A breccia pipe is a vertical, pipe-like mass of broken rock (breccia), typically a few tens of meters across and hundreds of meters in vertical extent. Breccia pipes formed within Paleozoic and Triassic strata over a broad area around the Grand Canyon, and some contain high-grade uranium ore (Wenrich and Titley, 2008). They were created when groundwater (possibly basin brines), flowing through Redwall Limestone dissolution breccias and along fracture zones, dissolved more limestone, causing collapse of overlying rocks and possibly creating sink holes. Some pipes extend many hundreds of meters upward into the Chinle Group (formerly Chinle Formation; Heckert and Lucas, 2003), indicating that some pipes are at least as young as this Upper Triassic rock unit (Brown and Billingsley, 2010). Some pipes are blind and never broke through to the surface. Breccia pipes are abundant in the Grand Canyon region, with at least 1300 pipes or suspected pipes identified (Sutphin and Wenrich, 1989; Brown and Billingsley, 2010). These breccia pipes have been of interest both for their economic value and because they are adjacent to Grand Canyon National Park and the Colorado River (Spencer and Wenrich, 2013).

County geologic map of Mohave County. Map scale 1:375,000. Contour interval is 500 feet.

To most geologists, geologic maps are the single most useful type of information for understanding the geology of the land surface. As a result, geologic mapping has a long history, with over two thousand geologic maps produced in Arizona since about 1900. This index identifies only those maps that are available from the Arizona Geological Survey through the online Document Repository (http://repository.azgs.az.gov/). Approximately 720 maps of various areas within Arizona are available from approximately 500 publications. The Geologic Map of Arizona (2000) (Fig. 1) is used as background to the map indexes. Figures 2 and 3 identify regional maps with scale ranging from 1:100,000 to 1:1,000,000. Figures 4-10 identify detailed geologic maps with scale ranging from 1:200 to 1:99,000. Each of these maps is labeled with a publication number, for example “OFR 95-1”. The map indexes are followed by a list of citations to the maps that is organized alphabetically by publication number (pubNum). Generally, a user of this index would locate an area of interest on a map index, identify the publication numbers for maps in the area of interest, and then find the relevant citation or citations. With the citations one can then retrieve the desired maps from the document repository at the Arizona Geological Survey web site (repository.azgs.az.gov).

A county-by-county listing of offices concerned with mining and mineral resources in Arizona.

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.

This assessment was undertaken to examine the current status of, and make strategic recommendations concerning, the mining and minerals industry cluster in Arizona. It has been coordinated with a parallel study being undertaken in Sonora by Guillermo Salas, Victor Calles, and Hector Hinojosa. The assessment includes: metallic nonfuel minerals; industrial minerals; and energy resources, including uranium, coal, oil and natural gas. It also reviews the current infrastructure that exists in Arizona, which is necessary for economic development of mineral and energy resources. The purpose of this report is to present an overview of the geographic, geologic, and operational status of the currently-developed mineral and energy resources in the State of Arizona, and to refer the reader to additional sources of information for greater detail on specific resources. This report consists of a narrative description of background information on the minerals and energy industry of Arizona including the existing infrastructural-institutional factors that affect those industries. The infrastructure subsection explains the transportation (highway and railroad) and utility (electricity, natural gas, and water) networks in the State. It also contains general information on milling, smelting, and refining facilities as well as permitting and taxation procedures and policies with respect to mineral development in Arizona.

Beryl, a specific ore mineral of the metal beryllium, is currently in high demand. The nature of beryl occurrences presents a unique and potentially profitable opportunity for the prospector and small mine operator. The engineers of the Department of Mines and Mineral Resources are encouraging prospectors and small mine operators to consider beryl. Currently beryl is a more practical prospecting target for the independent prospector than the ever glamorous gold. At more than 55 cents per pound, a ton of beryl ore can be sold for over $1,100.00. At the current price of gold it would take a grade of almost 3 ounces per ton to make a gold ore of equal value. There is no market for small lots of 3 ounce per ton gold ore. Salable beryl ore can be produced without the need of a mill. In many areas, beryl deposits are mined by family mining operations

This Arizona Department of Mineral Resources publication describes fluorspar deposits in Arizona, history and production, types of deposits, grade specifications and marketing conditions. Total production of Arizona fluorspar from 1902-70 is estimated at 33,900 tons valued at $ 980,000. This report is possible through the efforts of Mr. E. A. Elevatorski. The wording, geology, interpretation and analyses are his. Described herein are 96 fluorspar mines, prospects, and occurrences. During the period, 1966 thru 1970, E. A. Elevatorski visited and examined 56 of the properties. Where possible, all properties are located on maps, according to section, township and range. Considerable effort was made to describe routes of access to each property so that they can be visited with a minimum of effort.

For the purpose of this directory, an active mine is defined as a mine in continuous operation, either in production or under full-time development for production. It is acknowledged that there are additional mines not listed that are in an exploration, evaluation, or part-time development phase. There are others where production is intermittent that are not listed. The authors compiled this directory during late 2006 thru mid 2007 by directly contacting the producers. Lists of possible producers were compiled from data of the department, MSHA, Arizona State Mine Inspector, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Geological Survey among others. Also included here: Arizona Mines Map 2007 (pdf) and a Google Earth KML file containing the names and locations of active mines in Arizona ca. 2007. The latter requires Google Earth application to launch.

The purpose of this publication is to provide a tabulation of known industrial mineral occurrences in Arizona along with a brief discussion of each commodity. I t i s hoped this information will attract additional interest and investment in the State's mineral resources. Scope. This report was compiled in 1986 and 1987 from the previous Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources publication of the same name by E. A. Elevatorski, the Department's data base, Department mine files and published data. The information reported here is for all nonmetallic mineral commodities except sand and gravel, crushed and dimension stone and gem stones. Introduction. Arizona holds a distinguished place among the mineral producing giants of the world. A1 though best known for i t s copper production, Arizona has produced and continues to produce important quantities of industrial minerals and other metals.