The Mineralogy of the Mildren and Steppe Mining Districts, Pima County, Arizona
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The mineralogy of the Mildren and Steppe mining districts, Pima County, Arizona Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Williams, Sidney Arthur, 1933- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 23/09/2021 09:21:48 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/565602 THE MINERALOGY OF THE MILDREN AND STEPPE MINING DISTRICTS, PIMA COUNTY, ARIZONA by Sidney ^'Williams A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 19 6 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE I hereby recommend that this dissertation prepared under my direction by Sidney A. Williams____________________________ __ entitled The Mineralogy of the Mildren and Steppe Mining District Pima County, Arizona_________________________________ be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy________________________________ ■'7/Ar-tdL 1-9- sertation Director Date D i f s After inspection of the dissertation, the following members of the Final Examination Committee concur in its approval and recommend its acceptance:* ^ \ ^ l ^ //f // ^ *This approval and acceptance is contingent on the candidate's adequate performance and defense of this dissertation at the final oral examination. The inclusion of this sheet bound into the library copy of the dissertation is evidence of satisfactory performance at the final examination. STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in The University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknow ledgement of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head"of "the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in their judgement the proposed use of the material is in the interests of. scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: ___ ^ ABSTRACT The oxidation of a relatively simple sulfide mineral assemblage in the Mildrsn and Steppe mine areas' has yielded a wealth of rare mineral species. One of these, devillite (?), has been carefully studied with the conclusion that it is monociinic 2/m and is probably in the space group P2/c. Morphological study has revealed the presence of new forms for malachite, wulfenite, brochantite, and other species. Several species of rare occurrence have been found and de scribed, including paratacamite, devillite (?), matlockite, buttgenbachite (?), crocoite, miersite, iodyrite, and svan- bergite. Paragenetic studies indicate that sulfates formed early, replacing sulfides,and that they gave way to carbon ates and then certain oxides. Preparation of Eh-pH diagrams indicates that this sequence could occur with rising Eh (sulfides to sulfates) followed by an increase in pH with little change in Eh (sulfates to carbonates) with, finally, an increase in Eh (carbonates to oxides). The presence of about 27 elements in the zone of oxidation is contrasted with the relative simplicity of the hypogene ores, and it is suggested that the presence of these elements in normal concentration in the adjacent i racks is adequate tu account fur the numerous species which contain these elements as essential constituents. The dif ferent assemblages end large number of species (more then 70) reflect' the large number of elements participating in"the oxidation end the resulting small fields of stability-of any given;species.; TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations v Introduction 1 Previous Workers 2 Location and History of the Area 2 Areal Geology 4 Acknowledgements 5 The Wallrock 5 Petrography 6 Structure 12 Descriptions of Individual Minerals 16 Quartz 16 Barite 17 Calcite-group Carbonates IB Dolomite 19 Gypsum 20 Fluorite 21 Magnetite 21 Opal 21 S o m i t e 21 Chalcocite 23 Chalcopyrite 23 Covellite 24 Galena 24 Molybdenite 25 Pyrite 25 Sphalerite 28 Stromeyerite 28 Tetrahedrite 28 Anglesite 29 Atacamite j 29 ' Aurichalcite 30 Azurite 30 Beudantite 32 (undetermined mineral) 32 iii Brochantite 34 Buttgenbachite (?) 35 Caledonite 35 Cerargyrita 37 Cerussite 37 Chrysocalla 38 Copper 43 Cuprite 43 Crocoite 44 Descloizite-Mottramite 44 Ferrimolybdite 46 Qoethite 48 Gold 49 Goslarite 50 Heme Lite 51 Hisingerits 51 lodyrite 52 Jarosite 55 Leadhillite 56 Lepidocrocite 56 Linsrite 53 Malachite 60 Massicot 64 Litharge 64 Minium 65 Matlockite 65 Miersite 63 Mimetite-Pyromorphite-Uanadinite 68 Paratacamite 73 Rosasite 76 Eerpierite-Devillite (?) 76 Stibiconite 89 Svanbergite 89 T enorite 90 uiillemita 90 hJulfenite 91 Paragenesis 97 Local Mine and Cell Water 104 Stability Relations of Minerals in the Zone of Oxidation 108 Sources of the Elements . 