El Espavelar Mine

Past Producer in Guanacaste, Costa Rica with commodity Manganese
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. Ore body information
  13. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Mining district
  15. Ownership information
  16. Links to other databases
  17. Bibliographic references
  18. General comments
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10101367
MRDS ID CS00081
Record type Site
Current site name El Espavelar Mine
Alternate or previous names Lagarto Area

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -85.74163, 10.13441 (WGS84)
Elevation 91

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Guanacaste(province)

Costa Rica(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country State
Costa Rica Guanacaste

Comments on the location information

  • 9 11 KM EAST OF LAGARTO. THE WORKINGS ARE AT THE SUMMITS OF ROLLING HILLS ABOVE RIO ESPAVELAR. FOUR MAIN AREAS ALONG A 460-M-LONG NW-TRENDING BELT: NO. 1, AT THE SE END OF THE BELT; NO. 2, ABOUT 150 M NW OF NO. 1; NO. 3, 300 M W OF NO. 2; AND NO. 4, 90 M S OF NO. 3.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Manganese Critical Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Braunite Ore
Pyrolusite Ore

Alteration

  • (Local) Silicification

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 97
USGS model code 24c
Deposit model name Volcanogenic Mn

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -85.74163, 10.13441

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Nw- And W-Trending Fractures

Ore body information

  • General form REPLACEMENT BODIES AND SMALL, IRREGULAR POCKETS
    Thickness 9M

Comments on the geologic information

  • ONLY JASPER AND DIORITE ENCOUNTERED BY ADIT. KUYPERS AND DENYER (1979) REPORT THAT HOST IS BASALT.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No

Mining district

District name Rio Seco-Lagarto District

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Rothe Co.

Comments on the production information

  • THE GRADE OF THE ORE IS UNKNOWN, BUT JUDGING FROM MATERIAL ON DUMPS IN 1944, SOME WAS HIGH GRADE, SOME SILICEOUS. NO. 1 PRODUCED LESS THAN 100 METRIC TONNES; MATERIAL SHOWING IN THE PITS IS SILICEOUS AND LOW GRADE. NO. 2 PRODUCED 300 METRIC TONNES; SOME HIGH-GRADE PYROLUSITE, BUT MUCH OF ORE IS SILICEOUS. NO. 3 PRODUCED 500 METRIC TONNES. NO. 4 PRODUCED 800 METRIC TONNES.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • SMALL AMOUNT OF ORE REMAINING IN PITS AND ON DUMPS; MINE APPEARS EXHAUSTED. SMALL OREBODIES IN JAPER MIGHT BE FOUND, BUT NOT REACHING THE SIZE OF NO. 3.

Comments on the workings information

  • AT NO. 4, THERE IS AN OPEN CUT 30 M LONG AND AN ADIT 15 M LONG DRIVEN SOUTH INTO THE HILL FROM THE OPEN CUT.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit IRREGULAR POCKETS IN JASPER FORMED BY REPLACEMENT OF SHALE ALONG A SHALE-DIORITE CONTACT, THE POCKETS FOLLOWING NW- AND W-TRENDING FRACTURES. JASPER ZONE IS NEARLY HORIZONTAL AND UP TO 9 M THICK.
Deposit FORMERLY NORTHERN RHODESIA, WHICH IS CREDITED FOR PRODUCING 5,033 SHORT TONS VANADIUM IN CONCENTRATES 1930-1952 (USBM I. C. 8060, 1961.) REEVE, W. H., 1963, N. RHODESIA GEOL. SURVEY, BULL. 3, V. 1, P. 174, GIVES PRODUCTION OF V2O5, 1919-1961, AS 9,124.51 LONG TONS (ABOUT 5,720 SHORT TONS VANADIUM)

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAR-1986 Howe, Stephen S. U.S. Geological Survey PARSED HOST ROCK AND ASSOCIATED ROCK INFORMATION FROM OLD SINGLE VALUED FIELD TO NEW MULTIVALUED FIELD
Editor 27-APR-1995 Mosier, Dan U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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