINALD P., 1973, METALLOGENIC MAP OF PUERTO RICO: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, MISCELLANEOUS GEOLOGIC INVESTIGATIONS MAP I-721, ACCOMPANIED BY EXPLANATORY PAMPHLET, 6 P.

  • Deposit

    COX, DENNIS P., PEREZ GONZALEZ, ILEANA, AND NASH, J. THOMAS, 1975, GEOLOGY, GEOCHEMISTRY, AND FLUID-INCLUSION PETROGRAPHY OF THE SAPO ALEGRE PORPHYRY COPPER PROSPECT AND ITS METAVOLCANIC WALLROCKS, WEST-CENTRAL PUERTO RICO: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY JOUR. RESEARCH, V. 3, NO. 3, P. 313-327.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit DIFFERS FROM MOST OTHER DEPOSITS IN PUERTO RICO IN HAVING A HIGH MOLYBDENUM CONTENT.
Deposit [PREVIOUS UPDATER AND DATE: BAWIEC, WALTER J., 90 08.]

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JAN-1990 Paidakovich, Matthew E. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-AUG-1991 Paidakovich, Matthew E. 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