Bass Mine (Bass property; Asbestos Camp), Coconino County, Arizona, USAi

Regional Level Types
Bass Mine (Bass property; Asbestos Camp)	Mine
Coconino County	County
Arizona	State
USA	Country

A former asbestos occurrence/mine located in sec. 22, T33N, R1W, G&SRM, Hakatai Canyon, ½ mile N of the Colorado River., in the vicinity of Bass Ferry and 25 miles NW of Grand Canyon station, on National Park Service administered land (Grand Canyon National Park). The deposit is 450 feet from the bottom of the canyon, which is 4,500 feet deep at this location. Collecting on National Park lands is strictly prohibited.

Mineralization is in veins along bedding planes in Precambrian Bass Limestone that has been altered adjacent to diabase sills. The thickest veins occur in limestone, 3 to 15 feet below a diabase sill. Associated rocks include Neoproterozoic diabase.

The Grand Canyon exposes an excellent section of the Carboniferous, Cambrian, Algonkian, and Archean rocks. The Algonkian is markedly unconformable with the overlying Cambrian as well as the underlying Archean, and forms a wedge-shaped mass with its edge along the canyon near its bottom and thickening rapidly to the north. The asbestos occurs in the basal portion of the Algonkian. Fifteen feet of whitish limestone overlie beds of siliceous conglomerate and fine shaly beds. This limestone contains layers and nodules of serpentine with more or less asbestos. Above the asbestos limestone comes a heavy layer of compact diabase about 200 feet thick, and above the diabase is a bed of limestone and shaly rocks similar to those immediately below the diabase. A little asbestos is seen above the diabase. local rocks include Mississippian, Devonian, and Cambrian sedimentary rocks.

Production of 4 inch (10 cm) asbestos fiber. Some asbestos was shipped to Europe. Selectively mined in 1920.

Other Databases

Link to USGS MRDS:	10304513

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References