Arivaca Creek Placers

Past Producer in Pima county in Arizona, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Tungsten, Mercury
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. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Ore body information
  12. Controls for ore emplacement
  13. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Mining district
  15. Ownership information
  16. Reserves and resources
  17. Links to other databases
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10026916
MRDS ID M001045
Record type Site
Current site name Arivaca Creek Placers
Related records 10137360

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -111.35902, 31.59152 (WGS84)
Elevation 1067
Relative position FROM ARIVACA TO 5 MILES NW.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Pima(county)

Arizona(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Arivaca(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Sells(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Nogales(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Brawley Wash(hydrologic unit)

Santa Cruz(hydrologic accounting unit)

Middle Gila(hydrologic subregion)

Lower Colorado(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

ST(Federal land areas administered by ST)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Arizona Pima

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Gila and Salt River 021S;021S 009E;010E 11,13,14,19,20,29 Arizona

Comments on the location information

  • UTM IS GENERAL FOR PLACER AREA. TOWNSHIP MAY BE 20S.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Secondary
Tungsten Critical Tertiary
Mercury Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Cinnabar Gangue
Wolframite Gangue

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 119
USGS model code 39a
Deposit model name Placer Au-PGE
Mark3 model number 54

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Gravel
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Holocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Sand and Gravel

Nearby scientific data

(1) -111.35902, 31.59152

Economic information

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULARLY DISTRIBUTED
    Thickness 6.1M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • At Or Near Bedrock.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Production years 1950'S

Mining district

District name Arivaca District

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner New Venture Placer Mining Co.
    First year 1950

Comments on the production information

  • "FEW" THOUSAND OUNCES OF GOLD PRIOR TO 1900 , A "FEW" HUNDRED OUNCES SINCE THEN.

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1985
    Total resources 160000000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Gold Au 2 g/mt Gold Major 1985

Comments on the workings information

  • SMALL SCATTERED WORKINGS WITH DRY WASHERS USED EXCEPT WHEN WATER AVAILABLE. SLUICES AND A CLARK AGITATING SLUICE ALSO HAVE BEEN USED.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    JOHNSON, M.G., 1972, PLACER GOLD DEPOSITS OF ARIZONA: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1355, 103 P.

  • Deposit

    KEITH, S. B., 1974 , INDEX OF MINING PROPERTIES IN PIMA COUNTY, ARIZONA: ARIZONA BUREAU OF MINES BULLETIN 189 , P. 104 .

  • Deposit

    WILSON, E. D., 1952 , ARIZONA GOLD PLACERS AND PLACERING (FIFTH EDITION REVISED): ARIZONA BUREAU OF MINES BULLETIN 160 , P. 78 - 80 .

  • Deposit

    ORRIS, G.J., AND BLISS, J.D., 1985, GEOLOGIC AND GRADE-VOLUME DATA ON 330 GOLD PLACER DEPOSITS: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OPEN-FILE REPORT 85-213, 172 P.

  • Other Database

    CIMRI

  • Production

    FIRST 2 CUMULATIVE PRODUCTION FIGURES ARE FROM KEITH, 1974. THIRD CUMULATIVE PRODUCTION FIGURE IS FROM JOHNSON, 1972.

  • Reserve-Resource

    1905 RESERVES FROM JOHNSON, 1972. DEPOSIT SIZE-GRADE ESTIMATE FROM ORRIS AND BLISS, 1985.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit GRAVELS CONTAIN ABUNDANT BLACK SAND (WITH CINNABAR AND WOLFRAMITE). SOURCE OF GOLD IS BELIEVED TO BE CRET-TERT GOLD-BEARING QUARTZ VEINS.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-NOV-1979 Johnson, Kris H. (Creasey, S.C.) U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-OCT-1992 Orris, Greta J. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

Authoritative Arizona resources

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