Mineral Deposit Mexico 1955 PDF

Geology and
Mineral Deposits of the

Boleo Copper District
Baja California, Mexico
By IVAN F. WILSON
In collaboration with VICTOR S. ROCHA
GEOLOGICAL
S'URVEY
PROFESSIONAL
PAPER
273
Prepared in cooperation with the Instituto Nacional

para la Investigation de Recur so s Miner ales under
the auspices of the Technical Cooperation Administration of the United States Department of State
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1955
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Douglas McKay, Secretary
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
W. E. Wrather, Director
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office

Washington 25, D. C.
CONTENTS
Abstract.. . ___________________-_-___-_-____--_--___
Introduction _____________-____------_--__--_----___
Location of the area__-_-__-------------_-------Purpose and scope of the investigation ____________
Ack nowledgments. _-___.._-_--------------------Previous literature. ____________--___-_____-_--_Geography ___ _ -_-_._-___-__-_---------------------General geographic features. _ ___-__-___-_-------_
Accessibility and transportation __________________
Topography and drainage...- . ------------------Climate. __-------.--_------------------------Vegetation. _ -________.__-_-------_-_-----_---_Water supply _.___.___.______--___-____--__---_
Natural resources.. . ________---_--_-------_----Towns and mining camps. _ ----------------------
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Geology ..-__....-____________--__----__----_-----Stratigraphy _____-__-___---_------------------Stratigraphic section. _--.---_---------_---_Quartz monzonite (pre-Tertiary) -------------Cornonchi volcanics (middle? and late Miocene).
Distribution and stratigraphic relations..-.
Subsurface configuration... _ _____________
Thickness.... . ____-_-.----------------Li thology and petrography _
___________
Copper content of the volcanic rocks. ._--.
Lateral variation and origin.. _ ___________
Age-.-.----.-. -----------------------Economic importance. ___--_--__--_---._
Boleo formation (early Pliocene) __--___------_
General features. _-----_-.------_------Distribution and stratigraphic relations. ___
Thickness _ - - ____-__-__----__--_-----Basal nonmarine conglomerate. __________
Basal marine limestone. -_-_-----_.----__
Gypsum. _ ___-___--_---_-----_--------_
Fossiliferous sandstone. _________________
Tuff and tuffaceous conglomerate.-.---.-The "cinta colorada" a time marker. __._
Variations in thickness and distribution of
stratigraphic units. _-____--_____-_____
Facies changes and pattern of sedimentation_. _ .________-_______-___-___-_.__
Origin of the formation.. _ _______________
Fossils and age.-.---- __________________
Economic importance. __--_--__-_-----._
Gloria formation (middle Pliocene) ___------_-.
General features. ___--_---_---__-__--___
Distribution and stratigraphic relations...Lithologjr, facies changes, and thickness. _ _
Fossils and age_ ____--------_____-----__
Infierno formation (late Pliocene).. ----------General features. _______________________
Distribution and stratigraphic relations. __.
Lithology, facies changes, and thickness. _ _
Origin.. _ ______________________________
Fossils and age. _______-___-___-.___-.__
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Geology Continued
Stratigraphy Continued
Santa Rosalia formation (Pleistocene)_________
Tres Virgenes volcanics (Pleistocene and Recent) _---------_-_---_-_-_---_-.-_---_--Terrace and gravel deposits (Recent)_-_____-__
Alluvium (Recent).-_-_-__-___--_-_-________
Structure-__--_--__--__--------------------_--Structure of the Comondii volcauics_________
Structural features of the Pliocene and Pleistocene formations-.-.-----...-.....-.-.-.-..
Structures produced by deposition on submerged topography._ _________________
Structures produced by deformation.--.-..
Structure contour map__________________
Geomorphology_____ ____________________________
General features.___________________________
Mesas.____________________________________
Arroyos_ ___________________________________
Terrace levels.---_-----------------_-_--___
Drainage patterns.___-----_-___--_-________
Paleogeology_ _ _________________________________
Geologic history._______________________________
Pre-Miocene history_____-_-__--__-___-__..__
Miocene history._-__-___-_-_______._____.__
Pliocene history.____--_-______-_-_-________
Pleistocene and Recent history._..__-___-____
Copper deposits.____________________________________
General features._______________________________
Geologic nature of the copper ore beds.____---_-__
Stratigraphic and areal distribution of the ore beds..
Thickness of ore._______________________________
Grade of ore.__________________________________
Extent, thickness, and grade of individual ore beds..
Ore bed no. 0--.--.--------.--_------_._-_Ore bed no.1._........__._..__._..___.____
Sin Nombre ore bed...--____________________
Uncorrelated manganiferous beds.--__-__.__._
Ore bed no. 2.__-.-----------_.---.--_-...Falsa Tercera ore bed____---_-____.____-___Ore bed no. 3. ----------------------------Ore bed no. 4______________________________
Limits of ore bodies.-___________________________
Pattern of ore shoots and of distribution of ore_____
Veins and stockwork bodies in the Comondii volcanics
Special stratigraphic occurrences of ore.___________
Relation of faults to ore_________________________
Mineralogy.___________________________________
Minerals identified in the Boleo copper deposits.
Ore minerals in the sulfide zone________------_
Ore minerals in the oxidized zone.__-___--_-_Gangue minerals.....-_-_--._-____-___--____
Mineral grain study_____-___--__--__-______
Chemical composition of the ore,---___-___-_-____
Chemical analyses.___-_---__--__-_-_-_-__-.
Distribution of zinc.------__--_-_--___-_____
ill
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IV
CONTENTS
Copper deposits Continued

Chemical composition of the ore Continued
Metals present in minor quantities--__________
Summary of relative abundance of elements.--Origin of the deposits-______-_-_-________---____
Previously published statements on origin______
The theory of deposition by descending ground
waters.._ _ _______________________________
The preferred theory: replacement by ascending hydro thermal solutions... _ _______'______
Statement of the theory.________________
Evidence for ascending solutions. __ . ______
Age of the mineralization and relation to
igneous activity._____________________
Relation of the Boleo copper deposits to other copper
deposits of the world._____'____________________
Mining of the copper deposits._______________________
History______-____----_-__--_-________-______
Discovery and early operations, 1868-85------Operations of the Compagnie du Boleo, 18851938________------_---_-----_______-_-_Epoch of the poquiteros, 1938-48_____----_--_
Production. __ _--_-__-__--_-_-__i____-___--_____
Mining claims.- ________________________________
Mining methods-_______________________________
Extent of exploration and development.___________
Underground workings. ______-____-__-----__
Shafts.-_._-_____-__.__-___.___.__. _--____
.Drill holes.___._____.__._._. __..___._______
Metallurgical treatment of ore___________---_-__
Description of principal mines.--__________------_
Nomenclature of mines-_----__-_______-_.-__
San Luciano mine (ore bed no. !)._____________
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Mining of the copper deposits Continued

Description of principal mines Continued
Montado mine (ore bed no. 1 and Sin Nombre ore
bed)____--___-__-_-----_----_----_-----_
Rancheria mine (ore bed no. !)_______________
Cinco de Mayo mine (ore bed no. 1)__________
Smaller mines in ore bed no. l__________-__-__
Mines in ore bed no. 2_____________________
Providencia group of mines (ore bed no. 3)_____
California-Lugarda mine (ore bed no. 3) _______
Humboldt mine (ore bed no. 3)-___---_---____
Purgatorio mine (ore bed no. 3) ______________
Amelia and Curuglu mines (ore bed no. 3)_____
San Agustin and San Luis mines (ore bed no. 3)_
Santa Rita, San Antonio, and Santa Marta mines
(ore bed no. 3 and Falsa Tercera ore bed).___
Mines in Arroyo del Boleo and Canada de la
Gloria (ore beds no. 3 and no. 4)____________
Mines in Arroyo del Infierno (ore bed no. 3)___
Reserves and possibilities-_-__--___-._____-____-_
Reserves. __ _ ________________ _______________
Dumps and slag piles---__---_-------_---___Recommendations of areas for exploration. _ ___
Other mineral deposits in the region.-.._______________
Manganese deposits._-____-__-___--___-__-_-__-_
Metals present in minor quantities in the copper ore_
Gypsum.______________________________________
Limestone and calcareous sandstone_______________
Sulfur.________________________________________
Building stone, pumice, and perlite.---.---________
List of fossil-collecting localities._____________________
References cited________-________________--_______-_
Metric equivalents.------________-___-___---_-__-___
Index._--_______________..__-._-_..._-_____...._..
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ILLUSTRATIONS
[All plates are in pocket]
PLATE
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Topographic and geologic map of the Boleo copper district, Baja California, Mexico.
Planimetric map showing principal geographic features of the Boleo copper district and surrounding area.
Structure sections of the Boleo copper district.
Structure contour map of the Boleo copper district.
Columnar sections of shafts and drill holes in the Boleo copper district: area northwest of Arroyo de Santa Agueda.
Columnar sections of shafts and drill holes in the Boleo copper district: area in Arroyo de Santa Agueda and vicinity
(northern group).
Columnar sections of drill holes in the Boleo copper district: area in Arroyo de Santa Agueda and vicinity (southern
group).
Columnar sections of drill holes in the Boleo copper district: area southeast of Arroyo de Santa Agueda.
Map showing general distribution of mine workings and drill holes in the Boleo copper district.
Stereogram of area explored by drill holes in the vicinity of Arroyo de Santa Agueda, Boleo copper district.
Map showing distribution of gypsum deposits in the Boleo copper district.
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FIGUUE
1. Index map of part of Baja California, Mexico, showing location of the Boleo copper district and its relation to
the Lucifer manganese district--___---------------__-________---______-_----_____-________-_________
2. Aerial view of harbor and town of Santa Rosalfa__-_____________________________________________________
3. Aerial view of northern part of the Boleo copper district-_-------------_-_---_------__---__--__-___---___
4. Aerial view of southern part of the Boleo copper district__-______-_____-__-____-____---________-.________
5. View of shoreline of the Boleo copper district, showing delta at mouth of Arroyo del Purgatorio____-___-_-___
6. View of rugged shoreline and narrow beaches southeast of Santa Rosalia___________________________________
7. Erratic character of'rainfall at Santa Rosalia, 1927-4.5_____-_'__-____^_______-_-___--____-__-___________-_
8. Monthly and yearly temperature data at Santa Rosalia.________________________________________________
9. Stratigraphic section in the Boleo copper district-______________________________________________________
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FIGURE 10.
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Hill of Comondu volcanics, once an island, on northwest, side of Canada de la Gloria___________________.____

Cerro del Sombrero Montado, once an island, as seen looking southwest across a branch of Arroyo del Montado__
Typical exposure of Comondu volcanics, showing alternating layers of flows and breccias____________________
Basal marine limestone of the Boleo formation in a branch of Arroyo del Boleo__---__-_-__-_______-_--___-_
Gypsum of the Boleo formation on the south side of Arroyo del Boleo--___________________________________
A large twinned crystal of gypsum developed in a secondary vein of gypsum, Boleo formation________________
Steep narrow canyon and overhanging cliffs developed in gypsum of the Boleo formation, Canada de la Gloria. _
Interbedded tuff and conglomerate of the Boleo formation near Purgatorio shaft-__________________________
Sections of the Boleo formation indicating distribution of its units and their range of thickness in the Boleo copper
district_________________---________-_-_-_--_---_--___--_-__-__---__-__-____________________-_____
Gulf ward facies of the Gloria formation and typical badlands topography__________________________________
Inland facies of conglomerate of the Gloria formation, showing interbedded sandy layers--__---_-____________
Unconformity between the Gloria and Infierno formations, Arroyo del Iufierno-_______--___________________
Fossiliferous sandstone of the Infierno formation, Arroyo del Montado ____________________________________
The three volcanic cones of the Tres Vf rgenes__________________________________________________________
Flat-lying limestone of the Boleo formation overlying gently dipping Comondu volcanics on top a buried hill_.__
Steeply dipping limestone of the Boleo formation overlying gently dipping Comondu volcanics on the side of a
buried hill_______________________________________________________________________________________
Rancherfa fault, on southeast side of Arroyo de la Providencia.__________________________________________
Small fault on the southeast side of Arroyo del Purgatorio, bringing sandstone of the Gloria formation against
tuff of the Boleo formation____-____________________________________________________________________
Topographic map and profiles showing contrast between erosional surfaces and depositional surfaces on the sides
of arroyos__--_____-_____-____-__________-__-____-_____--______-__-____---___--____---___________
Topographic map and profiles showing marine terraces along the coast southeast of Santa RosaUa_ ___________
Topographic map and profiles showing nonmarine terraces along the northwest side of Arroyo de Santa Agueda
near San Luciano._-________________-___-_-_______-_-___-__-____-____---__-_-_-__-_---_-____-_____
Paleogeologic map of the Boleo copper district at the end of early Pliocene (post-Boleo and pre-Gloria) time___
Sketches showing distribution of ore in the working faces of some old mines in the oxidized zone of ore bed no. 3__
Ore bed no. 3 on the northwest side of Arroyo del Boleo-_______-____---_____________-___--____-_-_______
Manganiferous and ferruginous beds on the southeast side of Arroyo del Boleo _____________________________
Diagram illustrating distribution of ore shoots in the Amelia and Curuglu mines.___________________________
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36. Diagram showing relation of ore deposits in the Providencia group of mines to a former island of Comondu volcanics
(Cerro de Juanita)________________________________________________________________________________
37. Diagram suggesting a mechanism by which ascending hj'drothermal solutions were trapped to form the
Boleo copper deposits..__________________________________________________________________________
38. Trends in price of copper, production of ore and of copper, and grade of ore in the Boleo copper district, 1886____---_-_---___-_____________-_______---_-____-__-___-_________--_____.__-_---_____
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TABLES
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Drill holes, shafts, and mine workings cutting the Comondu volcanics in the Boleo district_____.____--_______-____.
Copper content of Comondu volcanics from the Boleo district--_________^____-_-_____--______-___________-_______
Analysis of a composite sample of limestone from the Boleo formation, Arroyo de Santa Agueda, Boleo district.----.-Drill holes in the Boleo copper district in which gypsum of the Boleo formation was penetrated__________.___________
Analysis of a composite sample of gypsum from the Boleo formation, Arroyo del Boleo, Boleo district-_______________
Range in thickness of lithologic units of the Gloria and Infierno formations__________________-_-______-____-_-_____
Fossils from localities in the Gloria formation (middle Pliocene). _________________________________________________
Fossils from localities in the Infierno formation (late Pliocene)___ ________________________________________________
Fossils from localities in the Santa Rosalia formation (Pleistocene), Boleo copper district____________________________
Principal faults in the Boleo copper district__________-_-_____________-_____________-_____----____-____----_____
Sections of ore beds in the sulfide zone of six mines_________________________________-_--__-_______-_--__-_-_____
Averages of determinations of thickness and grade of ore in the Boleo district, calculated for individual mines and ore beds.
Example of differences in thickness and grade of ore bed along a particular mine working.__________________________
Minerals found in the Boleo copper deposits-__--__-----___--_-_-----__------_--_-___----_--_--------__-------Minerals identified in mineral grain study of three specimens of ore from San Luciauo mine.________________________
Analyses of copper ore from the Boleo district---_____--_________-__-____-____-__--____________-__-____---___-_
Analysis of a composite sample of copper ore from San Luciano mine, Boleo district-______________________________
Qualitative spectrographic analysis of a composite sample of copper ore from San Luciano mine, Boleo district_______._
Partial analyses of some ore samples for copper, manganese, and certain metals occurring in minor quantities-.----.--.
Comparison of analyses of Boleo copper ore with those of minerals of the montmorillonite-beidellite series.____-_______
Analyses for copper and zinc in ores of the Boleo district.._--_-_-____-_-__-_--.-_--___-___-----____--_____________
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CONTENTS
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Analyses of Boleo smelter products.__________________________________________________________________________

Analyses of some Boleo smelter products for copper, cobalt, and nickel_______-__________-______-_____--___-_---__Summary of available analyses of all constituents known in Boleo copper ore. _____________________________________
Comparison of relative amount of elements in Boleo copper ore with their relative amount in igneous rocks--_-__-_--__
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The copper content of rocks__--_---_-.----------___-___-_--__-_----_-_------_---------____--_--_---_--------Data on exploration, mine, smelter, and copper production of the Compagnie du Bole"o, 1886 to June 30, 1947. ________
Production of ore from the Boleo copper district, 1886 to 1947, tabulated by ore beds and individual mines_____--_-___
Shafts in the Boleo copper district'______________________________________'___________-__^______________________Drill holes in the Boleo copper district-__________;__________________.__________________________________________
Grade and amount of copper ore in certain dumps that have been sampled in the Boleo district..___________-_----__Production of gypsum, calcareous sandstone, and limestone for use in the Boleo smelter, 1909 to May 1948___-_---____
List of fossil-collecting localities.____________._____________________ ___________________________________________
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GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS OF THE BOLEO COPPER DISTRICT,

BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
By IVAN F. WILSON
In collaboration with VICTOR S. ROCHA
ABSTRACT"
The Boleo copper district, second largest producer of copper

in Mexico, is near the town of Santa Rosalia, about midway along
the Gulf of California coast of Baja California. The copper
deposits are in a recently uplifted coastal belt of Pliocene sediments exhibiting a mesa-and-arroyo topography. The copper
mines cover a zone 11 kilometers long and } to 3 kilometers wide,
parallel to the coast.
The climate is hot and extremely arid. Rainfall is confined
mainly to heavy cloudbursts at intervals of several years. Vegetation consists largely of a great variety of cactus and other
thorny desert plants. The principal natural resources of the
region are mineral deposits, such as copper, manganese, and
various nonmetallic minerals, and rich fisheries in the Gulf of
California.
The oldest rock, exposed only in small erosional windows, is a
quartz inonzonite, which has been considered to be either of
Cretaceous or pre-Cretaceous age. This is overlain unconformably by the Comondii volcanics, of middle(?) and late Miocene
age, which are probably at least 500 meters thick, consisting of
andesitic and basaltic flows, sills, tuff, breccia, agglomerate,
conglomerate, and tuffaceous sandstone, all the sediments being
of noinnarine origin. Facies changes indicate that the sediments
were derived from the present site of the Gulf of California.
When the area was invaded by the Pliocene seas, the Comondu
volcanics had a youthful or early mature topographic surface
with a local relief of as much as 450 meters. Overlying the
Comondii with profound unconformity is the lower Pliocene
Boleo formation, which is the host rock to the copper deposits.
This formation consists mainly of interbedded tuff and tuffaceous
conglomerate of latitic to andesitic composition, together with
a local nonmarine basal conglomerate, a fairly persistent basal
marine limestone, thick layers of gypsum, and a few lenses of
fossiliferous sandstone. Its thickness ranges from 50 to 250
meters and averages 140 meters. The formation is considered
to represent deltaic deposition along a shoreline.
Resting unconformably on the Boleo formation is the middle
Pliocene Gloria formation, composed of sandstone and conglomerate averaging 60 meters in thickness and having a maximum
thickness of 185 meters. It consists of a local basal conglomerate, a fossiliferous marine sandstone, and an overlying conglomerate that grades into a nonmarine facies inland. This and all
the succeeding formations are postmineralization.
Overlying the Gloria formation with local unconformity is the
upper Pliocene Infierno formation, which is 5 to 140 meters thick,
averaging 55 meters. It consists of fossiliferous marine sandstone overlain by conglomerate.
This is overlain unconformably by the Pleistocene Santa
Rosalfa formation, consisting of a thin layer of fossiliferous marine
sandstone and conglomerate 5 to 15 meters thick, which is
limited to some of the mesa tops.
The mesas northwest of the Boleo district are covered by the

Tres Vfrgenes volcanics, of Pleistocene and Recent age, composed
of latite flows, pumice, and welded tuff, which are overlain in
places by olivine basalt flows, breccia, and cinder cones.
The mesas and terraces along the arroyos are blanketed by
Quaternary gravels 1 to 20 meters thick, mainly of nonmarine
origin. Alluvium is found in the arroyos, beaches, and dry lake
beds.
Structurally, there is a complete discordance between the
Comondu volcanics and the younger formations. The Comondu
volcanics were faulted and tilted before deposition began in the
Pliocene. They are cut in places by west-dipping normal faults
with displacements of 50 to 100 meters, resulting in a series of
eastward-tilted blocks. Dips in the volcanic rocks are as great
as 55 NE., but more commonly they are 5 to 25. The prePliocene faults provided pathways for mineralizing solutions.
Much of the structure of the Pliocene and Pleistocene strata
represents initial dips, developed over the irregular topographic
surface on the Comondu volcanics. Such dips reach 30 in the
basal marine limestone of the Boleo formation and range from 3
to 20 in the clastic beds, decreasing upward in the section.
Superimposed on the initial dips are the effects of later tilting,
faulting, and gentle warping. The beds were tilted gulfward
from 3 to 10 and are offset by many normal faults, which
strike generally N. 10-45 W. and dip 65 to 70 SW or NE.
The faults of greatest displacement dip southwest. The maximum known vertical displacement is 250 meters, along the Santa
Agueda fault; the other faults have displacements of less than 80
meters. Many of the faults form in echelon systems. The
major faulting, aside from the pre-Pliocene faulting, was probably near thfe close of the Pliocene, but some faulting continued
into Pleistocene or Recent time.
The Boleo copper deposits occur in relatively impervious^
moist, soft, dark-colored clayey tuff beds of the Boleo formation.
Five principal clayey ore horizons have been identified, each
underlain by conglomerate or its gulfward equivalent of tuffaceous sandstone.
The thickness of minable ore has averaged about 80 centimeters in recent years, although it ranged from 1 to 2 meter?
and exceptionally 5 meters in the older mines. The average
grade of ore mined from 1886 to 1947 was 4.81 percent of copper,
taut it has ranged from more than 8 percent, in the earliest years,
to about 3.5 percent in recent years. Some of the ore is in
elongate, subparallel, riblike shoots, separated by ribs of lowergrade ore, but most of it is related to major irregularities in the
basement rocks of the Comondu volcanics. Veins and stockwork bodies are found in the Comondu volcanics, and irregular
replacement bodies occur in other types of rocks.
The main ore mineral in the sulfide zone is very fine-grained
chalcocite, accompanied by chalcopyrite, bornite, covellite, and
native copper. Pyrite and galena are less common. In the
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GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS, BOLEO COPPER DISTRICT, MEXICO

oxidized zone are a great variety of copper oxides, carbonates,
silicates, and oxychlorides, including the rare minerals boleite,
pseudoboleite, and cumengite. Manganese oxides, mainly
cryptomelane and pyrolusite, are commonly associated with the
copper minerals and are also concentrated in separate beds.
The gangue is composed mainly of montmorillonite, together
with various rock-forming and secondary minerals, and veinlets
of gypsum, calcite, chalcedony, and jasper.
Elements present in notably high amounts in Boleo ore include
copper, manganese, zinc, cobalt, lead, silver, sulfur, and chlorine.
A special study was made of the distribution of zinc and of
cobalt. In many localities the zinc to copper ratio increases
markedly toward the hanging wall of the ore beds.
The origin of the Boleo copper deposits is controversial, but
the writers support the theory of replacement of favorable beds
by hydrothermal solutions ascending along premineral faults and
fractures in the Comondu volcanics. It is thought that the
solutions rose along projecting hills and islands of the volcanic
basement rocks and spread out through the beds of the Boleo
formation, where they were trapped by the relatively impervious
clayey tuff beds that overlie porous conglomerate and sandstone.
The mineralization took place in post-Boleo and pre-Gloria
(early Pliocene) time and is believed to have been related to the
period of igneous activity that produced the tuffaceous beds.
The Boleo copper deposits were discovered in 1868 and have
been worked by the French-owned Compagnie du Boleo since
1885. The total production from 1886 to June 30, 1947, was
13,622,327 .metric tons of ore, from which 540,342 metric tons
of copper was obtained. The average annual production has
been 221,504 tons of ore and 8,786 tons of copper.
More than 588 kilometers of underground workings have
been developed in the Boleo district. The mining methods are
similar to those used in thin coal seams.
The Boleo ore is smelted directly in reverberatory furnaces
fired by fuel oil, producing a high-grade copper matte Avhich is
treated in converters. The final product is blister copper containing an average of 99.3 percent of copper, and the average
recovery is 87.4 percent. Ore-dressing tests have been conducted
on the Boleo ores, which are very difficult to beneficiate because
of the extremely fine size of the ore minerals and the swelling
of the bentonitic clay matrix. The tests are not entirely favorable, but they indicate the possible application of a combined
leach and notation process.
The known reserves of currently minable copper ore are low,
but the present small-scale operations of the poquiteros, who
rework filled stopes and dumps, extract pillars from old mines,
and open smaller, new deposits in outlying areas, can probably
be continued for several years, assuming favorable economic
conditions. Additional drilling might reveal some new, comparatively small ore bodies, but the discovery of unknown large
deposits is unlikely. Several million tons of marginal reserves
averaging about 2 percent of copper remain in thin beds at
great depth.
Besides copper, the district contains low-grade manganiferous
beds, whose exploitation depends upon developing some commercial process for recovering the manganese. Zinc, lead,
cobalt, nickel, and silver occur in minor quantities in the copper
ore or smelter products. Of these, only very minor quantities
of silver have been recovered commercially from the blister
copper. Other mineral deposits in the region include gypsum,
limestone, calcareous sandstone, sulfur, pumice, and perlite.
INTRODUCTION
LOCATION OF THE AREA
The Boleo copper district is centered near the town

of Santa Rosalia, a coastal port lying about midway
along the western shore of the Gulf of California and
nearly opposite the port of Guaymas, Sonora. Santa
Rosalia is in the "Municipio" of Mulege, in the Southern
Territory of Baja California, Mexico.
The copper mines are in a northwest-trending belt
which parallels the coast and lies generally from 3 to 4
kilometers inland. The area of continuous mine workings is 11 kilometers long and % to 3 kilometers wide.
The topographic and geologic map of the district that
accompanies the present report (pi. 1) covers an area
that extends for 12.7 kilometers in a northwest direction
and has a maximum width of 7.7 kilometers southwestward from the coast.
The Boleo copper district merges to the northwest
into the Lucifer manganese district, an area of manganese deposits around the Lucifer mine, which is 12
kilometers northwest of Santa Rosalia. The Lucifer
district was studied previously by Wilson and Veytia
(1949), and the geologic map of that district, covering
an area of 80 square kilometers, adjoins the map of the
Boleo district accompanying the present report. Figure
1 and plate 2 indicate the relative position of the areas
covered by the geologic maps of these two districts.
PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF THE INVESTIGATION
The Boleo copper mines have been operate*! since

