Copper Oxide Resources

Arizona is abundantly endowed with copper deposits. The 829 deposits listed in Table 1 of this report were compiled from the AzMILS database of over 3,000 deposits that list copper as a commodity. Only the copper records with oxide as the modifier are listed in this report. Each listing includes the mine name, the primary commodity, legal description, and the topographic map on which it occurs. Figure 1 shows the distribution of these deposits. Other deposits that have either copper and/or copper sulfides listed as the commodity could also contain copper oxide minerals or leachable amounts of copper sulfides such as chalcocite, but have not been listed in this report. Three mineralizing episodes, each with a distinctive deposit type, are responsible for the majority of Arizona's copper deposits. Stratabound volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits formed during the Proterozoic; the economically important porphyry copper deposits were emplaced at the Cretaceous - Tertiary boundary; and deposits associated with detachment faults formed during the middle Tertiary. Copper oxides are also found in Arizona in other types of deposits including stratabound, replacements, and veins. Figures 2-4 show the distribution of these deposit types for metallic mineral districts with known production.Originally published in 1992 by the Arizona Dept. of Mines and Mineral Resources.Documents in the AZGS Documents Repository collection are made available by the Arizona Geological Survey (AZGS) and the University Libraries at the University of Arizona. For more information about items in this collection, please contact azgs-info@email.arizona.edu)