133 # Bibliography ]41 iv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Plate 1 Molybdenite and Hold 26 11 2 Malachite end "Limonite" in Boxiuorks 26 11 3 Gypsum Crystal 27 It 4 Azurite Crystal 31 11 5 Grochantite Crystal 35 11 5 Cerussite Crystal 39 11 7 Cerussite Twin 40 11 8 Mottramite Crystal 47 It 9 lodyrite Crystal 54 11 10 Jarusite Crystal 57 . 11 11 Linarite Crystal 59 It 12 Malachite Crystal 62 11 13 Malachite Crystal 63 11 14 lodyrite Crystal in Quartz and Hematite Matrix 66 11 15 Minium on Quartz and Lulfenite 56 11 16 Matlockite and Anglesite in Parallel Growth 67 11 17 Uanadinite Crystal 71 11 10 Etched Uanadinite Crystals 72 It 19 Paratacamite with Anglesite and Linarite 72 11 20 Paratacamite Pseudomorph after Atacamite 75 t! 21 Devillite (?) Crystal 85 It 22 "Serpierite" Crystal 86 II 23 Devillite (?) Twin 87 If 24 Devillite (?) Crystals in Zincian Dolomite 83 II 25 Mi 11smite in Malachite and Calcite Matrix 89 11 25 Willsmite Crystal 92 II 27 k'ulfenite Crystal 93 T abl e 1 Crystallographic Constants far Devillite (?) 81 11 2 Comparison of X-ray Powder Patterns for three Devillite- Serpierite-Like Minerals 1 82 11 3 Indexed Powder Pattern of Devillite (?) 03 v T able u Faragenesis of the '"ildren mine 98 ?» 5 Paragenesis of the Silver-Lead claim 5 9 ft 6 Paragenesis :of; the L ittle nary - . - r r ■' mine 1 0 0 It 7 Water Analyses x - x - - ;: • • ' 1 0 6 ; Figure- l ;v , Geology Sketch t‘ap • : : 1 4 II 2 System Zn-S-C-H^G 1 0 9 II • 3 - System Cu-S-C-HiO • ' : ' r . x ' 1 1 2 4 . .System Pb-Mo-C-S-H^O , - . .. • 1 . 1 5 II 5 System Pb-CL-CCU 1 1 9 , • • 2- : ■<; - .. ■ :;;r..V •. ; ' II 6 System Pb-Cu-Ag-D^-Cl^ 1 2 3 ' II ■" 7 System Cu-Ag-Cl-H^D ‘ ;! ‘ ' 1 2 6 ,f* : - 8 1 System Cu-Ag-I^-Cl^ : > 1 2 8 ii 9, System Ag-Cl-I-HJu , 1 3 0 ■. v ; • • : ; : — ' 1 .•: i y : 2 ■ •. : ; ■_ !. '. r;; ■ ; ■■ ... , INTRODUCTION . ■ • In the-area studied a large variety of mineral species .has been found. Many of these are rare or unusual in their occurrence so that some required a good,deal of effort merely for their identification. Optical data, combined with X-ray examinations (normally powder patterns were used for uncertain species), spectrographic analyses, morphological determinations of suitable crystals, and microchemical tests (employed on polished specimens as well as on -crushed fragments) usually were sufficient not only to identify the species but to, gain information about their physical properties. In some cases,- however, even extensive work has failed to yield a satisfactory determination of a species. About .27 elements occur in sufficient quantity to be considered an essential constituent in at least one mineral species. The source of these elements as well as the origin of such diverse assemblages (at least 65. different .species - - .were found) is an arresting.problem. The information obtained by chemical analyses of mine and well waters was employed in the construction of pertinent Eh-pH diagrams in an attempt to explain the associations of the minerals, with some apparent success. Attempts at explanations of the presence of. so many essential elements are probably futile but some conjectures in this regard have been put forth. : . : . 1 2 Previous Workers MacKallor (1957) studied the orebodies of the Cobabi district for a Master's thesis at the University of Arizona. His work stressed the economic rather than the mineralogical aspects of the area. Bryner (1958) mapped the South Comobabi Mountains and the adjacent Ho Vaya Hills for a Ph. D. dis sertation at the University of Arizona. His work might be termed general geology', although much petrographical data is included. Heindl (1960) studied the Cretaceous and Tertiary sediments in the area, and several mining companies have drilled and mapped in the area, but this work is largely un published. Local mine owners and miners supplied a wealth of information to the author, but it was not always reliable. Location and History of the Area The Mildren and Steppe properties are located on the west flank of the South Comobabi Mountains In Pima County, Arizona. The area lies about seven miles' north of Sells and is accessible by several dirt roads. These roads are'not well maintained and caution must be exercised during the rainy season. Both properties are at an elevation of about 2300 feet, and both lie on a pediment which slopes gently westward toward the Ho Vaya Hills. The claims were originally located as gold prospects in the late nineteenth century, although one silver prospect is said to have been worked by the Spaniards in the seventeenth 3 century ..(3.