Oro Flame Mine

Mine Description

Situation and history: The Oro Flame-Sterling group of seven patented and twelve unpatented claims is in the vicinity of Hassayampa Creek, about 6 miles south of Prescott. The camp is acdessible by 2 miles of road that branches south from the Wolf Creek road at a point 2 1/3 miles from U. S. Highway 89.

In 1871, Raymond said that “The Sterling mine has become quite famous, as much on account of the richness of the Sulphurets it contains as from the repeated failures in working them. It was discovered in 1866.” (42) He stated that an unsuccessful attempt had been made to treat the ore with a 10-stamp mill equipped with amalgamation plates, Hungerford concentrators, and chlorination apparatus.

Prior to 1908, according to H. K. Grove, the Oro Flame, then known as the Mescal claim, made a considerable production with a 20-stamp mill. (43)

Since 1928, the Oro Flame-Sterling property has been worked by H. K. Grove and associates, the Oro Flame Mining Company and the Oro Grande Mining Company. The U. S. Mineral Resources states that about 1,000 tons, shipped in 1929, contained 913.32 ounces of gold, 2,529 ounces of silver, and 12,676 pounds of copper. More than 800 tons were shipped in 1930. According to Mr. Grove, the total output from 1928 to 1933 amounted to eighty cars of ore that averaged $25 per ton. Most of this ore came from the Oro Flame workings. A 40-ton flotation and concentration mill was completed early in 1934.

Topography and geology: In this vicinity, the deep, meandering canyon system of Hassayampa Creek exposes schist, intruded by large masses of diorite and granite and persistent dikes of rhyolite-porphyry.

Veins: In the southern portion of the property, the Oro Flame vein occurs within a fault zone that strikes N. 20° W., dips 76° NE., and separates gneissic granite on the northeast from schist with diorite on the southwest. On the southeastern side of Hassayampa Creek, the vein has been opened by a 320-foot inclined shaft, an adit, and several hundred feet of drifts. Above the 220-foot level, it has been largely stoped out for a length of 400 feet by a width of 3 1/2 feet. The mine makes but little water. As shown by these workings, the fault zone is from 3 to 6 feet wide, and the ore occurs mainly as narrow vertical lenses, seams, and bunches that trend northward, more or less diagonally from foot wall to hanging wall. The best ore shoots seem to occur where rather flat fractures intersect the footwall. The ore consists of massive grayish-white quartz with irregular masses, veinlets, and disseminations of fine-grained galena and fine-grained, pale-yellowish pyrite. The gold occurs mainly in the sulphides, particularly the galena. According to Mr. Grove, the ore carries about 0.12 per cent of copper and 3 ounces of silver to each ounce of gold. In the semi-oxidized zone, which in the shaft extends to a depth of about 60 feet, some free gold, accompanied by hematite and limonite, was present. The vein wall rocks show considerable alteration to sericite and carbonate.

Near the new mill on the northwestern side of Hassayampa Creek, the vein has been opened by the 110-foot Oro Grande shaft. Some milling ore was stoped from near the surface.

About 150 feet east of the Oro Flame adit, a vein strikes about N. 20° W., dips 80° S.W., and outcrops near a persistent dike of rhyolite-porphyry. Both this vein and the Oro Flame vein are reported to be traceable northward across the property. At the northern or Sterling end, their supposed continuation appears as two veins that strike northeastward and dip steeply towards each other. According to Mr. Grove, the western or Gold Bug vein has been opened by a 410-foot shaft, inclined at 45°, with more than 1,000 feet of drifts on the 300-foot level. Water now stands at the 250-foot level. Mr. Grove states that the eastern or American Eagle vein has been opened by two surface tunnels, a little stoping, and a drift from the 300-foot level of the Gold Bug workings. The Sterling ore is massive white quartz with practically no sulphides other than the pyrite and chalcopyrite. Raymond described the Sterling (Gold Bug) outcrop and workings of 1870 as follows: “It occurs in greenstone and metamorphic slates, parallel to which it strikes northeast, and dips with them to the southeast. There are very large croppings of brown-streaked quartz on the surface, which have yielded in the mill belonging to the company from $15 to $20 per ton. The vein is opened by an incline 118 feet deep. The largest body of ore was encountered from the surface to a depth of 53 feet, where the quartz was 16 feet wide and filled with iron and copper sulphurets, the former largely predominating. This chimney continued of the same size for 100 feet along the strike of the vein as far as explored, but in depth gave out below the 53-foot level.” He states that a 100-ton lot of this ore, of which about 10 per cent was sulphides, yielded $15 per ton in free gold and $6 per ton by chlorination. (44)

(42) Raymond, R. W., Statistics of mines and mining in the states and territories west of the Rocky Mountains, pp. 240–41. Washington, 1872.

(43) Oral communication.

(44) Work cited, p. 240.