1885 by the French Compagnie du Boleo, and for most
of their history they have been the second or third
largest producer of copper in the Republic of Mexico.
At the end of World War II, because of depleted ore
reserves, rising cost of mining, and the termination of
wartime subsidies, it appeared that the Boleo company
would soon be forced to cease operating. Because the
Boleo operations have been one of the chief industries
in Baja California, and as the residents of Santa
Rosalia and its environs have been virtually dependent
upon the copper production for their support, it became
urgent for the Mexican Government to search for means
of prolonging the life of the industry. A'loreover,
owing to the high demand for copper in the United
States, the continued production from the Boleo mines
was also of interest to the United States Government.
As part of its program of cooperative geologic investigations in the American Republics, therefore, the
Geological Survey, United States Department of the
Interior, undertook a geologic study of the Boleo
copper district, in cooperation with the Institute
Nacional para la Investigacion de Recursos Minerales
of Mexico.
INTRODUCTION
LUCIFER
MANGANESE
DISTRICT
ANTA ROSALIA
Isla San Marcos
27
26
.'FiOUiiEl. Index map of part of Bajiv California, Mexico, showing location of the Boleo copper district and its relation to the Lucifer
manganese district.
The purpose of the study was twofold: first, to

appraise the resources of the district, with particular
reference to the possibility of discovering new reserves
by drill ing or by other types of exploration; and second,
to make a general geologic study of this unusual and
highly interesting deposit, involving not only field
studies but also an interpretation of the wealth of data
on mine workings and drill holes contained in the
company records. It was felt that most of these data
would become unavailable when the company ceased
operating, and most of them are irreplaceable, for the
greater part of the underground workings are now

inaccessible. An enormous amount of underground
information had been accumulated, but a geologic
interpretation of much of this material had never been
made. By a study of these records, combined with
detailed geologic mapping of the surface, an exceptional
three-dimensional picture of the geology was obtained.
Since the localization of the Boleo copper deposits
was known to have been controlled primarily by stratigraphy, and secondarily, perhaps, by structure, the
stratigraphic and structural geology of the district
were emphasized during the present study. The features, such as roads and buildings, were also added
stratigraphy had not previously been worked out in by Segerstrom to the preexisting company maps.
Most of the geologic mapping was done from March
detail, except for the copper beds themselves, and
previous geologic maps had not differentiated any to May 1946, and most of the underground studies and
units of the sedimentary section, except for gypsum sampling were done in May and June 1948 and in Nobeds. The writers found it possible to map about 25 vember and December 1949. The office work, which
stratigraphic units, comprising 8 formations separated consisted largely in compiling maps and sections and
by unconformities, and it was discovered as a result analyzing the various data collected by the company,
that unconformities have an important influence on the was carried on mainly from the latter part of 1947 until
the middle of 1949. Most of the data on current mining
localization of the ore deposits.
Systematic underground mapping was not possible, operations included in this report are given as of 1948
because only a small proportion of the many hundreds or 1949.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
of kilometers of mine workings in the district is now
accessible. Fortunately, however, the Boleo company
The writers are greatly indebted to officials of the
had accurate maps of all the mines, and these were used Compagnie du Boleo and especially to Messrs. A.
as a basis for preparing structure sections and structure Nopper, P. Mahieux, and F. L. Garcia Quintaiiilla, for
contour maps of the principal ore beds. Most of the their kind hospitality and for providing free access to
currently accessible working faces of the mines were their maps and mine records. All the residents of
examined in order to study the geologic relations of the Santa Rosalia were very hospitable during the course
ore beds. Because of the present work of the poquiteros of the field work. Sr. Felipe Gutierrez was highly
(small-scale independent miners) in reopening the old cooperative in supplying information on the old mines
mines of the district, it was found possible to enter of the district.
nearly all the important mines at one place or another.
William G. Kane, formerly chief of the Mining Section
The mineralogy of the ore beds was studied earlier of the Foreign Economic Administration in Mexico,
by several investigators, at a time when a much wider was one of the principal advocates of the present investivariety of specimens was available than at present. A gation and gave helpful advice while on a visit in Santa
complete mineralogic investigation was therefore not Rosalia with the writers. Advice and assistance were
attempted, although certain phases were chosen for likewise given by John Van N. Dorr, 2d, of the Geofurther study and an attempt was made to compile and logical Survey, who visited the field with the writers,
summarize the data previously published. The clay and by W. D. Johns ton, Jr., chief of the Foreign Geology
minerals and some of the ore minerals were studied in Branch of the Geological Survey. Carl Fries, Jr., in
the Geological Survey laboratories in Washington by charge of the Survey's program in Mexico, gave helpful
petrographic, X-ray, and differential thermal methods/. advice throughout the period of office work and prepaThe complete chemical composition of the ore was in- ration of the report. Kenneth Segerstrom prepared
vestigated, with particular reference to the minor ele- the topographic map and cooperated in many ways
ments, and a special study was made of the distribution during the period of field work.
of zinc and cobalt in the ore beds by means of more than
Several other members of the Geological Survey have
100 samples analyzed by the U. S. Bureau of Mines. contributed to the present study. H. E. Vokes identiSeveral large ore samples were also collected for ore- fied many fossils collected from the district, and C. W.
dressing studies by the Bureau of Mines to determine Cooke identified some echinoids. Petrographic studies
whether the lower-grade ores might be amenable to of rock and ore specimens were made by C. S. Ross,
some method of concentration before smelting.
R. L. Smith, and E. S. Larsen, 3d, and mineralogical
The geologic map (pi. 1) covers a land area of about studies were made by Jewell J. Glass and Charles Mil85 square kilometers. The geologic mapping was done ton. X-ra}'' studies of ore specimens were made by
on topographic base maps, some of which had a scale J. M. Axelrod, and differential thermal analyses were
of 1:5000 and a contour interval of 5 meters, and others contributed by G. T. Faust. A chemical analysis was
a scale of 1:10,000 and a contour interval of 10 meters. made by Israel Warshaw and Charlotte Warshaw, and
The final map was compiled on the latter scale, which a spectrographic analysis was made by K. J. Murata.
was also used for the structure sections (pi. 3) and the Michael Fleischer and Maryse H. Delevaux provided
structure contour map (pi. 4). Somewhat more than data on the copper content of rocks.
half the topographic base was redrawn from maps of
Alan Probert, G. M. Potter, and H. G. Poole, metalthe Boleo company; the rest was prepared by plane- lurgists of the U. S. Bureau of Mines, cooperated in
table methods by Kenneth Segerstrom of the Geological many ways during their investigation of the problem of
Survey during the present investigation. Cultural beneficiating the Boleo ores. Many chemical analyses
INTRODUCTION
and certain preliminary results of the ore-dressing tests

were furnished through the courtesy of S. R. Zimmerley,
chief of the Salt Lake City Branch, Metallurgical
Division of the Bureau of Mines.
Eduardo Schmitter, petrographer and mineralogist
of the Institute de Geologia of Mexico, made some
petrographic studies of rock specimens from the Boleo
district, and Rodolfo del Corral, chemist of the Institute, made two chemical analyses of rocks. The
enthusiastic cooperation of the director of the Institute
de Geologia during the period of the investigation, Ing.
Ricardo M'onges L6pez, is gratefully acknowledged.
The project was sponsored 011 behalf of the United
States Government by the Technical Cooperation
Administration of the Department of State, and on behalf of the M'exican Government by the Institute
Nacional para la Investigaci6n de Recursos Minerales
and. the Institute de Geologia of the Universidacl
Nacional Autdnoma.
PREVIOUS LITERATURE
Apparently the first published mention of the Boleo

copper deposits is in. a report by Blanco and Tinoco
(1873), which appeared only 5 j'-ears after the discovery
of the deposits. This report describes a survey of the
27th parallel of latitude in Baja California, but it includes a description (p. 968-970) of the mining operations that were being carried on in the Boleo district,
then called the Santa Agueda mining district. A further brief report on the mining operations appeared the
following year (Tinoco, 1874), and one of the first
comprehensive reports on the district was published
later by Tinoco (1885). This report is valuable for its
description of the early mines, and it also describes the
geology of the district and gives a stratigraphic section
of the ore beds.
In 1884 a detailed study of the Boleo district was
made for French mining interests by Bouglise and
Cumenge, whose highly favorable report led to the
organization of the Compagnie du Boleo in Paris on
May 16, 1885. This report is said to have been published, in Paris (Bouglise and Cumenge, 1885), but the
writers have been unable to find a published copy; they
have, however, seen a manuscript copy, dated December
15, 1884, in the files of the Compagnie du Boleo at
Santa Rosalia. Conclusions of this report as to extent
of ore, potential production, and industrial requirements have proved to be remarkably accurate.
Fuchs (18S6a, 1886b), who studied the Boleo district
in 1885, wrote an extensive report 011 the geology and
mineral deposits of the district. Saladin (1892), who
Avas one of the early directors of exploitation for the
Compagnie du Bol6o, also wrote a fairly complete report on the district. A report by Martinez Baca and
Servin Lacebron (1898) contains valuable statistical

data on the first 10 years of operation by the Compagnie
du Bol6o.
Krusch (1899) made a microscopic and chemical
study of ores from the Boleo district and discussed the
paragenesis and origin of the minerals. A brief description of the Boleo operations in the Boletin Minero
(1917) is valuable particularly for a colored map showing the extent of the mine workings at that time. Some
additional early reports on the Boleo district, containing
data largely of historic interest, are those by Ramos
(1887), Wendt (1887), Laforgue (1897), and Bossuat
(1898).
One of the most important studies published on the
Boleo district is by Touwaide (1930). His valuable
studies of the mineralogy and paragenesis of the copper
ores are particularly commendable in view of the difficulties involved in microscopic studies of ores of this
A report on the Boleo district by Pena (1931) gives
a brief summary of the geology and considerable information on mining methods, equipment, and costs.
Bellanger (1931), general director of the Compagnie du
Boleo, published a good description of the mining and
smelting methods, including data on costs, together
with a brief description of the geology. Other reports
on the mining and smelting operations of the Boleo
company have been published by Lowry (1901), Mining
and Scientific Press (1912), Duncan (1917), L6pez and
Espinosa (1918), Boletin Minero (1927), Huttl (1931),
and Cardenas (1939).
One of the best summary descriptions of the Boleo
deposits is by Locke (1935), which, though brief,
contains a comprehensive account of the geology and
ore deposits. This report is based on field work done
by Locke and his associates in the Boleo district in 1923
and 1924, the results of which are largely unpublished.
Recent studies of the ore reserves and future possibilities of the Boleo district have been reported on by
Villafaiia, Perez Siliceo, and Aguayo Ibarra (1947), and
Perez Siliceo (1947).
Wilson (1948) described the initial structures and
conditions of sedimentation resulting from a buried
topography in the Santa Rosalia area. Wilson and
Veytia (1949) described the geology and maganese
deposits of the Lucifer district, which adjoins the Boleo'
district to the northwest.
The more comprehensive reports on the regional
geology of Baja California, which have an important
bearing on the geology of the Boleo district, are those
by Gabb (1868, 1869, 1882), who made a reconnaissance
of the entire peninsula; Lindgreii (1889, 1890, 1891),
who studied the area east of Todos Santos Bay and made
pertinent observations on the general structure of the
peninsula; Heim (1915, 1916, 1921, 1922), who did

important stratigraphic work particularly near La
Purisima and Comonclu; Darton (1921), who published
21 geologic cross sections of the peninsula, including
one in the latitude of Santa Rosalia; Galvez and others
(1922) and Hisazumi (1930), who reported on explorations for oil possibilities; Flores (1931), who compiled
a geologic map of Baja California; and Beal (1948),
whose report on the geology and oil possibilities of Baja
California, accompanied by a geologic map, is the most
comprehensive yet published. This report is based on
a reconnaissance of the peninsula by a party of geologists in 1920 and 1921, the results of which were previously published in an abridged form (Marland Oil
Co., 1924). A comprehensive memoir on the geology,
paleontology, and oceanography of the Gulf of California, resulting from a cruise of the E. W. Scripps in
1940, has been written by Anderson (1950), Durham
(1950), Shepard (1950), Natland (1950), and Revelle
(1950).
Geographic descriptions of the Boleo district and
surrounding region are included in the studies of Diguet
(1899, 1912), a French naturalist and ethnologist who
was employed for some years by the Boleo company,
a'nd Nelson (1921), who wrote an extensive monograph
on the geography and natural resources of Baja California.
The dominant physiographic features bordering the

uplifted coastal belt of mesas and arroyos of the Boleo
district are the high Sierra de Santa Lucia to the west,
the Tres Virgenes volcanoes to the northwest, and
Cerro de Santa Maria to the north. The Sierra de
Santa Lucia, which forms the peninsular divide at
altitudes of 1500 to 1600 meters, lies about 20 to 30
kilometers inland from the Gulf. The Tres Virgenes,
three prominent, well-shaped volcanic cones which
have been active within historic times, are 35 kilometers
northwest of Santa Rosalia and attain a maximum
altitude of 1995 meters. Cerro de Santa Alaria, situated near the coast 25 kilometers north of Santa
Rosalia, is a complex volcanic mountain which, reaches
an altitude of 1348 meters. The Tres Virgenes and
Cerro de Santa Maria are surrounded by a lava plateau
which extends southward into part of the Boleo district.
Much of Baja California is characterized by an
extreme desert type of climate and vegetation, and the
gulf side is perhaps as dry as any part of North
America. Owing mainly to insufficient water resources, the peninsula is very thinly populated. The
most important towns south of Ensenada a,re La Paz,
on the gulf coast near the southern tip, and Santa
Rosalia, the mining town described in this report.
GEOGRAPHY
The Boleo district is largely isolated from the rest of

the Republic of Mexico and is much like an island to
which aU flow of commerce and nearly all travel have
been by sea, and more recently by air. For travelers
from the United States or from the mainland of Mexico,
Santa Rosalia is most conveniently reached by plane.
In 1948, regular flights were reaching Santa Rosalia
about twice a week from Guaymas, Sonora, and from
Tijuana and La Paz, Baja California.
Santa Rosalia has an artificial harbor, completed by
the Boleo company in 1905, enclosed by two breakwaters of volcanic rocks capped by furnace slag (fig. 2).
The harbor has an area of 15 hectares and a depth of
7 to 8 meters, although the channel was being deepened
by dredging operations in 1948. Vessels of the size of
the Liberty ships built during World War II may be
accommodated within the harbor.
In their choice of the harbor site, directly across the
mouth of Arroyo de la Providencia, as well as of the
town site of Santa Rosalia, in the bottom of the same
arroyo, the early French engineers Avere evidently
misled by the deceptively arid appearance of the surrounding countryside. A cloudburst in 1945 resulted
in the deposition of a sizable delta inside the harbor at
the arroyo mouth.
GENERAL GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES
Baja California is a long, narrow peninsula extending

south-southeast for 1,200 kilometers from the California
State Line. It is bordered to the southwest by the
Pacific Ocean and to the northeast by the Gulf of
California that remarkable long, narrow, and deep
trough which has been called by Beal (1948, p. 99), "the
outstanding structural feature of its kind in North
America," and by Osorio Tafall (1946, p. 104), "one
of the most surprising and singular geologic structures
that exist on our planet."
Along the length of the peninsula to as far south as
La Paz Bay extends a line of asymmetric mountain
ranges of high relief characterized by gentle westerly
slopes and steep easterly slopes, the latter suggestive
of fault scarps. The Peninsular Range is thus similar
to the Sierra Nevada of California, as was early suggested by Lindgren (1889, p. 194-196). In part the
peninsular divide lies very close to the Gulf of California,
as in the Sierra de la Giganta, where the eastern scarp
of the range drops abruptly into the gulf. Elsewhere,
as in the Boleo district, a recently uplifted mesa-andarroyo belt lies between the Peninsular Range and the
gulf.
ACCESSIBILITY AND TRANSPORTATION
GEOGRAPHY
FIGURE 2. Harbor and town of Santa Hosalia. The town is in Arroyo dc la Providcncia; the smelter is visible at the right. At the left, below the mesa
level, are two prominent marine terrace levels, the lower occupied by houses and the upper by the airport (light-colored strip). Photograph by Kenneth
Segerstrom.
Small boats cross the Gulf of California from Guaymas to Santa Rosalia, a distance of 150 kilometers,
generally two or three times a week. The crossing,
always made at night, takes 10 to 14 hours, depending
upon the size of the boat and weather conditions. A
more comfortable means of reaching Santa Rosalia by
sea is on one of the freighters of the Boleo company,
which make frequent trips to the United States or to
Mexican ports. The Boleo company has owned several
ships, which have been used mainly for transporting
blister copper to Tacoma, Wash., returning with mine
timbers and lumber, and also for importing fuel oil and
other supplies from San Pedro, Calif.
An automobile road 1,881 kilometers long traverses
the entire length of Baja California, from Tijuana at
the northern border to Cape San Lucas at the southernmost tip. Santa Rosalia lies slightly beyond the
halfway point on the road, at a distance of 1,028 kilometers from Tijuana. Except for a paved section
extending from Tijuana to a short distance south of
Ensenada, most of the road is unimproved and parts
of it are in very poor condition. A stage carrying
passengers and mail makes the trip from Ensenada to
Santa Rosalia, as well as from Santa Rosalia to La
Paz, once or twice a week. A most interesting account
of a journey over the peninsular highway has recently
been written by Erie Stanley Gardner (1948).
Three methods have been used for transporting ore

from the Boleo mines to the smelter at Santa Rosalia
railroad, aerial tramwaj', and truck. A network of
narrow-gauge railroad lines extends from the smelter
up the arroyo bottoms to the principal mines of the
district. The Boleo company originally laid out more
than 30 kilometers of lines, in Arroyos Providencia,
Purgatorio, Soledad, and Boleo, but some of these
have been washed out from time to time, necessitating
their relocation or abandonment. At present, approximately 22 kilometers of i-ailroad is in use (see pis.
1 and 2). This is the only railroad in the entire
Southern Territory of Baja California. Its 50-yearold miniature Baldwin steam locomotives and its
antique, highly decorated carriage car, now abandoned
on a siding, are collectors' items for railroad enthusiasts.
An aerial tramway 5 kilometers long was installed
in 1932 to transport ore from the San Luciano mine, in
Arroyo de Santa Agueda, to Santa Rosalia. This
tramway follows a spectacular course across several
deep branches of Arroyo del Montado. The tramway,
built in Germany, has a capacity of 250 tons of ore
in an 8-hour shift.
A network of roads, mostly unimproved but passable
for trucks, extends up the principal arroyos, along the
coast, and on the tops of some of the mesas. Much
of the ore mined by the small-scale independent
miners in recent years has been hauled by truck,

either to the nearest railroad or else directly to the
smelter.
TOPOGRAPHY AND DRAINAGE
The topography of the Boleo copper district is of a

mesa-and-arroyo type, which is typical of the youthful
stage of erosion in gently dipping to flat-lying beds in
an arid region. It consists of flattish-topped mesas
separated by more or less parallel arroyos with wide,
flat bottoms and steep sides. The arroyo bottoms
have served as natural routes of access from the coast
to the interior region, and they have accordingly been
used as sites for railroads, roads, and centers of ore
extraction, as well as for towns and mining camps.
Travel may also be readily accomplished on the tops of
the mesas, once these are reached, but the steep arroyo
walls have served as natural barriers to transport.
To the geologist, on the other hand, the arroyo walls
are of chief interest as areas of outcrops, for the arroyo
bottoms are generally covered with alluvium and the
mesa tops are largely blanketed with gravels and in
part by lava flows.
This mesa-and-arroyo topography is in a recently
uplifted belt 7 to 15 kilometers wide lying between the
foothills of the Sierra de Santa Lucia and the coast
(figs. 3 and 4). The altitude of the mesas in most of
the Boleo district ranges from 200 to 250 meters.
They attain altitudes of 400 meters farther northwest
near the Lucifer mine, but they descend gradually

southeastward and merge into the coastal plain of
San Bruno southeast of the copper district. The
local relief between the tops of the mesas and the adjacent bottoms of the arroyos ranges in general from 90
to 170 meters, averaging 140 meters along the larger
arro3ros.
The arroyos run northeastward approximately at
right angles to the coast (see pi. 2). The longest
arroyos are Santa Agueda and Purgatorio, which head
well within the Sierra de Santa Lucia, while the others,
known as Montado, Providencia, Soledad, and Boleo,
have their source in the mesa belt east of the sierra.
Rising above the level of the mesas are three distinct
areas of rounded, rocky hills, which are important
paleogeographic as well as topographic features.
These are known as Cerro del Sombrero Montado,
Cerro de Juanita, and Cerro del Infierno (see pi. 2).
The mesas are terminated rather abruptly near the
coast by steep slopes, which ai-e commonly broken by
two intermediate terrace levels. The coastal beaches
are pebbly and bouldery and are generally quite narrow,
except at the months of the arroyos, where small deltas
have been built outward into the gulf (fig. 5). In
places the shoreline is marked by sea cliffs that descend
abruptly into the gulf (fig. 6). In plan view, the fairly
regular shoreline consists of a series of broad, sweeping
curves or scallops, concave seaward, which are 3 to 4
kilometers from point to point. On a broader scale,
FIGURE 3. Northern part of the Boleo copper district, looking up Arroyo de la Soledad. Arroyo-and-mesa and badlands topography in the foreground;
Sierra de Santa Luda appears in the background.
GEOGRAPHY
FIGURE 4. Southern part of the Boleo copper district, looking up Arroyo del Montado. Arroyo dr Santa Agueda appears in the middle distance and Sierra
de Santa Lucia in the background. Foreground shows the rugged shoreline of the Gulf of California, bordered by two marine terraces. Photograph
by Kenneth Segerstrom.
the Santa Rosalia area occupies a major scallop some

70 kilometers long, which extends from the salient
opposite Cerro de Santa Maria, 30 kilometers to the
north, to Point Chivato, 40 kilometers to the southeast.
San Marcos Island lies partly within this scallop, 20
kilometers southeast of Santa Rosalia.
CLIMATE
The climate of the Santa Rosalia area is hot and

extremely arid. The most remarkable feature is the
highly erratic and intermittent nature of the rainfall,
which comes generally in sudden, heavy cloudbursts,
during which many inches of rain may fall within a few
hours. As much as 200 millimeters (8 inches) of rain
has been recorded in a single day, whereas the total
annual rainfall for some years has been only 20 millimeters (0.8 inch).
In order to obtain exact data on the extremely intermittent character of the rainfall, the original daily
rainfall records for Santa Rosalia were studied for the
period 1927 to 1945, with the exception of 1939 for
which no record is available. The records for earlier
years could unfortunately not be found. The results of
this study are presented in figure 7, which gives the

total rainfall for each year, and shows the proportion of
this total that was confined to a single day.
Exactly half the total rainfall of this 18-year period
fell on the day of maximum rainfall of each of the 18
years. The rainfall during 6 days accounted for 33
percent of the 18-year total, and the lainfall during 26
days accounted for 66 percent of this total. The
annual rainfall averaged 125.7 millimeters (4.95 inches),
but it ranged from as little as 20.9 millimeters (0.82
inch) to as much as 304.1 millimeters (11.97 inches).
During the 60-odd years in which the Compagnie du
Boleo has operated in the district, about six tremendously concentrated rainstorms, locally called chubascos,
have taken place. Following such cloudbursts, the
arroyos, which ordinarily are perfectly dry, are flooded
with raging torrents which wash out roads, railroads,
and buildings, inundate mines, and at times cause the
loss of many lives. Such storms have been recorded
in 1898, 1911 (two storms), 1931, 1936, and 1945.
Baja California is subject both to the tropical summer rains characteristic of the mainland of Mexico to
the southeast, and to the winter rains characteristic
10
5. Ueliaut tile mouth uf Arroyo did 1'urjiutorio, Jiulco cupper district, looking north. The gravelly beach is typical.
FIGUBE 6. Eugged shoreline and narrow beaches southeast of Santa Rosalia, Boleo copper district, looking northwest. Cliffs are formed in Comondu
voleanies; lower marine terrace appears at left.
GEOGRAPHY
11
|nches Millimeter
Maximum rainfall in a single day
1927
1928
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
Mean
FiOUKE 7. Erratic character of rainfall at Santa Rosalfa, Baja California, 1927-45.

F
IIO-.
100-
90-
80-
70H
60-
50- 10
Absolute
minimum
recorded.
40-
32J
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Annual
FIGURE 8. Monthly and yearly temperature data at Santa llosalia, Baja California. (Data taken from tables by Contreras Arias, 1942, p. 1-2.)
of the Pacific Coast of California. The Santa Rosalia

area is on the fringe of these two rainy belts, and in
some years it may receive rain during both seasons and
in. other years during neither. Records show that the
month with the highest average rainfall is September,
representing the tropical summer rains, and that the
next highest month is December, representing the
Pacific Coast winter rains.
323059 55
Temperatures at Santa Rosalia commonly reach 35 C

(95 F) or more during the summer months and have
been known to reach 43.5C (110.3 F); the year-round
mean temperature is recorded as 24.2 C (75.6 F).
Freezing temperatures are unknown, and the lowest
temperature recorded was 6 C (42.8 F). Temperature data for the different months of the year are
presented in figure 8.
12
The humidity is generally very low, but it is often

noticeably higher directly along the gulf than it is a
few kilometers inland. Very rarely, the gulf is covered
by a low blanket of fog, a phenomenon which is much more
common near the southern tip of Baja California and
along the Pacific Coast.
The prevailing winds are from the southeast during
the summer months, from May until September, and
from the northwest during the rest of the year. In
the winter the region is occasionally subject to severe
windstorms from the northwest which have been
known to reach hurricane proportions, causing damage
to buildings and the loss of ships on the gulf.
According to the climatic classification of Contreras
Arias (1942), who follows in a modified form the system
of Thornthwaite (1931), the climate at Santa Rosalia
is classified according to humidity as very dry, with
moisture deficient at all seasons, and according to
temperature as hot, with a mild winter. The humidity
classification is based upon the index of effectiveness
of precipitation, which may range from less than 16
(classified as very dry, characterized by a desert vegetation) to more than 128 (classified as very humid). On
this scale the Santa Rosalia area has an index of 5,
and only five stations in Mexico, all in Baja California
and Sonora, have a lower index. The temperature
classification is based on the index of effectiveness of
temperature, which may range from 0 (polar) to more
than 128 (hot). On this scale the Santa Rosalia area
has an index of 131, which, though high, is exceeded
by several localities along the tropical southern coastal
belts of Mexico.
VEGETATION
Although the Boleo region is truly a desert, it is far

from barren and supports a widespread and, in places,
dense growth of thorny vegetation. Nelson (1921)
states that the peninsula of Baja California "has
developed the richest and most varied desert flora
known in America and probably in the world." In
parts of the Vizcaino Desert, on the western side of
the peninsula, a jungle of thorny plants makes the area
practically impenetrable. In the Boleo district the
growth is moderately dense on the tops of the mesas,
but relatively sparse on the sides and bottoms of the
arroyos. On the mesas the growth is more dense in
areas covered by gravel or conglomerate than in areas
covered by lava.
The vegetation consists largely of many varieties of
cactus and other types of low thorny or spiny desert
plants. Notable among the species of cactus are the
giant organo, different types of pitahaya, noted for its
edible red fruit, several varieties of the highly treacherous cholla, and the peculiar "creeping devil" cactus.
Common among the other shrubs are ocotillo, mesquite,

the palo verdes, palo blanco, yuccas, copal, creosote
bush, brittle bush, and the curious elephant tree. The
tropical mangrove grows in San Lucas Cove. Scattered
fan palms grow near the few permanent pools of water
in the region, as in Arroyo de las Palmas and Arroyo
del Infierno. Shortly after one of the cloudbursts that
sometimes visit the region, the vegetation becomes
green and as if by magic the desert becomes covered
with a blanket of wild flowers a phenomenon which
generally takes place only once in several years.
The Santa Rosalia area lies near the boundary
between two life zones, according to Nelson (1921,
p. 121-124), the Arid Tropical zone, which extends
northward from the cape region, and the Lower Sonoran
zone, which extends southward from the northern
border of Baja California.
Some of the most comprehensive papers dealing with
the plant life of Baja California are those by Goldman
(1916), Nelson (1921), and Johnston (1924). A list
and brief description of 91 species of plants collected
from Santa Rosalia and Santa Agueda is given by
Vasey and Rose (1890, p. 80-87).
WATER SUPPLY
Water is extremely scarce and is one of the major

problems of life in the region. Practically the only
surface water supply of any consequence in the vicinity
of the copper district is at the Santa Agueda ranch, 12
kilometers southwest of Santa Rosalia, where springs
provide a small but steady flow all year around, sufficient to support small fruit orchards and vegetable
gardens. From this ranch the Boleo company has
constructed a pipeline 17 kilometers long, which runs
down Arroyo de Santa Agueda to a point near its
mouth, and then parallels the coastline to Santa Rosalia
(see pi. 2). This source of water is augmented by
supplies from the deep mines that have penetrated far
below the water table. The water is chlorinated to
make it safe for drinking, although the content of dissolved salts is noticeably high.
The water table as originally found in the Santa
Rita, Purgatorio, and William shafts, situated along a
line about 8)2 kilometers inland from the coast, ranged
from 25 meters above sea level in Arroyos Soledad and
Purgatorio, to 7 meters above sea level in Arroyo de
Santa Agueda. In a drill hole (no. 52) southeast of
Arroyo de Santa Agueda the water table was 19 meters
above sea level. In the bottom of the San Agustin
shaft in Arroyo de la Soledad, at an elevation of 27
meters above sea level, the original influx of water was
at the rate of 70 cubic meters in 24 hours (2.92 cubic
meters per hour). This water had a temperature of
41 C (106 F). In the deepest shaft in the district,
GEOGRAPHY
the William shaft of the San Luciaiio mine, which

reaches 199 meters below sea level, the original influx
of water was at the rate of 8 to 9 cubic meters per hour.
Later, however, the entire mine drained into this shaft,
necessitating pumping at the rate of about 100 cubic
meters per hour. Because of the high saline content
this water is not used for drinking, although it serves
locally for irrigation.
The arroyos in the district generally carry water for
only a few hours after infrequent cloudbursts, except
for a few natural rock basins called tinajas where small
pools may stand for long periods. Such pools are found
in volcanic rocks near the head of Arroyo del Infierno
and. in Arroyo de las Palmas, and small ones of short
duration are found in some of the small canyons that
cross the gypsum area in the vicinity of Arroyo del
Boleo. The supply of water in these pools is, however,
very scanty.
Because of the scarcity of fresh water, sea water is
used for many purposes in the town of Santa Rosalia.
It is pump 3d from the gulf and stored in large tanks
and reservoirs built on the terraces north of the town.
Sea water is used extensively for cooling purposes in
the smelter, for condensors in the power house, for
sprinkling the streets, for sewage disposal, and for
emergency use in case of fire.
NATURAL RESOURCES
The natural resources of the region about Santa

