Oxhide Mine (Lower Ox Hide Mine; Upper Ox Hide Mine; Schultze Mine; Schultze group), Miami, Miami-Inspiration District, Globe-Miami District, Gila Co., Arizona, USA

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A former surface and underground Cu-Ag mine located on 16 unpatented claims (1943), in the S½ (W½ ?; SE¼ ?) sec. 34, T1N, R14E (Inspiration 7.5 minute topo map), ½ mile SE of Needle Mountain summit, N bank of Needle Creek, about 2.7 miles SW of Miami, on private land. Discovered in 1894. Produced 1929-1984. Operators included Mr. David L. Kuck; Mr. Ralph Henderson; Alma; Eva; and Mr. Ed Schultze; O.L. Cross, and the Inspiration Consolidated Mining Co. Open-pit working began in 1968. Open pit operations began in 1967 at two pits. Upper Oxhide pit work ended in 1974; lower Oxhide open pit was still in operation (1982) heap leaching for copper. Called the Schultze Mine 1929 to 1962 with minor sporadic production and some leaching in 1961. Cyprus acquired Inspiration Consolidated Copper in July, 1988. Owned by the Cyprus Miami Mining Corp. (1988). NOTE: Alternate coordinates provided in mRDS file #10234066: 110°54'44"W, 33°22'48"N.

Mineralization is a deposit hosted in the Precambrian Pinal Schist and Schultze Granite. The ore zone is 540 meters long, 540 meters wide and 60 meters thick. Ore is disseminated in the granite and also some in the adjacent schist, and near the contact. Most ore is low-grade.

Workings include small tunnels and shafts, one 200 foot long tunnel, one 100 foot deep shaft, and small open cuts prior to 1943. Production began on a vein deposit, later was turned into 2 large open pits. In 1981, the production rate was approximately 12,500 short tons/day of sulfide ore.

References

Peterson, Nels P. (1962) Geology and Ore Deposits of the Globe Miami District, USGS PP 342: Plate 1.

Inspiration Consolidated Copper Co. Annual Reports 1966-1981.

Niemuth, N.J. & K.A. Phillips (1992), Copper Oxide Resources, Arizona Department of Mines & Mineral Resources Open File Report 92-10: 7 (Table 1).

Sawyer, M.B., Gurmendi, A.C., Daley, M.R., and Howell, S.B. (1992) Principal Deposits of Strategic and Critical Minerals in Arizona, U.S. Bureau of Mines Special Publication, 334 pp.

U.S. Bureau of Mines - Arizona Bureau of Geology and Mining Technology file data.

Arizona Department of Mineral Resources Ox Hide Mine file.

MRDS database Dep. ID #10046313, MRDS ID #M241219; and Dep. ID #10234066, MAS ID #0040070058; and Dep. ID #10234187, MAS ID #0040070060.

Mineral List

Azurite Chrysocolla

Cuprite Malachite

Tenorite

5 entries listed. 5 valid minerals.