Constancia Group

Past Producer in Nicaragua with commodities Zinc, Gold, Silver, Lead, Copper, Cadmium
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Alteration
  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. Reserves and resources
  18. Links to other databases
  19. Bibliographic references
  20. General comments
  21. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10061690
MRDS ID TC34627
Record type Site
Current site name Constancia Group
Alternate or previous names Vesubio-San Antonio Vein, Vesubio Group, Veins Names: Constancia, San Antonio, Vesubio, Real Mccoy

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -84.68327, 13.96756 (WGS84)
Elevation 400
Location accuracy 2000(meters)
Relative position BONANZA (TOWN) 14-02N, 84-36W

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Nicaragua(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country
Nicaragua

Comments on the location information

  • WESTERNMOST OF GROUPS IN PIS PIS DISTRICT.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Zinc Critical Primary
Gold Primary
Silver Primary
Lead Primary
Copper Primary
Cadmium Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • ORE CONTAINS 90-95% DIATOMS; 40-65% ARE LACUSTRINE, 20-30% MARINE. COLORS GRAY, WHITE, RED AND ORANGE; CALCINIZED COLORS GRAY TO LIGHT ORANGE; WHITENESS 33-66; BULK DENSITY 0.55 TO 1.09 G/CU CM AVERAGE 0.76 TO G/CU CM; WATER ABSORPTIVITY 50.1-110.9, AVERAGE 91.8.
  • MORE BASE METAL SULFIDES THAN IN OTHER TWO GROUPS IN THE DISTRICT (NEPTUNE AND BONANZA?).

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Epidote Gangue
Hematite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Wall Rock Altered To Epidote, Calcite, Chlorite, Clay

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Marble
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Shale
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Siltstone
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
    Rock unit name Metagalpa;Basement;Basement
    Rock description Metagalpa;Basement;Basement

Nearby scientific data

(1) -84.68327, 13.96756

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Three Upthrown Blocks With Veins Separated By Two Downthrown Blocks; E-W Dip-Slip Faults With Small To Moderate Displacement; Paleocaldera Structures?

Ore body information

  • Strike N60E
    Dip NW
    Plunge 65W
    Length 4000M
    Width 15M
    Depth to bottom 600M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Faults; Ore Shoots Often In Vein Junctions And Branch Points; Secondary Enrichment In Oxide Zone (50-100 M).

Comments on the geologic information

  • LEAD ISOTOPES INDICATE OLDER BASEMENT SOURCE OF LEAD. CRETACEOUS SEDIMENTS EXPOSED A FEW KM TO THE S OF THE DISTRICT. ACID VOLCANICS AND INTERMEDIATE INTRUSIVES KNOWN IN THE AREA.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1955

Mining district

District name Pis Pis District

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Inmine

Production statistics

  • Year 1978
    Period 1971-1978
    Material ORE
    Description Cp_Grade: ^0.08 Oz/T Au, 0.50 Oz/T Ag, 1.4% Pb, 0.4% Cu, 9.4% Zn
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Ore Silver Silver 14g/mt
    Major Ore Gold Gold 2g/mt
    Ore Zinc Zinc 9wt-pct
    Ore Copper Copper 0wt-pct
    Ore Lead Lead 1wt-pct

Comments on the production information

  • BULGARGEOMIN TRIED TO MINE AND PROCESS POLYMETALLIC ORE IN 1985-1986 - PRODUCED 1700 T CONCENTRATES AND COULD NOT SHIP OR SELL THEM.

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1979
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Zinc Zn 6.3 wt-pct Zinc Major 1979
    Gold Au 2.541 g/mt Gold Major 1979
    Silver Ag 26.823 g/mt Silver Major 1979
    Lead Pb 0.86 wt-pct Lead Major 1979
    Copper Cu 0.41 wt-pct Copper Major 1979

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • CLAIMS A MINEABLE RESERVE OF 353,000 METRIC TONS FOR THE SIX AREAS.
  • (1) INMINE RESERVES, (2) NEPTUNE RESERVES, (3) INMINE RESERVES. ALL ARE PROVEN AND PROBABLE GEOLOGIC RESERVES. GOLD ORE IS IN THE REAL MCCOY VEIN. FOR DETAILS SEE PIS PIS DISTRICT RECORD.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THREE LAYERS: UPPER LAYER 33.1 M THICK WITH MUDDY MATERIAL AT BASE, MIDDLE LAYER 0.6 M THICK TO PINCHED OUT, LOWER LAYER VARIES IN THICKNESS 17-30 M OR GREATER BECAUSE OF BASEMENT TOPOGRAPHY. THERE ARE 6 BODIES, ONE OF WHICH CONTAINS ALL THREE LAYERS. THE UPPER AND MIDDLE LAYER ARE EITHER ERODED OR MOT EXPOSED IN THE OTHER 5 BODIES. LOWER LAYER IS BEST QUALITY.
Deposit WEAK SECONDARY ENRICHMENT OF COPPER.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUL-1992 Carbonaro, Marguerite M. (Venable, M.) U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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