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San Francisco

Past Producer in Sonora, Mexico with commodities Gold, Silver
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Host and associated rocks
  7. Nearby scientific data
  8. Ore body information
  9. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  10. Mining district
  11. Reserves and resources
  12. Workings at the site
  13. Links to other databases
  14. Bibliographic references
  15. General comments
  16. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10104181
MRDS ID MX00299
Record type Site
Current site name San Francisco
Related records 10281040

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -111.13818, 30.39184 (WGS84)
Relative position WEST SIDE OF MEXICAN INTERSTATE 15, 20 KM N OF BENJAMIN HILL AND 15 KM S OF SANTA ANA.

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

Comments on the location information

  • ALL MINES ARE ON A NW TRENDING ZONE 400 M LONG AND 250 M WIDE
  • ESTIMATED TO NEAREST 15 SECONDS.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • VERY FINE GRAINED CINNABAR DISSEMINATED IN MONTMORILLONITE, OPAL, AND CHALCEDONY. BEST ORE IN BOTRYOIDAL CRUSTS. EGLESTONITE (HG OXYCHLORIDE) IS PRESENT.

Analytical data

Result 3-15 G/MT AU, 200 G/MT AG.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pliocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -111.13818, 30.39184
ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

  • Thickness 60M
    Length 300M
    Width 300M

Comments on the geologic information

  • QUARTZITES CROP OUT WEST OF THE MINE AREA.
  • OPAL ALWAYS IS PRESENT WHERE GOOD ORE OCCURS. THE SURFACE IS FLOW LAYERED RHYOLITES, WHICH HAVE BEEN SHOWN BY GEOMORPHIC EVIDENCE TO NEVER HAVE BEEN COVERED BY OTHER ROCKS. THESE OVERLAY A STRUCTURAL LATITE DOME, WHICH RESTS ON A BASEMENT OF CRET OR JUR LIMESTONE. A PATCHY LAYER OF PERLITE 1-2 M THICK LIES BETWEEN THE LATITE AND RHYOLITE, AND IN PLACES A TUFF IS FOUND OVER THE PERLITE. A THIN LOESS OVERLIES THE RHYOLITE.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

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

Mining district

District name Cucurpe/Santa Ana

Comments on the production information

  • PRODUCTION FIGURES ABOVE REFER TO ALL OF CANOAS DISTRICT AND ARE MINIMUMS.

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1985
    Total resources 125000000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Gold Au 3 g/mt Gold Major 1985
    Silver Ag 70 g/mt Silver Major 1985

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • SEVERAL MILLION TONS OF LOW GRADE ORE REMAIN.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Unknown
    Overall depth 60M

Comments on the workings information

  • WORKINGS INCLUDE OVER 600 "POZOS", OR IRREGULAR GOPHERINGS OPERATED BY GAMBUSINOS. THE GAMBUSINOS HAD ACCESS TO ALL WORKINGS EXCEPTING LA CRUZ MINE, SHAFT 120, AND WINZE 48, THOUGH THEY WERE OWNED BY COMPANIA MINERA METALURGICA. IN RETURN, THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO TURN OVER ONE QUARTER OF THE ORE TO THE COMPANY. THE POZOS AVERAGE 20 M DEEP, AND BELOW THEM LIE THE MINES, TO A MAX. DEPTH OF 85 M (LA CRUZ SHAFT). ABOUT 10 TIMES AS MUCH ORE HAS BEEN PRODUCED BY POZOS AS BY THE MINES. SAN ANTONIO MINE IS EXHAUSTED AND CAVED. THE JESUS MINE WAS NOT VERY PRODUCTIVE AS IT WAS IN A SINGLE LODE WHICH DID NOT INTERSECT WITH OTHERS. THE LA CRUZ MINE INCLUDES A LARGE STOPE, AT THE 32.6 LEVEL, WHERE TWO LODES INTERSECT.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    SILBERMAN, MILES, 1986, MAP OF GOLD BELTS OF NW SONORA, MX, UNPUBLISHED.

  • Deposit

    SILBERMAN, M.L., 1987, REPORT ON RECONNAISSANCE OF GOLD PROSPECTS IN NORTHERN SONORA, MEXICO: UNPUB. USGS REPORT, 6 P.

  • Deposit

    PEREZ SEGURA, E., 1985, CARTA METALOGENETICA DE SONORA 1:250000; UNA INTERPRETACION DE LA METALOGENIA DE SONORA: GOBIERNO DEL ESTADO DE SONORA, DIRECCION DE MINERIA GEOLOGIA Y ENERGETICOS, PUBLICACION NO. 7, 64 P., GEOL. MAPS, SCALE 1:500000.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit CINNABAR IS FOUND WITH A MONTMORILLONITE CLAY IN NARROW FRACTURES OR BETWEEN BRECCIA FRAGMENTS OF THE HALLOYSITE-ALTERED LATITE.
Deposit GOLD-SILVER VALUES IN A SYSTEM OF STEEP-DIPPING VEINS AND VEINLETS HOSTED IN GRANITE OVER 300 BY 300 METERS. GOLD VALUES ATTAINING 15 G/MT HAVE BEEN MINED TO 60 M DEPTH ON ONE OF THE STRONGER STRUCTURES.
Deposit THE TOP OF THE DEPOSIT HAS BEEN THOROUGHLY WORKED BY GAMBUSINOS, BUT IT MAY STILL BE PROFITABLE FOR A STEAM SHOVEL OPERATION. LODES MAY CONTINUE BELOW THE 40 LEVEL, BUT EVEN IF THEY DO CONTINUE, THEY WILL CONTAIN LESS ORE THAN THE UPPER PART OF THE DOME. THE VILLAGE OF CANOAS LIES OVER THE CENTRAL PART OF THE DOME, WHICH HAS THUS FAR NOT BEEN EXPLORED. PROSPECTING FOR SIMILAR DEPOSITS SHOULD INCLUDE STUDY OF RHYOLITE FLOW STRUCTURES. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUL-1987 Staude, John-Mark G. (Page, Norman J.) U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-JUN-1988 Leonard, Kenneth R. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

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