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San Agustin

Producer in Coahuila De Zaragoza, Mexico with commodity Strontium
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Mineral occurrence model information
  8. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Ore body information
  11. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  12. Mining district
  13. Ownership information
  14. Reserves and resources
  15. Links to other databases
  16. Bibliographic references
  17. General comments
  18. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10023351
MRDS ID I000233
Record type Site
Current site name San Agustin

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -102.0004, 25.5337 (WGS84)
Relative position DEPOSIT IS NORTH-NORTHWEST OF PARRAS DE LA FUENTE AND BETWEEN SALTILLO AND TORREON.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Pima(county)

Arizona(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country State
Mexico Coahuila De Zaragoza

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Strontium Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • THE CELESTITE IS USUALLY WHITE, MEDIUM- TO COARSE-GRAINED, AND FORMS ANHEDRAL, EQUANT CRYSTALS UP TO 0.75 INCHES LONG.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Celestite Ore
Barite Gangue
Calcite Gangue
Fluorite Gangue
Gypsum Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Analytical data

Result CELESTITE AVERAGES 92% SRSO4, 0.80% BASO4, 0.50% SIO2, WITH MUCH OF THE REMAINDER MADE UP OF CALCIUM SULFATE.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 249
USGS model code 35a.1
Deposit model name Bedded celestite

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
    Rock unit name Aurora Formation
    Rock description Aurora Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Cretaceous

Nearby scientific data

(1) -102.0004, 25.5337
ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

  • General form MANTO
    Dip 0 (HORIZONTAL)
    Thickness 2.5M
    Length 1000M

Comments on the geologic information

  • MEXICO'S MAJOR CELESTITE DEPOSITS ARE LOCATED SEAWARD OF THE LOWER CRETACEOUS SHORE LINE AS EXPRESSED BY THE COAHUILA PENINSULA.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Non-metallic
Deposit size Large
Significant No

Mining district

District name Paila-Alamitos

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Compania Minera La Valenciana S.A.
    First year 1992

Comments on the production information

  • PRODUCTION GRADE AVERAGES 92% SRSO4 (1991).

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1983
    Total resources 340000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Strontium SrSO4 92 wt-pct Strontium Major 1983
  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1992
    Demonstrated 349000000mt ore
    Inferred 600000000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Strontium SrSO4 90 wt-pct Strontium Major 1992

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • THE BRINE AVERAGES 20.3% NA, 8.5% MG, 14.8% CL, AND 56.4% SO4. RESERVES ARE ADEQUATE FOR 200 YEARS AT CURRENT PUMPING RATE OF 8,000 CUBIC METERS/DAY (GRIFFITHS, 1988).

Comments on the workings information

  • CURRENTLY SODIUM SULFATE AND MAGNESIA ARE BEING PRODUCED FROM THE BRINES. IN 1988, 1 SQ KM WAS BEING EXPLOITED BY 70 WELLS.

Comments on development

  • ECON.COM: BRINE IS PUBMPED TO THE PLANT WHERE IT IS COOOLED TO 8 DEGREES C IN ADIABATIC CRYSTALLIZERS. THE RESULTING SALT IS DEHYDRATED IN MULTIPLE-EFFECT EVAPORATORS AND DRIED IN ROTARY KILNS. THE SPENT BRINE IS USED FOR MAGNESIUM OXIDE PRODUCTION. IN 1988, THE PRODUCTION CAPACITY WAS 470,000 TPA OF SODIUM SULFATE.
  • ECON.COM: PRODUCT IS GUARANTEED TO CONTAIN 90% SRSO4 OR BETTER.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    HARBEN, P.W., AND BATES, R.L., 1991, CELESTITE, IN INDUSTRIAL MINERALS--GEOLOGY AND WORLD DEPOSITS: LONDON, INDUSTRIAL MINERALS DIVISION, METAL BULLETIN PLC, P. 49-51.

  • Deposit

    WHITE, LANE, 1980, MINING IN MEXICO: FEEDING NEEDED RAW MATERIALS TO A RAPIDLY EXPANDING ECONOMY: ENGINEERING MINING JOURNAL, V. 181, NO. 11, P. 62-194.

  • Deposit

    CONSEJO DE RECURSOS MINERALES, 1993, MONOGRAFIA GEOLOGICO-MINERA DEL ESTADO DE COAHUILA: CONSEJO DE RECURSOS MINERALES PUBLICACION M-9E, 154 P.

  • Other Database

    CIMRI

  • Reserve-Resource

    HARBEN AND BATES, 1984; CONSEJO DE RECURSOS MINERALES, 1993.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THE DRY LAKE IS A CRYSTALLINE EVAPORITE BODY COVERING AN AREA OF 40 SQUARE KILOMETERS AND CONTAINS 560 MILLION CUBIC METERS WITH A GROSS WEIGHT OF 1.064 BILLION TONNES. THE BRINE FIELD EXTENDS OVER AN AREA OF ABOUT 80 SQ KM. THE LAKE BED IS LENTICULAR IN CROSS SECTION AND HAS A MAXIMUM THICKNESS OF 35 M. THE DEPOSIT CONSISTS OF A SOLID EVAPORITE AND BRINE IN A POROUS GLAUBERITE LAYER THAT IS 25% VOIDS. THE EVAPORITE CONSISTS OF GLAUBERITE WITH MINOR BLOEDITE AND OTHER SODIUM AND MAGNESIUM SALTS. A LITTLE MIRABILITE IS PRESENT AS A CEMENT FOR GLAUBERITE CRYSTALS. GYPSUM IS MOST ABUNDANT NEAR THE BOTTOM OF THE FORMATION AND AS THIN LENTICULAR BEDS AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS. RED TO GREEN CLAY LAYERS (1-3M THICK) ARE PERSISTENT THROUGHOUT THE BEDS. THE OVERBURDEN IS ONLY A FEW METERS THICK AND CONSISTS OF GYPSUM AND SILT. BENEATH THE MAIN EVAPORITE DEPOSIT IS A LAYER OF GRAYISH GREEN SILT CONTAINING GYPSUM, HALITE, AND GLAUBERITE. CLAY LAYERS FORM AN IMPERVIOUS BARRIER BETWEEN VERY
Deposit CONCENTRATED BRINE AT A LOWER LEVEL (DENSITY = 1.28 TO 1.32) AND A MORE DILUTE BRINE AT A HIGHER LEVEL (DENSITY = 1.2). THE EVAPORITE BRINE AVERAGES 382 G/L OF SALTS. THE BRINE IS PUMPED FROM A DEPTH OF 30 M.
Deposit SEE ALSO MRDS RECORDS MX06087 AND MX06088.
Deposit THE CELESTITE-BEARING UNIT IS ALMOST 20 MILES LONG, 15 FEET (5 M) THICK AND FLAT-LYING. THE DEPOSIT IS HOSTED BY DARK GRAY MASSIVE FINE-GRAINED LIMESTONE. THE DEPOSIT IS VIRTUALLY MONOMINERALIC.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-APR-1991 Orris, Greta J. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-APR-1992 Orris, Greta J. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-JUN-1994 Orris, Greta J. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-FEB-1995 Orris, Greta J. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

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