Sacaton

Site Name

Primary: Sacaton
Secondary: Asarco
Secondary: Casa Grande Mine

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Commodity

Primary: Copper
Primary: Molybdenum
Secondary: Gold
Secondary: Silver

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Location

State: Arizona
County: Pinal
District: Casa Grande District

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Land Status

Land ownership: State
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.

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Holdings

Type: Located Claim
Type: Fee Ownership
Type: State Lease

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Workings

Type: Underground

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Ownership

Owner Name: Grupo Mexico SA De CV
Percent: 100.0
Home Office: Mexico
Info Year: 2009
Years: 1999 -

Owner Name: Asarco (American Smelting And Refining Co.)
Company ID: 200484
Percent: 100.0
Home Office: Arizona
Info Year: 1972

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Production

Year: 1984
Description: Open Pit Permanent Closed In April 1984
Year: 1984
Description: 4,080 Mt Cu, 1,026 Kgs Ag, 14.9 Kgs Au 907000 Mtpy Ore Milled
Year: 1983
Description: 17,100 Mt Cu, 4,170 Kgs Ag, 61.7 Kgs Au 3631000 Mtpy Ore Milled
Year: 1982
Description: 19,000 Mt Cu, 4,790 Kgs Ag, 77.7 Kgs Au 3778000 Mtpy Ore Milled
Year: 1981
Description: 19,100 Mt Cu, 5,350 Kgs Ag, 103.7 Kgs Au 3722000 Mtpy Ore Milled
Year: 1980
Description: 14,600 Mt Cu, 3,860 Kgs Ag, 77.9 Kgs Au 3465000 Mtpy Ore Milled
Year: 1979
Description: 19,400 Mt Cu, 4,416 Kgs Ag, 110.7 Kgs Au 3634000 Mtpy Ore Milled
Year: 1978
Description: 20,900 Mt Cu, 4,864 Kgs Ag, 114.8 Kgs Au 3768000 Mtpy Ore Milled
Year: 1978
Time Period: 1929-1978
Mined: 15477000.000 mt
Material type: ore
Year: 1977
Description: 18,100 Mt Cu, 4,072 Kgs Ag, 96.5 Kgs Au 3149000 Mtpy Ore Milled
Year: 1974
Description: 8,620 Mt Cu, 2,048 Kgs Ag, 59.1 Kgs Au 1834000 Mtpy Ore Milled
Year: 1975
Description: 19,900 Mt Cu, 4,427 Kgs Ag, 98.1 Kgs Au 3293000 Mtpy Ore Milled
Year: 1976
Description: 20,000 Mt Cu, 4,591 Kgs Ag, 98.0 Kgs Au 3431000 Mtpy Ore Milled
Year: 1974
Time Period: 1974-1984

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Deposit

Record Type: Deposit
Operation Category: Past Producer
Deposit Type: Porphyry Cu-Au
Operation Type: Underground
Mining Method: Caving Methods - Block Caving
Milling Method: Flotation
Year First Production: 1974
Year Last Production: 1984
Discovery Year: 1961
Discovery Method: Geological Inference
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: Y
Deposit Size: M

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Physiography

General Physiographic Area: Intermontane Plateaus
Physiographic Province: Basin And Range Province
Physiographic Section: Sonoran Desert

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Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Porphyry Cu-Au

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Orebody

Name: East Ore Body
Form: Massive Tabular to Irregular

Name: West Ore Body
Form: Massive Tabular to Irregular

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Structure

Type: L
Structure: Fractures (N50-70E), Sacaton Fault Dropping Down E Deposit, Brecciation

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Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration: Phyllic & Argillic - More Intense In Mineralized Area; Sericitization

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Rocks

Not available

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Analytical Data

Analytical Data: Pyrite: Chalcopyrite = 1.5:1 By Volume. Total Sulfide By Volume is 1.5-3.0

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Materials

Ore: Gold
Ore: Brochantite
Ore: Chalcocite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Chrysocolla
Ore: Malachite
Ore: Molybdenite
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Covellite
Ore: Antlerite
Unknown: Azurite

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Comments

Comment (Exploration): Exploration - Ore Body Discovered By Asarco Geologist Inter- Preting Major Mineral Lineaments, Noting A Small Leached Cap Exposure, And Resultant Core Drilling (World Mining Mag., 12/77, P. 38).

Comment (Deposit): Location - Utm Is Estimated Center Of Open Pit. Underground Ore Body Immediately Adjacent On East Side Of Pit. Update Jul 1987

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Surface Operation Closed Permanently. Ore Reserves Exhausted.

