Montezuma Mine (Empress of India Mine; Queen of Sheba Mine), Grosvenor Hills, Salero area, Tyndall Mining District, Santa Cruz County, Arizona, USAi
This page is currently not sponsored. Click here to sponsor this page.
Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
31° 33' 40'' North , 110° 51' 11'' West
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Type:
Köppen climate type:
Nearest Settlements:
Place | Population | Distance |
---|---|---|
Patagonia | 890 (2017) | 9.5km |
Rio Rico | 18,962 (2011) | 15.4km |
Tumacacori-Carmen | 393 (2015) | 18.5km |
Beyerville | 177 (2011) | 19.1km |
Tubac | 1,191 (2011) | 19.1km |
Mindat Locality ID:
34307
Long-form identifier:
mindat:1:2:34307:8
GUID (UUID V4):
a3727399-88b2-4a5c-8f00-2498f86d21f8
‡Ref.: Schrader, F.C. & J.M. Hill (1915), Mineral deposits of the Santa Rita and Patagonia Mountains, Arizona, USGS Bull. 582: 212-213.
University of Arizona Bull. 41 (1916-17), Mineralogy of Useful Minerals in Arizona: 22.
Galbraith, F.W. (1947), Minerals of Arizona, Arizona Bureau of Mines Bull. 153: 15.
Keith, Stanton B. (1975), Arizona Bureau of Mines Bull. 191, Index of Mining Properties in Santa Cruz County Arizona: 86 (Table 4).
Anthony, J.W., et al (1995), Mineralogy of Arizona, 3rd.ed.: 101.
Arizona Bureau of Mines card file Santa Cruz County.
MRDS database Dep. ID file #10234824, MAS ID #0040230291.
A former underground Pb-Ag-Cu-Au mine located on 3 claims (Montezuma claim; Empress of India claim; Queen of Sheba claim), in east-central (E½E½) sec. 36, T.21S., R.14E., near/adjacent to the La Paz mine, 1¼ miles south of Salero, on the Salero-Patagonia Road and the township line at the NE base of the Grosvenor Hills, at an elevation of about 4,350 feet, on private land. Owned at times, or in part, by the Wrightson Brothers (1857-1858); the Aztec Mining Syndicate (circa 1860); McCormick Harvester Co. of New York (late 1860's); Clark & Peterson, lessees (1900); Red Cloud Mining Co.; Ferry; Henderson; and Drake Enterprises.
Mineralization is irregular, generally narrow, quartz stringers containing sulfides along a quartz-fissure one in Laramide quartz diorite and quartz monzonite. The zone is brecciated, silicified, and oxidized with enrichment in silver, copper carbonates, and chalcocite.
The vein in the upper levels, for the most part, did not much exceed a few inches in width. At the bottom of the shaft the vein generally widened to 34 inches (85 cm) and contained reticulating lenses of silver and chalcocite ore, some of which averaged $2,250 or more to the ton (period values).
The country rock is medium-grained, iron-gray quartz-bearing diorite. The deposits are contained in a silicified and partly sheared and crushed zone or lode of this rock and associated quartz, which dips 65ºN. The lode in the vicinity of the mine is 175 feet wide. It is plainly traceable for nearly a mile east of the mine and is said to extend very much farther. On the west is passes beneath the covering of the younger volcanic rocks.
The lode contains also considerable quartz and iron or ferruginous material in rough-surfaced irregular stringers, veins, and bodies, ranging from ½ inch (1.25 cm) to nearly 18 inches (45 cm) wide and mostly lying about parallel with the dip or main structure of them lode. Also in the wall rock for 10 feet or more back from the lode is developed a stockwork of reticulated quartz veins or stringers, most of which lie at about right angles to the lode.
The croppings, which are mostly prominent, are heavily stained with iron and manganese and in places with copper carbonates and oxidized minerals of silver. A distinctive feature of the ledge is an 8 foot vein of quartz or siliceous ore on the north or hanging wall side, containing considerable chalcocite.
The deposits occur in numerous quartz stringers from 1 inch (2.5 cm) to 4 inches (10 cm) in width, which carry copper carbonates, iron and copper oxides and possibly acanthite.
Workings include an old 300 foot deep shaft and surface operations. More recent development is only to the 80 level by shallow shafts and drifts. Worked by Jesuits in the early 1800's and by other intermittently through the 1930's. Produced, together with the Montezuma Mine, some 300 tons or more of ore averaging about 3% Cu, 11 oz. Ag/T and minor Pb & Au.