Rosalia consist mainly of mineral deposits and of fisheries in the Gulf of California. The mineral deposits
that have been exploited include not only copper
deposits but also manganese deposits, worked since
1941 in the Lucifer mine, and gypsum, limestone, and
calcareous sandstone, which have been used in the
Boleo smelter. Other potential mineral resources
include pumice and perlite, sulfur near the Tres Virgenes, and perhaps some of the metals, such as cobalt,
zinc, and lead, that are found in the Boleo ore in minor
quantities.
The waters of the Gulf of California abound in edible
fishes and other types of sea food, such as shrimp and
lobster. Only recently has an attempt been made to
organize the fishing industry at Santa Rosalia on a large
scale by installing canning, packing, and freezing plants.
This will probably become the principal industry of
the region, as mining activities decline.
The great problem of Baja California as an agricultural region is the erratic and undependable nature of
the rainfall. Where water is obtaiuable, however,
many varieties of fruits and vegetables are grown
successfully. This is illustrated by San Ignacio, an
oasis of date palms in the middle of the desert, and by
the watered coastal area of Mulege, where many temperate and tropical fruits and other crops are raised.
13
TOWNS AND MINING CAMPS
Before the discovery of the copper deposits in 1868,

the area occupied by the Boleo district was an uninhabited desert. The only permanent habitation in the
region was the ranch of Santa Agueda, 12 kilometers
southwest of the present site of Santa Rosalia. The
nearest towns were Mulege, a village of 800 inhabitants
situated 68 kilometers by road to the south, and San
Ignacio, a village of 600 inhabitants situated 77 kilometers by road west of Santa Rosalia. These towns
are the sites of early 18th-century missions built by the
Jesuits.
The entire town of Santa Rosalia, including houses,
stores, schools, smelter, railroad, harbor, and other
buildings and industrial installations, has been built by
the Compagnie du Boleo, beginning in 1885. Practically all the houses and buildings are of wood construction, a type of building material not commonly used
elsewhere in Mexico. Most of the lumber has been
imported by way of Tacoma, Wash. The main part
of town occupies the floor of Arroyo de la Providencia,
extending inland from the harbor for 1 kilometer.
In addition to the main town of Santa Rosalia, the
Boleo company has constructed houses and other buildings in several surrounding mining camps. The principal camps in earlier years were known as Providencia,
Purgatorio, and Soledad, situated in the arroyos of the
same names. Purgatorio is now a ghost town in which
only a few scattered houses and a forlorn church-remain,
and the other two camps have disappeared. Later
camps include Santa Marta, also now a ghost town, in
Arroyo de la Soledad; Rancheria, which adjoins Santa
Rosalia to the southwest in Arroyo de la Providencia;
and San Luciano, in Arroyo de Santa Agueda.
The total population of the district, including Santa
Rosalia and the surrounding mining camps, ranged
from 5,839 in 1896 to a maximum of 11,660 in 1918,
declining to 7,945 in 1940. The town of Santa Rosalia
itself had a population of 5,451 in 1940. The number
of workers employed by the Boleo company averaged
about 2,500 persons in the 1890's, reached a high point
of 4,100 in 1910, and declined to 1,451 in 1940 and to
approximately 1,000 in 1946. The French population
at one time numbered about 200 persons, but the
number has declined recently to scarcely more than a
dozen persons.
GEOLOGY
STRATIGRAPHY
STRATIGRAPHIC SECTION
The stratigraphic section in the Boleo district is

presented in figure 9. A quartz monzonite basement
of unknown age, exposed only in small areas, is overlain
b r a considerable thickness of Miocene andesitic and
14
Age
1
ce.
11
Formation
Alluvium
Terrace deposits
Thickness,
in meters
0-10
0-20
Tres Vfrgenes volcanics
0-30
Santa Rosalia formation
5-15
Infierno formation
Gulfward
's^î2^^^. Unconsolidated gravel, sand, silt, clay
mmmttMMMm
-H
W- -J/
~4t~ -
Unconsolidated gravel, cemented conglomerate

Latite flows, pumice, welded tuff; olivine basalt flows,
volcanic breccia, cinder cones
O O oooooooo Fossiliferous sandstone and conglomerate; nonmarine

facies inland
<2p o o o o O O o
00060600
oooo oooo
Conglomerate, grading into nonmarine facies inland
ooo o o o o o
o o o o o o o o-
0-70
Late
Pliocene
Description
Section
Inland
J>ff?
5-140
avg55
Fossiliferous sandstone, wedging out into conglomerate
inland
0-95
m^miimf^îsm
o oo u o o o o o o
ooooo o ooo
Oooooo o oo
o ooooo ooo Conglomerate, grading into nonmarine facies inland
OOODOOOOO
10-135 o oooooooo
PlMiiodcenedle
Gloria formation
OOOOOO ,OoO
25-185
avg 60 '
ooooo oa^^/Z/M Fossiliferous sandstone, wedging out into conglomerate

. JjL*KtfI:liilI?
inland. Gulfward facies sandstone, siltstone, and
clay
0-105
0-15
10)
15-55
(avg
Basal conglomerate, present only locally
Tuff
oo_j^-^^T -Ore bed 0
0-24 ooooo
o q R^rrrTAV.'.'.'.'.v/.v/. Conglomerate 0
-rTrrTTAYlv.v.v.v.v.-.v.v.Y.-.v.
0-20
Tuff
15-30
o-e:
3-15
0-55
25-70
Total
th50-(225m
soutin
ipart)
noracpart;
125m
kness
ver2t50mheragen (avg
50)
ssai
Conglomerate
Tuff
- Ore bed 1
Congl
tdesictuffs
and
uofnaglcometoeirum-castes.
partl
marBeds
uniley
prtuff
obablitnse,y. y
unisgulinto
Tuff
tauout
nfdasfctwoesnoareu.sd and
clCopper
tuff
tuff.
sandy
to
maangyeyanese
ore
Conglomerate 1
Tuff
20-60
Earl
nioceney
0-30
0.3l&t-^:::::::: :;::::::;::::::::
Boleo formation
35-70
(avg
55)
-Ore bed 2
Conglomerate 2
^Cinta Colorada (coarse
tuff; time unit)
Tuff
-Ore bed 3a,
Falsa Tercera
Tuff
-Ore bed 3
ooooo o 5-<Cv.v
ooooo Q?:;::::::
o^r^V.'.v.v. Y.Y,Y. Conglomerate 3
0-60 j ooo
o o&ff::::::::::::::::.
lto
Inatan
ertbietdiced
wedge
leeratnsese from
upwar
graded
claj
in
beds
occur
nonmarine
Tuff
0-140
(avg
80)
Conglomerate 4
, 1
Fossiliferous sandstone lenses; occur only locally; 0-5
meters thick
0-90
^Gypsum; occurs locally; 0-80+ meters thick
kMarine
limestone, impure, tuffaceous, fossiliferous; 0-5
"' ^^^^^^^'
meters thick
^^^,^^^^y/// Basal conglomerate, coarse, nonmarine; local distribu0-20
/ tion; 0-10 meters thick
HS^^^-S^^^^s^^.
&.&&&&&&&
i*-^~ *. o
'^MMSMMMiM(
^K^H. ^r^f^p^^^:
ooooooooo
Miocene
,UIIJ|fUJ|JlM4^]rf4fMfrl HWW
Comondu volcanics
500
Full thickness not shown

A
AAAA&&A&
^ptt^^H-
H-^^H
**
Andesitic and basaltic flows and s Us; tuff, breccia, agglomerate, volcanic conglomerate, and tuffaceous
sandstone. Wedges into terrestrial sediments, chiefly
sandstone, in western part of peninsula
~^~-
1llMIMIIlUI|M|IMIII|llllll7l|!lin|llTMM7J
iBIiiiniiMiiiirtTimllliliiiititiilMiifntnl
^-^T^C^-iî^-Hy^î;
\ -%^N 'f'^'^ " *
if
Quartz monzonite
/ ^ X
/ 1
1 - ^ s
x ' -"~ V ~ s ^ ' ' \
^ '^'S^s^
Biotite- quartz monzonite; exposed only in small

outcrops
FIGURE 9. Stratigraphic section in the Boleo copper district, Baja California.
STRATIGRAPHY
basaltic volcanic and pyroclastic rocks, and terrestrial

sediments, known as the Comondu volcanics. These
are overlain with marked unconformity by three marine
formations of Pliocene age, all with interfingering 11011marine facies inland, known as the Boleo, Gloria, and
Infierao formations, all separated by unconformities.
A thin marine formation of Pleistocene age, named the
Santa Rosalia formation, is overlain by latite and basalt
flows and pyroclastic rocks of Pleistocene and Recent
age, called the Tres Virgenes volcanics, and by terrace
deposits and alluvium.
Although deposits of late Tertiary and Quaternary
age are well represented in the Boleo district, preMiocene rocks are entirely absent, except for the plutonic basement. Along the Pacific Coast of Baja
California is found in addition a fairly thick section of
marine sediments of Jurassic, Cretaceous, Paleocene,
and Eocene age. Data on the stratigraphic record
elsewhere in the peninsula are summarized in the reports by Beal (1.948), Durham (1944, 1.950), and
Andersen (1.950).
The Miocene of Baja California is represented by
three formations separated by unconformities, known
as the 'San Gregorio, Isid.ro, and Comondu formations,
of which only the latter is present in the Boleo district.
The Is.id.ro formation reaches the gulf coast in places,
however, and is significant in providing a lower age
limit for the Comondu formation.
The Comondu formation is the principal formation
that extends entirely across the peninsula of Baja
California from west to east. Toward the west it overlies the Isicl.ro formation, but in the Boleo district it
rests directly on the plutonic basement. The Comondu
consists largely of volcanic rocks of andesitic and
basaltic composition near the gulf coast, grading westward in to. terrestrial sediments, chiefly sandstone and
conglomerate the "Mesa sandstones" of Gabb (1868,
p. 632-633).
The marine sediments of Pliocene age in Baja California have hitherto been, classified as the Salada formation, a name given by Heim (1922, p. 544-546) to beds
exposed in Arroyo de la Salada, along the Pacific Coast
near M.agdalana Bay. Pliocene marine beds have been
noted at several places along both the Pacific and gulf
coasts, and on islands in the gulf (Hanna and Hertlein,
1927), but they are nowhere known to extend continuously across the peninsula. Although geologists had
recognized previously that various parts of the Pliocene
were represented in different localities, the beds had
not been definitely subdivided into different formations
before the work of Anderson (1950) and Durham (1950)
on the islands of the gulf and of Wilson (1948) and his
associates in the Santa Rosalia area.
.In the Boleo district the Pliocene deposits may be
15
divided into three distinct formations, separated by

unconformities and characterized by faunas believed to
be of early, middle, and late Pliocene age. The names
proposed for these formations by Wilson (1948, p. 1768)
were the Boleo formation, named after the Boleo district, for a lower Pliocene succession of tuffs and conglomerates containing copper and manganese deposits;
the Gloria formation, named after Canada de la Gloria,
for a middle Pliocene sequence of fossiliferous marine
sandstone, siltstone, and conglomerate; and the Infierno
formation, named after Arroyo del Infierno, for an
upper Pliocene succession of fossiliferous marine sandstone and conglomerate.
Anderson (1950) and Durham (1950) noted a similar
three-fold division of the Pliocene beds on the islands
studied by them in the Gulf of California. The probable equivalence of their San Marcos, Carmen, and
Marquer formations to the Boleo, Gloria, and Infierno
formations, respectively, of tha Santa Rosalia area was
pointed out in a footnote by Anderson (1950, p. 12).
In the older reports on the Boleo district the sediments were divided in general into the "Ore Series"
and the overlying "Calcareous Series," but the dividing
line between these two series was not precisely defined
and had never been portrayed on a geologic map, as far
as the writers are aware. Touwaide (1930, p. 120) and
Locke (1935, p. 409) used the name Lower Salada for
the "Ore Series" and Upper Salada for the "Calcareous
Series." The Lower Salada as used by those authors
is more or less equivalent to the Boleo formation as used
in this report, and the Upper Salada includes the
Gloria, Infierno, and probably in part the Santa
Rosalia formation as used in this report. The name
Salada formation has not been used by the present
writers because no direct relationship could be established between any of these formations and the type
locality of the Salada, which is on the opposite side of
the peninsula; and the age of the Salada at the type
locality was not precisely determined, the only fossils
reported by Heim having been casts, undetermined
except for generic identification. The term Salada
could be retained for undifferentiated Pliocene deposits
in Baja California, however, in the sense in which it
was used by the Marland Oil Co. (1924, p. 43); then it
should be called the Salada group, which would include
the three Pliocene formations of the Boleo district.
Marine beds of Pleistocene age have been noted in
several parts of Baja California, but outside the Boleo
district they have never been given any definite name.
A thin fossiliferous marine sandstone and conglomerate
in the Boleo district, containing abundant fossils
assigned to the Pleistocene, was named the Santa
Rosalia formation, after the town of Santa Rosalia
(Wilson, 1948, p. 1769). Still younger are thin but
16
widespread gravel deposits that blanket the tops of the

mesas and cover marine terraces along the coast and
nonmarine terraces along the sides of the arroyos.
Extensive volcanic and pyroclastic rocks of latitic
and basaltic composition mantle the mesas northwest
of Santa Rosalia. These rocks have been named the
Tres Virgenes volcanics (Wilson, 1948, p. 1769), after
the three prominent volcanic cones called the Tres
Virgenes, which have been active within the past two
centuries. The age of the Tres Virgenes volcanics
is Pleistocene and Recent; the volcanism may in part
be contemporaneous with the Santa Rosalia formation
and the terrace and gravel deposits described above.
QUARTZ MONZONITE (PRE-TERTIARY)
The basement rock is a quartz monzonite, which

has been found only in three small outcrops in Arroyo
de las Palmas, in the area covered by the map of the
Lucifer manganese district and described in the report
on that district (Wilson and Veytia, 1949, p. 187-188).
Although no outcrops of quartz monzonite were
found in the area covered by the geologic map of the
Boleo district (pi. 1), the rock presumably underlies
the Comondu volcanics throughout the district. The
depth below the surface to the top of the plutonic
basement probably ranges from 500 meters or more in
the northwest part of the district, near Arro}ô del
Boleo, to more than 800 meters in the southeast part,
near Arroyo de Santa Agueda, based upon what is
known of the structure and thickness of the overlying
Comondu volcanics.
The outcrops of quartz monzonite in Arro3ô de las
Palmas are thought to represent areas of high relief
which existed during the time of formation of the
Comondu volcanics. The quartz monzonite is overlain by different members of the Comondu volcanics,
and in part is overlapped directly by a basal marine
limestone of the Boleo formation.
Plutonic rocks are exposed over wide areas in the
northern part of Baja California, northwest of Santa
Gertrudis (see fig. 1), and also in the southern part,
southeast of La Paz Bay, but in the intervening area
they are almost everywhere buried by younger rocks
and are exposed only in small erosional windows.
Petrographic descriptions of the plutonic rocks in the
Sierra San Pedro Martir have been given by Woodford
and Harriss (1938), and petrographic descriptions,
chemical analyses, norms, and differentiation diagrams
of plutonic rocks from different parts of Baja California
have been given by Hirschi (1926) and Hirschi and de
Quervain (1927-33).
The Boleo district provides little direct evidence of
the age of the plutonic basement, except that it is
pre-Comondu, therefore pre-Miocene. The age of
some granite and diorite intrusive bodies in the northern

part of Baja California, near Ensenada, has been
determined as the early part of Late Cretaceous
(Turonian) by Bose and Wittich (1913, p. 349; see also
Wittich, 1915, p. 394). Woodford (1940, p. 256)
concluded that the main plutonic mass of Baja California is probably of Cretaceous age, although Darton
(1921, p. 725) regarded most of it as pre-Cretaceous.
Hirschi and de Quervain (1933) accepted a Late Cretaceous age for the plutonic rocks in the northern part of
the peninsula, which they classified as "Pacific t}^pc,"
but they considered that the "Mediterranean type"
plutonic rocks in the southern part of the peninsula
were older, probably Paleozoic, although they presented
no stratigraphic evidence for this conclusion.
COMONDU VOLCANICS (MIDDLE? AND LATE MIOCENE)
The Comondu volcanics, of middle (?) and late

Miocene age, consist of andesitic and basaltic flows,
sills, tuff, breccia, agglomerate, volcanic conglomerate,
and tuffaceous sandstone, all of nonmarine origin.
The Comondu formation was named by Heim (1922,
p. 542) for exposures near the town of Comondu,
150 kilometers south of Santa Rosalia. (See fig. 1).
At the type locality the formation consists mainly of
terrestrial sediments, but toward the gulf in the Sierra
de la Giganta, the formation is described by Heim as
consisting largely of a basaltic breccia. The volcanic
rocks extend continuously from the Sierra de la Giganta
to the vicinity of Santa Rosalia, and according to the
geologic map by Beal (1948, pi. 1), they continue
much farther both to the northwest and southeast.
Because the formation is composed dominantly of
volcanic rocks in the Boleo district, it is referred to in
this report as the Comondu volcanics.
DISTEIBUTION AND STRATIGRAPHIC RELATIONS
The Comondu volcanics underlie the entire area

covered by the geologic map of the Boleo district, and
for all practical purposes they form the basement rock
of the mining district, although they in turn rest unconformably upon the plutonic basement just described.
At the close of Comondu deposition, an irregular surface
of strong relief was carved in the volcanic rocks and
then largely buried by Pliocene sediments, although
the highest hills formed islands that remained above
the level of sedimentation throughout Pliocene time.
The present outcrops of the Comondu volcanics are
chiefly these islands and exhumed buried hills on the
pre-Pliocene erosional surface (fig. 10).
The principal outcrop areas of the Comondu volcanics in the Boleo district are in the former islands of
Cerro de Juanita and Cerro del Sombrero Montado
(fig. 11), as well as a large irregular-shaped area of about
STRATIGRAPHY
FIGURE 10. Rugged hill of Comondu volcanics on the northwest side of Canada de la Gloria. The hill was once an island that stood above the level of Pliocene sedimentation. In the foreground are cliffs of gypsum of the Boleo formation, which wedges out against the hill of Comondu volcanics.
FJGUKE 11. CYi-i-o del Sombrero Montado, rising above the general mesa level m the middle, was an island during the Pliocene. Thick Pliocene sediments
in the foreground wedge out against the hill. Tne view is southwest across a branch of Arroyo del Montado.
17
18

TABLE .1. Drill holes, shafts, and mine workings cutting the Comondu volcanics in the Boleo district
Coordinates, in meters
from San Francisco shaft
Locality
Northsouth
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
East-west
Depth of
Comondu
volcanics
below
surface
(meters)
Distance of
top of
Comondu
volcanics
above or
below sea
level
(meters)
DRILL HOLES
2.......................... .... .....................

3. .................. ..
19........................ ... .. .
... ....
25......................... .... .... ................
27..
. _ .___ ___.___._
28.....................................................
36....... ............ ....... ..... ..... ... . ..........
3552
4308
1637
730
1281
5425
5680
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
4318
3586
4275
4975
4322
4416
4717
E.
E.
E.
E.
E.
E.
E.
279
175
183
17
99
279
204
-236
-112
-147
-10
-73
-139
-82
No. 38......... ...........................................

No. 42.. ... ... _ _ . .
No. 44. ........... ............. .
.
.... ....
5540
5038
5135
910
S.
S.
S.
N.
4850
4297
4162
920
E.
E.
E.
E.
335
201
169
165
-221
-144
-109
-114
863
195
395
276
1324
3821
N.
S.
N.
N.
S.
S.
2894
1760
197
994
2343
3275
W.
W.
W.
W.
E.
E.
156
98 (?)
135
85
160
105 (?)
49
78 (?)
-55
2
6
38(?)
780
2320
2220
10
50
1705
2195
2970
3030
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
390
830
905
1850
1900
1640
2525
3075
3150
E.
E.
E.
E.
E.
E.
E.
E.
E.
No. 49.. ............................. __ . .... ...........

SirAFTS
Amelia........ ..... ...

La Ley....-..-.. _ ... _ .....
. . ...
.. . ...
....
San Eduardo.. ....... __ ...

San Luciano... ..... ... ...
Unit of Boleo formation that directly overlies the

Comondu volcanics
Gypsum (below ore bed no. 2).

Tuff 22 m below ore bed no. 2.
Conglomerate of uncertain correlation.
Gypsum.
Tuff 21 in below ore bed no. 1.
Gloria formation (Boleo formation absent became of lack of
deposition over a buried hill).
Ore bed no. 1.
Ore bed no. 1 (?).
Ore bed no. 2.
Ore bed no. 4 (141 m below ore bed no. 3).
Ore bed 110. 4 (103 m below ore bed no. 3).
Tuff of uncertain correlation.
Conglomerate or breccia below ore bed no. 1.
WORKINGS
Providencia mine, south end _ . . .

..... ... .
Do......-...-.....-. . ..... ... . ... ...........
Do.......--.-...----......-..
Providoncia mine, Travers-Bancs Montado
.............
. . -... ....
Do. ...................... ............................
4 square kilometers in the headwaters of Arroyo del

Boleo. The latter area, in which much of the prePliocene topography is well preserved, is an appendage
of Cerro del Infierno to the west. Some smaller isolated
outcrops, many of them representing exhumed hills,
are found in Arroyos Soledad, Purgatorio, Providencia,
and'Santa Agueda (see pi. 1).
SUBSURFACE CONFIGURATION
The mining operations of the Boleo company have

reached the upper contact of the Comondu volcanics in
enough places to provide valuable information about
the relief of its surface. This is of considerable economic importance because all the important commercial ore bodies in the Boleo district occur above the
Comondu. The upper contact of the Comondu volcanics ranges in depth below the surface from a few
meters to more than 330 meters (more than 305 meters
below sea level) in part of Arroyo de Santa Agueda.
Table 1 gives the depth of the Comondu volcanics
below the land surface and its relation to mean sea
level where the formation was cut by 26 drill holes,
shafts, and mine workings. The localities are plotted
on the structure contour map (pi. 4) and on the general
mine map (pi. 94).
The Comondu volcanics lie at depths even greater
than those indicated in this table at the localities of
five additional drill holes made in Arroyo de Santa
Agueda. These holes were terminated upon reaching
gypsum overlying the Comondu. Drill holes 4, 5, 6,
93
136
166
49
48
198
166'
153
ISO
146
41
37
3
4
29
34
39
39
22, and 33 reached depths of 242, 262, 281, 266, and

305 meters below sea level, respectively, and the top of
the Comondu volcanics lies at unknown depths (probably at least 20 meters or so) below these depths.
THICKNESS
All available evidence indicates the thickness of the
Comondu volcanics in the Boleo district is at least 500
meters. The maximum thickness is unknown, however,
because the original lowest and highest parts of the formation are nowhere seen. The base of the formation
is exposed only in Arroyo de las Palmas around the
outcrops of quartz monzonite where the latter apparently was once topographically high. Consequently,
the lower units of the Comondu volcanics are probably
missing around the outcrops. Some of the upper units
of the formation are missing because they were eroded
away before the Boleo formation was deposited. In
the Sierra de Santa Lucia the Comondu volcanics may
be more than 1,000 meters thick; and, according to
Heim (1922, p. 543), in the Sierra de la Giganta, between Comoiidu and Loreto, the Comondu is more
than 1,300 meters thick, but westward it thins rapidly
to as little as 65 meters near La Purisima.
LITHOLOGY AND PETROGRAPHY
The Comondu volcanics consist chiefly of lava flows,

which in many places have a vesicular structure. Also
present are intrusive sills, which in places show slight
crosscutting relations to the bedding planes of the en-
STRATIGRAPHY
closing rocks, but dikes are comparatively rare. Many

thick layers of volcanic breccia and agglomerate and a
few layers of well-indurated tuff are present. Intercalated with the volcanic rocks are thin beds of terrestrial sediments, consisting chiefly of conglomerate and
less commonly of sandstone, including a reddish quartzitic sandstone in Arroyo de las Palmas. One conspicuous conglomerate layer, 10 to 15 meters thick, was
mapped in Arroyo del Purgatorio. Elsewhere, however, the entire formation was mapped as a unit, and
no attempt was made to differentiate the individual
lithologic types. The best exposed section of the formation is in Arroyo del Infierno, where individual beds,
though repeatedly faulted, may be traced for considerable distances.
The volcanic rocks show a great variety of colors
purple, green, red, orange, and brown, the dominant
one perhaps being a reddish-brown. The formation
produces rocky slopes, having little or no soil cover,
although they are sometimes mantled by a residual
rubble. The tops of some of the hills are rounded,
but very steep irregular slopes and cliffs arc formed on
the sides of the arroyos. The general appearance of
typical exposures of Comondu volcanics is shown in
figure 12.
Andesite and basalt are the dominant petrographic
types, although in some places rhyolitic tuffs and rocks
19
of intermediate composition have been identified. In

some of the older reports on the Boleo district, and in
the mine records of the Boleo company, the rocks of
the Comondu volcanics are referred to generally as
"trachyte," regardless of their composition or appearance, a tradition that apparently stems from an early
classification by Bouglise and Cumenge (1885). The
variety trachyte, however, is extremely rare if present
at all.
Several thin sections of Comondu volcanics from
different parts of the Boleo district were studied by
Robert L. Smith of the Geological Survey. He states
that many of these rocks are on the borderline between
basalt and andesite, and that without chemical analyses,
precise identification is difficult. Most of these rocks
formerly contained divine, and they are basaltic in
texture and general appearance. An andesitic trend is
indicated, however, by the composition of the major
feldspar (about An50 or below), as well as by the residue
of alkalic feldspar and biotite in some of the rocks.
An divine-bearing pyroxene basalt from Cerro del
Sombrero Montado contains phenocrysts of sodic labradorite and a few scattered grains of iddingsite after
olivine. The groundmass minerals are principally
clinopyroxene, plagioclase (about An 60 ), and magnetite.
The plagioclase occurs in lathlike crystals which exhibit a well-oriented flow structure. The groundmass
FIGURE 1?. Comondu volcanics in a branch of Arroyo del Boleo, showing alternating layers of flows and breccias. This exposure is typical of the Comondu.
20
contains some iddingsite and scattered aggregate pyroxene replacing a mineral which was probably olivine or
iddingsite. A few grains of faintly pleochroic hypersthene, accessory apatite, and abundant cristobalite are
found in streaks throughout the rock.
An olivine (iddingsite)-augite basalt from Arroyo del
Purgatorio contains phenocrysts of augite and olivine,
which is now completely altered to a mixture of iddingsite, iron oxides, and a claylike mineral. The groundmass consists chiefly of plagioclase (about An50 ), iddingsite, augite, magnetite, and apatite. A clay mineral,
probably montmorillonite, is interstitial to the
plagioclase laths in the groundmass; it has been derived
either from a residual glass or from alkalic feldspar.
Biotite and alkalic feldspar are found in notable amounts
in the interstices, where they were formed in the end
stages of recrystallization. A similar rock from Arroyo
del Boleo, showing a good flow structure, contains the
same minerals just noted, except that the plagioclase
in the groundmass is strongly zoned (An55_35), and has
been altered to a clay material along cleavages and
cracks.
A vesicular pigeonite basalt from Arroyo del Purgatorio is described as an even-grained vesicular rock
consisting of plagioclase (An5o- 55) and pigeonite as
primary minerals. Interstitial to the feldspar and
pyroxene are abundant secondary iron oxides, derived
from primary magnetite, pyroxene, and possibly
from olivine. An interstitial clay material, probably
saponite, is associated with the iron oxides. The
vesicles contain saponite, unidentified zeolites, calcite,
and opal.
An andesitic basalt from Cerro de Juanita is a finegrained, even-textured rock containing plagioclase,
clinopyroxene, and magnetite as the principal constituents. The plagioclase is about An50 in composition,
although a few scattered crystals of slightly larger size
are a little more calcic. The rock contains a few
phenocrysts of iddingsite after olivine, a few grains of
interstitial biotite, and traces of cristobalite.
An olivine (iddingsite)-bearing basaltic andesite from
Canada de la Gloria contains phenocrysts of olivine,
completely altered to a mixture of iron oxides, iddingsite, and a clajdike mineral. The principal minerals in
the groundmass are laths of plagioclase (Ani5- 50 ),
augite, and magnetite. Alkalic feldspar and biotite are
present in notable quantity interstitial to the plagioclase laths. Many tiny brown needles, which may be
basaltic hornblende, are found generally in close proximity to the altered olivine. Apatite is an accessory
mineral.
An olivine-bearing augite andesite showing an excellent flow structure, from a branch of Arroyo del Boleo,
contains crystalline areas which have more the appear-
ance of included basic clots than true phenocrysts.

