Gold Cliff Mine (Gold Cliff group of claims; Pocahontas Mine; Steele claims; Nata Mine; Golden Reef Mine; Diaz Mine; Cave Creek Tungsten Mine; Homestake claim; Lemon-Massex claim; Alexander claim; Cottonwood claim), Maricopa Co., Arizona, USA
Latitude: 33°52'59"N
Longitude: 111°54'46"W
‡Ref.: Anthony, J.W., et al (1995), Mineralogy of Arizona, 3rd.ed.: 423; Dale, V.B. (1959), Tungsten deposits of Yuma, Maricopa, Pinal and Graham Cos., AZ, US Bur. Mines Rept. Inv. 5516: 37-40; Wilson, E.D. (1941), AZ Bur. Mines Bull. 148: 26-27; Hess, F.L. (1917), Tungsten minerals and deposits, USGS Bull. 652: 33, 64; Meeves, H.C. (1966), Nonpegmatitic beryllium occurrence in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and four adjacent states, US Bur. Mines Rept. Inv. 6828: 58; AZ Bur. Geol. Min. Tech. clippings file (Stuart Gold Reef, Gold Reef); USGS New River Mesa topo. map; Bur. Land Mgmt. Mining District sheets; Bur. Land Mgmt. plat 4334; MRDS files #10027067 & 10137798.
A former surface and underground Ag-Au-W-Nb-Be-Fluorspar-Pyrite mine located in sec. 11, T.6N., R.4E., on 13 unpatented claims about 27 miles North of Phoenix and about 5 miles North of the Cave Creek P.O. Owned by the Gold Cliff Mining Co.; and, by the Pittsburgh Tungsten Co. (WWI era). Discovered 1910. Last production 1941.
Mineralization is quartz veins on the NE portion of the property (gold-bearing); 3 claims in the SW portion contain the principal tungsten deposits.
Slaty to sericitic, gray, Precambrian schist, which strikes NE-ward & dips NW-ward at moderate angles, is intruded by a granite stock that crops out over an East-West length of about 1 mile and a width of ¼ to ¾ of a mile. This granite has been extensively invaded and altered by pegmatite. The alteration consists largely of coarse sericite & quartz.
Two systems of fissures are prominent; one system, which strikes N.45ºE. and dips about 65º SE, is intersected by the other, which strikes N.25º to 30ºNE and dips about 60ºSE.
The N.45ºE. fissures show extensive sericitization and silicification, in places forming zones 30 feet wide. Their outcrops, relatively resistant to erosion, are easily traceable.
The N.25º to 30ºE. fissures generally contain thin veins of quartz up to 3 inches thick, together with iron oxide. Oxidized iron and copper minerals are locally abundant in the walls.
Tungsten deposits are known to occur in 6 of the N.45ºE. zones, of which four have been productive. The oreshoots, of which some as much as 2 or 3 feet wide, clearly seem to be related to the intersections of the fissures, as if the N.45ºE. zones were permeable structures mineralized by the N. 25º to 30ºE. fissures.
Workings include several open stopes, surface cuts & short adits.
Mineral List
11 entries listed. 9 valid minerals.
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