2014 Minerals Yearbook ARIZONA [ADVANCE RELEASE] U.S. Department of the Interior June 2019 U.S. Geological Survey EXPLANATION Gyp County producing only construction sand and gravel County producing both construction MOHAVE sand and gravel and crushed stone COCONINO County boundary ^ Capital city Nonfuel mineral commodity Ag Silver Au Gold Cu,Ag Lime Bent Bentonite DS IS Cem Cement plant Pum NA VAJO IS Clay Common clay and (or) shale Gem AP ACH E Cu Copper Cem Cem DS Dimension stone Gem Gemstones Cu,Au,Mo,Ag DS Gyp Gypsum IS Industrial sand YAVAP AI Lime Lime plant Bent Mo Molybdenum GILA Au,Ag Per Perlite LA PAZ MAR ICO PA Pum Pumice PHOENIX Salt ^ Gem GRE EN- Re Rhenium Gem LE E Salt Salt Clay Zeo Zeolites Cu,Ag Cu,Au, Gyp Cu Mo,Ag YUMA Gyp GRA HAM PINAL Zeo Cem Cu Zeo PIMA Cu Zeo Cu,Mo,Ag Cu,Mo,Re CO CHISE 0 30 60 MILES Per Base from U.S. Geological Survey digital data 0 30 60 KILOMETERS Albers Equal-Area Conic projection SAN TA CRU Z Figure 1. Map showing major nonfuel-mineral-producing areas in Arizona in 2014. Sources: Arizona Geological Survey and U.S. Geological Survey. The Mineral Industry of Arizona By Madan M. Singh This chapter has been prepared under a Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. Geological Survey and the Arizona Geological Survey for collecting information on all nonfuel minerals. In 2014, in the State of Arizona (fig. 1), the value of nonfuel In 2014, the production quantity of construction sand and mineral production1 was $7.96 billion. This was a 5.3% increase gravel increased by 1.2% and crushed stone increased by 5.9% from the State’s revised nonfuel mineral production value of from the previous year but remained significantly lower than $7.55 billion in 2013 (table 1). Nonfuel mineral production in prerecession quantities (table 1). the State surpassed $7 billion in value for the first time in 2007; it fell below that figure in 2009‒10 but has been above that Aggregates by State and End Use since 2011 (fig. 2). Arizona accounted for approximately 9.9% A companion dataset, “Aggregates by State and End Use,” of the total U.S. value in 2014, which ranked it first among the replaces the discrete aggregate tables that were included in 50 States, based on total value. On a per capita basis, the value of the individual State chapters prior to 2014 and is available nonfuel mineral production was $1,180 in 2014 compared to the on the State Minerals Statistics and Information web page at national average value of $252. The number of mines and mine https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/state/. This dataset is employment decreased in 2014 from the prior year (table 2). updated annually. In 2014, the leading five minerals in the State (by value of production), in descending order of production value, were References Cited copper, molybdenum, construction sand and gravel, portland cement, and crushed stone (table 1). Molybdenum and silver were Bureau of Land Management, 2015, Public land statistics, 2014: Bureau produced as byproducts of copper mining. Gemstones mined in of Land Management, v. 199, May, 269 p. (Accessed May 23, 2018, at https://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/pls2014.pdf.) Arizona included agate, amethyst, chrysocolla, peridot, turquoise, Greve, Natalie, 2014, Taseko concludes acquisition of Curis, Florence copper and vanadinite. Arizona had 38,826 active claims on Federal lands project: Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly. November 21. (Accessed at the end of fiscal year 2014, which covered 329,712 hectares March 30, 2018, at http://www.miningweekly.com/article/taseko-concludes- (814,729 acres) (Bureau of Land Management, 2015, p. 140). acquisition-of-curis-florence-copper-project-2014-11-21.) Hudbay Minerals Inc., [undated], Our business, Arizona: Hudbay Minerals Inc. (Accessed March 28, 2018, at http://www.hudbayminerals.com/English/Our- Events, Trends, and Issues Business/Arizona/default.aspx.) Resolution Copper, [undated], The land exchange: Resolution Copper. In 2014, Arizona produced about 5% of the world’s copper. (Accessed March 30, 2018, at http://resolutioncopper.com/protecting-the- New copper deposits continue to be explored and developed: desert/land-exchange/.) • Rosemont Copper Co. in Pima County was in development; Supreme Court of British Columbia, 2014, In the matter of the bankruptcy of Mercator Minerals Ltd.: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Supreme it was purchased from Augusta Resources Corp. in Court of British Columbia, Vancouver Registry, 18 p. (Accessed March 30, July 2014 by Hudbay Minerals Inc. (Hudbay Minerals Inc., 2018, at http://www.insolvencies.deloitte.ca/Documents/ca_en_insolv_ undated). Mercator_Order-B141088.pdf.) • The Resolution Copper Mine, a joint venture of Rio Tinto plc and BHP Billiton Ltd., near Superior, Pinal County, submitted a plan of operations to the U.S. Forest Service. A land swap allowing the mine to proceed was passed by Congress in December 2014. When operational, it will be over 2,100 meters deep and produce 500,000 metric tons per year of copper (Resolution Copper, undated). • Florence Copper Co. was developing a mine near Florence, Pinal County, to extract copper using in situ means. In late 2014, Taseko Mines Ltd. acquired Curis Resources Ltd., the owner of the Florence project (Greve, 2014). • Mercator Minerals Ltd. filed for bankruptcy in December 2014 (Supreme Court of British Columbia, 2014). 