They consist of altered olivine, clinopyroxene, and
calcic plagioclase, sometimes occurring as separate
crystals and sometimes as clotlike aggregations. The
olivine has been completely altered to iddingsite or an
iron oxide. The groundmass is composed chiefly of
feldspar (An30-45), augite, and an abundant material
that appears to be leached or altered biotite; some of it
may be hydromica. The groundmass also contains a
few grains of fresh biotite, fairly abundant magnetite,
and a small amount of apatite. An abundant interstitial clay material has probably formed from alkalic
feldspar.
A welded rhyolitic tuff from a northern branch of
Arroyo de Santa Agueda is described as a very compactly welded and completely devitrified tuff. Large
areas of the original shard structure have been obliterated by coarse devitrification. The identifiable minerals are tridymite in the more porous areas and a few
crystals and fragments of sodic plagioclase and brown
hornblende. A few fragments of an andesitic rock
are also present.
Another welded rhyolitic tuff from Arroyo del Purgatorio is only slightly welded and shows minimum
compaction. It consists largely of fragments of
pumice and shards of glass, as well as fragments and
crystals of sodic plagioclase, brown hornblende, biotite,
magnetite, and andesitic and basaltic rock fragments.
Patchy areas of a secondary mineral, probably alunite,
which is regarded as of hydrothermal origin, occur
interstitial to and replace glass. Most of the glass
shards are slightly altered along their edges to a clay
mineral.
Thin sections of some additional volcanic rocks have
been studied by Eduardo Schmitter. An olivine
basalt from the buried hill near the mouth of Amô
del Purgatorio is described as having a partly ophitic,
intergranular texture and as consisting essentially of
labradorite, andesine, augite, and olivine. The accessory minerals are magnetite and apatite, and the secondary minerals are iddingsite and limonite or hematite.
A basaltic tuff from the same exposure has a breccialike
structure, and consists of andesine and labradorite,
with secondary calcite, clay minerals, zeolites, quartz,
and hematite. A more acidic tuff from the same area
has a cellular, breccialike structure and is composed of
glass, quartz (?), and sanidine, with secondary hematite. A vesicular basalt from the buried hill farther
inland in Arroyo del Purgatorio consists of labradorite,
andesine, and augite, together with secondary hematite,
opal, and zeolites (?).
Hirschi and de Quervain (1933, p. 244-257) gave
detailed petrographic descriptions of about 25 specimens of volcanic rocks, probably all from the Comondu
21
STRATIGRAPHY
volcanics, collected in the vicinity of Mulege, Point

Concepci6n, the Sierra de Zacatecas near La Purfsima,
and the Sierra de la Giganta near Comondu. The rock
types they described include augite andesite, hornblende andesite, hornblende-pyroxene andesite, hypersthene andesite, basalt, olivine basalt, andesite tuffbreccia, and dacite tuff.
COPPER CONTENT OF THE VOLCANIC ROCKS
The copper content of the fresh volcanic rocks is a

matter of interest, since it was reported by Touwaide
(1930, p. 124, 140) that the andesite averages 0.2
percent of copper, although such a content was doubted
by Locke (1935, p. 41.2). In order to clarify this point
seven samples of the fresh volcanic rocks were collected
by the author and sent to the University of Minnesota
for analysis by E. K. Oslund and S. S. Goldich, using
the "trace methods" described by Sandell and Goldich
(1.943). These rocks were collected from widely
separated parts of the district: from Cerro de Juanita
and Cerro del Sombrero Montado, and from Arroyos
Santa Agueda, Purgatorio, Boleo, and Gloria. The
results obtained by Oslund and Goldich, given in table
2, show an average of only 0.004 percent of copper,
ranging from 0.002 to 0.007 percent.
TABLE 2. Copper content of Comond-ti volcanics from the Boleo
district.
[Analyzed by E. K. Oslund and S. S. Goldich, University or Minnesota, 1950]
Percent
of
copper
Type of rod;
Locality
0.005 Andcsltic basalt__.......... Cerro de Juanita
.004 Olivlnc-bearlng pyroxene ba- Cerro del Sombrero Moutado
salt
B-49-4...
.002 Wclded-rhyoliUctuff......... Northern branch of Arroyo de
Santa Agueda, near limestone quarry
B-49-7_
, 007 Ollvinc- (iddingsitc) augite Arroyo del Purgatorio, west of
basalt
Humboldt mine
B-49-10..
.002 Olivine- (iddingsite) bearing Canada de la Gloria
basaltic andesite
B-49-11..
.000 Oilvinc-augite basalt._.._ Arroyo del Boleo, near Ncptuno mine
B-49-12..
.005 Olivlnc-bcaring augite andc- Branch of Arroyo del Boleo,
site
near Santa Teresa mine
No.
B-49-2_
B-49-3_
LATERAL VARIATION AND ORIGIN
The Comondu formation shows distinct changes in

lithology going westward from the Gulf of California,
as noted by several investigators beginning with Gabb
(1.868, p. 634). Along the gulf the formation is dominant!y volcanic, while toward the Pacific it is mainly
sedimentary in origin and is also much thinner. The
few intercalated sediments near the gulf are chiefly
conglomeratic, as in the Boleo district, but westward
they become finer grained and give way mainly to sandstone. These facies changes indicate that the formation was derived from the east, somewhere in the
present site of the gulf, or perhaps near the western
margin of the gulf as thought by Anderson (1950, p.
47-48). During the time of formation of the Comondu

volcanics, therefore, the Gulf of California either did
not exist or at least had nothing like its present extent.
The Comondu formation is of terrestrial origin
throughout, so far as known. Periods of nonmarine
sedimentation, perhaps on flood plains, alternated
with periods of volcanic activity which produced flows,
sills, and thick deposits of agglomerate, breccia, and
tuff.
AGE
No fossils have ever been found in the Comondu formation, so far as the writers are aware, but the age of
the formation may be fixed within fairly narrow limits
by its relation to the underlying Isidro formation and
to the overlying Boleo formation. Evidence of the age
of the Isidro formation will first be reviewed because of
its bearing upon the age of the Comondu.
The Isidro formation underlies the Comondu formation in places with marked angular unconformity (Beal,
1948, p. 69-73). Many fossil collections have been
reported from the Isidro formation by Hertlein and
Jordan (1927) and Beal (1948, p. 64-67). Hertlein
and Jordan (1927, p. 618) state, concerning the age of
the faunas: "Possibly they are in part equivalent to the
upper Vaqueros, but the assemblage as a whole indicates a lower Temblor, lower Miocene age." The
Temblor is now generally considered to be middle
Miocene, rather than lower Miocene. Loel and Corey
(1932, p. 160), who made a general study of early
Miocene faunas, state: "Viewed as a whole, the assemblage as listed indicates later Vaqueros, lower
Miocene age." Beal (1948, p. 67) concluded that the
Isidro formation is late lower Miocene or middle
Miocene, or both, and Durham (1944, p. 575) states:
"[The] best-known fauna correlates with the VaquerosTemblor transition fauna of California, but the formation may also contain correlatives of both the Vaqueros
and the Temblor."
The author obtained a small collection of fossils,
principally of Turritellas, from the Isidro formation
in Arroyo de San Ignacio, about 5 kilometers southwest of the town of San Ignacio. This locality was
pointed out by Federico Mina, geologist of Petroleos
Mexicanos. H. E. Vokes determined the following
species from this locality (U. S. National Museum
locality 15616):
Thais wittichi Hertlein and
Jordan
Macron hartmanni Hertlein
and Jordan
Turritella ocoyana Conrad
Turritella ocoyana var. bosei

Hertlein and Jordan
Balanus sp. aft", californicus
Pilsbry
Barnacles, 2 sp. indet.
Concerning this fauna, Vokes states: "Turritella

ocoyana is considered the principal guide fossil for the
recognition of the Temblor formation, middle Miocene,
22
of California. A correlation with this formation is

indicated by the fauna."
The Comondu formation is thus limited at its base
by strata that appear at least in part to be of middle
Miocene age. The Comondu is overlain with profound unconformity by the Boleo formation. As will
be discussed later, the fossils from the Boleo formation
are assigned by Yokes and by Durham to the lower
Pliocene. The Comondu is therefore limited to the
interval between middle Miocene and lower Pliocene;
it probably represents mainly the upper Miocene, but
may also include part of the middle Miocene.
The geologic map accompanying the Marland Oil
Co. report (1924) listed the Comondu formation as of
Pliocene age, but Beal (1948, p. 53-54), principal
author of the Marland report, later corrected this and
assigned it to the upper Miocene (?), in part on the
basis of evidence found by Anderson (1941) in the Gulf
of California and by Wilson in the Santa Rosalia area.
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE
Rocks from the Comondu volcanics have been used

to some extent for building stone in the Boleo district.
Specifically, the foundation for the breakwater enclosing the artificial harbor at Santa Rosalia is made of
large blocks of volcanic rocks quarried from the exposures on Cerro del Sombrero Montado.
With regard to the ore deposits, the Comondu volcanics form the basement rocks underlying the orebearing beds of the Boleo district. The limits of
possible ore reserves are thus outlined by outcrops of
the Comondu, as well as by its subsurface areas of
high relief that rise above the level of the ore beds.
A few veinlets and veins containing copper and
manganese minerals are scattered through the Comondu volcanics. Although these are regarded to have
considerable genetic significance, they are of slight
commercial value. Comondu volcanics are the host
rock for the manganese oxide veinlets of the Gavilan
deposit on Point Conception, 70 kilometers southeast
of Santa Rosalia, and for a few other manganese deposits scattered along the east coast of Baja California
(AVilson and Veytia, 1948, p. 233-238).
BOLEO FORMATION (EARLY PLIOCENE)
GENERAL FEATURES
The Boleo formation of early.Pliocene age consists

largely of interbedded tuff and tuffaceous conglomerate
of latitic to andesitic composition, together with a local
nonmarine basal conglomerate, a fairly persistent basal
marine limestone, scattered gypsum lenses, and a few
fossiliferous sandstone layers. The formation rests
unconformably on the irregular surface of the Comondu
volcanics and is overlain with slight unconformit}* by
the middle Pliocene Gloria formation. The Boleo

formation was named by Wilson (1948, p. 1768) for
exposures in the Boleo copper district. The type
locality, which was not specified in the paper cited, is
hereby designated as the section in Arroyo del Purgatorio near the old San Eduardo shaft, where conglomerates no. 1, 2, and 3 of the formation are all exposed,
and where the base of the formation may be seen
resting on the Comondu volcanics.
DISTRIBUTION AND STRATIGRAPHIC RELATIONS
The Boleo formation is distributed widely over the

Boleo district, extending inland from the coast for a distance of 6 to 10 kilometers, where it terminates against
the rising mass of Comondu volcanics that constitutes
the Sierra de Santa Lucia. It once covered the entire
area shown on the geologic map of the Boleo district,
except for the tops of the former islands of Cerro del
Sombrero Montado and Cerro de Juanita and the foothills of Cerro del Infierno. The formation extends
along the coast for an unknown distance beyond the
limits of the Boleo district, continuing northwestward
probably at least as far as Cerro de Santa Maria and
southeastward as far as the San Bruno plain.
The present exposures of the Boleo formation are confined mainly to the sides of the arroyos. In the mesa
areas between the arroyos the formation is generally
concealed by the younger Pliocene and Pleistocene
beds. This post-Boleo cover is thickest to the southeast, in Arroyos Montado and Santa Agueda, where
the Boleo formation is entirely concealed except in the
uplifted belt northeast of the Santa Agueda fault zone.
The Boleo formation rests unconformably on the
Comondu volcanics throughout the Boleo district.
This is the most conspicuous unconformity in the
stratigraphic section, aside from that on top of the
plutonic basement rocks, and is marked by a complete
structural discordance between the two formations.
Either formation may dip more steeply than the other,
in the same or in opposite directions. In places, for
example, the Comondu volcanics dip as steeply as 45
and are overlain by nearly horizontal beds of the Boleo
formation, while in other places the Comondu volcanics are nearly horizontal and are overlain by beds
of the Boleo formation dipping as steeply as 30, as a
result of initial dip (see fig. 25).
THICKNESS
The thickness of the Boleo formation ranges in general
from 50 to 250 meters within the area mapped. Variations in thickness result mainly from nondeposition of
basal units, occasioned by irregularities in the underlying topographic surface, and from early Pliocene
erosion of the top, marked by the unconformity at the
23
STRATIGRAPHY
base of the Gloria formation. Around the former

islands and the edges of the mainland that existed
during the Pliocene, the formation thins and wedges
out. It also thins southeastward, toward Arroyos
Montado and Santa Agueda, where the average thickness is only 125 meters and is locally much less because
of nondeposition of the lower members. In the northwest part of the district the average thickness is nearer
225 meters, and the average thickness of several sections representing the district as a whole is 140 meters.
BASAL NONMARINE CONGLOMERATE
Lenses of nonmarine conglomerate appear at the base

of the Boleo formation in a few widely scattered localities, mainly on steep slopes around former islands or
buried hills of the underlying Comondii volcanics.
The nature of the material, as well as the place of deposition, suggests that these deposits represent small alluvial
fans or talus slopes, composed of debris derived locally
from the, surf ace on the Comondii. The conglomerates
of this type are very poorly sorted and contain coarse
subangular or angular fragments of volcanic rocks a
meter or more in diameter, indicating little transportation. The individual lenses are rarely more than 5 or
10 meters in thickness and are seldom exposed for
lengths of more than 100 meters.
The principal localities in which lenses of nonmarine

conglomerate were noted are in the drainage basin of
Arroyo del Boleo, near some of the buried hills and
other irregular exposures of Comondu volcanics. Lenses
were also found in Arroyo del Purgatorio, south of the
California mine, and on both sides of Arroyo de Santa
Agueda, northeast of the Santa Agueda fault zone.
In a few places where conglomerate or breccia forms
the uppermost unit of the Comondu volcanics, the
older rock may be difficult to distinguish from the basal
conglomerate of the Boleo formation. This leads to
uncertainty in interpreting the exact position of the
Comondu-Boleo contact in some shafts and drill holes,
as, for example, in the San Luciano and La Ley shafts.
BASAL MARINE LIMESTONE
A genetically significant layer in the Boleo formation

is a thin impure marine limestone found at or near the
base of the formation. In the few localities where the
basal nonmarine conglomerate is present, the limestone
overlies the conglomerate, but elsewhere it rests directly
on the eroded surface of the Comondu volcanics, commonly with steep initial dips (figs. 13 and 25).
The limestone is resistant to erosion and tends to be
preserved on dip slopes. This accounts for some of the
extensive exposures shown on the geologic map, cover-
FIGURE 13. Basal marine limestone of the Boleo formation in a branch of Arroyo del Boleo. The limestone is the dark layer dipping to the left off the
Comondu voleanics and overlain by tuff and conglomerate of the Boleo formation.
24
ing areas as much as 200 meters in diameter, even

though the layer is generally only 1 to 5 meters thick.
Because the limestone has a greater structural relief
than the overlying beds, it transgresses stratigraphic
horizons and is overlain by different units of the Boleo
formation. In places it is overlain by gypsum and in
others by fossiliferous sandstone, but in general it is
overlain by the various tuff and conglomerate units of
the Boleo formation by the lowest units in structural
valleys, and by successively higher units over structural
highs. A few patches of limestone were found to overlie
the main gypsum mass exposed in Arroyo del Boleo,
but in general the limestone underlies the gypsum.
The present exposures of the basal limestone are
chiefly around buried hills of Comondu volcanics that
have been exposed to erosion. Nearly all of these hills
are capped by this limestone, although in places the
exposures consist of tiny patches and remnants too
small to si low on the geologic map. The largest exposures of limestone are in Arroyo del Boleo and its various
branches. The inland limits of the limestone are
regarded as indicating roughly the, maximum extent of
the early Pliocene seas, for no fossiliferous marine beds
have been found in the Boleo formation farther inland.
The exact subsurface limits of distribution of the

limestone are unknown. In most of the drill holes and
shafts that reached the Comondu volcanics, the limestone was not reported as such in the driller's records,
but as the layer is very thin and the lithologic appearance is not that of a typical limestone, it could easily
have been overlooked.
. . . ' .
The limestone is very impure, is generally manganiferous and ferruginous, and is commonly tuffaceous,
grading in places into what might be called calcareous
tuff. In places it may be magnesian or dolomitic, and
it has sometimes been referred to as a dolomite, but
analyses by the Boleo company indicate that magnesia
is generally present only in minor quantities. A sample
analyzed for the writers by the Institute de Geologia
contained only 1.65 percent of magnesia. Thin chert
layers are in places intercalated in the limestone. The
rock contains considerable detrital material, particularly where it was deposited on steep slopes, and in some
localities it becomes conglomeratic. The general color
is dark brown, which gives a distinctive appearance to
the outcrops.
FIGUKE 14. Banded gypsum of the Boleo formation on the south side of Arroyo del Bolco. The gypsum has been quarried here for use in the Boleo smelter.
25
STRATIGRAPHY
An analysis of a composite sample of the limestone,

collected from a branch of Arroyo de Santa Agueda
where it has been quarried for use in the Boleo smelter
(pi. 1, coordinates 1700 S., 5250 E.), is given in table 3.
The limestone is in many places highly fossiliferous,
although the fossils are for the most part very poorly
preserved, consisting of unidentifiable casts and molds
of pelecypods and gastropods. The fossils indicate
clearly that the limestone is of marine origin. It is
regarded as the basal deposit of the encroaching early
Pliocene seas, and it is the oldest bed known in this
area that was deposited by the waters of the Gulf of
California.
TABLE 3. Analysis of a composite sample of limestone, in percent,

from the Boleo formation, Arroyo de Santa Agueda, Boleo
copper district
[Analyzed by Rodolfo del Corral; Institute de Geologia, Mexico, analysis no. 8933]
SiO2 ----------_---.
__________
A12O3
__________
__________
__________
______ ___
______ ___
7.95
2.56
1.95
1.94
1. 65
47.01
. 11
K2O__________.
CO2 .---__---.-.
SO3-_---------H 2 OatllOC_.
Loss on ignition
. 10
34.40
none
1.28
1. 08
100. 03
GYPSUM
Thick gypsum layers are found in certain areas near

the base of the Boleo formation (figs. 14-16). In
FIGURE 15. Large twinned crystal of gypsum developed in a secondary vein of gypsum, Boleo formation, north
side of Arroyo del Boleo. Geologic pick at lower left indicates size of crystal.
FIGURE 10. Steep narrow canyon ;i:ii M* , .. : Hill.--developed in gypsum of the Boleo formation in Canada
de la Gloria near its junction with Arroyo del Bolco.
---.;
general the gypsum overlies the basal marine limestone,

although in places it rests directly on the Comondu
volcanics. Elsewhere it is intercalated in tuff near
the base of the formation, and in a few localities it
overlies conglomerate.
The g3Tpsum was deposited mainly in two widely
separated areas: in the environs of Arroyo del Boleo,
extending northwestward through part of the Lucifer
district to Arroyo del Infierno and Arroyo de las
Palmas, and in the vicinity of Arroyos Montado and
Santa Agueda to the southeast. The two areas are
separated by a gap of 5K kilometers in a northwesterly
direction, in which gypsum was apparently not de-
posited. Both gypsum areas lie near the coast and are
mainly northeast of the areas containing minable
copper deposits. The thickness of the gypsum in the
northwest area ranges from 20 to 80 meters or more,
and in the southeast area it reaches 40 meters in the
outcrops and ranges from 14 to 70 meters in the subsurface.
A map showing the distribution of outcrops of gypsum
and of areas believed to be underlain by gypsum is
given in plate 11, which covers both the Boleo and
Lucifer districts. All the drill holes, shafts, and mine
workings that are known to have reached the base of
the Boleo formation are also shown on this map, and
27
STRATIGRAPHY
TABMS 4. Drill holes in the Boleo copper district in which gypsum of the Boleo formation was penetrated
Coordincile.f, in
meters frcim San
Francisc o shaft
No. of drill hole
South
2.. ....
_
3552
4209
4. ...__...._ ______ ______.._
4197
5.. --------------- _-____.._
4596
6__. ______________ _-_-_-.__
5153
22________________ _-___-_._
1281
27___________.___- __-----_.
3254
33. ............... -__--_--.
East
4318
4171
4691
4537
4727
4322
5026
Depth of
top of
gypsum
below
surface
(meters')
257
279
295
314
390
29
331
Depth of
top of
gypsum
below sea
level
Remarks
(meters)
-214 Gypsum rests on Comondu volcanics at
-241 Hole terminated in gypsum.
Do.
-260
Do.
-280
-264
Do.
-2 Gypsum rests on Comondu volcanics at
-304 Hole terminated in gypsum.
236 meters.
73 meters.
the presence or absence of gypsum in each hole or work- is uncommon. Since the beds cut in the drill holes are
ing is indicated. The areas believed to be underlain by mostly 200 meters or more below the surface, well below
gypsum are based partly on this subsurface information the reach of surface weathering, the possibility arises
and. partly on surface outcrops. A list of the drill that anhydrite may have been the original substance
holes in which gypsum was penetrated is given in deposited and that the gypsum in the outcrops may be
table 4.
a result of surface hydration. This possibility has
The gypsum was 22 meters thick in hole 2 and 70 not, however, been proved. In a thin section of a
meters thick in hole 27, but the full thickness was not sample of gypsum from Arroyo del Boleo, Eduardo
revealed in the other holes. Besides the drill holes, Schmitter noted the following order of deposition of
one of the mine workings in the Rancheria mine east the constituents: 1. gypsum, making up the main mass
of the San Marcelo shaft (pi. 11, coordinates 500 S., of the rock; 2. very little anhydrite, distributed sporad2800 E.) reached gypsum below ore bed 2 at a depth ically along some of the cleavage planes; 3. iron oxides
of 67 meters below sea level. The gypsum there has a (hematite and limonite), distributed along cleavage
thickness of 14 meters and overlies conglomerate.
planes and cracks; and 4. secondary gypsum occupying
The gypsum beds wedge out rapidly in many places fractures.
around the margins, as indicated not only by subA composite sample of gypsum was collected by the
surface information but also by outcrops. Some of the writers from exposures along the south side of Arroyo
gypsum beds finger out into tuff, and in places thin del Boleo, extending" a length of about 100 meters.
bands of tuff are also intercalated in the gypsum. Analysis of this sample, which is believed to be more or
The gypsum is wrinkled into several local domelike less representative of the bulk of the gypsum, is prefolds with irregular axes and steep dips. Although this sented in table 5.
is probably due in part to initial deposition over an
TABLE 5. Analysis of a composite sample of gypsum, in weight
irregular topography, the initial dips may have been
percent, from the Boleo formation, Arroyo del Boleo, Boleo
accentuated by folding resulting from expansion of the
district
rock, pe.rh.aps in turn, due to hydration. of original an- [Analyzed by Rodolfo del Corral; Instituto de Oeologla, Mexico, analysis no. 8932]
hydrite, as suggested by Anderson (1950, p. 32) for the Si02 ----~------.25
1. 14 K2 0
gypsum on San Marcos Island.
. 56
.27
AlaOs--- ------44. 46
. 78 S03 --------The gypsum is in part massive and in part distinctly Fe2O8 -~ ------.
. 11 H20 at 110 C._
17. 05
banded (see fig. 14). The bedded rock is cut by veins MnO.----.--_--_.
tr. Loss on ignition.
2. 23
MgO.--.____.
1 to 3 meters wide,of coarsely crystalline gypsum of CaO
32. 70
_--_--.
secondary origin. One vein in. Arroyo del Boleo con- Na20.----------_.
Total..-.--__ 100.20
. 65
tains enormous twinned crystals as much as 2 meters
Solution weathering is well shown in the gypsum (fig.
across (see fig. 15). These crystals would doubtless
serve as fine museum specimens if they could be dis- 16). Arroyos crossing the gypsum areas are generally
lodged, from the surrounding rock. The gypsum is deep, constricted, and steep-sided, and some of the
highly varicolored, presenting different shades of red, smaller canyons have narrow, tortuous paths and vertibrown, orange, purple, and green, as well as white cal or overhanging walls barely far enough apart to
permit the passage of a man, although they may be
and gray.
The rock reported as gypsum in the drill holes near 10 to 15 meters high. Large blocks which have tumbled
Arroyo de Santa Agueda was actually a pure, white from the cliffs on either side have become wedged into
crystalline anhydrite, according to Sr. P. Mahieux of these gorges to form small caves below. Pot holes have
the Boleo company, although in the outcrops anhydrite been formed in the bottom of the gypsum canyons,
823050 55 3
28
and in some protected, permanently shady localities

are pools of water which remain for long periods after
the infrequent storms.
The gypsum generally has no soil cover and is nearly
barren of vegetation. One of the few varieties of plants
that seem to thrive in gypsum is the ocotillo, and the
concentration of the long thorny stems of that plant,
together with the typical gray barren appearance of the
'ground, aid in recognizing gypsum outcrops from a
distance.
Two possibilities have been suggested for the origin
of the gypsum: It may have been formed by precipitation from hydro thermal submarine springs, as suggested
by Touwaide (1930, p. 119), or it may have been formed
by evaporation in bodies of water partly enclosed and
cut off from the sea.
FOSSILIFEROUS SANDSTONE
A few thin lenses of fossiliferous sandstone are found

locally near the base of the Boleo formation. Half a
dozen separate lenses were noted along the north side
of Arroyo del Boleo, between the Boleo shaft and the
Neptuno mine, and in the area between Arroyo del
Boleo and Canada de la Gloria. The sandstone lenses,
as seen in exposures, are 2 to 5 meters thick and 50 to
200 meters long. In part the sandstone rests directly
on the basal limestone, and in part it is intercalated in
tuff a short distance above the limestone.
The fossiliferous sandstone is calcareous, fine- to

medium-grained, well cemented, and dark brown. It
contains abundant fossils, chiefly Pectens and oysters,
which are, however, rather poorly preserved. The fossiliferous sandstone serves as corroborative evidence,
along with the basal marine limestone, that at least
part of the Boleo formation is of marine origin.
TUFF AND TUFFACEOUS CONGLOMERATE
The bulk of the Boleo formation is composed of alternating layers of tuff and tuffaceous conglomerate (fig.
17). The beds of greatest economic importance are
certain distinctive layers of clayey tuff, which contain
all the minable ore bodies in the district. At an early
stage in the history of mining operations, four distinct
ore beds were recognized and were numbered 1 to 4
from top to bottom. At a later time an ore bed higher
than no. 1 was found and called no. 0. Each of these
five beds is underlain by a conglomerate, or by a tuffaceous sandstone representing the gulfward continuation
of the conglomerate.
Although a better numbering sj^stem might be devised, these numbers have become so firmly established
in the records and literature on the Boleo district that
any attempt to change them now would only cause confusion. They have been adopted by the writers, who
have applied the same number to the conglomerate
underlying each ore bed, that is, conglomerate no. 1
FIGURE 17. Interbedded tuff and conglomerate of the Boleo formation on the northwest side of Arroyo del Purgatorio near Purgatorio shaft.
Cliff-forming layer at bottom is conglomerate no. 2, overlain by light-colored tuff; higher cliff-forming layer is conglomerate no. 1. Conglomerate contacts are sharp at top, but gradational at base.
STRATIGRAPHY
is the conglomerate immediately underlying ore bed

