MINERALS OFARIZONA - Arizona Geological Survey

4b tfd o J:.nw n t vet irdf .5MINERALS OF ARIZONAUNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA e z:ts :r iCochise County-Bisbee district abundant i'd'thelevel, assome coated with·fne specImens of crystallIzed materialCalumet and Ari na Ive. SI ver, were taken from a single pocket:throughout cupri n:n I ,e : all .c?stals, rregu ar n two:ksand kaolin. Courtland-Gleeson Yd : cutres lcuprIte'bhmomte,masses.' as arge ar orescentGila County-Globe district·11 h kl.eralizedquartzite ,ommlOnOld D. .' as mmesl?1 a Drippingac y partIcles.S . mMmm.prIng ounams, Christmas mine RarelytCastleDome mine.', as a secondary mineral in theGreenleeCounty-Clifton. common in upperpartsof the veins1.-Moren I. d'IStrIet,chalcocite zone. A% Zd;; a upr teme atJ? upper imit of thecopper up to 8 inches thick with,Ilhams vem, as solidpseudomorphous after chalcociterous structure and probablyMohave County-In sm 11 .in t e Wallapai Mining di:tric ounts as a secondary mineralCounty-Santa Rita Mt'.t ePtmaHelvetia district. Silver Bel1u amst , t var.lOus properties inTIro mines.oun ams, SlIver Bell, and EI:ibPinal County-Ray district b d t'Galiuro Mountains as twisted :n n n l! the upper workings.ore, Copper Princ mineWIre I e masses in oxidizedYavapai County-United V d E '.dant with cuprite. Also as fin:rs peclmense .xtenslOfnmme,abunromnearlocallyWalker.LEADPb. Silverygray ductile.Luster m e t a 11'IC. Opaque. Streak Black. H 1.5. G. 1l.36.Malleable;somewhat'Occurs as native metal in'd' dUsually oxidized when found n XI e zOfne of vein deposits.Maricopa Count Rar e sur ace.Creek, Old WomanY GUI hort tl frSm t e enches of Oxbowsand with magnetite. .,e an ommgo Creek, in redYavapai County-Reportedfi St . .(15 miles west of Congress) an at L-slzpeda az assesm red inGoldquartz. CraterMERCURY g. Tin-whit . Luster brilliant metallic. G. 13.6. Small fluid globules in gangue.form fr t l :t nt ;cTn : ftt' ;is: ot daryorigin,assocIated.c I. IS commonlyGkila County-Mazatzal Mountains'SlateCree deposits.Maricopa County-Mazatzal MountainsS unflower district.'Mo ave County-Maynard districtcerussIte.' .u.ILl.t:t.lfJi:U .l\!J.cmtltailris.Yavapai County-In appreciable qUiant;ityp acers, lower Copper Basin Washcmnabar deposits in the vicinity.'PLATINUMPt. Alloyed with iron, iridium, or palladium. Color and streak whitish steel-graY.Luster metallic. Opaque. H.4-4.5. Sectile, malleable, and ductile. G.14-19.Isometric, hexoctahedraL Crystals rare. As grains or scales. A rare mineral. Almost invariably in peridotite, serpentine, orin placers derived from them.Maricopa County-San Domingo placers and along the GilaRiver, opposite the old Riverside Stage station.Yavapai County-In black sands near Columbia and Prescott.IRON-NICKEL-IRON Fe. Color and streak steel-gray to iron-black. Luster metallic. Opaque. H.4.G.7.3-7.87. Malleable. Fracture hackly. Isometric, hexoctahedraL Crystals rare.Strongly magnetic. Meteoric iron, known as kamacite, is commonly alloyed withnickel, generally in amount from 2 to 7 per cent; meteoric nickel-iron, known astaenite, contains from 24 to 77 per cent Ni. unusual compounds such as schreibersite(Fe,Ni)aP, moissanite, CSi, cohenite (Fe,Ni,Co)nC, and lawrencite (FeCb) occur in meteorites.Terrestrial iron is of extremely rare occurrence and is notknown from Arizona, but several important meteoric falls areknown.Coconino County-The Canyon Diablo iron has been describedby F. N. Guild as follows:One of the most famous occurrences of meteoric iron in the world is that of theCanon Diablo iron found in the immediate vicinity of a slight elevation, variouslyknown as Crater Mountain, Coon Butte, and Meteor Mountain. It is located in theplateau region of Arizona, about twelve