Hardshell Mine

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

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10103551
MRDS ID M030387
Record type Site
Current site name Hardshell Mine
Alternate or previous names Eagle-Pitcher Properties, Manto
Related records 10210798

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -110.71706, 31.45958 (WGS84)
Elevation 1562
Relative position 1 MI SW OF HARSHAW.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Santa Cruz(county)

Arizona(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Harshaw(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Nogales(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)

Federal lands

Coronado National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Arizona Santa Cruz

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Gila and Salt River 023S 016E 04 CENTER Arizona

Comments on the location information

  • SAWYER AND OTHERS GIVE LOCATION AS 1.6 MILES SW OF HARSHAW AT 31-27-15N, 110-42-44W. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1979

Commodities

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

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Anglesite Ore
Braunite Ore
Cerargyrite Ore
Gold Ore
Hemimorphite Ore
Hydrozincite Ore
Manganite Ore
Mimetite Ore
Psilomelane Ore
Pyrolusite Ore
Pyromorphite Ore
Smithsonite Ore
Wulfenite Ore
Clay Gangue
Limonite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Silicification Of Fault Breccia

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Shale
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pliocene
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Conglomerate
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Pyroclastic Rock > Volcanic Breccia (Agglomerate)
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Rhyolite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -110.71706, 31.45958

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Corral Canyon Fault Block, Downthrow To Sw. Located On N-S Trending American Fault
Type of structure Local
Structure description Fault Gouge And Silicified Fault Breccia In A Strong Fault Zone; Bedding Plane Fault In Conglomerate

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR, LENSES
    Strike E
    Dip 35N
    Thickness 18M
    Length 460M
    Width 275M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Fault Gouge And Silicified Fault Breccia; Porphyry/Quartzite Contact

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Medium
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1879
Discoverer David Harshaw & Jose Andrade
Year of first production 1896
Year of last production 1964

Mining district

District name Harshaw District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Asarco (American Smelting And Refining Co.)
    First year 1987

Production statistics

  • Year 1964
    Period 1896-1964
    Material ORE
    Accuracy Estimate
    Description Cp_Grade: ^6%Pb, 8 Oz/Tag, 0.5% Cu, Minor Zn, Au
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Ore Lead Lead 6wt-pct
    Major Ore Silver Silver 226g/mt
    Major Ore Copper Copper 1wt-pct

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1986
    Total resources 2721000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Silver Ag 141.178 g/mt Silver Major 1986
  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1972
    Total resources 2947000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Manganese Mn 15 wt-pct Manganese Major 1972
    Lead Pb 0.75 wt-pct Lead Major 1972
    Zinc Zn 0.75 wt-pct Zinc Minor 1972
    Silver Ag 141.178 g/mt Silver Major 1972

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • RESERVE HAS REFRACTORY METALLURGICAL PROBLEMS DUE TO MANGANESE.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Area 2.53HA
    Length 914.4M
    Overall depth 137.16M
    Overall length 73.15M
    Overall width 36.58M

Comments on the workings information

  • EXTENSIVE SHAFT & ADIT OPERATIONS; 40 FT VERTICAL SHAFT, 500 FT 3 0 DEG INCLINED SHAFT.

Comments on development

  • PREVIOUS OWNERS/OPERATORS INCLUDE RICHARDSON, EMPIRE MINING & MIL LING CO, HARDSHELL MINING CO, GARDNER & YOUNG, BENDER, BIG JIM MINES I NC, VALENZUELA, ASARCO, MCFARLAND, HUGO MILLER (1937), F.C. JACK, H. BOSTWICK, A. ROBIES, MINING AND COMMERCIAL CORP (1937), C. FRAME, C. RO SSAN; 4 PATENTED CLAIMS.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    KEITH, 1975, ABM BULL 191.

  • Deposit

    SCHRADER, 1915, USGS BULL 582.

  • Deposit

    ELSING & HEINEMAN, 1936, ABM BULL 140.

  • Deposit

    VON FAY, 1965, ASARCO REPORT.

  • Deposit

    ADMR FILE DATA, HARDSHELL MINE, TRENCH MILL.

  • Deposit

    ABGMT CLIPPINGS FILE; HARDSHELL MINE, EAGLE PITCHER LEAD CO.

  • Deposit

    ABGMT FILE DATA, STANTON B. KEITH.

  • Deposit

    ABGMT-USBM FILE DATA.

  • Deposit

    USBM FILES, HARDSHELL MINE.

  • Deposit

    NIEMUTH, N.J., 1987, ARIZONA MINERAL DEVELOPMENT 1984-1986: ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF MINES AND MINERAL RESOURCES DIRECTORY 29, 46 P.

  • Deposit

    SAWYER, M.B., GURMENDI, A.C., DALEY, M.R., AND HOWELL, S.B., 1992, PRINCIPAL DEPOSITS OF STRATEGIC AND CRITICAL MINERALS IN ARIZONA: U.S. BUREAU OF MINES SPECIAL PUBLICATION, 334 P.

  • Other Database

    CIMRI

  • Production

    KEITH, 1975; ELSING & HEINEMAN, 1936.

  • Reserve-Resource

    NIEMUTH, 1987.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit ORE OCCURS AS REPLACEMENT IN FAULT GOUGE, SILICIFIED BRECCIA, AND RHYOLITE.
Deposit THIS REPORT WAS TAKEN FROM RECORD M030387 OF JAN WILT IN MOLYBDENUM FILE, CONTACT PERSON T.G. THEODORE, USGS. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAY-83 Peterson, Jocelyn A. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-FEB-93 Orris, Greta J. 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.