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White Cliffs Mine

Past Producer in Pinal county in Arizona, United States with commodities Diatomite, Bentonite, Gypsum-Anhydrite
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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. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  13. Ownership information
  14. Links to other databases
  15. Bibliographic references
  16. General comments
  17. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10060239
MRDS ID TC10208
Record type Site
Current site name White Cliffs Mine
Alternate or previous names Mammoth, Arizite Products, Kaolin Claims, Arizona Gypsum, Nuez Claims, Oversite Claims
Related records 10210795

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -110.53401, 32.63344 (WGS84)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Pinal(county)

Arizona(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Clark Ranch(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Mammoth(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Tucson(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Lower San Pedro(hydrologic unit)

San Pedro-Willcox(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 Pinal

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Gila and Salt River 09S;09S 017E;018E 24,13 ;17,18,19,20,29,30 Arizona

Comments on the location information

  • LOCATED ON EAST BANK OF SAN PEDRO RIVER.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Diatomite Primary
Bentonite Tertiary
Gypsum-Anhydrite Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Diatomite Ore
Chert Gangue
Gypsum Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 222
USGS model code 31s
Deposit model name Lacustrine diatomite

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pliocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Mudstone
    Rock unit name Quiburis Formation
    Rock description Quiburis Formation
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Siltstone
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Chemical Sediment > Chert
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Diatomite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Pyroclastic Rock > Tuff

Nearby scientific data

(1) -110.53401, 32.63344
ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

  • Thickness 42.67M
    Length 4827.9M
    Width 3218.6M

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE ASH BEDS IN THE CENTRAL PART OF THE WHITE CLIFFS AREA ARE NOT COMMONLY ALTERED, ALTHOUGH ONE BED IN CAMEL CANYON HAS BEEN ALTERED TO BENTONITE. NO ZEOLITES HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED IN THE IMMEDIATE AREA.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Non-metallic
Significant No
Year of first production 1925
Production years 1920'S, 1940'S

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Arimetco International, Inc.
    First year 1992
  • Type Owner
    Owner University Of Arizona

Comments on the production information

  • THERE HAS BEEN "CONSIDERABLE" PRODUCTION IN THE PAST. THIS IS THE ONLY ARIZONA DEPOSIT WITH A SIGNIFICANT PRODUCTION HISTORY.

Comments on the workings information

  • MANY OF THE SMALL QUARRIES WERE PUT IN DURING THE 1960'S.

Comments on development

  • KAISER PUT IN 12 DRILL HOLES IN 1968 AROUND PERIPHERY OF DEPOSIT. PREVIOUS OPERATORS INCLUDED: WHITE CLIFFS, INC. (1989). ARIMETCO PLANS TO BEGIN PRODUCTION IN FEBRUARY, 1993. ; ECON.COM: DEPOSIT IS SELECTIVELY MINED FOR 1 FT TO 2 FT THICK BEDS OF DIATOMITE.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    PEIRCE, H.W., 1989, ARIZONA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY INDUSTRIAL MINERAL CARD FILES.

  • Deposit

    PHILLIPS, K.A., 1987, ARIZONA INDUSTRIAL MINERALS: ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF MINES AND MINERAL RESOURCES MINERAL REPORT 4, 185 P.

  • Deposit

    PEIRCE, H.W., 1969, DIATOMITE, IN MINERAL AND WATER RESOURCES OF ARIZONA: WASHINGTON, U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, P. 337-342.

  • Deposit

    SHENK, JON, 1989, ORAL COMMUNICATION.

  • Deposit

    PHILLIPS, K.A., NIEMUTH, N.J., AND BAIN, D.R., 1992, ACTIVE MINES IN ARIZONA--1993: ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF MINES AND MINERAL RESOURCES DIRECTORY 40, 25 P.

  • Deposit

    SHENK, J.D., 1992, GEOLOGY OF THE WHITE CLIFFS DIATOMITE DEPOSIT AND ARAVAIPA CREEK GYPSUM DEPOSIT, LOWER SAN PEDRO VALLEY, ARIZONA, IN HOUSER, B.B., ED., INDUSTRIAL MINERALS OF THE TUCSON AREA AND SAN PEDRO VALLEY, SOUTHEASTERN ARIZONA: TUCSON, ARIZONA ARIZONA GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY FIELD TRIP, APRIL 4-5, 1992, GUIDEBOOK, P. 37-47.

  • Other Database

    CIMRI

  • Production

    PEIRCE, H.W., 1969, "DIATOMITE", IN ABM BULLETIN 180, USGS BULLETIN 871, P. 338-340.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THE DIATOMACEOUS SEDIMENTARY SEQUENCE, WHICH CONTAINS ABUNDANT LAYERS OF MUDSTONE, SILTSTONE, AND TUFFACEOUS MATERIAL, IS AT LEAST 140 FT THICK. THESE STRATA HAVE BEEN FAULTED AND FOLDED AND ARE TILTED A FEW DEGREES TO THE NORTHEAST AND TRUNCATED AT THE TOP BY AN EROSION SURFACE. THE EROSIONAL SURFACE ALSO CUTS OUT OLDER UNITS TO THE SOUTHWEST. LOCALLY, THE DIATOMACEOUS SEDIMENT GRADES 60% - 80% DIATOMITE.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUN-1989 Orris, Greta J. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-JAN-1991 Shenk, Jonathan D. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

Maps centered on this site

Authoritative Arizona resources

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