no. 1, and so forth. In certain areas other unnumbered
ore beds and other conglomerates are intercalated in
the section. The principal conglomerate and tuff layers
have been differentiated on the geologic map (pi. 1)
and structure sections (pi. 3).
The tuff beds grade upward in general from clayey
tuff into sandy tuff and tuffaceous sandstone, followed
by conglomerate. Pebbly sandstone layers are commonly interfingered with the base of the conglomerate.
The upper contact of each conglomerate is generally
abrupt, however, and is overlain by a very persistent
and widespread layer of clayey tuff. In this clayey tuff
a relict breccialike structure is often preserved, formed
by original angular volcanic fragments, but the fragments, as well as matrix, have been completely altered
to a mass of montmorillouite. These clayey tuff layers
probably resulted from explosive volcanic eruptions
that blew out large quantities of volcanic glass the
principal material from which montmorillonite is
derived (Ross and Hendricks, 1945, p. 64). The sandy
tuffs and tuffaceous sandstones, however, seem to have
been formed more largely of reworked material.
The tuffs are well stratified and are latitic to andesitic
in composition. They contain varying proportions of
detrital grains and angular lithic, vitric, and crystal
fragments in a matrix of montmorillonite. The commonest crystals and crystal fragments are feldspars,
chiefly andesine and andesine-labradorite, together
with, biotite, green hornblende, basaltic hornblende,
clinopyroxene, and magnetite. Fragments of glass and
glassy volcanic rocks are abundant, as are andesitic
rock fragments. Secondary calcite and gypsum are
common, and celadonite, halloysite, allophane (?),
dolomite, epidote, chlorite, and zeolites have been
identified in certain specimens. Quartz, however, is
extremely rare.
The tuff particles of sand size commonly have a
glaucous coating, similar to that of some of the Tertiary
andesitic sandstones of California. According to Robert
L. Smith., this bluish coating seems to be the cementing
agent, and appears to consist of two minerals, one
nearly isotropic and the other weakly birefringent.
The nearly isotropic mineral may be chalcedonic silica
and the other may be a clay mineral.
The tuffs commonly have a pinkish or purplish
appearance, although in places they are almost white.
A pink color of similar tuffaceous sediments partly
altered to montmorillonite in the Santa Rita area of
New Mexico was attributed by Graf and Kerr (1950,
p. 1033) to the presence of manganese, as determined
by spectrographic analyses, and this may also be true
at Boleo. One exceptionally bright pink clayey specimen from the San Pedro claim at the northwest end
29
of the Boleo district was at first taken for a pink manganese mineral, since it is surrounded by manganese
oxides. X-ray study by J. M. Axelrod, however, showed
that it is essentially montmorillonite. A chemical
analysis of the pink montmorillonite by Charles Milton
showed 0.39 percent of manganese oxide. Milton concludes that the manganese may be present as an
impurity in this particular sample or that the montmorillonite itself may contain a minor amount of
manganese.
The conglomerates are generally poorly sorted and
consist of subangular to subrounded fragments ranging
in size from pebbles to boulders. The grain size decreases rapidly northeastward toward the gulf, where
the pebbles become smaller and more scattered and
eventually give way altogether to sand-sized grains.
The pebbles consist almost entirely of rock types found
in the Comondu volcanics chiefly andesites and basalts.
A few pebbles of quartz monzonite occur in the conglomerates near the outcrops of quartz monzonite in
Arroyo de las Palmas, but elsewhere these are extremely rare.
The conglomerates have a tuffaceous matrix similar
to the tuffs. Robert L. Smith has identified in thin
section crystals of brown hornblende, hypersthene,
augite, and plagioclase, along with andesitic and
basaltic rock fragments, including some fragments of a
porphyritic hypersthene andesite.
Lapilli have a
bluish coating of the same type as that described as
coating grains of the tuff.
Crossbedding is commonly exhibited in the conglomerates, and channeling is also common both at the
base and within the beds. Diastems, slight erosional
intervals, may be observed in different parts of the
Boleo formation.
Conglomerate dikes appear in some places, evidently
as a result of filling of fissures in the tuff with material
from the overlying conglomerate layers. Some of these
conglomerate dikes are several meters across and are
large enough to show on the geologic map (pi. 1), as
in the southwest part of Arroyo del Purgatorio.
The conglomerates, which are fairly well cemented,
are more resistant to erosion than the tuffs and commonly form cliffs, resulting in a steplike topography
of alternating cliffs and benches on the sides of the
arroyos.
THE "CINTA COLORADA" A TIME MARKER
A distinctive key bed in the Boleo formation is a thin

layer of coarse-grained tuff, known locally as the "cinta
colorada" because of its reddish to purplish color. The
thickness of the layer averages about half a meter,
ranging from a few decimeters to about 2 meters. The
"cinta colorada" is a true time marker because it must
30
have been deposited everywhere simultaneously, perhaps as the result of a single violently explosive volcanic
eruption.
The "cinta colorada" is a nearly pure lithic tuff, composed largely of volcanic cinders of coarse ash to lapilli
size. According to a thin-section study by Robert L.
Smith, the volcanic fragments are chiefly of andesitic
composition, although a few are probably basaltic.
The fragments represent a wide range of textures; some
are coarsely crystallized, others are fine grained, and
many are quite glassy. A few of the glassy fragments
are vesicular. Many of the fragments are altered,
although others are quite fresh. The glass has altered
to palagonite, and the feldspars have altered to sericite
and clay minerals. The fragments are cemented by
iron oxide.
The "cinta colorada" lies between ore beds nos. 2 and
3 wherever it is found. In detail, however, it transgresses lithologic boundaries, particularly that between
conglomerate no. 2 and the underlying tuffaceous
sandstone, thus demonstrating that such lithologic
contacts are not true time boundaries. This is particularly well illustrated in Arroyo del Purgatorio, where
the "cinta colorada" lies wi'thin conglomerate no. 2
near the California shaft. Farther northeast it gradually approaches the base of this conglomerate and
forms the contact on top of tuffaceous sandstone for
some distance; still farther northeast, near the San
Alejandro shaft, the "cinta colorada" descends well
below the conglomerate-sandstone contact. This
means that part of the conglomerate in the inland area
is equivalent in time to part of the sandstone farther
gulfward.
The "cinta colorada" was early recognized as a useful
stratigraphic guide in the search for buried ore beds,
since it lies everywhere above ore bed no. 3, the most
important bed, and is exposed in many places where
that ore bed lies below the arroyo levels. The stratigraphic interval between the two beds ranges in general
from 30 to 45 meters, although the extremes are from
20 to 70 meters. The offsets on many faults are also
clearly shown by the "cinta colorada."
The "cinta colorada" appears roughly in the western
quarter of the area mapped. It dies out northeastward
along all the arroyos in which it is exposed, and it also
disappears southeastward beyond Arroyo de la Providencia. The known distribution suggests that the
cinders forming the bed were derived from a volcanic
center somewhere to the west of the western corner of
the Boleo map (pi. 1).
Although the "cinta colorada" must have been deposited as a nearly continuous bed over the area mentioned, it is now interrupted in various places because of
removal by scouring and channeling below the over-
lying beds. Such channels occur throughout the Boleo

formation, but they are particularly well exhibited
where they cut through such a distinctive key bed.
VARIATIONS IN THICKNESS AND DISTRIBUTION OF STRATIGRAPHIC UNITS
Because the ore deposits are confined to particular

beds in the Boleo formation, the details of the stratigraphic and areal distribution of these beds are of
considerable importance. The variations in thickness
and distribution of particular beds depend upon two
main factors: 1. The irregular topography of the basement rocks prevented deposition of the basal units of
the Boleo formation over areas of high relief. For this
reason the lowest beds- conglomerate no. 4 and its
overlying tuffs are the most limited in extent. 2.
Erosion, indicated by the unconformity at the base of
the Gloria formation, removed beds from the top of the
Boleo formation. This has removed conglomerates
no. 0 and no. 1 and their overlying tuffs from large
areas, and in places erosion has proceeded downward
through conglomerate no. 2.
A diagram showing the presence or absence and thickness of the stratigraphic units of the Boleo formation
in different parts of the Boleo district is given in figure
18. This figure includes also a summary of the range
in thickness of the stratigraphic units and of the stratigraphic intervals between the ore beds, based on many
sections besides those illustrated. The sections are
grouped by arroyos, which are arranged geographically
from northwest to southeast, and the sections within
each arroyo are arranged in general from southwest to
northeast, that is, from landward to gulfward.
Data on the stratigraphic intervals between successive ore beds are given in the last column of figure 18.
Although the intervals show considerable variation,
they are more constant than the thicknesses of lithologic units, for as a conglomerate thins gulfward, the
underlying tuff tends to thicken in a somewhat compensating fashion.
More detailed columnar sections of the strata cut in
particular shafts and drill holes, including not only the
Boleo formation but also the overlying and undertying
formations, are given in plates 5-8. These sections are
arranged roughly in geographic order from northwest
to southeast.
It may be seen from figure 18 and plates 5-8 that in
no single locality are all the stratigraphic units of the
Boleo formation represented. The lower part of the
section is more nearly complete in the northwest part
of the district, and the upper part is more nearly complete to the southeast. No one stratigraphic unit is
present in all the sections. The middle unit, ore bed
no. 2, is more widespread than any of the others, but
even it is missing in some sections, either from the base
or from the top.
31
STRATIGRAPHY
FACIES CHANGES AND PATTERN OF SEDIMENTATION
erates no. 2 and no. 1 are more widespread, having

their centers in the middle of the district, near Arroyo
del Purgatorio; and conglomerate no. 0 is confined to
the southeast part of the district, reaching its greatest
thickness near the San Luciano mine.
The conglomerates of the Boleo formation become

finer grained and wedge out gulfward into tuffaceous
sandstone, as recognized by Touwaide (1930, p. 121)
and Locke (1935, p. 410-411). The place of wedging
out of each conglomerate is different. Each conglomerate is typically an elongate lens, having a distinct
bulge in the middle and surrounded by a thin blanket.
The facies changes have been illustrated by a stratigraphic section and isopach map (Wilson, 1948, p.
1777-1778, figs. 6 and 7).
The locus of sedimentation changed with geologic
time, for the thickest part of each conglomerate lens
migrated gulfward in progressively younger beds.
This is demonstrated particularly well in Arroyo del
Furgatorio, where conglomerate no. 3 attains its
greatest thickness near the inland border of the geologic
map (pi. 1), conglomerate no. 2 is thickest farther gulfward, at a point slightly northeast of the California
shaft, and conglomerate no. 1 is thickest still farther
gulfward, near the Santiago shaft.
Besides these facies changes from landward to seaward, the locus of sedimentation also migrated along
the shore, from northwest to southeast. Thus the
oldest sediments, conglomerates no. 4 and no. 3, are
confined to the northwest part of the district; conglom-
ORIGIN OF THE FORMATION
The Boleo formation is believed to be partly marine

and partly nonmarine in origin. It is thought to represent deltaic deposition near a shoreline, interrupted
from time to tune by the deposition of tuffaceous material derived from explosive volcanic eruptions. Part
of the formation is definitely marine, as attested by the
presence of marine fossils in the basal limestone and in
some sandstone lenses intercalated in tuff near the base
of the formation. The bulk of the tuff and conglomerate
layers, however, appear to be nearly barren of fossils,
except for fragments of petrified wood. At least the
inland facies of the conglomerates, which are very
coarse-grained and poorly sorted, are believed to bo
nonmarine. These are believed to grade into marine
beds northeastward toward the gulf, in which direction
the sediments become progressively finer grained and
better sorted. It is difficult to draw any line, however,
between the marine and nonmarine beds, as is probably
true of many deltaic deposits.
Summary of range
of thickness
Sect ons of Boleo format on present in different ports of Boleo d strict, indicating thickness of each stratigraphic unit, in meters
Arroyo delBoleo Arroyo de la Soledad
A rroyo del Purgotorio
Arroyo de Santo Agueda
Arroyo de to Providendo Arroyo delMontodo

orthwest side
San
Near
Andr
minges
Stratigraphic
unit of
o
Boleo formation
Tococo
Near
mine
Boleo
Near
shaft
Amelia
Near
shaft
shaft
Mari
Santoa
Middle ofarroyo
Southeast side
?
I!!
! ! i !t !t f !! iH !.. 1 ' * * ! ! ! ! !
f J ! f I J t ! t ,
%
C~
<S
S>
Ci
5;
S>
3:
S>
Strotigraphic
Thickness of interval betweer
stratigraphic
ore beds,
unit, in meters
in meters '
3:
/c/o/70
shaft
Tuff above ore bed 0
Absence of higher beds in this area is due to
Ore bed 0
15
10
20
'/Z
life
'!i
l'/2
14
I'/s
l'/2
Maximum
| J |
|
l'/Z
'/2
20
2
6
24
IS
15
12
10
12
Tuff above ore bed I
30
25
37
33
32
39
26
38
37
45
26
37
48
49
49 32
Ore bed I
'/Z
'/z
'/2
'/Z
2'/2
2'/2
!fc
'/2
r/2
i^
'/2
3 '/2 2
Conglomerate 1
30
55
15
H H
4'/2
'
70
65
60
50
34
62
50
41
32
52
52
'/2
1?
1?
'%
l'/2
<'/,
12
15
27
22
erosion of top of Boleo formation
Conglomerate 0
!$
'4

Ore bed 2
10
\
Conglomerate 2
45
45
Ore bed 3
20
J~
20
30
25
45
'/2
i'4
13
15
30
20
60
37
53
40
55
45
53
l'/2
25
10
10
51
34
30
38
37
25
30
75?
81
67
53
56
58
Ore bed 4
Conglomerate 4
20
Conglomerate 3
Total thickness of
Boleo formotion, In
meters
^s
EXPLANATION:
35
ji
"%
10
27
''z
'/2
55
50
91
5H
89
160? 202 170.
Strotigrophic unit absent
77. 22U 224
Gypsum
%
^
f^Sia
,.
Gypsum ^Z.
55 18
57
70 39
'/2
3!
bwj
'/2
conglomerate
<0 con cs
Absence of lower beds in this area is due to
119.
mi! Limestone
167.
124.
82.
90
58.
30
86 50
10
95
E Fossiliferous sandstone lens
41
'
129
126
123. 107.
66-62
70
60 25
10
88 51
nondeposifion over irregular surface of Comondu volcanics

223
14
l'/2
27 60 48 27 77 55
Gypsum
Gypsum
, Q
250
15 58 40
BW
Gypsum
iffi
Comondu
88
27 10
Gypsum
Gypsum
16
Is
8
221
l'/2
124.
66
II
16 20
42 141 80
5
18
Average tota ,140 meters
I Wavy line indicates unconformable contact of top or bottom of Boleo formotion with
Gloria formation above and with Comondu volcanics below. Where wavy line is omitted,
top or base of formotion is not exposed
FIGURE 18. Sections of the Boleo formation indicating distribution of its units and their range of thickness in the Boleo copper district.
32
The deltaic origin of the conglomerate beds is indicated not only by the rapid gulfward gradation in grain
size, but particularly by the shape of the conglomerate
lenses, which are elongated parallel with the shoreline,
bulge rapidly toward the center, and are surrounded by
a thin blanket of material which was probably deposited
on a piedmont plain. The migration of each successively higher lens farther gulfward indicates that material was being extended farther out from the original
shoreline as the basins were filled in. The crossbedding,
in which the laminae are rather steeply inclined toward
the gulf, is of a type that might be expected in foreset
beds.
FOSSILS AND AGE
Fossils are scarce and poorly preserved in the Boleo

formation, as compared with the highly fossiliferous
beds of the overlying Gloria, Infierno, and Santa
Rosalia formations. The most diagnostic collection
from the Boleo formation was found in a fossiliferous
sandstone above the basal limestone in Canada de la
Gloria, at locality F3. 1 H. E. Vokes determined the
following species in the collection obtained at this
locality:
SPECIES
KNOWN RANGE
Ostrea vespertine Conrad.._________ Lower to upper Pliocene

Pecten (Pecteri) beali Hertlein_______ With lower Pliocene
species at type locality
Pecten (Euvola) keepi Arnold. _______ Lower Pliocene
Aequipecten abietis (Jordan and Hert- Lower to upper Pliocene
lein).
Vokes makes the following statement concerning this

fauna:
The ranges indicated are those given by Durham (1950, p.
18-19) as representing the known ranges of these species in the
fossil faunas of the Gulf of California region. They are based
upon a study of the large faunas obtained by the 1940 cruise of
the E. W. Scripps. Durham had no specimens of Pecten (Pecten)
beali Hertlein, which was described from the Arroyo de las
Palmas, Santa Rosalia area, being collected in association with
Aequipecten mendenhalli (Arnold), a lower Pliocene species. The
fauna seems to be of early Pliocene age, and to be correlated with
the Imperial fauna of southern California.
Fossils are found also in the basal limestone of the

Boleo formation at many localities, but they are largely
very poorly preserved casts and molds and are of little
diagnostic value. They include unidentified pelecypods, minute gastropods, a cerithiid of indeterminate
genus and species, and a form identified by Vokes as a
new species of Laevicardium. The latter, obtained
from localities Fl, F2, and F5, was briefly described in
the report on the Lucifer district (Wilson and Veytia,
1949, p. 193).
From locality F23, in a fossiliferous sandstone lens on
the north side of Arroyo del Boleo, opposite the Texcoco
A list of fossil-collecting localities is given on page 127.
mine, were obtained an indeterminate echinoid fragment and some specimens of Aequipecten abietis
(Jordan and Hertlein), which ranges throughout the
Pliocene and is therefore not too diagnostic.
From locality F22, in a brownish sandstone overlying
the basal limestone of the Boleo formation in a northern
branch of Arroyo del Boleo, the following collection
was made:
Ostrea cf. erici Hertlein
Ostrea megodon Hanley
Pecten (Nodipecten) cf. subnodosus Sowerby
Aequipectenl n. sp.
Chlamys? n. sp. A (same as in

locality F19, table 7)
Patinopecten n. sp.? (same as
in locality F19, table 7)
In the field this locality was thought to pertain to the

Boleo formation. On the basis of Chlamys? n. sp. A,
Patinopecten n. sp.?, and Ostrea cf. erici Hertlein, however, Vokes considers this fauna to be more closely
related to the faunas of the Gloria formation, as represented by localities Fll and F19 listed in table 7,
although he does not exclude the possibility that it
could be the same age as the Boleo fauna from locality
F3. The question is left undecided: Locality F22 may
be in the Gloria formation if the field relations were
incorrectly interpreted; or, the specimens listed above
may range from the Boleo formation into the Gloria
formation.
Several fossil collections have previously been reported from the Santa Rosalia area, some of which
seemingly came from the Boleo formation. An assemblage collected by G. P. Merrill and listed by
Arnold (1906, p. 84-85) and Aguilera (1907, p. 244),
included Aequipecten mendenhalli (Arnold), Pecten
(Pecten) carrizoensis Arnold, and Pecten' (Euvola)
keepi Arnold. The beds containing these fossils were
correlated by Arnold with the Imperial formation of
southeastern California (then called the Carrizo Creek
beds).
Hertlein (1925, 1931) identified several fossils collected by geologists of the Marland Oil Company
expedition. Although these geologists did not subdivide the Pliocene beds, probably at least two localities nos. 45 and 64 belong to.the Boleo formation.
Touwaide (1930, p. 121) collected fossils from a tuff
overlying the basal limestone of the Boleo formation
(his Lower Salada formation). This collection was
reexamined by Durham (1950, p. 27), who remarks:
"The presence of Pecten (Pecten) carrizoensis Arnold and
Pecten (Euvola) keepi Arnold indicates an age corresponding to that of the Imperial formation."
The close relation of the Boleo formation to the
Imperial formation was also pointed out by Vokes, on
the basis of the fauna from locality F3. A fauna that
is even more clearly related to that of the Imperial
formation, in that it contains Turritella imperialis
STRATIGRAPHY
33
the bottoms of the arroyos, and the Infierno formation,

which caps the mesas between the arroyos. Southeast
of Arroyo de la Providencia the Gloria formation extends to greater depths, so that in the branches of
Arroyo del Montado it is exposed chiefly along the
bottoms of the arroyos, and in Arroyo de Santa Agueda
it lies mainly below the arroyo level, only the top being
exposed here and there, although the formation in that
area has become revealed in drill holes.
An unconformity between the Gloria formation and
the underlying Boleo formation may be observed in
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE
many places. Although it is by no means as pronounced
The Boleo formation is of major economic importance as the one between the Boleo and Comondu formations,
in the Boleo district because it contains all the known it is nevertheless of economic significance, since the
ore deposits of commercial value, both of copper and higher ore-bearing beds have been cut out in places by
manganese. Other deposits of economic value in the this unconformity. The degree of angular discordance
Boleo formation include gypsum and limestone, both of between the two formations is generally slight. Locally
which have been used in the Boleo smelter.
the difference in dip amounts to 5 to 10, particularly
in
those places where the Boleo has steep dips formed
GLORIA FORMATION (MIDDLE PLIOCENE)
over
topographic irregularities on the underlying surface
GENERAL FEATURES
of the Comondu. In such places the higher parts of
The Gloria formation is a middle Pliocene sequence
the structures in the Boleo formation were planed off
of sandstone and conglomerate which rests unconformbefore deposition of the more gently dipping Gloria
ably upon the Boleo formation. It consists of a basal
formation. More commonly, however, the angular
conglomerate which is present only locally, a fossilifdiscordance is not so perceptible and the unconformity
erous marine sandstone which thins and wedges out
is revealed by mapping certain beds of the Boleo formainland but thickens gulf ward and grades into siltstones
tion which terminate gradually against the overlying
and clays, and an overlying conglomerate which
Gloria formation.
thickens and grades into a nonmarine facies inland.
The unconformity is shown particularly well at the
The formation was named by Wilson (1948, p. 1768)
type locality of the Gloria formation on the north side
for exposures in Canada de la Gloria, where the unof Canada de la Gloria, where the formation cuts
conformable relation to the Boleo formation is well
gently across the different layers of the Boleo formation,
shown, and where fossils were collected which establish
which there have fairly high dips. In Arroyo del Boleo
the age as middle Pliocene. The type locality is at
the unconformity is well shown near the Texcoco mine,
fossil-collecting locality F7, on the north side of Canada
where conglomerates no. 1 and no. 2 of the Boleo
de la Gloria.
formation have been cut out, over an anticlinal strucThe Gloria formation, along with all the succeeding
ture, by the more gently dipping Gloria formation. In
formations, is younger than the mineralization that
Arroyo del Purgatorio the unconformity may be obaffected the region, and from an economic standpoint
served near the San Guillermo fault, where the base of
it merely covers and obscures the ore-bearing beds.
the Gloria formation descends into conglomerate no. 1
DISTRIBUTION AND STRATIQRAPHIC RELATIONS
of the Boleo formation, cutting out a considerable
The Gloria formation was deposited over most of the thickness of tuff.
area shown on the map of the Boleo district, except for
The Gloria formation directly overlaps the Comondu
the highest parts of the former islands and mainland. volcanics on some of the former islands and other areas
The formation crops out to some extent in all the major of once high relief, as, for example, around Cerro de
arroyos of the district.
Juanita. This seems to take place also over a buried
The most extensive exposures are along the coast, hill revealed by drill hole no. 36. In some places the
where the formation lies fairly close to sea level. As a Gloria formation rests directly on the basal marine
result of tilting, the exposures are at higher levels farther limestone of the Boleo formation. Only in the gulfinland along the arroyos extending from Arroyo del ward area, particularly near the mouth of Arroyos
Boleo southeastward to as far as Arroyo de la Pro- Boleo and Soledad, does the unconformity at the base
videncia. There the Gloria formation is exposed in of the Gloria formation appear to die out, and in part
belts along the sides of the arroyos, occupying a position of this area the Boleo-Gloria contact, based on lithintermediate between the Boleo formation, which forms ologic changes, was located with some doubt.
Hanna, was collected by the author near Point Concepci6n, 70 kilometers southeast of Santa Rosalia, and
listed in the paper by Wilson (1948, p. 1780).
The age of the Imperial formation of southeastern
California, near the head of the Gulf of California, has
long been controversial, opinions having been divided
between a Pliocene and a Miocene age. The subject
was recently reviewed at some length by Durham (1950,
p. 30-34), who concludes that the Imperial formation is
best assigned to the lower Pliocene.
34

UTHOIOGY, FACIES CHANGES, AND THICKNESS
The first unit of the Gloria formation to be deposited

was a conglomerate, which has a lenticular form and
appears only in local areas. Lenses 1 to 7 meters thick
were found in certain parts of Arroyos Boleo, Soledad,
Purgatorio, and Providencia. A conglomerate lens
3 to 15 meters thick, believed to represent the same
unit, was penetrated in many of the drill holes in
Arroyo de Santa Agueda. The conglomerate contains
poorly sorted and slightly rounded pebbles and boulders, composed chiefly of rocks from the Comondii
volcanics, in a sandy matrix. A few fragments of the
underlying pink tuff from the Boleo formation were
noted in one place. The base of the conglomerate is
irregular in detail, and in places it has filled in channels
cut into the underlying Boleo formation. The basal
conglomerate was differentiated as a mappable unit
only in the area where it is overlain by sandstone;
farther inland where the Gloria formation is represented
splely by conglomerate, the basal beds could not be
distinguished from the rest of the conglomerate.
The most characteristic member of the Gloria
formation is a fossiliferous marine sandstone, which
ranges in thickness from a few meters to as much as
105 meters. This overlies the basal conglomerate
wherever that unit is present, but elsewhere it rests
directly on the Boleo formation. Sandstone is in places
the sole component of the Gloria formation. It is

calcareous, well cemented, fine to coarse grained, and
generally buff to tan, or gray to white. The sandstone
is resistant to erosion and has a tendency to form cliffs.
The outcrops are in many places characterized by
irregular cavities, presumably due to solution weathering of the calcareous cement. The sandstone becomes
thicker but finer grained gulfward, in which direction
it grades into massive siltstones, fine-grained sandstones, and clays (fig. 19). Gypsiferous veinlets are
common in the siltstones and clays.
The sandstone thins inland, where it becomes more
highly fossiliferous just before wedging out, indicating
a shoreline environment. In part of the inland area the
sandstone becomes a thin reef bed only 2 to 5 meters
thick, filled with echinoids (Encope), as for example on
the north side of Arroyo del Purgatorio near the
Santiago shaft.
The sandstone is commonly overlain by conglomerate, which thins gulfward and thickens inland, in
which direction it replaces the sandstone altogether.
The contact between sandstone and overlying conglomerate is fairly sharp but appears to be conformable.
The conglomerate consists of moderately well rounded
pebbles and boulders of volcanic rocks in a sandy
matrix, having a calcareous cement (fig. 20). It is in
general less resistant to erosion and does not form such
FIGURE 19. Gulfward facies of the Gloria formation; fine-grained sandstone and siltstone. This view near the mouth of Arroyo de la Soledad shows typical
badlands topography.
35
STRATIGRAPHY
steep cliffs as do the conglomerates of the Boleo formation. The general color is purplish or yellowish. The
pebbles become more angular, more poorly sorted, and
coarser inland.
east, in Arroyo de Santa Agueda. Table 6 shows the

variations in thickness of the lithologic units of the
Gloria formation, as well as of the Infierno formation,
in different parts of the district.
ORIGIN
The sandstone is evidently of marine origin throughout, as indicated by the abundance of marine fossils.
This applies as well to the thick gulfward siltstone with
a clay facies, which contains scattered fossils. Some
of the conglomerate may also be of marine origin, but
the inland facies is probably nonmarine, judging from
the angularity, coarseness, and poor sorting of the
fragments, as well as the absence of fossils. The sandstone wedges out along a line extending from 3 to 4
kilometers inland from the present shoreline, and this
line is believed to represent the approximate inland
limit of the middle Pliocene shoreline, as shown in a
Pliocene paleotopographic, paleogeographic, and facies
map of the Santa Rosalia area that was published by
Wilson (1948, p. 1772). The conglomerate extends
farther gulfward toward the top of the formation,
indicating probably a gradual filling up of the basin and
seaward migration of the shoreline during the course of
sedimentation.
Near the line of wedging out of the sandstone appear
layers containing abundant echinoids of the genus
Encope. In this connection Durham (1950, p. 13-14)
has stated:
Steinbeck and Ricketts (1941, p. 193, 400-401) note that
Encope grandis and E. caUfornica were found living in large
numbers at depths of 1 to 3 feet below low tide in quiet-water
sand flats [in the Gulf of California]. It is thus suggested that
sediments * * * where the afore-mentioned species of Encope
or their close relatives are abundant were deposited in protected
areas in very shallow waters, probably less than 10 feet deep.
It is interesting that this ecological conclusion of

Durham is confirmed by the physical evidence of
shoreline deposition of these Encope-rich beds of the
Gloria formation.
FOSSHS AND AGE
FIGURE 20. Conglomerate of the Gloria formation in Arroyo del Montado. This
view of the inland facits shows interbedded sandy layers.
The sandstone and conglomerate show reciprocal

relations of thickness gulfward the sandstone thickens
and the conglomerate thins, while the reverse is true
inland. The sandstone reaches a maximum thickness
of 105 meters, and the conglomerate 135 meters. The
maximum total thickness of the Gloria formation is
185 meters, although the average is closer to 60 meters.
The formation thickens as a whole toward the south323059 55
The sandstone unit of the Gloria formation contains

abundant fossils, some of which are very well preserved.
Pectens of several different genera and species, as well
as oysters, form the great bulk of the fossils, although
echinoids are locally abundant. Table 7 gives a list of
fossils from the Gloria formation that were identified by
H. E. Yokes, except for the echinoids which were
identified by C. W. Cooke.
Yokes considers these collections to be probably of
middle Pliocene age. Among the more diagnostic
species are Aequipecten antonitaensis Durham, Aequipecten aff. revellei Durham, Patinopecten bakeri diazi
Durham, Pecten (Euvola) cf. refugioensis Hertlein, and
36

