Carlota Mine, Pinto Valley Mine, Pinto Creek, Miami-Inspiration Mining District, Globe-Miami Mining District, Gila County, Arizona, USAi
| Regional Level Types | |
|---|---|
| Carlota Mine | Mine (Abandoned) |
| Pinto Valley Mine | Pit (Active) |
| Pinto Creek | Creek |
| Miami-Inspiration Mining District | - not defined - |
| Globe-Miami Mining District | Mining District |
| Gila County | County |
| Arizona | State |
| USA | Country |
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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
33° 23' 4'' North , 110° 59' 20'' West
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Type:
Mine (Abandoned) - last checked 2024
Deposit first discovered:
1900
Köppen climate type:
Nearest Settlements:
| Place | Population | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Top-of-the-World | 231 (2011) | 3.9km |
| Miami | 1,783 (2017) | 11.3km |
| Claypool | 1,538 (2011) | 13.9km |
| Superior | 2,943 (2017) | 14.2km |
| Central Heights-Midland City | 2,534 (2011) | 16.2km |
Nearest Clubs:
Local clubs are the best way to get access to collecting localities
Local clubs are the best way to get access to collecting localities
| Club | Location | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Gila County Gem & Mineral Society | Miami, Arizona | 11km |
Other/historical names associated with this locality:
Carlotta Mine; Carlota property; Carlota deposit; Cactus deposit; Brewery Mine; Brewery claims; Alexander Mine
A former underground Cu-Ag mine/deposit located in sec. 36, T1N, R13E, the center sec. 36, T1N, R13 (Inspiration 7.5 minute topo map). 2 miles (3.22 km) SW of the Castle Dome (Pinto Valley) Mine, 1 mile (1.61 km) WNW of Manitou Hill, and about 1.75 miles (2.82 km) NNW of Top of the World, near the Pinal County line and near the SW corner of the Inspiration quadrangle, on National Forest land. Discovered in 1900. Produced 1929-1964. Operators included the Carlota Copper Co.; J. Alexander; C. Hirwin; John Duber; and Nielson and Company. The mine closed after 1929 and reopened in 1941. Leaching began in 1959. Drilling occurred during the period 1971-1974. Owned by the Homestake Production Co. (1971).
Now part of the Pinto Valley Mine complex.
Mineralization is deposits of copper carbonates and silicates that occur in shattered rock along the Kelly (Kelley) Fault zone. In two places the rock has been sufficiently mineralized to constitute ore, one of these is the Carlota property. The ore zone is 762 meters long and 30.48 meters wide.
The Kelly fault zone has an average strike of N60W, and it dips 60º to 70ºNE. At the Carlota Mine and northwestward to the edge of the quadrangle, a diabase sill, intruded between Pinal schist and the base of the Apache group, forms the footwall of the fault zone, and dacite forms the hanging wall. In the vicinity of the mine, the dacite is underlain by Whitetail Conglomerate and hydrothermally altered Pinal Schist; but farther westward, it probably is underlain by Whitetail Conglomerate and Paleozoic limestone.
The copper minerals occur in brecciated diabase in the footwall of the fault zone. The orebody has no sharp boundaries, but grades into low-grade material in which the mineralized fractures are too narrow and too widely spaced to make ore. Its maximum dimensions at the outcrop are about 250 feet (ca. 76 m) long by 100 feet (ca. 30 m) wide.
Ore minerals are malachite, a little azurite, and various hydrated copper silicates. They occur in veinlets ranging from microscopic to as much as 0.5 inch (1.27 cm) thick, and also as crusts coating the breccia fragments. Where the breccia was especially open, the fragments are commonly covered by several, superimposed, botryoidal crusts composed of radially oriented, fibrous silicates that differ in colour, texture, and optical properties. Some of the silicates have a vitreous lustre and are so intimately fractured as to suggest solidification of a colloidal gel. Small botryoidal masses of black tenorite generally embedded in and veined by chrysocolla are present in many places. Silicate layers commonly are separated by thin black films that probably are also tenorite.
The copper minerals have clearly formed by direct deposition, either from true or from colloidal solutions that contained copper not derived from minerals originally present in the immediate host rock.
