Aravaipa and Stanley Mining Disteicts Gkaham County, Arizona
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR HUBERT WORK, Secretary UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY GEORGE OTIS SMITH, Director Bulletin 763 ARAVAIPA AND STANLEY MINING DISTEICTS GKAHAM COUNTY, ARIZONA BY CLYDE P. ROSS WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1925 ADDITIONAL COPIES OS THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE PROCURED FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS , GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON, D. C. AT 25 CENTS PER COPY CONTENTS Pago Summary _ ________ ________________________ 1 Introduction ___________________________________ 2 \ Purpose and scope of the report _________________ 2 V .Location and extent of the region ______________ 2 Acknowledgments_____________________________ 3 * Historical sketch _____________________________ 3 Industries__-_________________._____________ 5 ^ Climate ___________________________________ 6 - The map ...___________________________ 6 Topography ________ _ 8 Turnbull Mountains.._____________________________ 8 Mescal Range and Deer Creek basin___________________ 10 Santa Teresa Mountains _________________________ 10 Arivaipa Creek________________________________ 11 Stratigraphy and petrology ___ ____________________ 12 Major features_______________________________ 12 Metarnorphic rocks (pre-Cambr.ian)______________________ 13 Final schist_______________________________ 13 Granitic gneiss _ _ _ _____ ______._______ 15 Metamorphic igneous complex .________________________ 16 Stratified rocks _________________ ____ _______ 17 ' j Cambrian quartzite _______ _ 17 | Martin limestone (Devonian). ___ _ _ _ 20 Tornado limestone (Carboniferous) _ ____ 22 Cretaceous rocks__ _ _ _ ._ 25 \ Miocene (?) strata _ 29 Gila conglomerate____________ ____ _ 30 Quaternary alluvium _ _ -__ 31 ' Intrusive rocks ____ 32 \ Granite of the main batholith___________ _ 32 Quartz monzonite _ _ _ : 34 Wine-pink granite 34 Intrusive rhyolite - 35 Granitic dikes __ ____ _____ 37 , Felsite _____ - 37 \ Trap ____________________ 38 Structure _ : - 39 Pre-Cambrian folding 39 Later periods of earth movement 40 Igneous intrusions . 41 Flexures 42 Normal faults 44 Overthrusts 45 HI I IV CONTENTS Page Geologic history.____________________ _ 46 Pre-Cambrian time _______________ ______ 47 Paleozoic time______________________________ 48 Mesozoic time. _ _ ___ _ 49 intrusive activity ________________ ___ __________ 51 Tertiary and Quaternary time ___ _ _ _ 51 Physiography . __________________ _ _ ______ 53 Physiographic processes __ _ 53 Pediments and terraces __'.______________ _ ____ 54 Mountain sculpture _ ___ ____ 57 Ore deposits _ 58 Types________ __________ _ ___________ 58 Age_____ 59 Grand Reef lode system 59 Contact-metamorphic deposits ______ _ _________ 63 Copper deposits in the granite of the main batholith_________ 69 Calcite veins 70 Barite lodes ___________ ______ ___ _____ 71 Gold veins 71 Oxidation and enrichment___________ - ________ 72 Aravaipa mining district 76 f General features_______________________________ 76 Location and extent- _____ 76 Population __ _ _ 76 Roads_____ __ 77 Plan of descriptions of deposits _ _ __ 78 Mines and prospects __ 78 Aravaipa Leasing Co___ _____ 78 Prospects south of the Aravaipa Leasing Co.'s property- __ 86 La Clede mine _ 86 / Silver Coin mine __ _________ 87 } Tenstrike group _ _ _______ 88 ' Finnegan group _______ 88 Bullis group , . 88 / Bullis-Landsman group _ __________________ 91 Royal Tinto Mining & Smelting Co __ 92 C. A. Firth group ___ _ _________ 95 '' Aravaipa Mining Co _____ 95 / Moltke group _ ____ 98 Norton group _____ 98 H. T. and C. A. Firth group ________ ________ 99 Tolman-Babcock group __^__ 99 Bryce-Merrill prospect ____ 100 Sinn Fein prospect _____ loo / Rawhide group _ _ _______ 100 Warm Spring prospect _ _ ___ ________ 100 Landsman group _ ___ _______ _ ________ 101 Cobre Grande mine _ ______ ______ 102 Fisher prospect _ _______ 103 Stanley mining district _ ___ ______ 105 General features _ ___ _ ___________________ 105 Location and extent ________ . _ ___ 105 Population________________________________ 105 Roads__________________________________ 106 ) CONTENTS ' V Stanley mining district Continued. Page Mines and prospects _ 106 Princess Pat mine _ ! 106 Copper Dike group _________ _____ 107 Cold Spring prospect________________ __ 108 Soldier prospect __________ ____ 108 Copper Belle mine- __________ ___ _ 109 Silver Spar prospect____________________________ 109 Stanley mine___ _____________________ 109 Friend mine___ _.._____________-________ 110 Copper Reef mine-_______________________ 111 Prospects on Rawhide Mountain_________ _ __ 112 Starlight mine___ ___________________ 113 Parks Brothers prospect_______________________ 114 Mitchell barite prospect________.