miles from the Santa Fe station known asCanon Diablo, and thirty-five miles from Flagstaff. The iron is found in fragmentsscattered on the surface of the ground in sizes varying from that of a bean to massesweighing over one hundred pounds. In all it is said that nearly twenty tons of thematerial have been gathered and distributed to various museums and private collectionsThein allparts isofespeciallythe world.interesting-not only on account of the meteoric masseslocalityfound there, but because of the interesting question as to the origin of the elevationapparently so intimately connected with them. The composition of the iron, as shownby the following analyses made by H. Moissan, of Paris, varies greatly in differentparts of the same fragment .92.0891.0995.067.05Iron." 91.121.085.07Nickel. . 3.07Small quantities of silica, magnesia, and phosphorus are also reported.The only known occurrence of moissanite is in the CanyonDiablo meteorite, which also contains cohenite.The San Francisco Mountains meteorite was discovered about1920 on the lower northern slopes of the San Francisco Mountains. The Elden meteorite, a small mass of 3.5 kilograms, discovered in 1927 near Mt. Elden, is an intergrowth of nickel-ironand graphite in nearly equal proportions, and also contains lawrencite. As similar iron-graphite nodules are known from theCanyon Diablo iron, this occurrence is believed to be a part ofthat fall. The Winona meteorite, part iron, part stone, was discovered in 1928 in a prehistoric ruin near Winona.Gila County-Gun Creek meteorite, discovered in the SierraAncha Mountains in 1909. Clover Springs meteorite, total weight7.7 kilograms, mesosiderite, discovered at Clover Springs in 1955.Maricopa County-The Rhoades meteorite, which fell duringthe shower of October 9, 1946, a short distance south of Chandler.The meteorite was discovered by plotting the azimuths of a particularly bright fall which registered on the plates of two camerasset up 19 miles apart.

6MINERALS OF ARIZONAUNIVERSITY OF ARIZONAmeteorite, consisting of two .I.'rwectively, were discovered ll- l'irn of the Grand Canyon drite -. with angular enclosuresahhbh as follows:SP.006.402Insol.Total.03299.825rook -meteoric fall, a shower oftook place at Aztec, July 19etestone weighed 14.5 pounds.' ir()h,6fFragment of Holbrook Meteorite(J.E. WHITFIELD, Analyst)mfi \es···:::::::::::::::::R gty The Tucson meteorites are described by Guildpbrtallt masses of meteoric iron hav bd'.t utthbroughly reliable data as to the e'i:actenpo stcovheredt'hn the vicinity ofg. . wereey fell seems to,.dillg'to Mr. L. Fletcher, the attention of th. t'fi seJ:.I1eteorites through the entomologist Dr JseeB 1 tC orld was first called""hIle passing through the village of Tucs . : . e on e,.m 1851. He reportedbs rved two large pieces of meteoric iron use Ybm tthh e Pbrleckedm!l' February, he had .llV"ls."Y eac smIths of the town asIn 1854, Professor Shephard gave a br' f tllt:es that 1!ccording to information furn he ·unttlf these .meteorit ;s, in Which hethe S mta RIta Mountains, about 25 or 30 miles Im YTWele found ill a canyon ofas. bemg l!sed a anvils, and one was described sou ih .0ucson. B th were reported The :!ImensIO.nsoftheannularmeteoriteb ;miof a pecl!lIar annular form.M u eum m Washmgton, are given b Whitn'rwmron,now m the Smithsonian';19 mches; least exterior diameterinch oe.y as follows.: Greatest exterior diametermches; least .width of central opening 23 ej,;, tre test WIdthcentral opening, 26 to plane of rmg 10 inches' width of thO k t c es, greatest thIckness at right anglesrowest part; 2 inches; weight 1400 igsesT rtfof ring 1'(% inches; width of narTucson meteorite, the Signet, the Ring Mete rII. ragmel')t IS further ·known as theThe ot er