Copper World Mine

Mining District and Mines

Oro Blanco District - southeast part of Santa Cruz county lying west of the Atascosas and Tumacacori mountains.¹

The major mining operations of the district have been in the Montana group near Ruby. The gold-silver near-surface ore was worked at an early date and the deeper base metal sulphide ore was worked in a small way in 1917 - 1918 and 1928 - 1930. The period of major production occurred between 1934 and 1940 when operatted by the Eagle-Picher Mining and Smelting Company,. Numerous small gold and silver deposits were worked intermittently during the depression years from 1932 through 1942 but few produced over 100 tons of ore in any one year. From 1942 to 1968, there has been some minor sporadic mining in the district¹.

Plan of 400 foot level

Location

23S 11E N.5¹

31.44889,-110.78444²

Companies

Rough & Ready, Orion Co., Montana Co., Zechendorf, Goldfield Consolidated Mines Exploration Co., Montana Mines operations, Eagle-Picher Mg. & Smelting Co., Miller (Hugo W. Miller, c. 1940 - 1955, Mrs. Hugo W. Miller, 1963), Maravilla Mineros Corp.¹

Processing

The Ostrich mill was equipped with a roasting furnace to treat refactory sulphide ores which contained gold. This plant was built during the early 1880s; it was operated by the Orion Company on ores from the Montana and Warsaw mines⁴.

Mineral Products

Pb, Zn, Ag, Cu (Cd, Sb, As)¹

Geology

Lensing, vuggy, quartz veins containing sphalerite, pyrite, galena, chalcopyrite and tetrahedrite as fracture fillings, in vugs, and as replacements of quartz and sheared and brecciated wall rock. En echalon veins are along a fault zone cutting blocks of Cretaceous conglomerate and Laramide diorite that are intruded and offset by later diorite porphyry dikes. Sulfides oxidized near the surface with enrichment of silver and gold.¹

Type of Operation and Production

Extensive operations from shafts. Located in the early 1870s and worked intermttently on a small scale until 1928 through 1940. Some sporadic work up to 1958. Total production would be some 870,000 tons of ore averaging about 3.5% Pb, 3.5% Zn, 5 oz. Ag/T, 0.5 oz. Au/T, and 0.3% Cu.¹

Photos

References

1. Index of Mining Properties in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, by Staton B. Keith, Bulletin 191, Arizona Geological Survey, 1975.
2. Mindat.org - small amount of data
3. MRDS records: 31.44904, -110.78538
4. History of Mining in Arizona, J. Michael Canty and Michael L. Greeley (eds.), Mining Club of the Southwest Foundation, 1987
5. Arizona Department of Mines report: http://docs.azgs.az.gov/OnlineAccessMineFiles/A-B/BilliedSantacruz65.pdf
6. The Mineral Deposits of the Santa Rita and Patagonia Mountains by Frank C. Schrader, 1914 - no entry