Description:
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.