TABLE 6. Range in thickness of lithologic units of the Gloria and Infierno formations
Thickness, in meters
Gloria formation
Locality
Infierno formation
Basal
conglomerate
Sandstone
Conglomerate
Total of
formation
Sandstone
Conglomerate
0-3
0
3
0-3
0
0
0
0
0-7
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0-15
0
0
0
0
0-10
60
10
15-40
70
0
5-15
5-15
5-30
" 0
0-5
20-30
9
15-20
20-30
14
35-75
75
105
50
80
15-20
0
30-40
35-40
0
40
50-60
20-35
15-25
35
40
25-35
40
25-30
20-30
45+
60-135
50
15
55
40
25-30
60
40-50
55-70
70
40
55-65
35-40
30-45
35
40-45
45-0
50
45-50
40-50
60+
110-185
125
120
105
120
10-20
(?)
0-5
15-30
(?)
(?)
20-30
25-35
15-40
0-15
20-25
30-55
10-20
40-50
65-95
(?)
(?)
30+
80
35
70
10
(?)
(?)
5-10
(?)
(?)
30-50
20
15-25
15-25
30-35
30-40
25-35
30
30
(?)
(?)
(?)
25
65
70
20-30
Eroded
0-5
20-30
Eroded
Eroded
50-80
45-55
30-65
25-40
50-60
65-85
45-50
70-80
95-125
Eroded
Eroded
30+
105
100
140
1
15
6
5
105
30
10
135
30
25
185
60
5
95
30
5
70
25
5
140
55
Total of
formation
TABLE 7. Fossils from localities in the Gloria formation (middle Pliocene)

F7
F8
Fll
F13
F15
n. sp.______ _____
_ _ __ ______
(Nodipecten) subnodosus Sowerby. ____
_ ___
Aequipecten abietis (Jordan and Hertlein) __
______
antonitaensis Durham
_______
_____
callidus (Hertlein)_______._ __ _
_
____
circularis (Sowerbv) __
___
___
aff. A. revellei Durham.
_
___
____
cf. A. subdolus (Hertlein) _ _
..
___
n. sp___ _ _ __ ____
.. _
_
_____
sp. indet__ ___________
_ _
_
___
Chlamysl n. sp. A __ ____ _
_ ..
_____
Patinopecten bakeri diazi Durham. _ __
____
F19
F20
X?
X
cf . 0. erici Hertlein _
_____ _____
megodon Hanley
_____________
vespertina Conrad ___________
______
F18
F27
2 X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X?
v
X
X
X?
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
var.3
X
X
n.sp_______ _____ __
__ ________
__ __
n. sp.? 4 -. _.
n. sp. B?________________________________________
X
X
X
Cf\
Anomia sp. indet_______ ___

_
___
___
Placunanomia hannibali Jordan and Hertlein 5
_____
Dosinia? sp. (not D. ponderosa).. ____
__ ____
Turritella aff. T. gonostoma Valenciennes. __ ______
Balanussp- _____
___
_
____
1 A species of the Atlantic. Poriferous zones wider than in the very similar species
Encope micropora Agassiz of the Pacific.
3 It is not absolutely certain that locality F27, containing Clypeaster speciosus
Verrill is in the Gloria formation.
a Similar to Patinopccten bakeri dia.i'Durham but has 18 to 20, instead of 23 to 25,
ribs on the right valve.
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
4 The Patinopecten n. sp.? from localities Fll and F19 is close to Patinopecten n. sp.
from locality F7, but has fewer (21 instead of 25) ribs.
4 Placunanomia hannibali Jordan and Hertlein has been reported only from upper
Pliocene deposits. For this reason Vokes is uncertain of the age of the beds at locality
F20, although the Chlamysl n. sp. A at that locality seems to be the same as in localities Fll and F19. Field relations indicate that locality F20 belongs to the Gloria
formation.
37
STRATIGRAPHY
Ostrea cf. erici Hertlein, which, according to Durham

(1950, p. 18-19), are confined to the middle Pliocene.
Vokes states also that several of the species listed are
identical or similar to those in the San Diego formation
of southern California of middle Pliocene age, including
Aequipecten callidus (Hertlein), Aequipecten cf. subdolus
(Hertlein), Patinopecten cf. stearnsii (Dall), and Ostrea
cf. erici Hertlein.
INFIBRNO FORMATION (LATE PLIOCENE)
GENERAL FEATURES
The Infierno formation is a sequence of fossiliferous

m arine sandstone and overlying conglomerate which rests
with slight unconformity upon the Gloria formation.
Inland, the sandstone thins and wedges out into conglomerate, which grades into a nonmarine facies. The
Infierno formation was named by Wilson (1948,
p. 1768) for exposures in Arroyo del Infierno, where the
unconformable relation to the underlying Gloria formation is well shown, and where fossils establish the age of
the formation as late Pliocene. The type locality is at
fossil locality FlO, on the south side of Arroyo del
Infierno, shown in fig. 21.
DISTRIBUTION AND STEATIGRAPHIC RELATIONS
The Infierno formation was probably deposited over

much of the Boleo district, but being one of the youngest
formations it has been widely eroded. In the northwest

part of the district it caps some of the mesas between
the arroyos, although in places it is in turn capped by
thin deposits of the Santa Rosalia formation, by lava
flows, and by terrace and gravel deposits. The most
extensive exposures of the Infierno formation are in
the southeast part of the district, in Arroyos Montado
and Santa Agueda, where the formation is much thicker
than it is to the northwest, and where, owing to southeastward tilting, it lies close to the level of the arroyos.
An unconformity at the base of the Infierno formation
was recognized in at least two widely separated places.
At the type locality of the formation on the south side
of Arroyo del Infierno, 4 kilometers east of the Lucifer
manganese mine, a difference in dip of 10 appears
between the Gloria and Infierno formations (fig. 21).
Fossils that established a difference in age were found
both above and below the unconformity at that place.
On the south side of Arroyo de Santa Agueda, near its
mouth, the unconformity is also well exposed, again
with a difference in dip of as much as 10 between the
two formations.
Over much of the Boleo district, however, no definite
unconformity could be recognized between the two
formations, and the contact was distinguished mostly
on the basis of lithologic boundaries and here and there
FIGUKE 21.---Unconformity between Gloria au'i Infierno formations at typr locality of I nfirnio formation on south side of Arroyo del lufierno.
Gloria formation dips toward the left; the overlying Inflerno dips toward the right.
The underlying
38
by fossil collections. The lithologic boundaries that

were mapped may transgress time horizons.
Mapping was particularly difficult in the inland area
where the fossiliferous sandstone at the base of the
Infierno formation wedges out and the conglomerate
of that formation thereafter rests directly on the similar
conglomerate of the Gloria formation. Farther inland
it becomes practically impossible to differentiate these
conglomerates, and in mapping they were therefore
lumped in that area as "undifferentiated post-Boleo
deposts" (QTu on the geologic map, pi. 1). This map
unit may also include some younger conglomerate of
Pleistocene age.
LITHOIOGY, FACIES CHANGES, AND THICKNESS
The Infierno formation consists essentially of a

fossiliferous marine sandstone overlain by a conglomerate, although the sandstone wedges out inland and
the conglomerate wedges out gulfward. Where the
sandstone disappears, it fingers out into several layers
intercalated with conglomerate.
The sandstone is rather fine grained, calcareous, well
cemented, generally yellowish to buff or white, and
commonlj' crossbedded. It has a tendency to form
steep cliffs, although parts of it are weaker. It is
quite similar in appearance to the sandstone of the
Gloria formation, although in part it is somewhat less
resistant to erosion and slightly lighter in color. The
two are distinguished, however, mainly by their different
fossil content, along with their different position in the
stratigraphic sequence.
Much of the sandstone of the Infierno formation is
highly fossiliferous (fig. 22). A calcareous sandstone
in Cerro de la Calera, on the north side of Arroyo de la
Providencia, is so closely packed with shells that it
was mined for many years for use as a lime flux in the
Boleo smelter.
The conglomerate is similar to the older conglomerates in that it consists largely of pebbles and boulders
of the Comondu volcanics in a sandy matrix. It is
more poorly cemented, however, than the older conglomerates and has a greater tendency to form topographic benches. A few sandy lajrers are enclosed in
the conglomerate, which becomes coarser and more
poorly sorted inland.
The formation thickens in general from northwest to
southeast. In the area northwest of Arroyo del Purgatorio, it has a thickness in general of 20 to 30 meters,
ranging from 5 to 50 meters. In the central part of
the area, between Arroyos Purgatorio and Providencia,
the thickness ranges from 20 to 90 meters, while in the
southeast part of the area it ranges from 70 to 140
meters. The average thickness for the district as a
whole is about 55 meters (see table 6).
FIGURE 22. Fossiliferous sandstone of the Infieruo formation in Arroyo del Montado. Pectens are the most abundant fossils.
;
ORIGIN
.-' '
The Infierno formation seems to represent much the

same conditions of deposition as does the Gloria formation. Evidently the conglomerate forming the top
unit of the Gloria formation was slightly eroded, and
then followed a period of subsidence and a renewed invasion of the sea, resulting in the deposition of a marine
sandstone. Then, just as in deposition of the Gloria
formation, conglomerate deposition encroached farther
and farther seaward into the area of sandstone deposition, indicating, presumably, a receding shoreline.
39
STRATIGRAPHY
The marine origin of the sandstone is indicated by

the presence of many marine fossils, while nonmarine
origin of at least the inland facies of the conglomerate
is suggested by the poor sorting, coarseness, and angularity of the fragments in that direction. The inland
limit of the fossiliferous sandstone, considered to be
the probable inland limit of the shoreline in late Pliocene time, lies fairly close to the line representing the
shoreline in middle Pliocene time, but it is for the most
part situated about half a kilometer nearer the gulf
(see paleogeographic map, Wilson, 1948, p. 1772).
FOSSILS AND AGE
The Infierno formation is even more fossiliferous than

is the Gloria formation. Again, Pectens and oysters
predominate, but many of the species are different and
the large Patinopectens seem to make up a greater
proportion of the specimens. The fossils proved useful
in the field work, even before their age was known, for
it was easy to distinguish the Encope-rich beds of the
Gloria formation from the Patinopecten-iiG\i beds of
the Infierno formation. Table 8 lists the fossils from
the Infierno formation identified by H. E. Vokes, including some echinoids identified by C. W. Cooke.
Probably the most diagnostic form is Patinopecten

marquerensis Durham, which, according to Durham
(1950, p. 19), is representative of the upper Pliocene.
Another form previously reported only from the upper
Pliocene, according to Vokes, is Placunanomia hannibali
Jordan and Hertlein.2 Also, Ostrea cumingiana Dunker
and Aequipecten circularis (Sowerby), 2 both Recent
species, do not appear until the upper Pliocene according to Durham. Vokes thinks that probably all the
localities listed in table 8 belong to the upper Pliocene,
except for localities F24 and F26, which may be middle
or upper Pliocene. Because of the field relations, these
two localities are tentatively placed with the Infierno
formation.
SANTA ROSALIA FORMATION (PLEISTOCENE)
The youngest sedimentary formation in the Boleo

district is the Santa Rosalia formation, of Pleistocene
age. This consists of a thin layer of fossiliferous sandstone and conglomerate which unconformably overlies
the Infierno formation. It was named by Wilson
2 Both Placunanomia hannibali Jordan and Hertlein and Aeguipecten circularis
(Sowerby) were also reported from locality F20 which was tentatively placed in the
Gloria formation, but which is of uncertain age, as indicated in footnote 5 of table 7.
TABLE 8. Fossils from localities in the Infierno formation (late Pliocene)
no
F12
F14
F16
F21
F24
F25
F26
F28
X
X
v
G lycymeris sp. inclet. (cast)____ ______________ _ _._

Anadara sp. indet. (cast)_____-------- -___._.___
Ostrea cf. 0. angelica Rochebrune_______- -- --. -..- ..
afT. 0. cumingiana Dunker 2 _ _______ .. .. __. __ .
jischeii Dall. ____________ _. ________ _ _. _____
cf. 0. fischeri Dall____ ____ __ . __ ._ __- _._.
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
"Pecten" sp. __-__-_--____-___--_ _-_-_-_---.._ --- -_
subdolus (Hertlein) ____________
__
__
marqiterensis Durham. ___________ ______
X
X
___
X
X
X
.__ _. __
_ ._
v
X
X
X
Sp. 4 -__-_______________------ -._ _._- .. ._

Sp..._ -_----__--__-__--_- --_------..--_------_----
Placunanomio hannibali Jordan and Hertlein . _ __ _ _ _

Cardita sp. indet. (cast)___ _____ _______ ._ ____ ._
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Conus sp. (ca,st)________________ ._.
._
._
__
__
X
X
1 A specios of the Atlantic, very similar to Meoina grandis Gray, a species of the
Pacific.
2 Much larger and more evenly sculptured than any Ostrea in the collections of
Recent shells in the U S. National Museum.
3 Has 22 instead of 15 to 17 radiating ribs that are proportionately wider and more
round-topped; Interspaces of left valves bear a riblct, as in Pecten bellus absent in
P. heimi Hertlein, P. hemphilli Dall, and others.
4 Very similar to Patinopecten marquerensis Durham, but has only 19 to 20 ribs
instead of 23 to 25.
40
(1948, p. 1769) for the town of Santa Rosalia, and the

type locality was designated as fossil-collecting locality
F9 on the south side of Arroyo de las Palmas.
The Santa Rosalia formation is not widely exposed in
the Boleo district. It has been removed over large
areas by recent erosion, and where it has been preserved
on the mesas it is commonly obscured by a thin capping
of terrace gravels; consequently, exposures are confined to a few narrow outcrops here and there just
below the tops of the mesas. The principal exposures
noted in the district are in the different branches of
Arroyo de la Soledad southwest of the Santa Rita
fault, on the northwest side of Arroyo del Purgatorio
near the Santiago fault, and in a few places in Arroyos
Montado and Santa Agueda.
The formation may be more widespread than indicated on the geologic map, but it was mapped only
where it seemed to be well identified by fossil evidence
or by the unconformable relation to the underlying
Infierno formation. The thick unfossiliferous nonmarine conglomerates in the inland area that were
mapped as "undifferentiated post-Boleo deposits" (QTu
on pi. 1) may include some sediments of Pleistocene age
assignable to the Santa Rosalia formation. The formation may also lie not far below the surface over considerable areas that were mapped as terrace and gravel
deposits (Qt).
The basal contact of the formation is generally not
well exposed, but its unconformable nature may be observed in some places. The Santa Rosalia formation
generally overlies the Infierno formation, although on
the south side of Arroyo del Infierno and in part of
AiToyo de las Palmas it cuts out the Infierno and overlaps the Gloria formation.
The Santa Rosalia formation consists chiefly of calcareous fossiliferous conglomerate, which contains
moderately well rounded pebbles in a sandy matrix.
The pebbles are composed mainly of rocks from the
Comondu volcanics, but some pumice fragments are
also present and probably represent the beginning of
the volcanic activity that formed the Tres Virgenes
volcanics. Sandy layers are found in the conglomerates
and in some localities the formation consists largely of
fossiliferous sandstone. The formation has a known
thickness of only 5 to 15 meters. The fossiliferous beds
were not found farther inland than about 3.5 kilometers
from the present shoreline, and they probably give way
inland to nonmarine beds.
The Santa Rosalia formation is abundantly fossiliferous. Although Pectens and oysters are abundant as
in the older formations, the variety of other types of
pelecypods and gastropods is much greater. Table 9
lists the species identified by H. E. Vokes, from three

collections made by the writers in the Santa Rosalia
formation.
TABLE 9. Fossils from localities in the Santa Rosalia formation
(Pleistocene)
F6
F9i
F17
v
v
X
v
v
sp. aff. kellettii (Hinds) --..---.---.--....---..-.-..-..

Megapitaria squalida (Sovverby) (immature specimen) ....
--
X
X
--
1 Several microscopic gastropods that have not been studied also were found at
this locality.
2 Specimens show dim remnants of color patterns.
Vokes considers the beds at locality F17 to be definitely of Pleistocene age, on the basis particularly of
Dosinia (Dosinidia) ponderosa (Gray) and Chione
fluctifraga (Sowerby), which range from Pleistocene
to Recent. A Pleistocene age is also suggested for
the beds of localitj^ F9 from the traces of color patterns
preserved in some of the specimens, together with the
known range of the few forms previously reported,
which have been listed by Durham (1950). Vokes
considers that the sediments at locality F6 may be of
latest Pliocene age or of Pleistocene age, the latter
being favored because of dim remnants of color patterns
on some of the specimens of Aequipecten circularis
(Sowerby).
Touwaide (1930, p. 123) mentions the presence of
mammoth remains in the .youngest conglomerate of the
Boleo district. A collection of fossils obtained by
Touwaide from his "upper conglomerate," apparently
the Santa Rosalia formation of this report, was reexamined at Stanford University by Durham (1950,
p. 28), who reports the following:
Chama pellucida Broderip
Ostrea fischeri Dall?
sp. indet.
Gyrineum strongi Jordan
Oliva spicata (Bolten)

Turritella cf. gonostoma Valen-
ciennes
Durham notes that Gyrineum strongi Jordan has

been found thus far only within Pleistocene deposits.
STRATIGRAPHY
41
A greater variety of volcanic rocks was found in the

The Tres Virgenes volcanics consist of lava flows and Lucifer district, where the main constituents are latite
pyroclastic rocks of Pleistocene to Recent age, which flows, pumice, and welded tuff, overlain in places by
cover large areas on the mesas northwest of Santa olivine basalt flows, volcanic breccia, and cinder cones.
The Tres Virgenes volcanoes, which represent the
Eosalia. They were named by Wilson (1948, p. 1769)
for the Tres Virgenes volcanoes, which, together with main centers of eruption, are three well-formed volcanic
Cerro de Santa Maria, were the chief centers of eruption. cones (fig. 23), which are said to have erupted during
The Tres Virgenes volcanics occupy large areas historic times. An eruption in the year 1746 was
northwest of Arroyo del Infierno, in the area covered recorded by Grewingk (1848, p. 143-144), and another
by. the geologic map of the Lucifer manganese district, one in 1857 was listed by Russell (1897, p. 190), who
and they have been described in the report on that states that "since then steam has been emitted, sometimes
district (Wilson and Veytia, 1949, p. 199-201.) South- in large volumes." A leucite-bearing rock from the
east of Arroyo del Infierno, only small patches of these vicinity of the Tres Virgenes was described by Chrustvolcanic rocks are present. Within the area covered schoff (1885), although no rocks of this type have been
by the geologic map of the Boleo district, only one found by the writers. Some specimens of the volcanic
patch of the Tres Virgenes volcanics was observed, rocks studied by Ritter (1895) were described as porphycapping a mesa between two branches of Arroyo del ritic andesite.
In the area shown on the map of the Boleo district,
Boleo (pi. 1, coordinates 1000-2400 N., 4500-5500 W.).
This patch is exposed on a flattish mesa for a length the Tres Virgenes volcanics rest on undifferentiated
of 1,400 meters and a width of 300 to 400 meters, and sediments of post-Boleo age, but in the Lucifer district
it lies at an altitude of 230 to 250 meters. The thick- to the northwest, they lie, in part, unconformably on
ness of the volcanic rock in this area ranges from 5 to 10 the Pleistocene Santa Rosalia formation, thus indicating
meters, although the thickness in the Lucifer district is that the age is confined to the Pleistocene and Recent.
as much as 30 to 50 meters in certain buried valleys. The volcanism may have commenced during the time
The rock exposed in the locality mentioned in Arroyo of deposition of the Santa Rosalia formation, however,
del Boleo appears to be a welded tuff. In field appear- as indicated by the presence of pumice fragments in
ance it is a firmly compact pumiceous rock containing that formation.
Lava flows and cinder cones, probably of the same age
many inclusions of glassy volcanic material. The rock
is gray on fresh exposure but weathers reddish. A thin as the Tres Virgenes volcanics, are scattered over the
section was examined by Eduardo Schmitter, who iden- central part of Baja California and are particularly
tified the rock as a tuff of questionably andesitic com- conspicuous in the vicinity of La Purisima, where they
position. The chief constituents are glass, andesine, were described by Heim (1921). Tortuga Island, a
perfectly shaped volcanic cone rising 300 meters above
and augite, with secondary hematite and zeolites.
TRES VIRGENES VOLCANICS (PLEISTOCENE AND RECENT)
FIGURE 23. The three volcanic cones of the Tres Virgenes.
42
the water level and at least 1,500 meters above the

floor of the Gulf of California, 40 kilometers east of
Santa Rosalia, may represent the same period of volcanism, as may also some thin basaltic lava flows on
the east side of San Marcos Island.
TERRACE AND GRAVEL DEPOSITS (RECENT)
The tops of the mesas and terraces along the sides of

the arroyos are blanketed by terrace and gravel deposits of Quaternaiy age. The thickness of the deposits
ranges from only 1 or 2 meters to as much as 20 meters.
The gravel is for the most part an imconsolidated deposit of poorly sorted pebbles and boulders, but some
of the terraces consist of Avell-cemented conglomerate.
The surface layer of gravel has in places been cemented
by caliche, while a meter or so below the surface the
material is uncemented. In places this has led to the
formation of small overhanging cliffs along the sides
of the mesas.
Although the gravel deposits generally form only a
thin veneer, they effectively mask the underlying
formations and cause the principal gaps in the otherwise good exposures of the i-egion. Several terrace
levels may be observed in different parts of the district,
but in general two principal levels.are found below the
mesas, as discussed further in the part on geomorphology.
Most of the terrace and gravel deposits are of nonmarine origin, but along the coast are marine terraces
that contain a thin layer of marine shells in a poorly
cemented sandy matrix at the base of a gravel layer.
Such a shell layer was observed, for example, along the
south side of Arroyo del Purgatorio, near its mouth, at
altitudes of 10 to 20 meters.
The Tres Virgenes volcanics are only thinly covered
by terrace and gravel deposits, and over broad areas
they are not covered at all. This suggests that much
of the period of gravel deposition preceded the formation
of the Tres Virgenes volcanics. It probably continued
throughout the period of Tres Virgenes volcanism,
however, and was in part later, for in some places a thin
gravel layer is intercalated between two flows in the
volcanic rocks, and elsewhere the highest flow is overlain by a very thin mantle of gravel.
On the geologic map (pi. 1), all these terrace and
gravel deposits have been mapped as a single unit
labeled "Qt," although it is realized that they may not
all be of precisely the same age, and some of the deposits
on the mesas may actually be the nonmarine inland
facies of the Santa Rosalia formation.
**
ALLUVIUM (RECENT)
Alluvium is found in three types of environment in

the Boleo district: in the bottom of the arroyos, on
beaches along the coast, and in dry lake beds on top of
the mesas. The bottoms of the arroyos are covered

with sand and gravel, except in certain places where
the}7 cross volcanic rocks or gypsum, where they may
be barren of alluvium. The alluvium in the arroyos
consists of silt, sand, and poorly sorted pebbles and
boulders which are subangular to subrounded. Where
observed in shafts, the thickness has been found to
range from 2 to 10 meters.
The beaches along the coast are entirely gravelly in
the vicinity of Santa Rosalia. The mateiial ranges in
size from pebbles a few centimeters in diameter to
coarse boulders several decimeters across, most of
which are subrounded. Sandy beaches occur in the
vicinity of San Lucas Cove, 14 kilometers southeast of
Santa Rosalia. The beaches are usually fairly narrow,
averaging only 30 to 50 meters in width, except at the
mouths of the arroyos where deltas have been built
out as much as 150 meters (see fig. 5).
A peculiaiity of the beach deposits, as well as of the
alluvium in the arroyos, is the relative scarcity of
quartz, which is due to the extreme paucity of that
mineral in the source rocks of the region. The dominant source rocks for the sand and pebbles are the
Comondu volcanics, both as outcrops and reworked
fragmental material forming the principal constituents
of the younger formations. As these source rocks are
dominantly andesitic and basaltic, and as the younger
tuffaceous rocks are mainly andesitic and latitic in
composition, free quartz is nearly absent in them.
This scarcity of quartz in the alluvial deposits is characteristic all along this part of the east coast of Baja
California, and the lack has been felt when quartzose
sands were wanted for making concrete for construction
purposes. The sandy beaches, where present, are
composed largely of comminuted rock fragments or of
shelly material.
Certain poorly drained areas on the tops of. the mesas
are the sites of dry lake beds in which thin deposits of
sand}7, silty, and clayey alluvium have accumulated.
Drill holes in such a lake bed northwest of the Lucifer
manganese mine indicated a thickness for the alluvium
of as much as 9.5 meters in one hole and 6.1 meters in
another. Water remains in these lake beds for only
brief periods after storms.
' v^
STRU&TURE
STRUCTURE OF THE COMONDU VOLCANICS
The structure of the Comondii volcanics is almost

everywhere discordant with that of the younger formations. The Comondu volcanics owe much of their
structure to a period of deformation1 tilting and
faulting that took place before the Pliocene formations
were deposited.
43
STRUCTURE
The results of this pre-Pliocene deformation are best

exposed near the head of Arroyo del Iiifierno, where the
Comondu volcanics are cut by a series of mainly westward-dipping normal faults with displacements of 50
to 100 meters, producing a series of eastward tilted
blocks (see structure section, Wilson, 1948, p. 1771,
fig. 4). Some of the faults in Arroyo del Infierno do
not affect the overlying Boleo formation, which rests
with strong unconformity on the Comondu, thus indicating that the deformation involved was post-Comondu and pre-Boleo that is, probably late Miocene
in age.
Farther southeast in the Boleo district it is more
difficult to distinguish the older faults from younger
faults that cut the Pliocene beds. There is evidence
that some of the major faults which cut both the Comondu volcanics and the Pliocene formations, such as
the Juanita and Santa Agueda fault zones, originated in
pre-Pliocene time and underwent renewed activity at a
later epoch.
In most of the larger exposures of the Comondu in the
Boleo district, the volcanic rocks have a moderate
northeasterly dip ranging from 5 to 25, and the dip
is nearly horizontal in some places (see structure
sections, pi. 3). Near the mouth of Arroyo de Santa
Agueda, however, the Comondu volcanics dip as much
as 50 to 55 NE. A component of at least 40 to
45 of this dip seems to be due to pre-Pliocene tilting,
for the immediately overlying Pliocene beds dip only
10 NE. in this area.
Throughout most of the peninsula of Baja California
where the Comondu formation is exposed, the dip is
gently westward, as shown for example in sections by
Darton (1921, p. 723).3 Near the Gulf of California,
however, the Comondu formation shows moderate to
steep dips toward the east, not only in the Boleo and
Lucifer districts but also farther south. The eastwardtilted blocks of Comondii volcanics near Santa Rosalia
may represent fragmentation along a zone of faulting
that bordered the downfaulted gulf to the east and the
uplifted westward-tilted block of the main peninsula
of Baja California to the west. Further work over a
broader area would be necessary to prove this, but it
seems the most likely picture based on what is now
known, of the structural and historical geology of the
region.
The economic significance of the pre-Pliocene deformation of the Comondu volcanics is that the faults
provided channels along which mineralizing solutions
could ascend. That this actually happened is indicated
by the presence of veinlets containing manganese and
copper minerals along many of these faults.
'The Comondu Is shown in the west, part of Darton's sections as "mesa sandstone," grading eastward into "agglomerate, conglomerate, and igneous."
STRUCTURAL FEATURES OF THE PLIOCENE AND

