Safford Deposit

Past Producer in Graham county in Arizona, United States with commodities Copper, Molybdenum, Gold, Silver, Lead, Zinc
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. Mineral occurrence model information
  10. Host and associated rocks
  11. Nearby scientific data
  12. Geologic structures
  13. Ore body information
  14. Controls for ore emplacement
  15. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  16. Mining district
  17. Land status
  18. Ownership information
  19. Reserves and resources
  20. Workings at the site
  21. Links to other databases
  22. Bibliographic references
  23. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10027031
MRDS ID M001755
Record type Deposit
Current site name Safford Deposit
Alternate or previous names Kennecott Safford, Lone Star Mine

Comments on the site identification

  • ****SEE Associated Deposits: Dos Pobres Mine- Deposit ID 10096999
    Lone Star- Deposit ID 10209543
    San Juan Mine- Deposit ID 10027008
    Sanchez Copper Deposit- Deposit ID 10026888
    Safford Mine- Deposit ID 10400314

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -109.60565, 32.94177 (WGS84)
Relative position 10 MI NE OF SAFFORD.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Graham(county)

Arizona(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Lone Star Mountain(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Safford(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Silver City(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper Gila-San Carlos Reservoir(hydrologic unit)

Upper Gila(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Gila(hydrologic subregion)

Lower Colorado(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Arizona Graham

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Gila and Salt River 006S 027E 05 Arizona

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary
Molybdenum Primary
Gold Secondary
Silver Secondary
Lead Secondary
Zinc Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Antlerite Ore
Bornite Ore
Brochantite Ore
Chalcanthite Ore
Chalcocite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Chrysocolla Ore
Covellite Ore
Cuprite Ore
Galena Ore
Gold Ore
Malachite Ore
Molybdenite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Tenorite Ore
Tetrahedrite Ore
Turquoise Ore
Alunite Gangue
Goethite Gangue
Hematite Gangue
Jarosite Gangue
Limonite Gangue
Magnetite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) 4 Hypogene Alteration Zones 1) Seritization & Silicification In Rhyolite, Latite, Quartz Latite, 2) Biotization In Andesite, 3) Chloritization, 4) Propylitic Alteration. Ore Body Is In Zones 1) & 2). Supergene Enrichment Has Taken Place To Average Depth Of 440 Ft

Analytical data

Result CPY:PY=2:1 IN PRIMARY ORE ZONE, PYRITE IS 0.2-1.0% OF ORE BODY BY VOLUME

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 53
USGS model code 17
Deposit model name Porphyry Cu
Mark3 model number 4

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Quartz Monzonite
    Rock unit name Lone Star Pluton
    Rock description Lone Star Pluton
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Eocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Eocene
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Rhyolite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Dacite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Latite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -109.60565, 32.94177

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Lone Star Shear Zone 6000 Ft Wide And 16,000 Ft Long, Strikes N50- 65e, Steep To Vertical Dip

Ore body information

  • Thickness 457.2M
    Length 6096M
    Width 2743.2M
    Depth to top 304.8M
    Depth to bottom 762M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Ne Trending Shears Intruded By Dikes

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface-Underground
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Medium
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1899
Production years 1899-1939

Mining district

District name Lone Star District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Kennecott

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1974
    Total resources 136054000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Copper Cu 0.7 wt-pct Copper Major 1974

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Length 914.4M
    Overall depth 245.06M

Comments on the workings information

  • Development Shaft Sunk In 1961 To A Depth Of 804 Ft, With 1500 Ft Of Crosscutting, 1500 Of Drifting. Surface And Underground Drilling.

Comments on development

  • Area Mined Includes The Old Borton Mine.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Robinson, R.F. & A. Cook (1966), The Safford copper deposit, Lone Star mining district, Graham County, Arizona, in S.R. Titley and C.L. Hicks (editors), Geology of the porphyry copper deposits, southwestern North America, University of Arizona Press, Tucson: 251-266.

  • Geology

    Langton J M, Williams S A 1982 - Structural, petrological and mineralogical controls for the Dos Pobres orebody, Lone Star Mining District, Graham County, Arizona: in Titley S R 1983 Advances in Geology of the Porphyry Copper Deposits, Southwestern North America University of Arizona Press, Tucson pp 335-352

  • Geology

    The Porter GeoConsultancy webpage for Dos Pobres, Safford contains a description of the geology as of 8/4/2010.
    http://www.portergeo.com.au/

  • Deposit

    Dunn, P.G. (1978) Geologic structure of the Safford district, Arizona, in Jenney, J.P., and Hauck, H.R., eds., Proceedings of the Porphyry Copper Symposium, Tucson, Arizona, March 18-20, 1976: Arizona Geological Society Digest: 11: 9-15.

  • Geology

    Mindat.org contains a description of the Safford deposit as of 8/4/2010.
    http://www.mindat.org/loc-53634.html

  • Deposit

    Cook And Robinson, 1962, N. Mex. Geol. Soc. 13th Field Conf. Guidebook.

  • Deposit

    Horsnail, R.F. (1978) Safford district, Graham County, Arizona, in Lovering, R.G., and McCarthy, J.H., Jr., eds., Conceptual models in exploration geochemistry; the Basin and Range Province of the western United States and northern Mexico: Journal of Geochemical Exploration: 9(2-3): 151-153, 241-243.

  • Deposit

    USGS Pp 424-C, P. 151-153.

  • Deposit

    Abm Bull 180, P. 230-238.

  • Deposit

    Yarter, W.V. (1981) Geology, geochemistry, alteration, and mass transfer in the Sol prospect, a sub-economic porphyry copper-molybdenum deposit, Safford district, Graham County, Arizona: Tucson, University of Arizona, M.S. thesis, 136 p.

  • Deposit

    Admr Sr No 2, P. 83-87.

  • Deposit

    Laine, 1974, M.S. Thesis, Univ Of Az.

  • Deposit

    Bolin, 1976, M.S. Thesi S, Univ Of Az.

  • Deposit

    Dewhurst, 1976, M.S. Thesis, Univ Of Az.

  • Deposit

    Valentine, 19??, M.S. Thesis, Univ Of Utah.

  • Deposit

    World Mining, V. 29, No. 4, P. 139.

  • Other Database

    Cimri

  • Reserve-Resource

    World Mining, 1974, P. 139.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-FEB-83 Peterson, Jocelyn A. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 12-SEP-94 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.