Text from Arizona Lode Gold Mines and Gold Mining, Arizona Bureau of Mines. Original 1934, revised 1967

Site Name

Primary: Oro Flame Mine
Secondary: Sterling
Secondary: Mescal Claim
Secondary: Gold Bug

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Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Silver
Secondary: Copper
Tertiary: Lead
Tertiary: Zinc

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Location

State: Arizona
County: Yavapai
District: Hassayampa District

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Land Status

Not available

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Holdings

Not available

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Workings

Type: Underground

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Ownership

Owner Name: Groves And Sons Oro Flame Mining Corp
Years: 1927 -

Owner Name: John Fornes (1986, Buckeye, Ariz.)

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Production

Not available

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Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1910
Year Last Production: 1955
Discovery Year: 1866
Discovery Method: Ore-Mineral In Place
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: S

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Physiography

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

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Mineral Deposit Model

Not available

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Orebody

Form: TABULAR

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Structure

Type: R
Description: Granodiorite Rather Massive; Foliation In Schist Trends N20w To N-S

Type: L
Description: Veins Trend N20w

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Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Minor To Significant Sericitization

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Rocks

Name: Schist
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age in Years: 1770.000000+-
Dating Method: U-Pb (zircon)
Material Analyzed: Zircon
Age Young: Proterozoic

Name: Schist
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock
Age in Years: 1770.000000+-
Dating Method: U-Pb (zircon)
Material Analyzed: Zircon
Age Young: Proterozoic

Name: Diorite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock
Age in Years: 1770.000000+-
Dating Method: U-Pb (zircon)
Material Analyzed: Zircon
Age Young: Proterozoic

Name: Diorite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock Unit
Age Young: Paleoproterozoic

Name: Diorite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Paleoproterozoic

Name: Diorite
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age in Years: 1770.000000+-
Dating Method: U-Pb (zircon)
Material Analyzed: Zircon
Age Young: Proterozoic

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Gold
Ore: Galena
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Gangue: Limonite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Hematite
Unknown: Pyrite

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Comments

Comment (Location): UTM TAKEN TO ORO GRANDE SHAFT, N OF SHAFT IS AN ADIT WHICH IS ON THE OLD MILL SITE CLAIM WHICH IS PART OF THE ORO FLAME MINE GROUP. STERLING WORKINGS ON GOLD BUG CLAIM IN NORTHERN PART OF CLAIM BLOCK.

Comment (Deposit): DEPOSIT IS QUARTZ VEIN WHICH CUTS PROTEROZOIC GRANODIORITE. VEINS NAMED-ORO FLAME, GOLD BUG, STERLING. VEINS PARALLEL EACH OTHER. ABOVE FACTS COME FROM THE GOLD BUG VEIN. VEINS FOUND IN FAULT ZONES, SOME ALTERATION TO SERICITE AND CARBONATE. VEINS ARE 200 FT APART.

Comment (Development): PROPERTY OF THE THE ORO FLAME MINING CORP, LISTS 7 PATENTED CLAIMS AS, ORO FLAME, ORO GRANDE, OLD MILL, OLD OHIO, AMERICAN EAGLE, GOLD BUG, MORMON, 12 UNPATENTED CLAIMS LISTED AS JUMBO 1 TO 9, SILVER STAR 1 AND 2 AND SURE SHOT. THE STERLING MINE, AS OF 1870 WAS COMPRISED OF THE GOLD BUG AND AMERICAN EAGLE CLAIMS AND AS OF 1927 HAS BEEN A PART OF THE ORO FLAME GROUP. DURING 1984-1986, FORNES REPAIRED ADIT PORTALS TO ALLOW ACCESS FOR UNDERGROUND SAMPLING.

Comment (Workings): THE ORO GRANDE HAS A SHAFT 110 FT AND 125 FT OF DRIFTING. THE GOLD BUG HAS AN INCLINED SHAFT TO A DEPTH OF 420 FT AT A 42 DEGREE ANGLE, AMERICAN EAGLE HAS 3 SURFACE TUNNELS. THE OTHER CLAIMS HAVE MANY INACCESSIBLE SHAFTS AND TUNNELS.

Comment (Geology): NO SPECIFIC MENTION MADE OF RHYOLITE DIKES IN THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE VEIN SYSTEM, ALTHOUGH DIKES DO PARALLEL THE VEIN SYSTEM TO THE NORTH IN THE AMERICAN EAGLE VEIN.

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References

Reference (Deposit): ABGMT CLIPPINGS FILE DATA

Reference (Deposit): AZ DEPT MIN RES FILE DATA

Reference (Deposit): USBM-ABGMT FILE DATA

Reference (Deposit): ABM BULL. 137, P. 41-43.

Reference (Deposit): USGS GQ MAP GQ 997.

Reference (Deposit): NIEMUTH, N.J., 1987, ARIZONA MINERAL DEVELOPMENT 1984-1986: ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF MINES AND MINERAL RESOURCES DIRECTORY 29, 46 P.

Reference (Other Database): CIMRI

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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.