PLEISTOCENE FORMATIONS
STRUCTURES PRODUCED BY DEPOSITION ON SUBMERGED TOPOGRAPHY
The most remarkable structural features of the Pliocene and Pleistocene formations in the Santa Rosalia
region resulted from deposition on an irregular surface.
When the Boleo formation was deposited, erosion of the
surface of the Comondu volcanics had reached only
late youth or early maturity, leaving a surface of high
relief that was partly buried by the sea. The resulting
irregular surface of deposition consisted of submarine
hills and ridges bordered by submerged valleys, interrupted here and there by islands that remained above
sea level. The lowest sediments tended to conform to
the submerged topography, so that initial anticlinal
structures were formed over buried hills and initial
synclinal structures were formed over submerged
valleys. The sediments rose up steeply against the
islands and mainland before wedging out against the
bedrock surface. The exceptional character of these
structural features has been described in another report
by Wilson (1948) in which he showed that the dips in
the Boleo formation lie within the limits of the subaqueous angle of repose for the type of beds concerned.
The basal marine limestone of the Boleo formation
apparently adhered like plaster to the steep surfaces,
and in places to small cliffs, of the Comondu volcanics,
which in the immediate vicinity of the shoreline at the
time of submergence had a relief of as much as 450
meters. The limestone shows the highest dip of any
of the beds of the Boleo formation, commonly 30.
Its maximum structural relief is 200 meters. The
clastic sediments had a tendency to fill in the basins
and wedge out over the hills. Their dip locally reaches
30 but common^ ranges from 3 to 20, decreasing in
successively higher beds. The maximum structural
relief of conglomerate no. 3 is 150 meters, and of conglomerate no. 1 it is 70 motors.
The steep dip of the beds of the Boleo formation is
due to the high relief of the surface on which they were
deposited rather than to later deformation. This is
indicated in many places where the basal contact of
the sediments with the Comondu volcanics is well exposed, and the volcanic rocks themselves have not been
deformed in a way compatible with the structure of
the overlying beds. The dip of the sediments shows
no relation to the dip of the volcanic rocks, which may
dip more steeply, less steeply, or in the opposite direction. For example, figure 24 shows the top of a buried
hill where flat-lying limestone rests upon more steeply
dipping volcanic rocks. In contrast, figure 25 shows
the side of a buried hill where steeply dipping limestone
overlies gently dipping volcanic rocks. Other examples
44
FIGURE 24. Flat-lying limestone of the Boleo formation overlying gently dipping Comondu volcanics on top a buried hill, Canada de la Gloria, near El 160
mine. The limestone is the dark layer.
FIGURE 25. Steeply dipping limestone of the Boleo formation overlying gently dipping Comondu volcanics on the side of a buried hill near Texcoco mine,
looking west. The two formations dip in opposite directions here.
STRUCTURE
of steep initial dips of the Boleo formation are shown

in figure 13.
It is thought that differential compaction accentuated
the initial dips and helped to transmit the surface configuration of the Comondu volcanics to even the highest
beds of the post-Boleo formations.
STRUCTURES PRODUCED BY DEFORMATION
The effects of regional deformation, consisting of

tilting, faulting, and gentle warping, have been superimposed upon the initial structures of the Pliocene and
Pleistocene formations, as well as upon the older structures of the Comondu volcanics. Where the later tilting lias been in the same direction as the initial dip, it
is difficult to separate the exact degree of each; but
where the tilting has been at right angles to the initial
dip, the degree of each may generally be distinguished.
On the sheet of structure sections (pi. 3), those sections
that run parallel to the coastline (A-Af and B-B'}
illustrate structures clue mainly to buried topography,
while the other sections, which run at right angles to
the coast, illustrate the effects of tilting and faulting
superimposed on initial structures.
In general, the beds are tilted northeastward or
eastward toward the coast. In areas away from the
steep initial structures, the average dip of the beds
ranges from 3 to 10. The dips are locally steepened
by drag along faults. The gulfward dip is partly
compensated for by faults which repeatedly step up
the downdip side of the beds. Thus, for example, in
section E-E' of plate 3, if a line were drawn from ore
bed no. 3 of the Boleo formation at its elevation in the
Curuglu mine to its elevation near the Santiago shaft
4 kilometers to the northeast, the average dip of the
line would be only 3, while its actual dip in the various
segments between the faults is commonly 5 to 10.
If the faults could be eliminated, and the segments of
the bed fitted together, the drop in elevation of the bed
toward the gulf would be 450 meters; actually it is
only 200 meters.
Unconformities indicate that tilting and uplift have
taken place as many as four times since the beginning
of deposition of the Boleo formation, or at the close of
deposition of the lower Pliocene, the middle Pliocene,
the upper Pliocene, and the Pleistocene beds. The
uplift brought about by the most recent tilting has
raised the Pleistocene deposits to a level of 250 meters
above sea level at a distance of 4 kilometers inland from
the shore in the Boleo district. Farther northwest, in
the vicinity of Arroyo de las Palmas, the Pleistocene
deposits have been uplifted to 340 meters above sea
level. The uplift dies out to the southeast in the San
Bruiio plain, where almost no uplift of the Pleistocene
beds has taken place. Eastward tilting or down warp-
45
ing in Arroyo de Santa Agueda has carried ore bed no. 1

of the Boleo formation down to 205 meters below sea
level near the San Luciano mine, while it lies as much
as 170 meters above sea level in Arroyo de la
Providencia.
The Pliocene beds are offset by many faults, which,
with very few exceptions, are normal faults (figs. 26 and
27). Most of them parallel the shoreline and the regional strike of the beds, having an average strike of
N. 10-45 W., although a very few small faults strike
northeast, or in the direction of the dip of the beds.
The faults have an average dip of 65 to 70, ranging
from as little as 48 to nearly vertical. Those of greatest displacement, with only one or two exceptions, dip
southwest, which is also the direction of downthrow,
but a large number of faults of small displacement dip
and are downthrown to the northeast.
The maximum vertical displacement known is about
250 meters along the Santa Agueda fault, near the
mouth of Arroyo de Santa Agueda. This fault has
brought the Comondu volcanics, on the northeast side,
in contact with the Infierno formation on the southwest
side, below which is the whole thickness of the Gloria
and Boleo formations. The San Antonio fault has a
vertical displacement of as much as 80 meters, as shown
by the offset of ore bed no. 3 of the Boleo formation
in the mine workings of the San Antonio mine On the
northeast- side of the fault, and the Santa Rita mine on
the southwest side. Four other faults, the Curuglu,
Juanita, Santiago, and Calera faults, have maximum
displacements of 60 meters, but the rest have offsets
that are less than this and many of them have moved
10 meters or less.
The faults have known lengths of as much as 3
kilometers, as the Curuglu fault, but most of them have
lengths of only a few hundred meters. Some of them
are remarkably short in comparison with their maximum
displacement, and the displacement commonly dies
out rapidly at either end. The mine workings provide
particularly good evidence of the places where individual
faults end a feature that may be difficult to determine
from surface exposures alone.
Table 10 lists the essential data, such as strike, dip,
displacement, and length, for 12 of the principal faults
of the Boleo district, which have been indicated by
name on the geologic map (pi. 1). Many other less
important faults are shown on the geologic map, structure sections (pi. 3), and structure contour map (pi. 4).
One of the most interesting features of the fault
systems is their echelon pattern. The individual faults
commonly die out within short distances along their
length, and the displacement is taken up by other
faults arranged in echelon. In most of these systems,
46
FIGURE 26. Rancheria fault on southeast side of Arroyo de la Providencia, looking toward Raneheria mine. Beds on southwest (right) side of fault displaced
relatively downward 35 meters.
FIGURE 27. Small fault on southeast side of Arroyo del Purgatorio. Southwest (right) side of fault has dropped relatively downward, bringing cliff-forming
sandstone of Gloria formation against tuff :Boleo formation.
47
STRUCTURE
individual faults that terminate to the northwest are

replaced by others whose position is shifted slightly
to the southwest. The in echelon systems might thus
be described as left handed, for the shift in position of
the members is toward the left as one looks along a
particular fault.
One of the best examples of such an echelon system
is that formed, by the San Antonio, Santiago, and San
Guillermo faults. The San Antonio fault, traceable
for 2,500 meters, has a displacement of 80 meters in the
San. Antonio mine in Arroyo de la Soledad. The mine
'workings indicate that this displacement decreases
rapidly southeastward and dies out altogether within
a distance of 1 kilometer from the point of maximum
displacement. The offset is then taken up farther
southeast by the Santiago fault, situated parallel to
the San Antonio fault but 200 meters to the northeast.
The Santiago fault has a maximum displacement of 60
meters near the Santiago shaft, but the displacement
disappears within a distance of 400 meters to the southeast. It is replaced by the San Guillermo fault, situated
150 meters northeast of the Santiago fault, and the San
Guillermo is replaced in turn by another fault situated
slightly farther northeast in Arroyo de la Providencia.
The Santa Agueda fault zone is the same ,,type of
echelon system. The Rancheria and Calera faults,
farther northwest, probably represent the continuation
of the Santa Agueda fault zone.
The major period of faulting, aside from the prePliocene faulting of the Comondu volcanics that was
previously described, probably took place toward the
close of the Pliocene, for the Pleistocene deposits seem
not to be affected by the larger faults. Some faulting
continued or was renewed in Pleistocene or even Recent
time, however, for on the mesas northwest of Arroyo
del Infierno the Tres Virgenes volcanics were observed
to be offset by several very small faults.
TABLE 10. Principal faults in the Boleo copper district
Name of fun 11,
Location
Coordinates of extremities, in motors,

from San Francisco Known
length, in
shaft
motors
Strike
Dip
Maximum
Downdisthrown placeside
ment,
in
meters
Remarks
N.-S.
E.-W.
Carwda do Curuglu, and

branches of Arroyo del
Boleo.
250 N.
3000 N.
3050 W.
4-100 W.
3,050
N. 25 W.
53-73 S\V.
SW.
GO
Separates Curuglu and Amelia

mines. Fault plane well exposed.
Bead of Arroyo do la Solodad at Amelia shaft.
100 N.
2100 N.
2000 W.
3400 W.
2,150
N. 20 W.
75-82 SW.
SW.
40
Displaces ore bed no. 3 (Boleo

formation) as much as 40 meters in Amelia mine.
Toxeoco. ----...- Arroyo do la Solodad, and

branch of Arroyo del Boloo near Texcoco mine.
1000 Nr .
2500 N.
2500 W.
2850 W.
1,550
N. 15 W.
70SW.
SW.
15
Repeats outcrop of ore bed no. 3

(Boleo formation) at north end
of fault.
Lu Ley.......... Arroyo del Purgatorio, near

Lu Ley shaft.
1100 S.
200 N.
1700 W.
2050 \V.
1,350
N. 10 W.
(N. 15 E.N. 25 W.)
65 NE.
NE.
30
Is principal fault having northeast side downthrown.
Southwest side of Corro de

Juanita.
2850 -S.
550 S.
750 E.
850 W.
2,800
N. 35 \V.
(N. 20-50 W.)
Cl-G5 SW.
SW.
60
Echelon system of faults. Forms

southwest border of large mass
of Comondu volcanics.
San Antonio.. .. Arroyo do la Soledad, between San Antonio and

Santa Rita minus.
1950 N.
3750 N.
300 W.
2050 W.
2,500
N. 45 W.
(N. 40-55 W.)
70 SW.
SW.
80
Separates San Antonio and Santa

Rita mines. Displacement decreases rapidly at southeast
end.
SunUiigo. ....... Cafiada de Santiago, on

northwest side of Arroyo
del Purgatorio.
1250 N.
1750 N.
050 E.
200 E.
700
N. 40 W.
70SW.
SW.
00
Arranged in echelon with San

Antonio and San Guillermo
faults. Displacement decreases
rapidly toward both ends.
Sun Quillurino.. Arroyo del Purgatorio and

Canada do San Guillermo,
near San Ouillcrmo shaft.
350 N.
12.50 N.
14.50 E.
750 E.
1,150
N. 40 W.
78 SW.
SW.
15
Part of echelon system. Displacement at northwest end

taken up by many small faults.
Arroyo del M'ontado, at

northeast end of Montado
mine.
2050 S.
1050 S.
3450 E.
2550 E.
1,400
N. 45 W.
(N. 25-55 W.)
70 SW.
SW.
30
Displacement of Gloria and Infierno formations well exposed

in arroyo walls; of ore bed no. 1
(Boleo formation) in mine workings.
Southeast side Arroyo del

Purgatorio, near Corro de
la Calera.
1350 N.
1850 N.
2000 E.
1500 E.
750
N. 45 W.
70SW.
SW.
GO
Possible northwest continuation of

Santa Agueda and Rancheria
echelon system.
Southeast side Arroyo do la

Providencia, at northeast
edge of Rancheria mine.
400 i\T .
050 N.
3150 E.
2850 E.
N. 35 W.
60 SW.
SW.
35
Forms northeast border of Rancheria mine. Northwest continuation of Santa Agueda

echelon zone.
N. 42 W.
48-75 SW.
SW.
250
Fault of greatest displacement in

district. Echelon system. Displacement taken up to northwest by several branching
faults.
Santa Agiicclu... Near mouths of Arroyo dc

Santa Agueda and Arroyo
del Montado.
2750 S.
700 S.
5000 E.
4000 E.
400+
2,000
48

STRUCTURE CONTOUR MAP
A structure contour map (pi. 4) of the Boleo district,

which covers the same area as the geologic map (pi. 1),
shows structure contours on two beds in the Boleo
formation, faults, and exposures of Comondu volcanics,
as well as data on the depth to the surface of the Comondu volcanics in shafts, drill holes, and mine workings. In the mined areas where certain beds are
honeycombed with underground workings, it was
possible to show the structure contours in considerable
detail.
The map is based largely on the detailed mine maps
of the Boleo company, supplemented by information
obtained from surface outcrops. The contours were
drawn first on sheets having a scale of 1:2,000, and then
reduced to a compilation scale of 1:10,000. The ore
beds of the Boleo formation that have been most extensively explored were chosen for the horizons to be
contoured. Thus the contours are drawn at the base
of ore bed no. 3 in the northwest part of the district,
and at the base of ore bed no. 1, which is 115 meters
stratigraphically higher, in the southeast part of the
district. The contours are not projected very far
beyond the limits of the mine workings except where
drill holes or other reliable data provide adequate
control.
Aside from bringing out the fault pattern and regional
tilting more clearly than does the geologic map, the
structure contour map shows in considerable detail
some of the initial structures in the Pliocene beds.
In the northwest area particularly, between the Boleo
and San Agustin shafts, the eastward plunging anticlinal structures, formed over submerged hills, and the
intervening synclinal structures, formed in submerged
valleys, are strikingly revealed. The curving and
steepening of the structure against the northeast side of
Cerro de Juanita is also noteworthy.
QEOMOBPHOLOQY
GENERAL FEATURES
The rounded volcanic hills preserved from pre-Boleo

time project above a general mesa level that forms one
of the dominant topographic features of the region.
The mesas are in turn dissected by a number of deep,
steep-walled arroyos which run northeastward at right
angles to the coast. Between the bottoms of the arroyos and the tops of the mesas are commonly two
distinct terrace levels.
The present erosional surface is still in the stage of
youth in the arid cycle of erosion. This is indicated by
the broad, flattish, undrained or poorly drained areas
that remain on the mesas between the arroyos. When
erosion of the interarroyo areas has proceeded to the
stage when the mesas have largely disappeared, the

stage of maturity will have been reached, and maximum
relief will have been attained.
MESAS
A great contrast exists between the topographic

surface and type of erosion on the mesa tops and in
the arroyos. The mesa tops are flattish or gently rolling
surfaces, surmounted by the rounded hills of Comondu
volcanics. The mesas contain many broad undrained
depressions, which become the site of short-lived shallow
lakes after storms. Some of the drainage lines on the
mesas are meandering and irregular, but others are
long and straight, seeming to follow the lines of recent
faults. The contact between the mesas and the heads
of the arroyos is generally sharp and is commonly
bordered by a steep cliff, which forms the locus of a
waterfall during the infrequent times when water is
present. The arroyos are gradually eating back into
the mesas by headward erosion, but on the mesa tops,
beyond the limits of the arrojôs, erosion appears at
present to be practically at a standstill.
The width of the uneroded mesas still preserved
between the arroyos ranges in general from 500 to 1,000
meters in the inland part of the mapped area of the
Boleo district. Farther northwest, the uneroded mesa
between Arroyo del Infierno and Arroyo de las Palmas
attains a width of 6 kilometers. Near the coast the
mesas have been completely dissected, leaving steep,
narrow ridges between the arroyos, and in part of
that area a typical "badlands" topography has been
developed.
The elevation of the mesas increases in general from
southeast to northwest. Southeast of Arroyo de Santa
Agueda, for example, the mesa level is 90 to 170 meters
above sea level; between Arroyos Santa Agueda and
Infierno it is 190 to 290 meters above sea level; and
northwest of Arroyo del Infierno the mesa attains
elevations of 320 to 430 meters above sea level.
The mesas also increase in elevation inland, but in
an irregular fashion, and in some parts of the area
mapped (pi. 1) the highest parts of the mesa are intermediate between the coast and the inland border of
the map. The differences in level probably represent
in part an irregular initial surface of erosion and deposition, but in part they are due to later differential
uplift and warping. The mesa level cuts obliquely
across different formations, and consequently the
surface was not determined by the structure of any
one formation.
The mesa surface is regarded as mainly of nonmarine
origin, and as representing an uplifted coastal plain
along which debris was accumulated from the Sierra
de Santa Lucia. To the northeast, however, it probably
GEOMORPHOLOGY
49
these depositional surfaces seem to extend indiscriminately across beds of differential resistance without
much visible effect on the form of the surface. A
ARROYOS
depositional terrace may terminate in a terrace level
The sides of the arroyos present two contrasting part way down the slope, giving way below to an
types of surfaces, erosional and depositional. The erosional surface, but in other places a depositional
erosional surfaces are generally steep and intricately surface extends over the entire.side of the arroyo.
An example of the contrast in the two types of surdissected, consisting of narrow-crested ridges separated
by steep ravines. A profile of the arroyo walls drawn faces is illustrated in figure 28, which shows topographic
along the ridges is generally slightly convex upward, contours and profiles of part of the southeast side of
and along the ravines slightly concave upward, but an Arroyo de la Providencia. Areas of rock exposures and
average profile along the slopes is not markedly either areas covered by gravel are distinguished on this map.
concave or convex. It is very irregular in detail and A depositional surface extends in part of this area from
commonly consists of a series of cliffs and benches the mesa down to a terrace level at 140 meters above
determined by the differential resistance of the rock sea level, or 60 meters above the arroyo level. The
layers exposed in the slope. Conglomerate, sandstone) figure shows the strong contrast between the shape of
gypsum, and volcanic rocks are the principal cliff- the contours and of the profile on this depositional surforming layers in the region, and the tuffs and siltstones face and on the erosional surfaces that surround it on
either side.
form more gentle slopes.
The bottoms of the arroyos are flat and wide and are
The depositional surfaces are more gentle, broad,
smooth surfaces, distinctly concave upward in profile, generally covered by alluvium, except where they cross
which terminate downward in one or two gently sloping particularly resistant rocks which form solid outcrops.
terrace levels. They are covered by a layer of gravel The flat arroyo bottoms range most commonly from 100
that buries the underlying rocks, and instead of the to 300 meters in width, exceptionally attaining a width
cliff-and-bench topography of the erosional surfaces, of 500 meters. They are constricted where they cross
merged into a marine plain, just as does the San Bruno

plain that lies near sea level southeast of the Boleo
district.
Alluvium
Erosional surface
Gravel
Contour interval 10 meters

Datum is mean sea level
FIGURE 28. Topographic map and profiles showing contrast between erosional surfaces and depositional surfaces on sides of arroyos. (Southeast side of
Arroyo de la Providencia, near Santa Barbara shaft).
50
Topography by Cib del Boleo and Kenneth Segerstrom
400 Meters
FIGURE 29. Topographic map and profiles showing marine terraces along the coast southeast of Santa Rosalia.
51
PALEOGEOLOGY
areas of Comondu volcanics or of gypsum. A profile

across the arroyos is neither V-shaped nor U-shaped,
but rather is like a flat-bottomed wash basin. The
smaller side canyons, however, are V-shaped and are
still being actively entrenched. The arroyos have an
average grade of about 2 percent within the area covered
by the topographic map (pi. 1), ranging from 0.9 percent in Arroyo de Santa Agueda, the longest arroyo, to
3.3 percent in Arroyo de la Soledad, one of the shortest
arroyos.
TERRACE LEVELS
Two principal intermediate terrace levels are sufficiently widespread and persistent to provide evidence for
temporary base levels of erosion between successive
uplifts. The mesa level itself might be considered as
the oldest terrace level. These terrace levels are found
both along the coast, where they are partly of marine
origin as shown by marine fossils, and along the sides of
the arroyos, where they are of terrestrial origin.
The term "terrace level" is used only in a relative
sense, for the terraces do not lie at a uniform elevation
above sea level, .and indeed it is not to be supposed that
the terraces along the arroyos ever were at the same
elevation. It is reasonable to suppose, however, that
the marine terraces were once topographic levels from
which any present variations ma}7 be attributed to later
tilting or warping, which also modified the nonmarine
terraces. In some places, particularly in Arroyo del
In.fier.no, a number of minor terrace levels appear between the two principal levels mentioned above, but
such levels may form during a normal cycle of erosion
and do not necessarily indicate significant epochs of
stability between successive uplifts.
The marine terraces are well exposed adjacent to the
town of Santa Rosalia, as shown in figure 29. The
lower terrace, used as a site for scattered buildings and
houses, lies between 20 and 40 meters above sea level.
The higher terrace, on which the airport is situated,
lies between 80 and 100 meters above sea level. The
mesa level begins at 180 to 190 meters above sea level
at that place.
The nonmarine terraces are found along almost all
the arroyos of the region, but they are perhaps most
extensively developed in Arroyo de Santa Agueda, as
shown in figure 30. The lower terrace, the site for
the town of San Luciano, lies at 50 to 70 meters above
sea level (10 to 30 meters above the arroyo level), while
the higher terrace lies at 130 to 150 meters above sea
level (90 to 110 meters above the arroyo level). The
mesa level begins at 190 meters above sea level, or 150
meters above the arroyo level. Many more examples
of terraces are shown on the topographic map (pi. 1).
DRAINAGE PATTERNS
The principal arroyos have a subparallel drainage

pattern trending approximately at right angles to the
coast. Their courses show very little relation in detail
to the structure of the beds. It is believed that these
courses were developed on a coastal plain represented
by the present mesa tops, and that uplift caused them
to be entrenched into the underlying beds. At first,
they were simple consequent streams, but now they
may be considered as superimposed. Many of the
smaller side canyons, however, have their courses determined by local structural features, particularly
faults, although in detail the bottom of a canyon commonly diverges slightly from the fault line.
The influence of faults in determining drainage patterns is also notable on the tops of the mesas, where
some of the drainage has a linear pattern, believed to
be determined by recent faults. These fault lines show
up more clearly on aerial photographs than they do
from the ground, but some of the lines have been
traced to the sides of the arrojôs where they prove to
be faults of small displacement. In some places
drainage in opposite directions on a mesa top follows
the same geometric line, a pattern which is considered
good evidence that the drainage was localized by some
structural feature, presumably a fault or major joint.
In large areas where the Comondu volcanics are exposed to erosion, as in the headwaters of Arroyo del
Boleo, a dendritic drainage pattern has developed.
PALEOGEOLOGY
Paleogeology, following Levorsen (1933), is the

science of the geology of ancient time. A palebgeologic
map shows the distribution of geologic formations on
an ancient surface; it is a map showing the formations
that would be exposed if certain overlying layers were
stripped off. The study of paleogeology and of paleogeologic maps has become increasingly emphasized in
recent years, both because of its scientific interest in
the interpretation of the earth's history and because of
its economic importance. The economic applications
have been utilized particularly in the search for petroleum, but important applications can also be made to
the distribution of certain types of ore deposits, as
exemplified in the Boleo district.
In post-Comondu and pre-Boleo time the surface
was completely composed of Comondu volcanics, with
the single exception of a small exposure of quartz monzonite in Arroyo de la Palmas, which projected up
through the volcanic rocks. This exposure was buried
by the Boleo formation and was not again exposed
until the cutting of the arroyo in Recent time. A
paleogeologic map of pre-Boleo time would be prac-
52
Topography by Cla. del Boleo and Kenneth Segerstrorr

Topoyrffo por Ct*. del Boleo f Kenneth Segerstnm
Meters.
Mesa
I_______I

FIGURE 30. Topographic map and profiles showing nonmarine terraces along the northwest side of Arroyo de Santa Agueda, near San Luciano.
53
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
EXPLANATION
Comondu volcanic!
Contact, dashed
where approximately'
Geology by Ivan F. Wilson and Victor S. Rocha
5 Kilometers
FIGUKE 31. Paloogoologic map of the Boleo copper district at the end of early Pliocene (post-Boleo and pre-Gloria) time.
tically uniform, therefore, unless it should be possible

to differentiate the lithologic units of the Comondti
volcanics, but not enough data are available to do this.
A geologic map of the area during post-Boleo and
pre-Gloria time would show a more varied aspect, and
this period has been chosen for making the paleogeologic map given in figure 31. This is a geologic map
of the surface that was preserved at the close of the
eros.io.ual interval following deposition of the Boleo
formation; it attempts to portray the distribution of
the different beds that would be exposed if the Gloria
formation were stripped away, and all effects of
more recent erosion eliminated.
This paleogeologic map is naturally much less
accurate than the surface geologic map (pi. 1),
owing to the relatively meager data on which it is
based. The outline of the areas of Comondti volcanics
that projected above the surface of the Boleo formation
is fairly well known. The other contacts were determined from studies of shafts and drill holes, as well as
outcrops along the sides of the arroyos where in many
places the different members of the Boleo formation
terminate against the Gloria formation. Thus, a
series of scattered points serve as control, but the
contacts between these control points are largely
conjectural.
Figure 31 shows the Comondu volcanics and nine
lithologic units of the Boleo formation. The tuff above
ore bed no. 0 was the unit exposed over most of the
southeast part of the district, but to the northwest
erosion had exposed conglomerates no. 1 and no. 2
and even the tuff above ore bed no. 3 in part of the
area. Basal limestone and gypsum overlying buried
hills were also exposed in pre-Gloria time. The greatest
amount of pre-Gloria erosion was in the northwest part
of the district, where the topography had been more
irregular and uplift greater.
Paleogeologic maps of later periods would show little
of interest. Erosion in post-Gloria and pre-Infierno
time never proceeded sufficiently to remove completely
the Gloria formation, so far as known. A paleogeologic
map of that time would show only broad exposures of
the Gloria formation, interrupted by the same projecting masses of Comondu volcanics, slightly reduced in
area, that were exposed in pre-Gloria time. A paleogeologic map of the post-Infierno and pre-Santa Rosalia
surface would show vast exposures of the Infierno
formation, and, in local areas, the Gloria formation,
interrupted by the same islands of Comondu volcanics,
whose exposures would be still further restricted, though
very slightly, over those of pre-Infierno time.
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
PRB-MIOCBNE HISTORY
Very little is known about the pre-Miocene geologic

history and paleogeography of the Boleo district. The
54
region was invaded by a plutonic batholith, possibly

during Cretaceous time or perhaps earlier. The batholith was exposed at the surface after a long period of
erosion.
The west side of the peninsula of Baja California was
covered by shallow seas during parts of Jurassic, Cretaceous, Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene (?), and early
and middle Miocene time, but no deposits of those ages
are known on the east side of the peninsula in the vicinity of Santa Rosalia. It is not known whether such
deposits once covered the area and were later eroded,
or whether the area stood as a highland during the
periods mentioned. Evidence on this point could perhaps be found in a study of the facies changes in the
sediments on the west side of the peninsula, but the
published data seem too meager to permit drawing any
conclusions.
MIOCENE HISTORY
Extensive volcanism began in the Santa Rosalia area

in middle or late Miocene time. Andesitic and basaltic
flows, breccias, and tuffs (the Comondu volcanics)
accumulated over broad areas. The source of the volcanic eruptions was somewhere in the present Gulf of
California, perhaps near the western margin, so that the
gulf either did not exist at that time or at least had
nothing like its present extent. At intervals between
the volcanic eruptions, clastic material, consisting of
gravel near the gulf and sand farther westward, was
deposited under terrestrial conditions, probably on flood
plains. The geographic conditions at that time were
the reverse of those today, for highlands must have
occupied the present gulf, and the high sierra of the
peninsula must have been a low plain.
The deposition of the volcanic rocks and intercalated
sediments was ended near the close of the Miocene epoch
by deformation the strongest of any known to have
affected the district during the Cenozoic era. Locally,
near the present site of the gulf, the volcanic rocks were
tilted eastward and sliced into blocks by normal faults.
This was accompanied to the east by profound sinking
of the former highlands in the gulf, and to the west by
uplift and westward tilting. Both the sinking and the
uplift were most likely brought about by faulting, the
tilted blocks of the Boleo district representing a fragmented area on the margin between the two major
blocks.
The deformed Comondu volcanics were subjected to
erosion and carved into a dendritic pattern of canyons
with intervening hills and ridges. This erosion had
proceeded only to a stage of late youth or early maturity,
leaving a surface of strong relief, when the region was
invaded by the sea, which encroached westward against
the uplifted mass of Comondu volcanics.
PLIOCENE HISTORY
The first invasion by the sea was during early Pliocene

time.
Aside from local accumulations of detrital
material around the steeper hills, the basal deposit was
an impure limestone. Evidently the submergence of
the region was rapid enough for a thin chemical deposit
to be precipitated before much clastic material was
supplied by erosion. Over local areas thick gypsum
beds were deposited not long after the beginning of
sedimentation.
This chemical deposition was followed by a long
period of clastic sedimentation and by a new period of
volcanism in which tuffaceous material of latitic to
andesitic composition was supplied by volcanic eruptions. The source of the sediments changed from the
east to the west. The clastic sedimentation was of
deltaic type and nonmarine gravels inland gave way to
sandy deposits gulfward. The shoreline gradually receded as the deposits accumulated. This process of
normal clastic deposition was interrupted at least five
times by violent volcanic eruptions which spread
volcanic ash, dust, and lapilli over broad areas, producing at first layers of pure tuff, and later, because of
erosion of the ash-covered land, Ia37ers of reworked tuff.
Toward the end of deposition of the Boleo formation,
copper and manganese minerals were deposited from
solutions in certain of the tuffaceous layers. As will be
explained later, the solutions are believed to have arisen
from the same underlying igneous sources that produced
the volcanism represented by the tuffs of the Boleo
formation.
As a result of the irregular topography on the surface
of the underlying Comondu volcanics, the sediments
of the Boleo formation were deposited with strong
initial dips. Initial anticlinal structures were formed
over submerged hills and initial synclinal structures in
submerged valleys. The shoreline at the time of deposition probably resembled the modern shoreline at
Concepcion Bay, which is also carved in the Comondu
volcanics. It was characterized by irregular bays and
headlands, and offshore by islands and submarine hills.
Toward the close of deposition the basins had been
partly filled and the sediments wedged out against the
buried hills, but a moderate relief of the uppermost
sedimentary layer still existed at the end of deposition.
The structural relief of the higher beds was probably
increased somewhat by differential compaction over
the buried topography.
Early Pliocene deposition was ended by slight uplift,
tilting, and erosion over most of the district, although
part of the gulfward area may have remained below
sea level. The higher parts of the initial structures of
the Boleo formation were planed off, and erosion proceeded through conglomerate no. 2 in certain areas.
55
COPPER DEPOSITS
Tills erosional interval was followed in the middle

