Saginaw Mine

Past Producer in Pima county in Arizona, United States with commodities Copper, Silver, Zinc, Lead, Gold, Molybdenum
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. Production statistics
  20. Links to other databases
  21. Bibliographic references
  22. General comments
  23. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10039675
MRDS ID M050631
Record type Deposit
Current site name Saginaw Mine
Alternate or previous names Papago Queen, Gold Hill, Amole Group, Gold Mountain, Saginaw Hill

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Main Entrance
Geographic coordinates: -111.0793, 32.14568 (WGS84)
Elevation 847
Location accuracy 10(meters)
Relative position 10 miles SW of the city of Tucson.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Pima(county)

Arizona(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Cat Mountain(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Silver Bell Mountains(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Tucson(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

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 Pima

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Gila and Salt River 015S 012E 11,12 NE4 (11); W CENTER SEC 12 Arizona

Commodities

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

Comments on the commodity information

  • WEAKLY MINERALIZED

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Cuprite Ore
Malachite Ore

Alteration

  • (Local) Limonite, Quartz, Sericite, Clay, Pyrite, Garnetized-Epidotized

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 Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Latite
    Rock unit name Saginaw Hill Porphyry, Latite
    Rock description Saginaw Hill Porphyry, Latite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pliocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cretaceous
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cretaceous
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pliocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Arkose
    Rock unit name Amole Arkose
    Rock description Amole Arkose

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Ne Trending Fractures, Brecciation

Ore body information

  • Length 330M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Quartz Veins As Siliceous Replacements Along Fractures In Limestone Lenses In Arkose

Comments on the geologic information

  • ON SE SIDE OF FRACTURE & EXTENDING 300 M AWAY IS PROPYLITIZED QUAR TZ MONZONITE. LOCAL LIMONITE AND PARTLY OXIDIZED PYRITE WITH MINOR COP PER SILICATES ALONG FRACTURE ZONE.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant Yes

Mining district

District name Amole District

Land status

Ownership category Unknown

Ownership information

  • Type Unknown
    Owner Strong and Harris

Production statistics

  • Year 1934
    Period 1917-1934
    Material ORE
    Accuracy Estimate
    Description Cp_Grade: ^1% Cu, 0.5 Oz/T Ag
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Copper Copper 1wt-pct
    Major Ore Silver Silver 14g/mt

Comments on the production information

  • PRODUCTION SPORADIC. PRODUCTION OF SMELTER FLUX FROM 1956-1959

Comments on the workings information

  • SHAFTS, PITS, AND MINOR UNDERGROUND WORKINGS. PROSEPECT WORKINGS CONCENTRATED ALONG N60E TREND, BUT NO GOOD FRACTURE ZONE IS EXPOSED

Comments on development

  • HAS BEEN PROSPECTED FOR PORPHYRY COPPER

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit CHALCOPYRITE & PYRITE ON W SIDE OF SAGINAW PROPERTY, COPPER OXIDE S ON E SIDE OF SAGINAW PROPERTY (PAPAGO QUEEN), CERUSSITE & GALENA ON S END OF PROPERTY ALONG RHYOLITE-LIMESTONE CONTACT
Environmental Factors The Saginaw Hill Site consists of two areas of potential contamination?the abandoned Saginaw Mine and the abandoned Palo Verde Mine. These areas are situated within a 540-acre parcel of land owned by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The site is located approximately 10 miles southwest of Tucson, Arizona. (BLM Fact Sheet, June 2005)
Sulfide mining and smelting occurred at the site from the late 1800s through the mid-1900s in the area of the Saginaw Mine and the Palo Verde Mine. Base metal sulfides were mined and used as smelter flux to process precious metal ore brought in from outside the area. The mine tailings, waste rock, and slag left over from mining and processing the ore present a concern for human health and the environment, primarily as a source of metal contamination.
The BLM is conducting site investigations to characterize the source, nature, and extent of contamination associated with the abandoned mines. Information obtained by the site investigations will enable BLM to evaluate removal action alternatives to minimize or eliminate the potential release of any site contaminants that would present a risk to human health and the environment.
For public safety, BLM has fenced and signed both abandoned mine sites and has filled 27 open mine shafts identified on the Saginaw Hill property.
Deposit THIS REPORT REPRESENTS A MERGER OF ORIGINAL RECORD M050631 WITH RE CORD M030513 OF JAN WILT IN MOLYBDENUM FILE, CONTACT PERSON T.G. THEOD ORE, USGS ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT; 3 FIELD OBSERV

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAR-83 Peterson, Jocelyn A. U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 04-NOV-83 ADMR U.S. Bureau of Mines
Updater 28-JUL-09 Anderson, Claire 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.