La Cruz

Past Producer in Sonora, Mexico with commodities Tungsten, Copper, Molybdenum
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. Links to other databases
  15. Bibliographic references
  16. General comments
  17. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10049055
MRDS ID MX00269
Record type Site
Current site name La Cruz
Related records 10205911

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -109.16811, 28.25108 (WGS84)
Relative position 1 KM SE OF THE TOWN OF SAN NICOLAS.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Pima(county)

Arizona(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country State
Mexico Sonora

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Tungsten Critical Primary
Copper Tertiary
Molybdenum Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • SCHEELITE PARTLY ALTERED TO CUPROTUNGSTITE. CONCENTRATES HAD HIGH COPPER CONTENT. MOLYBDENUM PRESENT IN SCHEELITE IN V. SMALL AMOUNTS.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Molybdenite Ore
Scheelite Ore
Chlorite Gangue
Pyrite Gangue

Analytical data

Result DIKE ROCK MINED FROM CAVED STOPES IN 1943 CONTAINED ABOUT 0.7 % WO3.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 45
USGS model code 15
Deposit model name W pegmatite

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Pegmatite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -109.16811, 28.25108

Economic information

Ore body information

  • Thickness 8M
    Length 150M
    Width 50M

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1910
Discoverer John H. King

Mining district

District name San Nicolas

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Sociedad Financiera De Cuidad De Mexico
    First year 1943

Comments on the production information

  • IN APRIL 1943, ABOUT 150 MEN WERE OPERATING 75 DRY-WASHERS ON THE DUMP MATERIAL, EXTRACTING ABOUT 5 ST OF 50% WO3 CONC. PER MONTH, AND SELLING THE CONC. TO THE LOCAL BUYER FOR 3.25 TO 3.50 PESOS PER KG.

Comments on the workings information

  • 50 M ADIT DRIVEN INTO E SIDE OF HILL INTERSECTED DIKE AT A POINT 50 M BELOW OUTCROP. DRIFTS ALONG DIKE FOR 10 M TO THE NE AND TO THE SOUTHWEST FOR 30 M. STOPES AT THE END OF THE SW DRIFT HAD CAVED BY 1943. A LITTLE SCHEELITE WAS NOTED IN THE DRIFT AND IN A FEW PODS AT THE EDGES OF ACCESSIBLE STOPES BY WIESE IN 1943, BUT NO APPRECIABLE TONNAGE OF ORE. NO ORE WAS FOUND IN THE WORKINGS BELOW THE ADIT LEVEL, WHICH WERE REPORTED FILLED IN 1943.

Comments on development

  • PROPERTY DENOUNCED AS A COPPER DEPOSIT IN 1910 BY J.H. KING. LATER SOLD TO PHELPS DODGE INTERESTS WHICH OPERATED IT AS A TUNGSTEN MINE DURING WW1. OPERATED BY FRANK FAST FROM 1929-1935. BOUGHT BY EMILIO BOUVET OF NAVAJOA IN 1935. AGENCY SET UP TO PURCHASE CONC. FROM GAMBUSINOS THEN WORKING THE DEPOSIT. SOLD TO SOCIEDAD FINANCIERA DE MX IN 1943, WHICH CONTINUED PURCHASING CONC. DURING THAT YEAR.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    WIESE, JOHN H., AND CARDENAS, SALVADOR, 1945, TUNGSTEN DEPOSITS OF THE SOUTHERN PART OF SONORA, MEXICO: USGS BULL 946, P. 103-130

  • Production

    WIESE AND CARDENAS, 1945.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit PEGMATITE DIKE UP TO 8 M WIDE AND 150 M LONG CROPS OUT AT CREST OF STEEP RIDGE. SCHEELITE ASSOCIATED WITH CHALCOPYRITE, MOLYBDENITE, CHLORITE, AND PYRITE IN PODS AND STRINGERS IN THE DIKE. ONE 20-TON POCKET OF NEARLY PURE SCHEELITE FOUND, ANOTHER CONTAINED 4 TONS.
Deposit GAMBUSINOS CONCENTRATING AND RECONCENTRATING MATERIAL OF THE OLD DUMP SPREAD IT OUT AS AN UNEVEN LAYER UP TO A M OR TWO THICK ON THE SLOPE BELOW THE MINE. THIS MATERIAL ASSAYED 0.2 - 0.5 % WO3 AND COULD ONLY BE WORKED BY SMALL-SCALE DRY-PLACER METHODS. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUL-1987 Staude, John-Mark G. (Page, Norman J.) U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-OCT-1987 Leonard, Kenneth R. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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