Workings included three levels in 1929, 280 feet (ca. 85 m) depth.
Now part of the Pinto Valley Mine complex.
Mineralization is deposits of copper carbonates and silicates that occur in shattered rock along the Kelly (Kelley) Fault zone. In two places the rock has been sufficiently mineralized to constitute ore, one of these is the Carlota property. The ore zone is 762 meters long and 30.48 meters wide.
The Kelly fault zone has an average strike of N60W, and it dips 60º to 70ºNE. At the Carlota Mine and northwestward to the edge of the quadrangle, a diabase sill, intruded between Pinal schist and the base of the Apache group, forms the footwall of the fault zone, and dacite forms the hanging wall. In the vicinity of the mine, the dacite is underlain by Whitetail Conglomerate and hydrothermally altered Pinal Schist; but farther westward, it probably is underlain by Whitetail Conglomerate and Paleozoic limestone.
The copper minerals occur in brecciated diabase in the footwall of the fault zone. The orebody has no sharp boundaries, but grades into low-grade material in which the mineralized fractures are too narrow and too widely spaced to make ore. Its maximum dimensions at the outcrop are about 250 feet (ca. 76 m) long by 100 feet (ca. 30 m) wide.
Ore minerals are malachite, a little azurite, and various hydrated copper silicates. They occur in veinlets ranging from microscopic to as much as 0.5 inch (1.27 cm) thick, and also as crusts coating the breccia fragments. Where the breccia was especially open, the fragments are commonly covered by several, superimposed, botryoidal crusts composed of radially oriented, fibrous silicates that differ in colour, texture, and optical properties. Some of the silicates have a vitreous lustre and are so intimately fractured as to suggest solidification of a colloidal gel. Small botryoidal masses of black tenorite generally embedded in and veined by chrysocolla are present in many places. Silicate layers commonly are separated by thin black films that probably are also tenorite.
The copper minerals have clearly formed by direct deposition, either from true or from colloidal solutions that contained copper not derived from minerals originally present in the immediate host rock.
Workings included three levels in 1929, 280 feet (ca. 85 m) depth.
Select Mineral List Type
Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical ElementsCommodity List
This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded from this region.Mineral List
Mineral list contains entries from the region specified including sub-localities10 valid minerals.
Detailed Mineral List:
| ⓘ Azurite Formula: Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2 |
| ⓘ Calcite Formula: CaCO3 References: Personally collected on March 21, 2026 by Dana SlaughterIdentified by Dana Slaughter: Visual Identification |
| ⓘ Chrysocolla Formula: Cu2-xAlx(H2-xSi2O5)(OH)4 · nH2O, x < 1 |
| ⓘ Cuprite Formula: Cu2O References: |
| ⓘ Malachite Formula: Cu2(CO3)(OH)2 |
| ⓘ Native Copper Formula: Cu References: |
| ⓘ Powellite Formula: Ca(MoO4) |
| ⓘ Prosopite Formula: CaAl2F4[(OH)4-xFx] |
| ⓘ Szenicsite Formula: Cu3(MoO4)(OH)4 |
| ⓘ Tenorite Formula: CuO |
Gallery:
List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification
| Group 1 - Elements | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ⓘ | Native Copper | 1.AA.05 | Cu |
| Group 3 - Halides | |||
| ⓘ | Prosopite | 3.CD.10 | CaAl2F4[(OH)4-xFx] |
| Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides | |||
| ⓘ | Cuprite | 4.AA.10 | Cu2O |
| ⓘ | Tenorite | 4.AB.10 | CuO |
| Group 5 - Nitrates and Carbonates | |||
| ⓘ | Calcite | 5.AB.05 | CaCO3 |
| ⓘ | Azurite | 5.BA.05 | Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2 |
| ⓘ | Malachite | 5.BA.10 | Cu2(CO3)(OH)2 |
| Group 7 - Sulphates, Chromates, Molybdates and Tungstates | |||
| ⓘ | Powellite | 7.GA.05 | Ca(MoO4) |
| ⓘ | Szenicsite | 7.GB.10 | Cu3(MoO4)(OH)4 |
| Group 9 - Silicates | |||
| ⓘ | Chrysocolla | 9.ED.20 | Cu2-xAlx(H2-xSi2O5)(OH)4 · nH2O, x < 1 |
List of minerals for each chemical element
| H | Hydrogen | |
|---|---|---|
| H | ⓘ Azurite | Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2 |
| H | ⓘ Chrysocolla | Cu2-xAlx(H2-xSi2O5)(OH)4 · nH2O, x < 1 |
| H | ⓘ Malachite | Cu2(CO3)(OH)2 |
| H | ⓘ Prosopite | CaAl2F4[(OH)4-xFx] |
| H | ⓘ Szenicsite | Cu3(MoO4)(OH)4 |
| C | Carbon | |
| C | ⓘ Azurite | Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2 |
| C | ⓘ Calcite | CaCO3 |
| C | ⓘ Malachite | Cu2(CO3)(OH)2 |
| O | Oxygen | |
| O | ⓘ Azurite | Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2 |
| O | ⓘ Calcite | CaCO3 |
| O | ⓘ Chrysocolla | Cu2-xAlx(H2-xSi2O5)(OH)4 · nH2O, x < 1 |
| O | ⓘ Cuprite | Cu2O |
| O | ⓘ Malachite | Cu2(CO3)(OH)2 |
| O | ⓘ Powellite | Ca(MoO4) |
| O | ⓘ Prosopite | CaAl2F4[(OH)4-xFx] |
| O | ⓘ Szenicsite | Cu3(MoO4)(OH)4 |
| O | ⓘ Tenorite | CuO |
| F | Fluorine | |
| F | ⓘ Prosopite | CaAl2F4[(OH)4-xFx] |
| Al | Aluminium | |
| Al | ⓘ Chrysocolla | Cu2-xAlx(H2-xSi2O5)(OH)4 · nH2O, x < 1 |
| Al | ⓘ Prosopite | CaAl2F4[(OH)4-xFx] |
| Si | Silicon | |
| Si | ⓘ Chrysocolla | Cu2-xAlx(H2-xSi2O5)(OH)4 · nH2O, x < 1 |
| Ca | Calcium | |
| Ca | ⓘ Calcite | CaCO3 |
| Ca | ⓘ Powellite | Ca(MoO4) |
| Ca | ⓘ Prosopite | CaAl2F4[(OH)4-xFx] |
| Cu | Copper | |
| Cu | ⓘ Azurite | Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2 |
| Cu | ⓘ Chrysocolla | Cu2-xAlx(H2-xSi2O5)(OH)4 · nH2O, x < 1 |
| Cu | ⓘ Cuprite | Cu2O |
| Cu | ⓘ Native Copper | Cu |
| Cu | ⓘ Malachite | Cu2(CO3)(OH)2 |
| Cu | ⓘ Szenicsite | Cu3(MoO4)(OH)4 |
| Cu | ⓘ Tenorite | CuO |
| Mo | Molybdenum | |
| Mo | ⓘ Powellite | Ca(MoO4) |
| Mo | ⓘ Szenicsite | Cu3(MoO4)(OH)4 |
Other Databases
| Link to USGS MRDS: | 10027439 |
|---|
Localities in this Region
- Arizona
- Gila County
- Globe-Miami Mining District
- Miami-Inspiration Mining District
- Pinto Creek
- Pinto Valley Mine
- Carlota Mine
- Pinto Valley Mine
- Pinto Creek
- Miami-Inspiration Mining District
- Globe-Miami Mining District
- Gila County
Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
North AmericaContinent
- Sonoran DesertDesert
North America PlateTectonic Plate
- Basin and Range BasinsBasin
- Mazatzal DomainDomain
- Southern Basin and RangeWide Rift
USA
- Arizona
- Tonto National ForestNational Forest
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References
(n.d.) Minerals Availability System (MAS), U.S. Bureau of Mines.file ID #0040070215
Carlota Mine, Pinto Valley Mine, Pinto Creek, Miami-Inspiration Mining District, Globe-Miami Mining District, Gila County, Arizona, USA