Hercules Mine, Harquahala Mining District, La Paz County, Arizona, USAi

Regional Level Types
Hercules Mine	Mine
Harquahala Mining District	Mining District
La Paz County	County
Arizona	State
USA	Country

‡Ref.: Bancroft, H. (1911), Reconnaissance of the ore deposits in northern Yuma County, Arizona, USGS Bull. 451: 109-110.

Wilson, E.D., Cunningham, J.B., and Butler, G.M. (1934), Arizona Lode Gold Mines and Gold Mining (revised 1967), Arizona Bureau of Mines Bull. 137: 132.

Keith, Stanton B. (1978) State of Arizona Bureau of Geology and Mineral Technology, Geological Survey Branch Bull. 192, Index of Mining Properties in Yuma County, Arizona: 153 (Table 4).

U.S. Bureau of Mines - Arizona Bureau of Geology and Mineral Technology production file data.

Arizona Bureau of Mines file data.

MRDS database Dep. ID file #10027607, MRDS ID #M003502; and, Dep. ID #10138037, MAS ID #0040120262.

A former surface and underground Au-Ag-Cu-Fe mine located in South-central (center S½) sec. 18, T5N, R12W, 5 miles by road SE of Salome and 4 miles S of Wenden, on state land. Owned at times, or in part, by the Hercules Gold Mining Co. (1934); Mr. John R. Shanley; McDonald; Mr. Tom Rogers & Mr. Leo Farrington; Mr. J.J. Rogers; Cline & Hurtz; and Mr. J.B. Sharp.

Mineralization is gold and silver ores with local copper, in brecciated, discontinuous, lenticular, banded, quartz-jasper fissure veins cemented by limonite from the oxidation of auriferous pyrite and chalcopyrite in a shear zone. Wall rock is a Precambrian quartz diorite gneiss intruded by quartz diorite dikes and overlain by Precambrian calcareous schist. The vein, as exposed in the East shaft, strikes S.75ºW. and dips 60ºN. and is 8 to 24 inches (20 to 60 cm) wide. It contains abundant limonite. Post-mineralization faulting occurred along both the dip and the strike of the veins.

Mineralization occurs along an overthrust fault that places Precambrian metamorphics over Paleozoic-Mesozoic sediments. Mineralization locally is associated with micro-diorite dikes 20 to 20 MY in age.

Workings include an two shallow inclined shafts, adits, and open cut operations. This mine was worked prior to 1900 and sporadically from 1934 through 1050. It produced a total of some 2,670 tons of ore and siliceous gold flux averaging about 0.25 oz. Au/T and 0.27 oz. Ag/T plus 1¼ tons of copper.

Other Databases

Link to USGS MRDS:	10027607

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality