San Xavier Mine Shaft

Producer in Pima county in Arizona, United States with commodities Zinc, Lead, Silver, Copper, Gold
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. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Geologic structures
  11. Ore body information
  12. Controls for ore emplacement
  13. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Mining district
  15. Ownership information
  16. Production statistics
  17. Workings at the site
  18. Links to other databases
  19. Bibliographic references
  20. General comments
  21. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10039577
MRDS ID M050362
Record type Site
Current site name San Xavier Mine Shaft
Related records 10234484

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -111.09375, 31.97318 (WGS84)
Elevation 1082
Relative position 5 MILES NNW OF TWIN BUTTES.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Pima(county)

Arizona(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Twin Buttes(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Sells(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Nogales(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper Santa Cruz(hydrologic unit)

Santa Cruz(hydrologic accounting unit)

Middle Gila(hydrologic subregion)

Lower Colorado(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Arizona Pima

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Gila and Salt River 017S 012E 02 SW Arizona

Commodities

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

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Plumbojarosite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Epidote Gangue
Garnet Gangue
Hedenbergite Gangue
Magnetite Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Pyrite Unknown

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pliocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Permian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone

Nearby scientific data

(1) -111.09375, 31.97318

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Limestone Beds Form A South-Plunging Syncline. Dips Range From 20 - 90 S. Ore Occurs Within The San Xavier Fault Zone. A Steeply South-Dipping Fault Zone Strikes N70e. It Is A Complex Zone With Variable Dip.

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR PIPES, LENSES, MANTOS
    Length 152.4M
    Width 5.49M
    Depth to bottom 152.4M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Controlled By Fractures And Fracture Intersections Forming Breccia Pipes And Favorable Limestone Beds.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No

Mining district

District name Pima District

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Asarco (American Smelting And Refining Co.)

Production statistics

  • Year 1919
    Period 1913 - 19
    Material ORE
    Accuracy Estimate
    Description Cp_Grade: ^10% Zn, 6% Pb, 3 Oz Ag/Ton, 0.7% Cu, Minor Au
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Copper Copper 1wt-pct
    Major Ore Silver Silver 85g/mt
    Minor Ore Lead Lead 6wt-pct
    Ore Zinc Zinc 10wt-pct

Comments on the production information

  • WORKED AS EARLY AS 1700'S FOR SILVER. MAIN PRODUCTION WAS 1913 - 1918 AND 1943 - 1959 .

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Overall depth 152.4M

Comments on the workings information

  • SHAFT WORKINGS

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    KEITH, S.B., 1974, INDEX OF MINING PROPERTIES IN PIMA COUNTY, ARIZONA: ARIZONA BUREAU OF MINES BULLETIN 189, P. 137.

  • Deposit

    MAYUGA, M.N., 1942, THE GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF THE HELMET PEAK AREA, PIMA COUNTY, ARIZONA: UNIV. ARIZ., PHD THESIS.

  • Deposit

    WILSON, E.D., 1950, ARIZONA ZINC AND LEAD DEPOSITS, PART 1: ARIZONA BUREAU OF MINES BULLETIN 156, P. 46, 47.

  • Other Database

    CIMRI

  • Production

    ( 8 ) ABM BULLETIN 189 , P. 137 . ( 9 , 10 ) ABM BULLETIN 140 . ( 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ) ABM BULLETIN 156 .

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit INDIVIDUAL ORE BODIES ARE SMALL AND NOT CONTINUOUS. AVERAGE WIDTH AND LENGTH ARE GIVEN IN SIZE/DIRECTIONAL DATA. OXIDATION EXTENDS TO IRREGULAR DEPTHS, 100 - 200 FEET, BUT CAN REACH AS DEEP AS THE 420 FOOT-LEVEL.
Deposit SAN XAVIER IS NOW PART OF THE MISSION COMPLEX. SEE RECORD MO50387. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-DEC-1972 Theodore, Ted G. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-NOV-1979 Johnson, Kris H. (Creasey, S.C.) U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

Operator history (post-MRDS)

MRDS records operators as of each record's last update (≤ 2019). Some of the operators listed here have since changed hands or dissolved:

Curated by qvyshift.com from publicly-reported M&A activity (SEC filings, press releases, USGS Mineral Yearbooks). Not authoritative — verify against primary sources before relying on it. The MSHA panel above is the current authoritative source for actively-permitted mines.

External references

Authoritative Arizona resources

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