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Arizona Central Mine

Producer in Greenlee county in Arizona, United States with commodities Copper, Zinc, Iron
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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 10111298
MRDS ID M800414
Record type Site
Current site name Arizona Central Mine
Alternate or previous names Copper Mountain Tunnel, Detroit Copper Co. Group, Williams Vein, Arizona Central Vein

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -109.36871, 33.07677 (WGS84)
Elevation 1494
Location accuracy 100(meters)
Relative position UNDER PRESENT TOWN OF MORENCI., Used Blm District Sheets 840 And 841

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 21 NE OF NW (21); E2 OF SW (16) Arizona

Comments on the location information

  • POINT IN E2 OF SW QUARTER, SECTION 16, WAS USED FOR UTM AND GEODETIC COORDINATES, BASED ON CLAIM LOCATION INFORAMTION. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1973)

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary
Zinc Critical Secondary
Iron Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • GOSLARITE OCCURS AS EFFLORESCENCE; MAGNETITE MINED AS FLUX ORE.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcocite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Cuprite Ore
Goslarite Ore
Magnetite Ore
Malachite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Epidote Gangue
Garnet Gangue
Limonite Gangue
Pyroxene Gangue
Tremolite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Sericitization Of Granite With The Introduction Of Pyrite And Chalcopyrite In Veinlets

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite
    Rock unit name Morenci Granite Porphyry;Coronado Quartzite
    Rock description Morenci Granite Porphyry;Coronado Quartzite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pliocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
    Rock unit name Modoc Limestone;Morenci Shale;Longfellow Limestone
    Rock description Modoc Limestone;Morenci Shale;Longfellow Limestone

Nearby scientific data

(1) -109.36871, 33.07677
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Ne Trending Fissure Veins; Porphyry Dike Of 500 Ft Maximum Width Connects In 2 Places With The Main Porphyry Mass Of Copper Mountain
Type of structure Local
Structure description Ne Trending Fissure Veins Are Partly In Porphyry And Partly In Contact-Metamorphosed Limestones; Veins Occasionally Outcrop On Surface; Apache Fault, N45w, 65 Ne, 15 Associated With Faults That Cut The Deposit

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR
    Strike NE
    Dip 70-90 NW
    Width 7.32M
    Depth to top 30.48M
    Depth to bottom 518.16M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Majority Of Ore Is Contained In The Ne Trending Williams Vein Which Follows A Porphyry Dike Of Greatly Varying Width; Concentrated Along Contact Between Sedimentary Rocks And Porphyry; Lode Follows Apache Fault Zone On Se Side Of Property

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE WILLIAMS VEIN CONTAINS SOLID COPPER UP TO 8 INCHES THICK WITH A FIBROUS STRUCTURE AND PROBABLY PSEUDOMORPHOUS AFTER CHALCOCITE. INTERGROWTHS OF MAGNETITE, PYRITE, ZINC BLENDE, AND CHALCOPYRITE ARE IRREGULARLY DISTRIBUTED IN THE CARBONATES. CUPRITE IS OFTEN DEPOSITED ON MAGNETITE AND ASSOCIATED WITH LIMONITE.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Medium
Significant No
Discovery year 1870
Discoverer Jim Bullard, John Swisshelm
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 COPPER MOUNTAIN, MANGANESE BLUE, YANKIE, RYERSON, AND MONTEZUMA MINES

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Area 518HA
    Length 304.8M
    Overall depth 91.44M

Comments on the workings information

  • CENTRAL SHAFT IS LOCATED ON AN ENORMOUS DEPOSIT OF LOW GRADE CHALCOCITE ORE. LONG CROSS-CUTS TO NW AND SE EXTEND TO BUTLER AND HUDSON VEINS. MINE CONSISTS OF 3 LEVELS AT 91 FT, 143 FT, AND 242 FT DEPTHS; EXTENSIVE DRIFTING NE ALONG THE VEINS AND STOPING TO WIDTHS OF 100 FT.

Comments on development

  • OWNERS INCLUDED WILLIAM CHURCH (1875), DETROIT COPPER MINING CO; ARIZONA CENTRAL IS ONE OF ORIGINAL MORENCI CLAIMS IN ADDITION TO COPPER MOUNTAIN, MONTEZUMA, YANKIE, LONGFELLOW.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    USGS PP 43, P. 281-291.

  • Deposit

    BLM DISTRICT SHEETS 840 AND 841.

  • Deposit

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

  • Deposit

    CLELAND, ROBERT G., 1952, A HISTORY OF PHELPS DODGE, P. 81.

  • Deposit

    ARIZ BUR MINES BULL 149, NO 15.

  • Deposit

    ABGMT-USBM FILE DATA.

  • Other Database

    CIMRI

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit ARIZONA CENTRAL CLAIM IS LOCATED ON 2 PARALLEL VEINS, THE WILLIAMS VEIN AND THE ARIZONA CENTRAL VEIN; MOST DEVELOPMENT OCCURRED ON THE WILLIAMS VEIN.

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.