1The terms “nonfuel mineral production” and related “values” encompass variations in meaning, depending upon the mineral products. Production may be measured by mine shipments, mineral commodity sales, or marketable production (including consumption by producers) as is applicable to the individual mineral commodity. All USGS mineral production data published in this chapter are those available as of June 2017. All USGS Mineral Industry Surveys and USGS Minerals Yearbook chapters—mineral commodity, State, and country— can be retrieved over the internet at http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals. ARIZONA—2014 [ADVANCE RELEASE] 5.1 TABLE 1 NONFUEL RAW MINERAL PRODUCTION IN ARIZONA1, 2, 3 (Thousand metric tons and thousand dollars) 2012 2013 2014 Mineral Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity Value Copper4 763 6,180,000 795 5,960,000 893 6,260,000 Gemstones, naturale NA 2,500 NA 2,360 NA 2,370 Sand and gravel, construction 33,900 r 300,000 r 35,100 r 306,000 r 35,500 306,000 Stone: Crushed 6,810 60,100 8,270 r 73,100 r 8,750 74,900 Dimension, sandstone 46 5,570 57 6,420 55 6,080 Combined values of cement, clays [bentonite (2012) and common clay (2012–14)], gold, gypsum (crude), lime, molybdenum concentrates, perlite (crude), rhenium, salt, sand and gravel (industrial), silver, zeolites XX 1,400,000 XX 1,210,000 XX 1,310,000 Total XX 7,940,000 r XX 7,550,000 r XX 7,960,000 eEstimated. rRevised. NA Not available. XX Not applicable. 1Includes data available through June 2017. 2Production as measured by mine shipments, sales, or marketable production (including consumption by producers). 3Data are rounded to no more than three significant digits; may not add to totals shown. 4Recoverable content of ores and concentrates. TABLE 2 MINING ACTIVITY IN ARIZONA Mining activity 2012 2013 2014 1 State rank 2 2 1 Employment, number:2 Nonfuel mineral mines 6,330 6,443 6,395 Mills and plants 3,694 4,010 4,140 Number of nonfuel mineral mines2 291 292 275 Number of mills and plants2 32 32 31 Average annual wage, all mining3 dollars per year 79,690 77,996 78,131 Average annual wage, all industries3 do. 45,237 45,525 46,541 Per capita value1, 4 dollars per person 1,210 1,140 1,180 National per capita value1 do. 241 236 252 do. Ditto. 1Based on unadjusted State total value. 2Source: U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration. 3Source: National Mining Association. 4Data rounded to no more than three significant digits. 5.2 [ADVANCE RELEASE] U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MINERALS YEARBOOK—2014 TABLE 3 STRUCTURE OF THE NONFUEL MINERAL INDUSTRY IN ARIZONA (Nonfuel-mineral-producing companies, not including aggregate producers) Commodity Company County Cement Calportland Co. (Rillito plant) Pima Do. Drake Cement LLC (Paulden plant) Yavapai Do. Salt River Materials Cement Co. (Clarkdale) Do. Clays: Bentonite Sud-Chemie Inc. Apache Common clay and shale McKusick Mosaic Co. (Weary Lode) Gila Copper ASARCO LLC Pima and Pinal Do. ASARCO LLC (Silver Bell Mine)2 Pima Do. Capstone Mining Corp. Gila Do. Freeport-McMoRan, Inc. (Miami Mine) Do. Do. Freeport-McMoRan, Inc. (Safford Mine) Graham Do. Mercator Mineral Ltd. Mohave Do. Nord Copper Corp. (Johnson Camp Mine) Cochise Copper, molybdenum, silver ASARCO LLC (Mission Mine)2 Pima Do. Capstone Mining Corp. (Pinto Valley Mine) Gila Copper and silver ASARCO LLC (Ray Mine)2 Pinal Do. Carlota Copper Co. (KGHM Polska Miedź) Gila Do. Mercator Mineral Ltd. (Mineral Park Mine)3 Mohave Copper, molybdenum, rhenium Freeport-McMoran Inc. (Sierrita Mine) Pima Copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, Freeport-McMoRan, Inc. (72%), Sumitomo Corp. (15%) Greenlee rhenium SMM Morenci Inc. (13%) (Morenci Mine) Do. Freeport-McMoRan, Inc. (Bagdad Mine) Yavapai Gemstones:1 Agate Oatman Fire Agate (Cuesta) Mohave Amethyst Commercial Minerals Co. (Four Peaks Mine) Maricopa Peridot4 San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation Gila Turquoise Colbaugh Processing Inc. (Kingman Mine) Mohave Gold Northern Vertex Mining Corp. Do. Gold and silver American Bonanza Gold Corp. (subsidiary of Kerr Mines Inc.) La Paz Gypsum Western Mining and Minerals, Inc. Mohave Do. Natl Gypsum Co Pinal Do. Phoenix Cement Co Yavapai Do. Pinal Gypsum Co Pinal Lime Lhoist North America Do. Perlite Imerys, S.A. Pinal Pumice Arizona Tufflite Inc Coconino Salt Morton International, Inc.