La Palma group (La Palma claim; Venus claim; San Francisco claim; Laura group), Greenlee Co., Arizona, USA
Latitude: 33°9'12"N
Longitude: 109°23'9"W
A former surface Pb-Mn mine located in the SW¼ sec. 20, T3S, R29E, 3 miles NW of Metcalf, 9 miles NNW of Clifton, on National Forest land. Discovered in 1925. Owned by Juan Varela and Eugenio C. Rivas (1961). These claims were acquired by Varela's father in 1920. The claims were located on lead deposits prior to 1905. Connected to the mouth of Cuprite Canyon, located to the SE, by a 3 mile long foot trail. Unpatented claims extend into the SE¼ of sec. 18, and secs. 19 and 29.
Mineralization is ore in irregular ore body(ies) 2.44 meters thisck hosted in the Modoc Limestone, Morenci Shale, and the Longfellow Limestone. Ore control was bedding of the limestone, to which the deposits are conformable, which strikes N40°E and dips about 20°NW. Concentration was secondary enrichment concentrations along bedding planes. Some surface oxidation.
Mineralized bed in an open cut on the Venus claim has been exposed for about 60 feet along the strike. West of the cut, ore is exposed about 30 feet along the dip by erosional processes. The deposit pinches out to the east. The largest and best exposed manganferous deposit is located on the Venus claim, on the crest of the ridge. Other deposits (largely unexplored) crop out on the dip in areas to the NW and SE.
Area structures include minor faulting cutting limestone and shale beds. Ore deposits cover a considerable surface area but average less than one foot (0.3 meters) thick. Minor faulting with little vertical displacement; significant horizontal movement along bedding planes.
Oxidized lead ore was mined from a shallow shaft on the San Francisco claim in 1920; shallow (10 foot deep) open cuts. As of 1961, no Mn ore had been shipped. A grab sample analyzed at 27.4% Mn.
References
Farnham, L.L., Stewart, L.A., and Delong, C.W. (1961), Manganese Deposits of Eastern Arizona, US Bureau of Mines Information Circular 7990: 97-98.
Bennett (1975) Geology and Origin of the Breccias in the Morenci-Metcalf District, Greenlee County, Arizona, MS thesis, University of Arizona, 153 pp.
U.S. Bureau of Mines files, La Palma group; La Palma, Venus, and San Francisco claims.
Arizona Department of Mineral Resources U file.
U.S. Bureau of Land Management Arizona Mining Claims Lead File #41641.
MRDS database Dep. ID #10109000, MRDS ID #M001691; and Dep. ID #10162299, MAS ID #0040110131; and Dep. ID #10186638, MAS ID #0040110025.
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