Sunnyside Mine Group

The Sunnyside Mine Group is a copper mine located in Santa Cruz county, Arizona at an elevation of 5,801 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

MRDS mine locations are often very general, and in some cases are incorrect. Some mine remains have been covered or removed by modern industrial activity or by development of things like housing. The satellite view offers a quick glimpse as to whether the MRDS location corresponds to visible mine remains.

Site Name

Primary: Sunnyside Mine Group
Secondary: Volcano Mine
Secondary: Pina
Secondary: Horseshoe Claim
Secondary: Farrell Claim
Secondary: Sunnyside Copper

Commodity

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

Location

State: Arizona
County: Santa Cruz
District: Harshaw District

Land Status

Land ownership: National Forest
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/Underground

Ownership

Owner Name: Farrell; Lenon And Vasquez; Strong And Harris
Info Year: 1975

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Deposit
Operation Category: Producer
Deposit Type: Porphyry Cu
Operation Type: Surface-Underground
Year First Production: 1897
Year Last Production: 1954
Discovery Year: 1897
Discovery Method: Ore-Mineral In Place
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: Y
Deposit Size: S

Physiography

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

Mineral Deposit Model

Not available

Orebody

Form: IRREGULAR

Form: IRREGULAR

Structure

Type: R
Description: Monzonite (?) Porphyry Intrudes Mount Wrightson Formation And Is Locally Much Altered To Quartz, Sericite, Kaolinite, Alunite, Pyrite, And Tourmaline

Type: L
Description: 200 Ft. Wide Mineralized Zone Consists Of Belts Of Sheared And Silicified Country Rock With Isolated Showings Of Copper Carbonate Ores

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Surface Oxidation Over 80 Ft. In Depth

Rocks

Name: Rhyolite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock Unit
Age in Years: 60.000000+-4.000000
Dating Method: K-Ar
Age Young: Paleocene

Name: Sandstone
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock Unit
Age Young: Late Triassic

Name: Sandstone
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Late Jurassic

Name: Sandstone
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Late Triassic

Analytical Data

Analytical Data: ASSAY VALUES AVERAGED 8% CU, 1.6 OZ/TON AG

Materials

Ore: Cuprite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Malachite
Ore: Galena
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Limonite

Comments

Comment (Development): PROPERTY COMPRISES 8 UNPATENTED CLAIMS; WORKED IN LATE 1890'S AND SPORADICALLY THROUGH 1953; OWNERS AND OPERATORS INCLUDED L.D. RICKETTS (1912), SANTA CRUZ COPPER CO., DIAMOND DRILLING UNDER CONTRACT TO METLER BROS. DRILLING CO., LEE FARRELL AND A. OLANDER, STRONG AND HARRIS, J.W. WINGFIELD, CANANEA COPPER CO.

Comment (Workings): SHEAR BELTS OPENED TO DEPTH OF 90 FT BY SEVERAL SHAFTS, INCLUDING 30-FT INCLINED (DIPPING TO SW) VOLCANO SHAFT; VARIOUS STOPES AND DRIFTS; SHALLOW OPEN-CUTS; VOLCANO CLAIM WORKINGS ALSO INCLUDE 50-FT VERTICAL SHAFT, 550 FT LONG ADIT WITH CROSSCUTS TOTALLING 350 FT IN LENGTH, 77 FT. RAISE FROM ADIT UP TO VERTICAL SHAFT BOTTOM; DIAMOND DRILLING, CONDUCTED ON PROPERTY IN 1954, REACHES DEPTH OF 608 FT ON THE INCLINE; VOLCANO MINE IS THE PRINCIPAL MINE OF THE GROUP

Comment (Deposit): MINERALIZED SHEAR ZONE IS 200 FT WIDE; ASSOCIATED VEINLETS AVERAGE 5-8 FT IN WIDTH. MINERALIZED ZONE, TO DEPTH OF 40 FT IS COMPOSED LARGELY OF QUARTZ CARRYING CONSIDERABLE COPPER CARBONATES; SMALL POCKET OF BLACK OXIDIZED COPPER ORE ENCOUNTERED AT DEPTH OF 80 FT; SULFIDE ORES MIGHT EXIST BELOW OXIDATION ZONE, BUT MINING HAS NOT PENETRATED TO THAT DEPTH.

Comment (Deposit): RECORD D002926 HAS BEEN MERGED AND DELETED.

Comment (Location): LOCATED ON THE UPPER PART OF THE ALUM GULCH, JUST NORTH OF THE THUNDER AND STANDARD MINE GROUP; SUNNYSIDE MINE IN SECTION 06, VOLCANO SHAFT IN SECTION 07; UTM AND GEODETIC COORDINATES LOCATE VOLCANO SHAFT ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1979)

Comment (Commodity): MINOR GOLD OCCURS IN MALACHITE ORE

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Deep resources at a depth of >4000 ft. Exposed

Comment (Deposit): Minerals: alunite, andalusite, biotite, chalcocite, chalcopyrite, diaspore, enargite, hematite, kaolinite/illite, magnetite, pyrite, pyrophyllite, sericite, smectite, tennantite, tourmaline, zunyite Associated Rocks: breccia, latite porphyry, quartz- feldspar porphyry, quartz monzonite porphyry ;n.d.;granodiorite, quartz monzonite, carbonate rocks, volcanic rocks

References

Reference (Deposit): Singer and others, 2008

Reference (Reference): talk at Bootprints Symposium, Tucson Arizona, Oct. 1995

Reference (Reserve-Resource): Graybeal, F.T., 1996, Sunnyside: a vertically-preserved porphyry copper system, Patagonia Mountains, Arizona; SEG Newsletter, July 1996 issue, p. 1.

Reference (Other Database): CIMRI

Reference (Deposit): ABGMT FILES, STANTON B. KEITH

Reference (Deposit): SIMONS, FRANK S., 1972, MESOZOIC STRATIGRAPHY OF THE PATAGONIA MOUNTAINS AND ADJOINING AREAS, SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, ARIZONA; USGS PROFESSIONAL PAPER 658-E, P. 9

Reference (Deposit): ABGMT CLIPPINGS FILE; VOLCANO GROUP OF MINES, SUNNYSIDE GROUP-PATAGONIA

Reference (Deposit): SIMONS, FRANK S., 1974, GEOLOGIC MAP AND SECTIONS OF THE NOGALES AND LOCHIEL QUADRANGLES, SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, ARIZONA; USGS MAP I-762(1:48000)

Reference (Deposit): KEITH, STANTON B., 1975, INDEX OF MINING PROPERTIES IN SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, ARIZONA; ARIZONA BUREAU OF MINES BULLETIN 191, P. 59

Reference (Deposit): ADMR FILE DATA, VOLCANO MINE

Reference (Reserve-Resource): Simons, F.S., 1974, Geologic map and sections of the Nogales and Lochiel quadrangles, Santa Cruz County, Arizona; United States Geological Survey, Miscellaneous Investigations I-762, 9 p.

Reference (Deposit): KARTCHNER, WAYNE E., 1944, THE GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF A PORTION OF THE HARSSHAW DISTRICT, PATAGONIA MOUNTAINS, ARIZONA; PHD. THESIS, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, P. 96-97

Reference (Deposit): ABGMT-USBM FILE DATA

Reference (Deposit): USBM FILES; SUNNYSIDE, VOLCANO

Reference (Deposit): SCHRADER, FRANK C., 1915, MINERAL DEPOSITS OF THE SANTA RITA AND PATAGONIA MOUNTAINS, ARIZONA; USGS BULLETIN 582, P. 255-256

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.