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Copperstone Open Pit

Plant in La Paz county in Arizona, United States with commodities Gold, Silver
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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. Nearby scientific data
  9. Ore body information
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Mining district
  12. Mineral rights holdings
  13. Land status
  14. Ownership information
  15. Production statistics
  16. Reserves and resources
  17. Links to other databases
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10259110
MRDS ID TC00084
MAS/MILS ID 0040120006
Record type Site
Current site name Copperstone Open Pit
Alternate or previous names Copperstone, Copperstone Underground, Continental Silver Claim Group
Related records 10056413

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Ore Body
Geographic coordinates: -114.29999, 33.87925 (WGS84)
Elevation 270
Location accuracy 100(meters)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

La Paz(county)

Arizona(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Moon Mountain NE(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Blythe(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Salton Sea(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Tyson Wash(hydrologic unit)

Lower Colorado(hydrologic accounting unit)

Lower Colorado(hydrologic subregion)

Lower Colorado(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Bureau of Land Management(Bureau of Land Management AZ)

Bureau of Land Management AZ BLM(Type of land area)

BLM(Federal land areas administered by BLM)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Arizona La Paz

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Gila and Salt River 006 N 020 W 12 SW Arizona

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Amethyst Unknown
Barite Unknown
Chlorite Unknown
Chrysocolla Unknown
Feldspar Unknown
Fluorite Unknown
Goethite Unknown
Gold Unknown
Hematite Unknown
Kaolinite Unknown
Magnetite Unknown
Plagioclase Unknown
Pyrolusite Unknown
Quartz Unknown
Sericite Unknown
Silver Unknown

Nearby scientific data

Ore Body (1) -114.29999, 33.87925
ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

  • Strike N25W
    Dip 32E
    Thickness 15M
    Length 762M
    Width 122M
    Area 2800HA
    Depth to top 55M
    Field Value
    MAS Matrix # 1
    MAS Column # 1
    Type of Orebody #1 BRECCIA FILL
    Shape of Orebody #1 TABULAR
    Type of Orebody #2 FISSURE VEIN
    Primary mode of Origin HYDROTHERMAL
    Primary Ore Control FRACTURING
    Secondary Ore Control LITHOLOGY
    Degree of Wallrock Alter. SLIGHT
    Type of Wallrock Alter. #1 ADV ARGILLIC
    Type of Wallrock Alter. #2 SERICITIC
    Type of Wallrock Alter. #3 CARBONITIZATION
    Strike And Dip N25W:32E
    Minimum Depth to Top 10
    Avg. Thick. Unconsol. Mat. 23
    Min. Thick. Unconsol. Mat. 10
    Total Surface Area (HA) 2800
    Date of Last Modification 970429

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface
Development status Plant
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Medium
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1979
Mining method Open Stope
Year of first production 1987
Plant type Leach
Plant subcategory Hydromet
Milling method Hydrometallurgy Unspecified

Mining district

District name La Paz District

Mineral rights holdings

Type of mineral rights Located Claim
Type of mineral rights Private Lease

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Cyprus Minerals Co. (Working Interest From Owner)
    ID 202364
    Home office Colorado
    Year 1988
    First year 1987
    Last year 1995
  • Type Owner
    Owner Dan Patch (Retains Royalty Right From Production)
    ID 202364
    Interest 100
    Year 1988
  • Type Operator
    Owner Morrison-Knudson Co. (31 Month Contract-Jun.'87-Dec.'89)
    ID 202364
    Home office Idaho
    Year 1988
    First year 1987
    Last year 1988

Production statistics

  • Year 1987
    Description 93.31 Kgs Au Produced 66000 Mt Ore Mined
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Gold Gold 93310g
  • Year 1988
    Description 1,953.1 Kgs Au Produced 822000 Mt Ore Mined Dore 97% Au
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Gold Gold 822000mt 97wt-pct
  • Year 1989
    Description 2,270.6 Kgs Au Produced 797000 Mt Ore Mined
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Gold Gold 2270600g
  • Year 1990
    Description 3,328.1 Kgs Au Produced 1130000 Mt Ore Mined
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Gold Gold 3328100g
  • Year 1991
    Description 3,474.3 Kgs Au Produced 1351000 Mt Ore Mined
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Gold Gold 3474300g
  • Year 1992
    Description Economic Ore Depleted, Dec 1992.
  • Year 1992
    Description 3,614.2 Kgs Au Produced 1905000 Mt Ore Mned
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Gold Gold 3614200g

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1990
    Demonstrated 4400000mt ore
    Total resources 4400000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Gold Au 5.38 g/mt Gold Major 1990
  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1991
    Demonstrated 1905000mt ore
    Total resources 1905000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Gold Au 2.43 g/mt Gold Major 1991

Comments on the workings information

  • POND NO. 1 = 18 ACRES; POND NO. 2 = 43 ACRES.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    ROUNDS, MIKE (ADVISOR; PUBLIC, GOVERNMENT AND INVESTOR

  • Deposit

    RELATIONS WITH CYPRUS MINERALS COMPANY). NEWS RELEASE.

  • Deposit

    ENGLEWOOD, CO. NOVEMBER 18, 1987, 3 PP.

  • Deposit

    HAGMAN, RICHARD H. (MANAGER; PUBLIC, GOVERNMENT AND INVESTOR

  • Deposit

    ENGLEWOOD, CO. JULY 28, 1988, 5 PP.

  • Deposit

    CYPRUS MINERALS COMPANY, 1988 S.E.C., FORM 10-K REPORT, P 4.

  • Deposit

    CYPRUS MINERALS CO., 1990 SEC, FORM 10-K REPORT, PP. 2, 4-5.

  • Deposit

    CYPRUS MINERALS CO., 1991 SEC, FORM 10-K REPORT, P7.

  • Deposit

    CYPRUS MINERALS CO., 1992 SEC, FORM 10-K REPORT, P10.

  • Deposit

    CYPRUS AMAX MINERALS COMPANY, 1993 SEC, FORM 10-K REPORT,

  • Deposit

    P14.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit FORMER OPEN PIT MINE; PRODUCED APPROXIMATELY 500,000 OZ GOLD FROM 1987 TO 1992. 284 GOLD LODE CLAIMS HELD BY CYPRUS CORP UNDER A LONG TERM LEASE. ECONOMIC GOLD ORE DEPLETED DECEMBER, 1992; PLANT WILL TREAT LOW GRADE STOCKPILED ORE UNTIL APRIL 1993.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 16-JUN-97 Buckingham, David A. U.S. Bureau of Mines

Beyond USGS

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

Current status (per MSHA)

StatusAbandoned since 10/12/1993
MSHA mine ID0202364
Mine name (MSHA)Cyprus Copperstone Gold Corporation
Current operatorCyprus Mines Corp
Current controller (parent)Cyprus Amax Minerals Company
Mine typeSurface (Metal / non-metal)

MSHA cross-reference per the original MRDS record. Mine status and operator reflect MSHA's last published Mines export (February 2025); MSHA's public bulk feed has been unavailable since, so this may be out of date. See the Mine Data Retrieval System for current status.

Open MSHA's Mine Data Retrieval System for inspections, accidents, and violations for this mine.

External references

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.