Wilba claims (Black King group; PBC claims), Ash Peak District (Twin Peaks District), Greenlee Co., Arizona, USA

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A former underground Mn-Ag-Au mine located on 2 unpatented claims in the S½ sec. 12, T8S, R30E, 9 miles NW of Duncan by road, on BLM-administered land. These claims lie near the top of a low ridge about 2 miles directly E of Ash Peak summit. Geodedic and UTM coordinates describe the shaft on the southern border of sec. 12, W of the gravel pit. 2 claims were located in 1953 by L.A. Billingsley and Louis Dean as the Black King group; the claims were relocated somewhat later by A.H. Bassett and Associates as the Wilba or PBC claims. The property was idle as of 1956. The first claims in the area were believed to have been located in the 1890's as silver-gold prospects.

Mineralization is lenses of ore occurring sporadically along a prominent, E-trending, quartz-filled fracture zone hosted in Tertiary volcanic flows. The ore zone is 91.44 meters long, 9.14 meters wide, strikes E-W and dips vertically. The ore is disconnected concentrations of oxides and manganiferous calcite in irregular pods and stringers, extending about 300 feet along the strike near the eastern end of the fracture zone. Surface oxidation present. The largest exposure of ore consists of a pod-like body with maximum width of 8 feet and a length of 20 feet. Most exploration work was done on this exposure. Deposits within the zone are a few inches to several feet wide. The fracture zone frequently outcrops for more than 2000 feet along the strike.

Area structures include steep, northerly-trending zones of shearing and breciation in volcanic rocks.

Workings are 9.14 meters deep. Developments included one untimbered vertical shaft estimated to be 30 feet deep.

References

Farnham, L.L., Stewart, L.A., and Delong, C.W. (1961), Manganese Deposits of Eastern Arizona, US Bureau of Mines Information Circular 7990: 104.

U.S. Bureau of Mines files - Wilba group.

MRDS database Dep. ID #10026964, MRDS ID #M001367; and Dep. ID #10160860, MAS ID #0040110031.

Mineral List

Calcite var: Manganoan Calcite

'Psilomelane'

Pyrolusite

3 entries listed. 1 valid mineral.