__________ _ 114 Coal fields___________________________________ 114 General features_________________________ 114 Location and extent ____________ ___ 114 Accessibility_________________;__________ 115 History________________________________ 115 Upper field________________________________ 116 Middle field _______________________________ 116 Lower field ______________________________ 117 Index _____________________________________ 119 ILLUSTRATIONS Page PLATE I. Geologic sketch map of the Aravaipa-Stanley region___..__ 8 II. Topographic sketch map of the Aravaipa-Stanley region___ 8 III. A, Stanley Butte and the dissected upland surface at its base, from Lone Cedar Mesa; B, Stanley and Little Stanley buttes and the dissected upland at their base, from the north___ 10 IV. A, Rawhide Mountain, from the southeast; B, The summit of Rawhide Mountain, from a point on its northeast face___ 10 V. A, North side of the Santa Teresa Mountains, from Fisher prospect; B, Northeast flanks of the Santa Teresa Mountains, from Cobre Grande Mountain___________________ 10 VI. A, Cliff of tuff and sandstone of the Gila formation on the east side of Turkey Creek; B, Cliff of conglomerate of the Gila formation in Arivaipa Box, near T Rail ranch______ 10 VII. A, The south side of the Santa Teresa Mountains and the plain at its base; B, Cambrian quartzite in Arizona Canyon near Arivaipa ____________________________ 10 VIII. A, Tilted Miocene (?) conglomerate south of the Safford road; B, Tilted cross-bedded sandstone with lava below, both of Miocene (?) age, in Arizona Canyon just below the Claridge ranch.__________ _ _ ____ __ 10 IX. A, North side of Garden Gulch below Friend mine; B, Granite near Fisher prospect, in the southeastern part of the Turn- bull Mountains_________ _ ________ ^ " 58 X. A, Grand Reef outcrop, from the ridge on the north side of Laurel Canyon; B, Edge view of the Grand Reef outcrop, on the north side of Laurel Canyon, from the mill _ 58 XL Claim map of the Aravaipa mining district_______ 58 XII. Magnetite in process of replacement by specularite 66 XIII. Map of the coal fields in the Aravaipa-Stanley region 114 FIGURE 1. Diagram showing contact-metamorphic deposits in limestone. _ 65 2. Diagram to illustrate oxidation and enrichment 72 3. Section through principal workings at the Grand Reef mine 80 4. Section through Dogwater mine 81 5. Section through Aravaipa mine ___ __ 82 6. Workings of Silver Coin mine___ _____ _ 87 7. Composite level map of Windsor mine __ 89 8. Geologic sketch map of Sam Jones and Copper Bar tunnels 93 VI GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF THMRAYAIPA AND STANLEY MINING DISTRICTS, GRAHAM COUNTY, ARIZONA By CLYDE P. Ross SUMMARY The region in which the Aravaipa and Stanley mining districts are situated contains the rugged Santa Teresa and Turnbull mountains and the southeast end of the Mescal Range. It is not crossed by any railroad, and lack of good transportation is a serious obstacle to .its development. The principal industries are mining and stock raising; there is also some farming by irri gation. The climate is semiarid but healthful. The rocks consist of pre- Cambrian metamorphosed igneous and sedimentary formations; Paleozoic quartzite, shale, and limestone of marine origin; Upper Cretaceous shallow- water marine deposits and volcanic beds; granite and quartz monzonite, probably intruded at the beginning of the Tertiary period; lava, pyroclastic rocks, and alluvium of Miocene (?) age; the Gila conglomerate (including tuff) ; and Quaternary alluvium. The lower part of the Paleozoic section dif fers from that in neighboring regions. After the intense crustal disturbances of pre-Cambrian time, there was extensive warping in the Paleozoic and Meso- zoic eras. The batholithic intrusions at the beginning of the Tertiary were accompanied by doming and faulting. The overthrusts in the northern part of the region probably were produced at this time. Normal faulting con tinued with diminishing intensity into geologically recent time. There ap pear to have been five partial cycles of erosion from. the Pliocene to the present. The presence of deposits of silver, copper, and lead in this region has been known for 50 years, but only about 35,000 tons of ore has been mined. There are several small mines and numerous prospects, but development has been hindered by inaccessibility and lack of capital, so that the possibilities of the region as a metal producer have not even yet been adequately tested. At the present time mining, except for necessary assessment work, is practically at a standstill, but with improvement in conditions governing the mining in dustry in general development here will probably be renewed, and the future of the region may be regarded optimistically. A lode system 11 miles long crops out west of the Santa Teresa Mountains. The lodes consist of fractured and replaced rock of various