fr1!gment from Tucson is of th e, the Amsa, the Muchacho, etc.Its l ;ngth IS 49 mches average breadth 18 . e hhape of an elongated flattened slabto 5 mches. Its weight' was detennined t b mc32es, and varies in thickness from :iGen Carleton and sent to San Francisco 0 H:ng 'tl s. kIt was aken possession of bvt ure . asthe Carleton Meteorite.e 1 IS nown m mineralogical litera'As a result of the investigationl' hit is generally believed that they" :'e P O';ti:;g sU f hes of these two meteoric masses,werTh"'embem of the sam :net oric shower. s 0e same mass, or at least bothe chemIcal composItIOn IS illustrated by the following anal YSl . .i0/1:fs ig sh85.5483.4781.65g: :: itir:! :j T'! '9.17T!!. 'I7he SlIver Bell meteorite, weight 5 094.dIStrIct. Spectographic analysis Shows Fe, -Jf,a sd i) .found m the Silver Bell miningwei fa n o t;heT WeaveMr mete?rite,SOme o -. pounds in1898 .' f"eaverountams near WIckenburg in. k'liS 0 specIal mterest because of its high p·ercentage fmc e and cobalt.0Analyses of the Weaver mE,te()ri1leW. B. ALJD ANDE:R,IronNickelCobalt.ARSENICAs. Tin-white, commonly tarnished dark gray. Luster metallic. Opaque. Streaktin-white on fresh surface. H.3.5. G.5.63-5.78. Hexagonal scalenohedral. Perfectbasal cleavage, not prominent. Generaly fine granular, reniform, or stalactitic masses. A primary mineral uncommon in large quantities. Mostlyassociated with silver, cobalt, or nickel ores, but also found inother sulfide deposits.Santa Cruz County-At the Double Standard mine, Patagoniadistrict, 50 pounds or more was found in reniform masses attached to the walls of a small pocket in dolomitic limestone.BISMUTH:::::::::::::::::::::::8i: eteorite, found in 1921 consisted of a smallfl111 weighing about 3,000 pounds.7Bi. Silver-white with reddish hue, commonly tarnished. Luster metallic. Opaque.Streak silver-white on fresh surface. H. 2-2.5. Sectile. G. 9.7-9.83. Hexagonal,scalenohedral. Perfect basal cleavage. Generally reticulated, arborescent, foliated, orgranular.An uncommon primary mineral in veins in granite, gneiss, orother crystalline rocks, accompanying ores of cobalt, nickel, silver, or tin; less commonly with galena.Maricopa County-Vulture district, Cleopatra mine. Alsosoutheast of Granite Reef Dam and in the Salt River Valley.Mohave County-Aquarius Range, 30 miles south of Hackberry, with gadolinite.Pima County-Sierrita Mountains, Esmeralda mine.Yavapai County-Bradshaw Mountains, in the Humbug Creekplacers and on Minnehaha Flats. A low-grade deposit is reported on Buckhorn Wash, east of Brooks Hill. Midnight Owlmine, as irregular masses and thin flakes, and one mass weighing 2% pounds.SELENIUMSe. Gray. Luster metallic. Transparent (red) in thinnest splinters only. StreakTed. H.2. G.4.8. Hexagonal, trigonal-trapezohedral. As acicular crystals; also inglassy droplets. A relatively rare element. The following is the first authenticoccurrence of native selenium as a mineral.Yavapai County-United Verde mine, as a coating of needlelike crystals on rock above the burning pyritic ore body. Thecrystals are up to 2 centimeters in length and consist of a firstorder prism and positive rhombohedron.Certain plants in the upper Verde Valley carry toxic amountsof selenium obtained from the soil, as do those on certain portionsof Slate Creek in the Bradshaw Mountains.TELLURIUMTe. Tin-white. Luster metallic. Opaque. Streak gray. H. 2-2.5. G. 6.1-6.3 .Hexagonal, trigonal-trapezohedral. Crystals prismatic. Perfect primatic cleavage.Commonly columnar to fine granular massive.A mineral of rare occurrence.Cochise County-At Tombstone microscopic blebs in galenaare thought to be tellurium.Yuma County-Specimens submitted to the Arizona Bureauof Mines from Granite Wash Hills, 4 miles north of Vicksburg.

8UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONASULFURtS. Various shades of yellow; greenish or reddish. Luster resinous. Transparento trapslucent. H. 1.5-2.5. G. 2.07. Orthorhombic, dipyramidal. Crystals pyramidalor thIck tabular. Commonly maSSIve or as incrustations. Formed dir.ectly from volcanic gases by reduction of sulfatemmerals, partIcularly gypsum, and by decomposition of sulfideor s. Commonly in small quantities in the pyritic waste on oldmme dumps.Cochise County-At Tombstone, resinous amber-yellow sulfursomewhat resembli g yellow sphale;rite, occurs in small crystal and replaces anglesIte and galena m the Skip shaft fissure onth;e fourt.h l vel of the Empire mine; also from the Mary Jo mine,BIsbee dlstnct, as small yellow crystals with sphalerite from the1,500-foot level of the Junction mine. Coconino County-San Francisco Mountains, in small quanti""tIes at .Sunset Crater and other near-by cinder cones.Mancopa CO 'YI;ty-As cr stals in cavities in quartz, the resultof the decompOSItIon of pynte, on the Surprise gold claim northeast of Morristown. Pinal County-Two and one half miles east of Winkelman ast ny crystals,. l ning small vugs in a quartz vein; in small quantIty from OXIdIzed ore at the Mammoth mine.Y vapai . ounty-United Verde mine, deposited under solfatanc condItIons caused by. burning of a portion of the pyriticore body. At the same localIty a variety containing arsenic andsele:r: ium (jeromite), occurs as an amorphous black globularcoatmg on rock fragments below iron hoods placed over ventsin the burning ore body.DIAMONDtc. Colorless, white, or black, also pale shades of other colors. Luster adamantineo greasy. Tran.sparent to opaque. H. lO. G. 3.5-3.53. Isometric, hextetrahedralPredommantly m octahedral crystals or fragments with perfect octahedral cleavage:Meteoric diamond-In 1891 a 40-pound meteoric mass from theCa y.on Diablo rea,.Coconino C:ounty, was found to contain smallcaVItIes. filled Wlt tmy bl:;tck dIamonds. Subsequently, small diamonds Imbedded m graphIte have been found in other fragmentsfrom the same meteoric fall.GRAPHITEC, Iron-black to :lark steel-gray. Luster metallic to dull and earthy. Transparentonly m extreplely thm f1",kes. S reak dark gray, shining. H. 1-2. G. 2.09-2.23.Hexagonal,. dI exag(:mal-dIl?yramIdal. Crystals six-sided and tabular. Perfect basalcleavage YIeldmg thm, fleXIble plates. C0!'1mo"!ly in mas es which are scaly or slaty,granular, compact; or earthy. Also as dIssemmated grams or scales.In gneiss, schist, quartzite, or crystalline limestone, probablyas the result of metamorphism; in granite and basic eruptiverocks, perhaps as an original constituent.Cochise County-Dos Cabezas Mountains, as thin veins orstrea s in gold-quartz veins. Also from near Bowie. Graphiticclay IS reported in large quantities near Benson.Coconino County-As small nodules in the Canyon Diablo andElden meteorites.Mohave County-Cerbat Range, disseminated in pre-Cambrian schist of Canyon Station ITEBbTe2S. Color and streak pale steel-gray. Luster metallic, splendent. Opaque.H. 1.5-2. Somewhat sectile. G. 7.1-7.5. Hexagonal, rhombohedral. Perfect basalcleavage, yielding flexible, but not elastic laminae. Commonly in bladed forms orfoliated to granular masses.An uncommon mineral in gold-quartz veins, near-surface hydrothermal deposits, and contact-metamorphic zones.Yavapai County-Bradshaw Mountains, in small quantity,Montgomery mine; as bladed crystals, in quartz associated withpyrite near Bradshaw City, and from near Minnehaha.Yuma County-Reported from near Vicksburg, but the exactlocality is not known.DOMEYKITECU3As. Tin-white to steel-gray, readily tarnished. Luster metallic, but dull on exposure. Opaque. H. 3-3.5. G. 7.2-7.9. Isometric. Reniform and botryoidal; alsomassive or disseminated.A rare mineral.Cochise County-Specimens of this mineral were receivedmany years ago at the University of Arizona, but the exactlocality from which they were obtained or other data regardingthem is unknown.DYSCRASITEAg3Sb. Color and streak silver-white, usually tarnished to lead-gray, yellowish orblackish. Luster metallic. Opaque. H. 3.5-4. Sectile. G. 9.69-10.01. Orthorhombic,pyramidal. Crystals rare. Good basal cleavage. Commonly massive, foliated or granular.A primary mineral generally with other silver minerals, galena, and barite. Extremely rare in the United States. Reportedin Arizona with ores of silver and lead, but no exact localitiesare given.ARGENTITEAg,S. Color and streak dark lead-gray, streak shining. Luster metallic. Opaque.H. 2-2.5. Completely sectile and malleable with hackly fracture. G. 7.2-7.4.Isometric, hexoctahedral. Crystals octahedral or cubic in parallel or reticulatedgroups. More commonly as disseminated grains or small masses. Inverts at ordinarytemperatures to acanthite.A primary mineral of lead-silver ores, commonly with othersilver minerals, galena, tetrahedrite, and cobalt-nickel ores. Alsoa secondary mineral of the zone of sulfide enrichment with chalcocite and native silver.

10MINERALS OF ARIZONAUNIVERSITY OF ARIZONACochise County-Tombstone, in oxidized ores from alterationof argentiferous tetrahedrite. Pearce, withcerargyrite, bromyrite,embolite, and iodyrite, Commonwealth mines.Gila County-Richmond Basin, the chief primary mineral, inmasses up to several pounds in weight.Graham County-Al'avaipa district, in veins of the GrandReef system.Mohave County-Cerbat Range, Keystone, Golden St r, andQueen Bee mines, Mineral Park district; Prince George mme andveins of the Banner group, Stockton Hill district; various properties in the Cerbat district.Pima County-Santa Rita Mountains, Blue Jay mine, Helvetiadistrict. Sierrita Mountains, Sunshine mine, Papago district. Quijotoa Mountains, Morgan mine.Pinal County-Superior district, Silver King mine, in largequantity on the upper levels; Belmont property as small blebs ingalena. Dripping Spring Mountains, Little Treasure mine, SaddleMountain district.Santa Cruz County-Santa Rita Mountains, the Alto, Eureka,Ivanhoe, Montezuma, and Empress of India mines. Tyndall district; Augusta, Happy Jack, and Anaconda mines, Wrightson district. Patagonia Mountains, La Plata and Meadow Valley mines,Redrock district; January, Blue Eagle, Flux, and American mines,Harshaw district.Yavapai County-Bradshaw Mountains, Dos Oris mine, Hassayampa district, with native silver and cerargyrite; Arizona National, Big Bug district, in galena with freibergiteand in cavitieswith wire silver. Wickenburg Mountains, Monte Cristo mine, inprimary ore with native silver, niccolite, chloanthite, and proustite.11CHALCOCITE-Copper GlanceCU2S. Color and streak blackish lead-gray, commonly tarnished. bla!'k. L stermetallic. Opaque. H.2.5-3. Nearly sectHe. G.5.5-5.8. OrthorhombIc, dIpyramIdal.Crystals rare. Generally massive, with granular, compact, or sooty texture. It has recently been determined that the so-called "blue chalcocite" or "isometric chalcocite," not uncommonly observed asmicroscopic intergrowths with chalcocite in copper ores, is thismineral.Pinal County-Superior district, forming a part of all chalcocite-bornite intergrowths on and below the 3,400-foot level, Magma mine.Yavapai County-United Verde mine, in the fire zone as distinct crystals.A valuable copper mineral of wide distributi

It is impracticable to list the numerous Arizona mines and prospects in which gold occurs. Descriptions and references are given in Arizona Bureau of Mines Bulletins 137 and 142, further references in Arizona Bureau of Mines Bulletin 146 and 161, and production figures in Bulletin 140. Lode