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Mineral Hill Mine group, Planet, Santa Maria Mining District (Planet Mining District; Swansea Mining District; Bill Williams Mining District), Buckskin Mountains, La Paz County, Arizona, USAi
Regional Level Types
Mineral Hill Mine groupMine
PlanetTown (Former)
Santa Maria Mining District (Planet Mining District; Swansea Mining District; Bill Williams Mining District)Mining District
Buckskin MountainsMountain Range
La Paz CountyCounty
ArizonaState
USACountry

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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
34° 13' 54'' North , 114° 0' 45'' West
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
34.23194,-114.01250
GRN:
N23W68
Type:
Mine
Köppen climate type:
BWh : Hot deserts climate
Nearest Settlements:
PlacePopulationDistance
Parker Strip662 (2011)17.1km
Cienega Springs1,798 (2011)20.1km
Bluewater725 (2011)24.2km
Bluewater172 (2011)24.6km
Parker3,046 (2017)27.0km
Nearest Clubs:
Local clubs are the best way to get access to collecting localities
ClubLocationDistance
Lake Havasu Gem & Mineral SocietyLake Havasu City, Arizona40km
Mindat Locality ID:
33775
Long-form identifier:
mindat:1:2:33775:8
GUID (UUID V4):
0
Other/historical names associated with this locality:
Continental Mine


A former underground Cu-Fe-Ag-Au (Be) mine located in sec. 3, in the SE¼ sec. 2, NE¼ & East-central sec. 10, & NW¼ sec. 11, T10N, R17W, 2.5 miles from Planet and 20 miles N of Bouse, on private land. First produced in 1900 and closed in 1970. Owned by various small operators; R.A. DeLano Co.; Arizona Ranch & Metals Co.; and the Powdered Metals Corp.

Mineralization is irregular ore bodies with secondary copper minerals in fractures, small veins, and disseminated in irregular replacement lenses of specular hematite, often massive and thick, in metamorphosed folded and faulted Paleozoic limestone and limy shale overlying Precambrian gneiss. The ore zone was 670.56 meters long, 91.44 meters wide, with a depth to top of 0 meters, and is 22.86 meters thick. The mineralization is associated with low-angle detachment faulting. Orebodies are within and immediately above the flinty, chloritic, micro-brecciated detachment surface. Limestone replacement by hematite with supergene enrichment followed by hydrothermal copper fracture filling. Ore concentration was supergene enrichment.

The strata which form Mineral Hill are undoubtedly continuous with those resting on the gneiss in the vicinity of the Planet Mine, and both series were probably lifted and deformed at the same time. In general the dip varies from 30° to 50° SW due to folding and faulting.

Workings include a shaft 150 feet deep and 4 tunnels, one of which is 400 feet long; also several open cuts, to a depth of 12.19 meters. worked sporadically from the early 1900's through 1970 for Cu, Au & Fe. Additionally, there has been considerable exploratory drilling. Total production would be close to 1,000,000 tons of ore averaging about 1.7% Cu with minor amounts of gold and silver.

A character sample contained 38.1% Fe, 0.1% Mn, 0.1% titania, 5.55% Cu, 0.07% P, 0.36% S, and 27.6% SiO2. Spectrographic analysis indicated the presence of 1 to 10% Al, Ca, & Cu; 0.1 to 1.0% Mg, Mn, Ti, 0.01 to 0.1% Co, Ni and 0.001 to 0.01% U.

Select Mineral List Type

Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical Elements

Mineral List


9 valid minerals.

Detailed Mineral List:

ⓘ Azurite
Formula: Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2
ⓘ Bornite
Formula: Cu5FeS4
ⓘ Brochantite
Formula: Cu4(SO4)(OH)6
ⓘ Calcite
Formula: CaCO3
Habit: Scalenohedral crystals to 1 cm long.
Colour: White
Description: Occurs as crystals on hematite and chrysocolla.
ⓘ Chalcopyrite
Formula: CuFeS2
ⓘ Chrysocolla
Formula: Cu2-xAlx(H2-xSi2O5)(OH)4 · nH2O, x < 1
ⓘ Hematite
Formula: Fe2O3
ⓘ Hematite var. Specularite
Formula: Fe2O3
ⓘ Malachite
Formula: Cu2(CO3)(OH)2
ⓘ Pyrite
Formula: FeS2

Gallery:

List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification

Group 2 - Sulphides and Sulfosalts
ⓘBornite2.BA.15Cu5FeS4
ⓘChalcopyrite2.CB.10aCuFeS2
ⓘPyrite2.EB.05aFeS2
Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides
ⓘHematite4.CB.05Fe2O3
ⓘvar. Specularite4.CB.05Fe2O3
Group 5 - Nitrates and Carbonates
ⓘCalcite5.AB.05CaCO3
ⓘAzurite5.BA.05Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2
ⓘMalachite5.BA.10Cu2(CO3)(OH)2
Group 7 - Sulphates, Chromates, Molybdates and Tungstates
ⓘBrochantite7.BB.25Cu4(SO4)(OH)6
Group 9 - Silicates
ⓘChrysocolla9.ED.20Cu2-xAlx(H2-xSi2O5)(OH)4 · nH2O, x < 1

List of minerals for each chemical element

HHydrogen
Hⓘ AzuriteCu3(CO3)2(OH)2
Hⓘ BrochantiteCu4(SO4)(OH)6
Hⓘ ChrysocollaCu2-xAlx(H2-xSi2O5)(OH)4 · nH2O, x < 1
Hⓘ MalachiteCu2(CO3)(OH)2
CCarbon
Cⓘ AzuriteCu3(CO3)2(OH)2
Cⓘ CalciteCaCO3
Cⓘ MalachiteCu2(CO3)(OH)2
OOxygen
Oⓘ AzuriteCu3(CO3)2(OH)2
Oⓘ BrochantiteCu4(SO4)(OH)6
Oⓘ CalciteCaCO3
Oⓘ ChrysocollaCu2-xAlx(H2-xSi2O5)(OH)4 · nH2O, x < 1
Oⓘ HematiteFe2O3
Oⓘ MalachiteCu2(CO3)(OH)2
Oⓘ Hematite var. SpeculariteFe2O3
AlAluminium
Alⓘ ChrysocollaCu2-xAlx(H2-xSi2O5)(OH)4 · nH2O, x < 1
SiSilicon
Siⓘ ChrysocollaCu2-xAlx(H2-xSi2O5)(OH)4 · nH2O, x < 1
SSulfur
Sⓘ BorniteCu5FeS4
Sⓘ BrochantiteCu4(SO4)(OH)6
Sⓘ ChalcopyriteCuFeS2
Sⓘ PyriteFeS2
CaCalcium
Caⓘ CalciteCaCO3
FeIron
Feⓘ BorniteCu5FeS4
Feⓘ ChalcopyriteCuFeS2
Feⓘ HematiteFe2O3
Feⓘ PyriteFeS2
Feⓘ Hematite var. SpeculariteFe2O3
CuCopper
Cuⓘ AzuriteCu3(CO3)2(OH)2
Cuⓘ BorniteCu5FeS4
Cuⓘ BrochantiteCu4(SO4)(OH)6
Cuⓘ ChalcopyriteCuFeS2
Cuⓘ ChrysocollaCu2-xAlx(H2-xSi2O5)(OH)4 · nH2O, x < 1
Cuⓘ MalachiteCu2(CO3)(OH)2

Other Databases

Link to USGS MRDS:10027722

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

North AmericaContinent
North America PlateTectonic Plate

This page contains all mineral locality references listed on mindat.org. This does not claim to be a complete list. If you know of more minerals from this site, please register so you can add to our database. This locality information is for reference purposes only. You should never attempt to visit any sites listed in mindat.org without first ensuring that you have the permission of the land and/or mineral rights holders for access and that you are aware of all safety precautions necessary.

References

MRDS database Dep. ID file #10027722, MRDS ID #M003958; and, Dep. ID #10234532, MAS ID #0040120007.
Bancroft, H. (1911), Reconnaissance of the ore deposits in northern Yuma County, Arizona, USGS Bull. 451: 55-59.
Galbraith, F.W. & D.J. Brennan (1959), Minerals of Arizona: 63.
Harrer, C.M. (1964), Reconnaissance of Iron Resources in Arizona, US Bureau of Mines Information Circular 8236: 127-130.
Keith, Stanton B. (1978) Index of Mining Properties in Yuma County, Arizona. University of Arizona Bulletin 192. Bureau of Geology and Mineral Technology p.173 - Table 4
Anthony, John W., Williams, Sidney A., Bideaux, Richard A., Grant, Raymond W. (1995) Mineralogy of Arizona (3rd ed.). University of Arizona Press.
(n.d.) ADMMR Mines Database, Arizona Geological Survey.
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