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Copper Mountain Mine

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

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10088902
MRDS ID M800424
Record type Site
Current site name Copper Mountain Mine
Alternate or previous names Manganese Blue Ore Body, Detroit Copper Co Group

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -109.36843, 33.07593 (WGS84)
Elevation 1486
Location accuracy 100(meters)
Relative position UNDER PRESENT TOWN OF MORENCI., Used Blm District Sheet 840 And Usgs Professional Paper 43 (1905), Used Blm District Sheet 840 And Usgs Professional Paper 43 (1905)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Greenlee(county)

Arizona(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Clifton(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Clifton(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Clifton(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

San Francisco(hydrologic unit)

Upper Gila(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Gila(hydrologic subregion)

Lower Colorado(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Arizona Greenlee

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Gila and Salt River 004S 029E 16 SE OF SW OF SW OF SE Arizona

Comments on the location information

  • SW OF HUMBOLDT SHAFT; SE OF ARIZONA CENTRAL SHAFT. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1973)

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary
Zinc Critical Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Brochantite Ore
Chalcanthite Ore
Chalcocite Ore
Cuprite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Epidote Gangue
Garnet Gangue
Malachite Unknown

Alteration

  • (Local) Oxidation To Greatly Varying Depths; Chalcocite Coats Large Bodies Of Sericitized Porphyry Containing Disseminated Pyrite

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Quartz Monzonite
    Rock unit name Morenci Granite Porphyry
    Rock description Morenci Granite Porphyry
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Ordovician
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Ordovician
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pliocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
    Rock unit name Longfellow Limestone
    Rock description Longfellow Limestone

Nearby scientific data

(1) -109.36843, 33.07593
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Copper Mountain Fault Separates Rich Disseminated Chalcocite Ore From Barren Porphyry
Type of structure Local
Structure description Cuprite And Copper Carbonates Occur, Associated With A Small Mass Of Limestone Embedded In Porphyry, On The Boundary Between The Copper Mountain And Humboldt Mines; South Of The Main Adit Is A Rich Well-Defined Chalcocite Seam About 14 Inches Wide

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR
    Strike N15E
    Dip 70SE
    Depth to top 30.48M
    Depth to bottom 121.92M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Ne Trending Fissure Veins Containing An Enormous Deposit Of Low-Grade Chalcocite Ore, Changing To Poor Primary Sulfides At Varying Depth

Comments on the geologic information

  • INTERGROWTHS OF MAGNETITE, PYRITE, ZINC BLENDE, AND CHALCOPYRITE ARE IRREGULARLY DISTRIBUTED IN THE CARBONATES. CHALCOCITE ORE BODY IS USUALLY CONSIDERED TO BE A PART OF THE HUMBOLDT LODE OR AN EXTENSION OF THE WELLINGTON VEIN. ABOVE DESCRIBES THE SECTION OF THE COPPER MOUNTAIN TUNNEL THAT RUNS THROUGH THE NW PART OF THE ARIZONA CENTRAL CLAIM. COPPER MOUNTAIN CLAIM HAS ONLY A FEW CENTRAL VEINS OR SEAMS, UNLIKE THE OTHER GREAT ORE BODIES OF COPPER MOUNTAIN.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1872
Discoverer W. L. Ryerson, John Swisshelm, Jim Bullard, Joe Yankie
Year of first production 1882
Year of last production 1920

Mining district

District name Copper Mountain District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Phelps Dodge Corp., Morenci Branch
  • Type Owner
    Owner Phelps Dodge Corp., Morenci Branch
    First year 1917

Comments on the production information

  • PRODUCTION DATA INCLUDED IN DETROIT COPPER CO MINES; OTHER DETROIT COPPER CO MINES ARE THE ARIZONA CENTRAL, MANGANESE BLUE, RYERSON, YANKIE, AND MONTEZUMA MINES.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Length 304.8M
    Overall depth 152.4M

Comments on the workings information

  • DEVELOPMENTS INCLUDED A 1000 FT TUNNEL THAT RUNS TO THE NW, 500 FT BELOW THE WESTERN CREST OF COPPER MOUNTAIN, IN THE ARIZONA CENTRAL CLAIM. SEVERAL STOPES IN THE COPPER MOUNTAIN AND BLUE MANGANESE LODES, REACHING 100 FT IN WIDTH; EXTENSIVE DRIFTING ALONG VEINS.

Comments on development

  • OWNERS INCLUDED DETROIT COPPER MINING CO OF ARIZONA; MANGANESE BLUE ORE BODY AND SHAFT ARE ALSO LOCATED ON COPPER MOUNTAIN CLAIM; COPPER MOUNTAIN MINE TUNNEL EXTENDS ONTO ARIZONA CENTRAL CLAIM

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    ABGMT-USBM FILE DATA.

  • Deposit

    BLM DISTRICT SHEET 840.

  • Deposit

    WATT, ROBERTA, 1956, HISTORY OF MORENCI ARIZONA, M.A. THESIS, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA.

  • Deposit

    USGS PP 43, P. 276-278.

  • Deposit

    STEVENS, H. J., 1911, THE COPPER HANDBOOK, V. X, P. 734-735, DETROIT COPPER MINING CO OF ARIZONA

  • Deposit

    ARIZ BUR MINES BULL 149, NO. 15.

  • Deposit

    BENNETT, K. C., 1975, GEOLOGY AND ORIGIN OF THE BRECCIAS IN THE MORENCI-METCALF DISTRICT, GREENLEE COUNTY, ARIZONA: M.S. THESIS, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, 153 P.

  • Other Database

    CIMRI

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit COPPER MOUNTAIN MINE OPENS ONTO ARIZONA CENTRAL VEIN AND ONTO SEVERAL IRREGULAR CARBONATE DEPOSITS IN LIMESTONE.
Deposit SEE ALSO: ARIZONA CENTRAL MINE, MANGANESE BLUE MINE. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-DEC-81 Calder, Susan R. Arizona Bureau of Geology and Mineral Technology

Beyond USGS

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

Maps centered on this site

Authoritative Arizona resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.