Lavender Pit

The Lavender Pit is a copper mine located in Cochise county, Arizona at an elevation of 5,000 feet.

About the MRDS Data:

All mine locations were obtained from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System. The locations and other information in this database have not been verified for accuracy. It should be assumed that all mines are on private property.

Mine Info

Satelite View

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Site Name

Primary: Lavender Pit
Secondary: Copper Dog
Secondary: Pearl
Secondary: Bisbee

Commodity

Primary: Copper
Secondary: Gemstone
Secondary: Zinc
Secondary: Silver
Secondary: Gold

Location

State: Arizona
County: Cochise
District: Warren District

Land Status

Land ownership: Private
Note: the land ownership field only identifies whether the area the mine is in is generally on public lands like Forest Service or BLM land, or if it is in an area that is generally private property. It does not definitively identify property status, nor does it indicate claim status or whether an area is open to prospecting. Always respect private property.

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Type: Surface

Ownership

Owner Name: Phelps Dodge Corp.

Production

Year: 1973
Time Period: 1885-1973
Mined: 171045000.00 mt
Material type: KEITH, 1973, ARIZ. BUR. OF MINES BULL. 187.

Deposit

Record Type: Deposit
Operation Category: Past Producer
Deposit Type: Porphyry Cu
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1950
Year Last Production: 1974
Discovery Method: Ore-Mineral In Place
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: Y
Deposit Size: L

Physiography

General Physiographic Area: Intermontane Plateaus
Physiographic Province: Basin And Range Province
Physiographic Section: Mexican Highland

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Porphyry Cu

Orebody

Form: BLANKET

Structure

Type: R
Description: Pre-Mineralization Faulting And Tilting

Type: L
Description: Main Fault Directions, N10w To N40e, S30w To N50w, Pre-Mineralization

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Name: Granite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock Unit
Age in Years: 170.500000+-7.500000
Age Young: Jurassic

Name: Granite
Role: Host
Age Type: Associated Rock Unit
Age in Years: 170.500000+-7.500000
Age Young: Jurassic

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Bornite
Ore: Gold
Ore: Chalcocite
Ore: Cuprite
Ore: Turquoise
Ore: Sphalerite
Gangue: Pyrite
Gangue: Quartz

Comments

Comment (Deposit): RECORD # W002705 BY DENNIS P. COX HAS BEEN INCORPORATED INTO THIS ONE. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT

Comment (Identification): **** SEE Copper Queen Deposit ID 10046248 Sacramento Mine Deposit ID 10046235 Cochise Deposit ID 10282707

Comment (Deposit): IN THE SACRAMENTO STOCK. THE DIVIDENT FAULTS "HORSETAILS", ITS STRIKE IS N20E AND DIPS S70, DISPLACEMENT ALONG THE FAULT IS ABOUT 500 FT. THIS FAULT SEPARATES THE SACRAMENTO/LAVENDAR PIT AND THE EXTENTION TO THE EAST (COCHISE PROJECT). CURRENT HIGHWAY FOLLOWS THE DIVIDENT FAULT. LARGE BULK MINEABLE LOW GRADE PORPHYRY COPPER, SUBSTANTIAL SUPERGENE GROUND WATER ENRICHMENT AT BASE OF LEACH CAP.

Comment (General): The Lavender Pit is a former open pit copper mine near the famous Copper Queen Mine. The Lavender Pit was named in honor of Harrison M. Lavender (1890-1952), who as Vice-President and General Manager of Phelps Dodge Corporation, conceived and carried out this plan for making the previously unprofitable low-grade copper bearing rock of the area into commercial copper ore. Phelps Dodge Corporation opened the Lavender Pit in 1950, at the site of the earlier, higher-grade Sacramento Hill mine. Production through 1974 totaled 86 million tons of ore averaging about 0.7% copper, or about 600,000 tons of copper produced, with gold and silver as byproducts. About 256 million tons of waste were stripped, but a portion of this was acid-leached for additional copper. Turquoise was also a by-product of this mining activity. Bisbee turquoise, also known as Bisbee Blue, is amongst the finest turquoise found anywhere in the world. Mining operations in the pit ended in 1974. The undeveloped Cochise deposit, located immediately north of the Lavender pit, contains an estimated 190 million tons of rock containing 0.4% acid-soluble copper, which may be mined in the future. Because of the competent host rock, this pit has much steeper sides than other open pit copper mines in the southwest area. The pit covers an area of 300 acres (1.2 km?), and is 900 feet (274 m) deep. Large tonnages of dump rock are placed around Bisbee, notably north of the residential district of Warren and other parts of the southeastern Mule Mountains area. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavender_Pit

Comment (Commodity): LOW-GRADE COPPER ORES. THE TURQUOISE WAS A HARD DEEP BLUE, SOMETIMES FOUND IN A MATRIX OF HARD RED MINERAL (CUPRITE?)

Comment (Location): NW 1/4 SEC. 15. UTM ACC. UTM TAKEN TO CENTER OF THE PIT.

Comment (Workings): LARGE OPEN PIT. OVER 15 BENCHES, EACH BENCH 50 FEET HIGH.

Comment (Development): Lavender pit operated from 1951 to 1974 (GhostTownGallery.com). According to Metals Economic Group there has been no activity at either Sacramento or Lavender pits from 1989 through at least 2002.

References

Reference (Geology): Titley, S. R., 1993, Characteristics of porphyry copper occurrence in the American Southwest; in Kirkham, R.V., Sinclair, W.D., Thorpe, R.I. and Duke, J.M., Mineral Deposit Modeling, Geological Association of Canada, Special Paper 40, p. 433-464.

Reference (Ownership): History of Cyprus Mines Corporation, former owner here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus_Mines_Corporation
URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus_Mines_Corporation

Reference (Geology): Mineralogy discussed here: http://www.mindat.org/loc-3304.html
URL: http://www.mindat.org/loc-3304.html

Reference (Commodity): A discussion of Bisbee turquoise here: http://www.nevadagem.com/pages/mineinfo.html
URL: http://www.nevadagem.com/pages/mineinfo.html

Reference (Production): KEITH, 1973, ARIZ. BUR. OF MINES BULL. 187.

Reference (Geology): Lowell, J.D. and Guilbert, J.M., 1970, Lateral and vertical alteration-mineralization zoning in porphyry ore deposits; Economic Geology, v. 65, p. 373-408.

Reference (Deposit): BLAIR, GERRY, 1992, THE ROCKHOUND'S GUIDE TO ARIZONA: HELENA, MONTANA, FALCON PRESS, 165 P.

Reference (Deposit): BRYANT AND METZ, 1966, IN TITLEY AND HICKS, GEOLOGY OF THE PORPHYRY COPPER DEPOSITS, SW NORTH AMERICA, P. 189-203.

Reference (Deposit): KEITH, S.B., 1973, ARIZONA BUREAU OF MINES BULLETIN 187, P. 88.

Arizona Gold

"Where to Find Gold in Arizona" looks at the density of modern placer mining claims along with historical gold mining locations and mining district descriptions to determine areas of high gold discovery potential in Arizona. Read more: Where to Find Gold in Arizona.