Select Mineral List Type
Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical ElementsDetailed Mineral List:
ⓘ Acanthite Formula: Ag2S References: |
ⓘ Azurite Formula: Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2 |
ⓘ Chalcocite Formula: Cu2S References: |
ⓘ Chalcopyrite Formula: CuFeS2 |
ⓘ Chrysocolla Formula: Cu2-xAlx(H2-xSi2O5)(OH)4 · nH2O, x < 1 |
ⓘ Cuprite Formula: Cu2O |
ⓘ Galena Formula: PbS |
ⓘ 'Limonite' |
ⓘ Malachite Formula: Cu2(CO3)(OH)2 |
ⓘ Pyrite Formula: FeS2 |
Gallery:
List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification
Group 2 - Sulphides and Sulfosalts | |||
---|---|---|---|
ⓘ | Chalcocite | 2.BA.05 | Cu2S |
ⓘ | Acanthite | 2.BA.35 | Ag2S |
ⓘ | Chalcopyrite | 2.CB.10a | CuFeS2 |
ⓘ | Galena | 2.CD.10 | PbS |
ⓘ | Pyrite | 2.EB.05a | FeS2 |
Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides | |||
ⓘ | Cuprite | 4.AA.10 | Cu2O |
Group 5 - Nitrates and Carbonates | |||
ⓘ | Azurite | 5.BA.05 | Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2 |
ⓘ | Malachite | 5.BA.10 | Cu2(CO3)(OH)2 |
Group 9 - Silicates | |||
ⓘ | Chrysocolla | 9.ED.20 | Cu2-xAlx(H2-xSi2O5)(OH)4 · nH2O, x < 1 |
Unclassified | |||
ⓘ | 'Limonite' | - |
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 |
C | Carbon | |
C | ⓘ Azurite | Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2 |
C | ⓘ Malachite | Cu2(CO3)(OH)2 |
O | Oxygen | |
O | ⓘ Azurite | Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2 |
O | ⓘ Chrysocolla | Cu2-xAlx(H2-xSi2O5)(OH)4 · nH2O, x < 1 |
O | ⓘ Cuprite | Cu2O |
O | ⓘ Malachite | Cu2(CO3)(OH)2 |
Al | Aluminium | |
Al | ⓘ Chrysocolla | Cu2-xAlx(H2-xSi2O5)(OH)4 · nH2O, x < 1 |
Si | Silicon | |
Si | ⓘ Chrysocolla | Cu2-xAlx(H2-xSi2O5)(OH)4 · nH2O, x < 1 |
S | Sulfur | |
S | ⓘ Acanthite | Ag2S |
S | ⓘ Chalcopyrite | CuFeS2 |
S | ⓘ Chalcocite | Cu2S |
S | ⓘ Galena | PbS |
S | ⓘ Pyrite | FeS2 |
Fe | Iron | |
Fe | ⓘ Chalcopyrite | CuFeS2 |
Fe | ⓘ Pyrite | FeS2 |
Cu | Copper | |
Cu | ⓘ Azurite | Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2 |
Cu | ⓘ Chalcopyrite | CuFeS2 |
Cu | ⓘ Chalcocite | Cu2S |
Cu | ⓘ Chrysocolla | Cu2-xAlx(H2-xSi2O5)(OH)4 · nH2O, x < 1 |
Cu | ⓘ Cuprite | Cu2O |
Cu | ⓘ Malachite | Cu2(CO3)(OH)2 |
Ag | Silver | |
Ag | ⓘ Acanthite | Ag2S |
Pb | Lead | |
Pb | ⓘ Galena | PbS |
Other Databases
Link to USGS MRDS: | 10234824 |
---|
Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
Mexico
- Sierra Madre OccidentalMountain Range
North America
- Sonoran DesertDesert
North America PlateTectonic Plate
- Basin and Range BasinsBasin
- Mojave DomainDomain
USA
- Arizona
- Santa Rita MountainsMountain Range
This page contains all mineral locality references listed on mindat.org. This does not claim to be a complete list. If you know of more minerals from this site, please register so you can add to our database. This locality information is for reference purposes only. You should never attempt to
visit any sites listed in mindat.org without first ensuring that you have the permission of the land and/or mineral rights holders
for access and that you are aware of all safety precautions necessary.