Comment (Reserve-Resource): M1c1=R1. Quant. Matrix 1 And 2 Are Reserve Amts. Given In World Min. Mag., 9/77, P. 174. Quantity And Assay - Surface Mine Reserves And Grade Ore = Matrix 1. Underground Mine Reserves & Grade = Matrix 2. Sacaton East - Underground Reserves. Sacaton W. = Surf. Res. Asarco S.E.C. Form 10-K, 1977. M2c1=R2. Asarco Inc., 1983 Annual Report.

Comment (Deposit): Associated Minerals: alunite, anhydrite/gypsum, azurite/malachite, biotite, bornite, brochantite, chalcocite, chalcopyrite, chlorite, chrysocolla, copper, covellite, cuprite, goethite/limonite, hematite/specularite, jarosite, kaolinite, magnetite, molybdenite, pyrite, sericite, sphalerite

Comment (Deposit): Associated Rocks: breccia, dacite porphyry, monzonite porphyry, quartz monzonite porphyry;limestone, quartzite, schist;conglomerate, diabase dike, diorite, granite

Comment (Deposit): West Deposit Is 1200 Ft Diameter By 100-700 Ft Thick. East Deposit Is 1200 X 600 X 300 Ft But Is At A Depth Of 1500 Ft. Deposit Covered By 60-100 Ft Of Alluvium And 600 Ft Of Tert Conglomerate On West And By 700-1500 Ft Tert Conglomerate On East. Ore Emplacement Is Related To The Three Peaks Monzonite. Supergene-Enriched Chalcocite Blanket Has Been Partially Oxidized.

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Surface Reserves Are Depleted

Comment (Workings): Sacaton West Is Open Pit, Sacaton E Is Underground

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References

Reference (Deposit): Cook S S and Porter T M, 2005 - The Geologic History of Oxidation and Supergene Enrichment in the Porphyry Copper Deposits of Southwestern North America, in Porter T M, (Ed), Super Porphyry Copper and Gold Deposits: A Global Perspective, v1 pp 207-242

Reference (Deposit): The Porter GeoConsultancy webpage for Sacaton contains a description of the geology. Accessed on 9/28/2010. http://www.portergeo.com.au/
URL: http://www.portergeo.com.au

Reference (Reserve-Resource): Asarco 1979 SEC Form 10K

Reference (Reserve-Resource): Asarco 1982-84 SEC Form 10K

Reference (Reserve-Resource): Keith and others, 1983

Reference (Deposit): Skillings, David N., Jr., Sacaton Porphyry Copper Project Of Asarco In Southern Arizona, Skillings Min. Review, Feb. 24, 1973, Pp. 1, 10-12.

Reference (Reserve-Resource): Pcia 1982-84

Reference (Deposit): Sacaton Works Pit While Preparing To Go Underground, Engr. And Min. J., June, 1977, Pp. 105-6.

Reference (Deposit): Sacaton-How Asarco Discovered And Developed Its Newest Copper Mine, World Mining, Dec., 1975, Pp. 38-41.

Reference (Deposit): Cummings, R.B., 1982, Geology of the Sacaton porphyry copper deposit, Pinal County, Arizona; in Titley, S. R., ed., Advances in Geology of the Porphyry Copper Deposits, Southwest North America, University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Arizona, p. 507-521.

Reference (Deposit): Sacaton-Asarco'S New Copper Mine In Arizona, Mining Mag., Feb., 1975, Pp. 90-7.

Reference (Deposit): New Arizona Copper Mine For Asarco, Mining Mag., Aug., 1974, P. 79.

Reference (Deposit): Calahan, G. Edward (Sacaton Mine Superintendent) And Jim Harasha (Sacaton Chief Mine Engineer), Personal Commuication, 1977, Comments On File At USBM, IFOC, Bldg. 20, Denver Federal Center, Denver, Co. 80225.

Reference (Deposit): Asarco'S New Sacaton Unit To Go On Stream Early Next Year. Pay Dirt Mag., Nov. 26, 1973, Pp. 1, 3, 4.

Reference (Deposit): Asarco'S New 40 Million Dollar Sacaton Unit Dedicated Today. Pay Dirt Mag., March 25, 1974, Pp. 1, 3-22.

Reference (Deposit): Asarco Annual Reports, 1973 (P. 4), 1974 (Pp. 4-5, 18), And 1976 (Pp. 9, 18).

Reference (Reserve-Resource): Reserve References - Asarco Form 10-K, 1979.

Reference (Deposit): Long, K.R., 1995, Production and reserves of Cordilleran (Alaska to Chile) porphyry copper deposits; in Pierce, F.W. and Bolm, J.G., eds., Porphyry Copper Deposits of the American Cordillera, Arizona Geological Society, Digest 20, p. 35-68.

Reference (Deposit): Sawyer, M.B., Gurmendi, A.C., Daley, M.R., And Howell, S.B., 1992, Principal Deposits Of Strategic And Critical Minerals In Arizona: United States Bureau Of Mines Special Publication, 334 P.

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