Pliocene by another marine invasion, resulting in the
deposition of the sediments of the Gloria formation.
A thin gravel was deposited locally, followed by a
deposit of sand that wedged out along the shore and
thickened and graded into silt and clay gulfward.
Mollusks and echinoids abounded on some of the sandy
beaches, but were less prevalent in the deeper water
where silt and clay were being deposited. The sand
gave way inland to gravel, which was probably deposited, mainly under nonmarine conditions. The gravel
encroached farther gulfward as time went on, indicating
a recession of the shoreline. Volcanism had apparently
ceased for the time being.
Deposition of the Gloria formation was ended at
least locally by slight tilting, uplift, and erosion, which
were not so strong as those that affected the Boleo
formation.
Deposition of the Infierno formation in the late
Pliocene followed the same general pattern as that of
the Gloria formation. A deposit of sand was laid down
which thickened gulfward and wedged out inland.
Shellfish lived in abundance on the sandy shores. The
shoreline in general did not extend quite as far inland
as did that of the middle Pliocene seas. The sand gave
way inland, to gravel which encroached farther gulfward
above the sand as deposition continued.
Deposition of the Infierno formation was ended by
further uplift and tilting, and considerable faulting
probably took place at the same time. This was followed by erosion, which removed the Infierno formation
over certain areas before deposition of the succeeding
Pleistocene beds.
PLEISTOCENE AN!) RECENT HISTORY
Another brief period of marine deposition, that of

the Santa Rosalia formation, took place during the
Pleistocene. Thin deposits of sand and gravel accumulated near the shore, and nonmarine gravels were probably deposited farther inland. The sea probably extended no farther inland than did that of the late
Pliocene.
Deposition of the Santa Rosalia formation was ended
by uplift, tilting, continued or renewed faulting, and
erosion. The Pleistocene marine beds were raised to
as much as 340 meters above sea level near Arroyo del
Infierno, and 250 meters above sea level in the central
part of the Boleo district, but essentially no uplift
occurred farther southeast at the San Bruno plain.
The uplift seems to have taken place in three principal
stages. During and after the uplifts, erosion of the
high sierra to the west resulted in the spreading of
gravel deposits over the mesas and terraces.
The final phase of volcanism began in the Pleistocene
but continued into historic times. Lava flows, pumice,

and welded tuff deposits, first of latitic and later of
basaltic composition, accumulated around the Tres
Virgenes volcanoes and Cerro de Santa Maria, and
cinder cones were formed near Arroyo de las Palmas.
The volcanic activity was partly contemporaneous with
the formation of the gravel and terrace deposits mentioned above.
The most recent event has been erosion, which began
with the uplift mentioned in a previous paragraph and
has continued to the present. The erosion, noteworthy
for its intermittent character, has been confined to the
cutting of arroyos and has not proceeded beyond the
stage of youth. Contemporaneously with the erosion,
alluvium has been deposited locally in the arroyos, in
dry lake beds on the mesas, and on the beaches. The
most extensive Recent deposition has been of delta
deposits, mainly gravels, built at the mouth of the
arroyos.
COPPER DEPOSITS
GENERAL FEATURES
The Boleo copper deposits are thin, gently dipping,

tabular bodies confined to certain relatively impervious
clayey tuff beds of the Boleo formation. There are
five principal ore beds, numbered 0 to 4 from top to
bottom, each underlain by a conglomerate or its gulfward equivalent of tuffaceous sandstone. Most of the
production has come from ore bed no. 3 in the northwest
part of the district and ore bed no. 1 in the southeast
part.
The mined areas, excluding some outlying deposits,
are 11 kilometers long in a northwest direction and
}{ to 3 kilometers wide in a northeast direction. The
best deposits are clustered around the gulfward side of
the projecting hills of the volcanic basement, and the
ore beds decrease in grade and eventually become barren
gulfward.
The primary ore is a soft dark-colored clayey tuff
with a high moisture content. The main primary ore
mineral is finely disseminated chalcocite, with subordinate chalcopyrite, bornite, covellite, and native copper.
In the oxidized zone, extending down to about 25 meters
above sea level, is a great variety of oxides, carbonates,
silicates, and oxj^chlorides, including some rare mineral
species. The main gangue mineral is montmorillonite,
along with manganese and iron oxides and smaller
quantities of gypsum, calcite, chalcedony, and jasper.
Minor metals occurring in notable quantities are zinc,
cobalt, and lead.
GEOLOGIC NATURE OF THE COPPER ORE BEDS
The host rock for the copper ore of the Boleo district
is a highly altered clajêy tuff, through which the copper
minerals are finely disseminated. The original tuff
56
contained fragments of crystals, glass, and volcanic

rocks, but the constituents have been almost entirely
altered to a mass of clay minerals, composed chiefly of
montmorillonite. A characteristic of the ore beds is
their high content of moisture, which commonly ranges
from 25 to 30 percent.
Microscopic examination indicates that the primary
copper minerals, mainly chalcocite, have replaced the
tuff, and that vemlets of chalcocite cut across the layers
of the rock. As pointed out by Locke (1935, p. 410;
see also Touwaide, 1930, p. 142), the chalcocite crystallized after the softening of the rock; that is, after
formation of the clay, for the crystals grew freely in a
manner demanding a soft matrix.
The primary ore at Boleo is deceptive in appearance.
Apart from occasional crystals or grains of chalcopyrite and the bluish-blaick color imparted by faintly
visible chalcocite, there is little to suggest a metallic
ore. The general appearance of a sample of sulfide ore
freshly obtained from the mines is that of a darkcolored, compact, slightly moist clay. Upon exposure
to the atmosphere the clay desiccates and becomes
exceedingly friable, and within a few days it has generally disintegrated into small fragments. The ore
shows the swelling properties of bentonitic clays when
placed in water.
The general color of the sulfide ore is sooty black to
dark gray. This gives way in the lower-grade hangingwall material to medium or light gray, brownish gray,
and reddish brown. A mottled appearance commonly
results from the presence of fragments or bands of
different colors. In zones that have been slightly
oxidized, the normal gray may be mixed with green
and blue, as well as yellowish and reddish tints imparted
by iron oxides. Where chalcocite is sufficiently abundant it may impart a dusky-blue to the ore. The
darkness of the color is used by the miners as a rough
guide to the quality of the ore.
The grain size of the ore material ranges from clayey
to silty and rarely reaches the size of fine sand. Some
of the clayey ore has a distinctly soapy feel and is
called jaboncillo by the miners. Banded and brecciated
structures are common, although some of the best ore
is a massive clay without any visible structure .or texture. Chalcocite is sometimes distributed in the form
of bands. Relict brecciated structures, revealing
angular outlines 0.5 to 2 centimeters in diameter of
original volcanic fragments in the clayey tuff, are
common. Within the fragments an original porphyritic texture is sometimes preserved. The brecciated
structure is more prevalent and coarser grained in the
lower-grade hanging-wall part of the ore bed. Where
laminated structures are present, the individual laminae
are generally not continuous but are contorted and

fragmented into separated wisps.
The ore beds are highly sheared and possess many
slickensides having irregular curved surfaces and
striae. The clayey ore forms the locus of many small
faults and fractures that roughly parallel the bedding
planes. The beds seem to be under a state of strong
internal pressure, which causes pieces to slab off readily
in newly exposed mine workings.
Carbonized plant remains have been noted in the ore
beds, and in places specimens of petrified wood have
been found which are partially replaced by chalcocite.
In run-of-mine samples of ore analyzed by the U. S.
Bureau of Mines, however, the proportion of organic
carbon was found to be surprisingly low, averaging only
0.2 percent in five samples.
The boundaries of the minable ore layers are commonly sharp at the bottom but less so at the top.
The footwall of the ore bed is generally a well-cemented
conglomerate or tuffaceous sandstone, referred to by
the miners as the muro (wall). In many places, however, t'he ore is separated from that t}7pe of rock by a
thin layer of unmineralized, finely laminated sandy or
silty tuff 10 to 50 centimeters thick, which is called
the falso piso (false footwall). The upper contact of
the ore is commonly gradational, and in many places
a considerable thickness of tuff containing a small
proportion of copper lies above the minable ore. During the process of mining, a part of the hanging wall is
usually shoveled out and used as fill in the stopes. In
many of the old mines this fill, or retaque, has later
been found to be high enough in grade to be mined,
and much of the present production of the poquiteros
is coming from such material in the old stopes.
Some typical sections of the primary ore beds, representing each of the six mines that were being operated
in the sulfide zone in 1949, are given, in table 11.
TABLE 11. Sections of ore beds in the sulfide zone of six mines
Thickness
(centimeters)
Copper
content
(percent)
Section (from top to bottom) 2
San Luciano mine, ore bed no. 1; -135-nt level; 4065 S., 4020 E.3
35
0.06
50
3.97
40
8.97
45
2.95
Upper material of hanging wall. Brownish gray. Finegrained relict brecciated structure. Texture silty; slightly
coarser than next lower unit.
Lower material of hanging wall. Medium gray. Fine-grained,
relict brecciated structure; fragments 1 to 3 mm in diameter.
Partly banded; bands irregular and broken. Texture more
silty and less clayey than main ore bed.
Main ore. Grayish-black to black matrix, with medium darkgray fragments and some greenish patches. Relict brecciated structure; angular fragments 1 cm in diameter. Mostly
clay; in part finely banded. Slickensided.
Footwall material. Brownish gray to grayish black. Shows
faint irregular streaks or bands, otherwise massive. Faint
relict brecciated structure in places. Mostly clay.
See footnotes at end of table.
COPPER DEPOSITS
TABLE 11.
Thickness
(centimeters)
Sections of ore beds in the sulfide zone of six mines

Continued
Copper
content
(percent) '
Section (from top to bottom) 2
Kanchcrfn mine, ore bed no. 1;

40
0.10
00
.24
40
5.57
25
17.0
22-m level; 403 N., 2970 E.
Upper material of hanging wall. Medium gray, with brownish-gray fragments. Relict brccciatecl structure; fragments
mostly less than 0.5 cm in diameter. Slightly banded.
Lower material of hanging wall. Light gray to medium gray,
with a tinge of brownish gray in brecciatod part. Finely
laminated clay with relict brecciated structure; fragments
0.5 cm in diameter or less.
Upper part of ore. Medium gray to dark gray. Relict brccciatecl structure; fragments generally 0.5 cm in diameter or
less. Irregular banding in part. Texture clayey.
Lower part of ore. Black, with a slight dusky blue tinge.
Chalcocito and chalcopyritc in minute crystals, visible to
unaided eye. Massive clay; no relict structures visible.
Heavy. This was the richest specimen of sulflde ore found
in the mines.
El Cuurcntn mine, ore bed no. 1; 43-m level; 214 N., 2578 E.
40
0.13
80
1.09
35
0.55
Upper material of hanging wall. Medium gray. Relict

brecciated structure, with some laminated wisps, and dark
clay fragments. Texture mainly silty.
Lower material of hanging wall. Very light gray. Relict
brecciated structure, with fragments of darker clay 2 to 3
mm in diameter; also brecciated laminated wisps. Texture
mainly silty.
Main ore. Mettled black and green. Massive clay; no relict
brecciated structure. Black part is clayey to silty, faintly
laminated, black to dark gray, with a few patches of lighter
gray. Green part is massive clay; appears to contain some
oxidized copper minerals; also limonitic in part.
Sun Guillermo mine, ore bed no. 3; 15-m level; 49 N., 1498 E.
00
3.24
05
4.72
50
7.47
35
.13
Hanging wall material. Light gray, with dark-gray and reddish streaks. Laminated silty clay with relict brecciated
structure; laminae are partly brecciated.
Upper part of ore. Dark gray or brownish gray, with reddish
fragments. Relict brecciated structure; fragments as much
as 1 cm in diameter. Partly laminated; laminae are brecciated. Texture mostly clayey. Many slickensides.
Lower part of ore. Black. M'ostly a dense clay, with a few
irregular elongated areas of light-gray material having a finely
laminated and brocciatcd structure. A few reddish clayey
areas. Many slickensides; soapy feel.
Footwall material (falso piso). Mottled colors limonitic yellow, hematitic red, greenish, brownish gray. Laminated
clay with relict brecciated structure.
La China mine, ore bed no. 3; 38 -m level; 34G S., 1425 E.

05
1.37
40
0.25
40
4.05
Hanging wall material. Mottled color; mostly reddish brown

to brownish gray, in part dark gray. Relict brecciated
structure; fragments as much as 2 cm in diameter. Texture
silty to clayey.
Miiin ore. Dark gray, with some reddish fragments. Some
relict brecciated structure with fragments as much as 0.5
cm in diameter. Texture clayey to fine silty. Many
slickensides with irregular curved surfaces and striae.
.Footwall material. Highly mottled colors; dark gray matrix,
with fragments of very light gray, limonitic yellow, and
reddish brown. Relict brecciated structure; fragments 0.5
to 2 cm in diameter. Texture clayey to silty.
San Victor mine, ore bed no. 3; 0-m level; 857 S., 1552 E.
75
3.02
70
12.7
00
3.02
Hanging-wall material. Light brownish gray, with reddishbrown and a few greenish fragments. Relict brecciated
structure; fragments as much as 1 cm in diameter. Texture
of matrix silty; some fragments are clayey.
Upper part of ore. Black. Missive clay, in part silty. No
relict structure visible. Slickensidcd.
Lower part of ore. Dark gray to nearly black. Texture clayey
and silty, with a few elongated, slightly laminated fragments
1 cm thick and 4 cm long, of light-gray silty material. These
fragments contrast strongly with the rest of the rock.
1 Copper analyses by U. S. Bureau of Mines. Dry basis.

s Sections measured and described by Ivan F. Wilson.
8 Levels are In meters above or below sea level. Coordinates are in meters from San
Francisco shaft.
57
The ore minerals have been rather thoroughly oxidized down to the level, of the water table, which was
originally about 25 meters above sea level in the northwest part of the district and 7 meters above sea level
in the southeast part. No sharp dividing line separates the oxidized and sulfide zones, however, and much
of the ore is a mixture of the two types of minerals. In
some of the mines near the water table, notably in pai t
of the Providencia group of mines, the ore bed consists
of a thin layer of sulfide ore at the base, overlain by a
thicker zone of oxidized ore. In the deepest mine in
the district, the San Luciano, which extends to 185
meters below sea level, the ore is mainly of the sulfide
type but contains a few oxidized minerals as thin films
along fractures in the rock.
In the oxidized zone the copper minerals are commonly irregularly distributed in the form of bands,
lenses, or nodules. Prominent nodules, or boleos, of
carbonate and oxide minerals led to the discovery of
and provided the name for the Boleo district.4 The
oxidized ore is generally bluish or greenish because of
the copper carbonates and silicates, but reddish and
black colors caused by ferruginous and manganiferous
layers are also common. In order to give an idea of
the oxidized ore beds in the older and richer mines
which are now inaccessible, sketches of some typical ore
faces in those mines as given by Saladin (1892, pi. 2,
fig. 1) are reproduced in figure 32.
The specific gravity of the ore ranges from 2.1 to 2.5,
according to six determinations made by the U. S.
Bureau of Mines of samples collected by the senior
author. The Boleo company has found that the
specific gravity of the ore in place, for the purpose of
making calculations of tonnages, ranges from 2.0 to 2.1
for different ore beds. The temperature of fusion of
the ore has been determined as 1050 C.
STBATIGBAPHIC AND ABE&i'DISTRIBUTION OF THE
OBE BEDS
''jw"';..
The ore beds are found at several different horizons

in the Boleo formation, each underlain by conglomerate
or tuffaceous sandstone and overlain by a tuffaceous
sequence that grades upward from clayej^ tuff into
sandy tuff (figs. 33 and 34). The five principal ore
beds have been numbered 0 to 4 from top to bottom.
In addition to the numbered ore beds, an ore bed called
the Sin Nombre, occurring a short distance below ore
bed no. 1 and locally coalescing with it, is known only
in part of the Montado mine; and another ore bed
called the Falsa Tercera, which lies a short distance
above and locally joins ore bed no. 3, is known only
4 The most common definition of the Spanish term boleo is bowling green, but in
mining terminology, at least in Mexico, the word is also used for nodule or concretion.
58
Porvenir
(California-Lugor da)
La Ley
Son Francisco
Sontog (Providencio )
Mangoniferous ore o
Copper 18.05 percent^
FIGURE 32. Sketches showing distribution of ore in the working faces of some old mines in the oxidized zone of ore bed no. 3 (after Saladin, 1892, pi. 2, fig. 1).
FIGUKE 33. Ore bed no. 3 on the northwest side of Arroyo del Boleo near the old Boleo shaft, now caved. Outcrops of ore have been mined in open cuts.
The ore bed rests on conglomerate, which forms cliffs to right.
COPPER DEPOSITS
59
FIGURE 34. Manganifcrous ami erru.uinui^ 1'i'ds u I !H' simt hra^t >Mr uf Ai M>V(, del Boleo near the old Buena Suerte mine. On1, beds are 1 1
layers enclosed in lighter colored tulV. These beds are too low in grade to be minable.
in the vicinity of the Santa Rita mine. At some places

other unnumbered ore beds, usually of poor quality,
occur at intermediate horizons in the tuffaceous beds.
The outcrops of the principal ore beds, indicated by
number wherever possible, are shown on the geologic
map (pi. 1), and their subsurface position is given in
the structure sections (pi. 3). The subsurface position
in plan view of the principal ore beds mined no. 3
in the northwest part of the district and no. 1 in the
southeast part is indicated on the structure contour
map (pi. 4). The distribution of the productive areas
of the different ore beds is shown on the general mine
map (pi. 9). Data on the ore beds cut in the shafts
and drill holes are given in the columnar sections (pis.
5-8). Data on the stratigraphic intervals between the
ore beds have been given in the description of the Boleo
formation and illustrated in figures 9 and 18.
The ore beds are not of uniform extent, and as pointed
out in the description of stratigraphy in this report,
the distribution of any particular bed depends mainly
on the unconformities both above and below the Boleo
formation, as well as recent erosion. Ore bed no. 4
occurs only locally in the northwest part of the area,
and ore bed no. 3 is confined to the area extending
northwest from Arroyo de la Provideneia. Ore bed no.
2 is^the most widespread, although in part of the area
323059 55
it disappears over irregularities of the basement and

in a few places it had been removed from the top of the
Boleo formation before deposition of the Gloria formation. This erosion also has removed ore bed no. 1 over
wider areas and has removed ore bed no. 0 from the
entire area northwest of Arroyo del Purgatorio.
The average stratigraphic section of the Boleo formation in the northwest part of the district consists of ore
beds nos. 1, 2, and 3, with ore bed no. 4 present only
locally, while in the southeast part of the district the
section consists of ore beds nos. 0, 1, and 2. The relationship of the section in the northwest part of the district to that in the southeast part is shown in structure
sections A-A' and B-B' of plate 3.
Aside from differences in the areal distribution of the
ore beds, variations in the mineralization have been
such that the different ore beds are productive in different areas. With a few exceptions, only one bed is
minable in a given area.
By far the most important ore bed is no. 3, which
yielded 83.3 percent of the total production recorded
for individual ore beds through 1947. Nearly all the
important mines in the northwest part of the district,
extending northwestward from Arroyo de la Provideneia
across Arroyos Purgatorio arid Soledad to Arroyo del
Boleo, are in this ore bed, and they form, in general, a
60
TABLE ] 2. Averages of determinations of thickness and grade of ore in the Boleo copper district, calculated for individual mines and ore beds
Average thickness of ore
(centimeters)
Average grade of ore indicated by assays (percent

of copper)
Average grade of ore, deducting 25 percent from

assays as a dilution factor 1 (percent of copper)
Stoped
areas
All
areas
Stoped
areas
Unstoped
areas
All
areas
Stoped
areas
Unstoped
areas
All
areas
6.0
3.3
5.6
5.9
1.3
5.5
5.8
6. 1
2.8
3.3
4. 1
4.6
3.9
2.5
3.5
3.5
1.0
3.2
3.8
4.3
2. 1
2.5
3.1
4.5
2.5
4.2
4.4
1.0
4.1
4.3
4.6
2.1
2.5
3.1
2,060
241
99
481
1, 137
14
659
738
257
39
32
13
2, 301
99
1,098
3,478
14
1,758
2,539
362
39
32
13
3.5
1.0
3.6
3.1
4.4
1.0
4.3
3.1
3,005
1,958
14
1,725
13
6, 976
14
4,730
13
3.5
4.3
8,023
3,710
11,733
Name of mine and no. of ore bed
Stoped Uns toped All

areas
areas
areas
Unstoped
areas
Number of determinations
of thickness and grade
Averages for individual mines

77
74
73
87
87
66
68
58
58
66
63
58
70
52
64
69
61
76
58
67
71
63
76
82
56
64
69
61
6.1
~6.~3~
6.6
~6.Y
6.1
6.8
5.2
3.3
4.7
4.6
1.3
4.3
5.0
5.8
2.8
3.3
4. 1
4." 7
4.9
~4.Y
4.6
5. 1
"617
2,341
1,"699
1,801
105
Averages for individual ore beds

75
Ore bed no 4 ^
80
64
63
63
61
72
63
78
61
6.3
~6.T
4.7
1.3
4.8
4.1
5.9
1.3
5.7
4. 1
4.7
~4.6
5.8
4.7
5,018
Averages for all mines and ore beds

79
64
74
6.3
4.7
1 It has been found from experience that the grade of ore as sampled in the mines
Is approximately 25 percent higher than the grade of ore as shipped to the smelter
because of the admixture of waste during the mining operations.
2 Averages for ore beds no. 2 and no. 4 are not representative for these beds as a
whole, because of the small number of samples available.
single large intercommunicated area of mine workings.

Ore bed no. 1, situated 115 meters stratigraphically
above no. 3, is the second most important producer,
having yielded 16.6 percent of the production classified
by individual ore beds through 1947. This bed is
productive only in the southeast part of the area, where
ore bed no. 3 is absent. It has been mined in continuous workings extending from Arroyo de la Providencia
southward across Arroyo del Montado to Arroyo de
Santa Agueda. Both ore beds no. 3 and no. 1 have
been mined in Arroyo de la Providencia, but the mined
area of ore bed no. 3 is farther inland than that of ore
bed no. 1.
Ore bed no. 2 is widely distributed but generally thin
and has been mined only in a few small areas. The
principal area is in a narrow belt along the gulfward
side of Cerro de Juanita, between Arroyos Providencia
and Purgatorio. Most of this area covers a part of the
mined area of ore bed no. 3 and constitutes the principal
exception to the statement that, in general, only one
ore bed is productive in a particular area. The recorded
production from ore bed no. 2 is less than 0.1 percent
of the total production of the district, but much of the
production from this ore bed has not been separatel}7
recorded.
Ore bed no. 4 has yielded a very small but unrecorded production, mainly from small mines in part of
Arroyo del Boleo and Canada de la Gloria, northwest
of the principal part of the copper district. Ore bed
no. 0 has never been mined. A small production from

the Sin Nombre ore bed in part of the Montado mine
has been combined with the production figures for ore
bed no. 1, and likewise a small production from the
Falsa Tercera ore bed in part of the Santa Rita mine
has been included in the figures for ore bed no. 3.
Although ore bed no. 1 lies 115 meters stratigraphically above ore bed no. 3, the mine workings in ore bed
no. 1 are not, peculiarly enough, any higher in elevation
than those in ore bed no. 3; on the contrary, they are
generally lower. The highest workings that are in
ore 209 meters above sea level are in ore bed no. 3,
in the Amelia mine in the northwest part of the district;
the lowest workings in. ore 182 meters below sea
level are in ore bed no. 1, in the San Luciano mine in
the southeast part of the district. This is a result of
differential tilting and warping of the Boleo formation,
which lies at higher elevations in the northwest part
of the district than in the southeast part.
THICKNESS OF QBE
The thickness of minable ore is different from bed to

bed and place to place, but the average thickness for
the district as a whole is probably close to 80 centimeters. According to 11,733 measurements, made
chiefly in mines that have been worked during the past
30 years, the average thickness for all ore beds is 79
centimeters in the areas that have been stoped, compared with 64 centimeters in areas that have been left
COPPER DEPOSITS
unstoped. In the stoped areas included in these

measurements, ore bed no. 1 has an average thickness
of 75 centimeters, and ore bed no. 3 has an average
thickness of 86 centimeters. In the older mines that are
not represented by these measurements, such as part of
the Providencia, California-Lugarda, Amelia, and San
Agustin mines, the thickness of ore bed no. 3 ranged
between 1 and 2 meters in many places, and in a few
local a,reas it is said to have reached as much as 5 meters.
The minimum thickness of ore that can be mined has
been considered to be approximately 60 centimeters,
although, in a few places even thinner ore has been
worked. In the area explored by drill holes in ore bed
no. 1, down the dip from the San Luciano mine, the ore
bed lias an average thickness of 50 centimeters. Table
12 presents the averages of all the thickness determinations available, together with determinations of the
grade of ore, summarized for individual mines, individual ore beds, and the district as a whole.
GRADE OF ORE
The grade of ore, like the thickness, varies greatly

from bed to bed and place to place. The average
grade of all the ore mined from 1886 to 1947, weighted
for tonnages, was 4.81 percent of copper. 5
The average grade has varied considerably in the
course of mining operations, and the ore mined in the
earliest years was much higher in grade than that
mined in later years. Thus the average grade of ore
mined during various epochs was 9.58 percent of copper
in 1886, 7.81 percent from 1886-93, 5.43 percent from
1894 to 1916, 5.05 percent from 1917-25, 4.52 percent
from 1926-32, and 3.83 percent from 1933-47. The
lowest average grade for any particular year was 3.10
percent in 1939-40; since then the grade of ore mined
has increased somewhat, to an average of 4.05 percent
in 1946-47, because of reworking of the older and
richer mines by the poquiteros. The average grade of
ore mined during each year of operation by the Boleo
company is included in table 27, and the trend of grade
of ore through the years is shown graphically in figure 38.
The grade of ore mined before the advent of the
Compagnie du Bol6o in 1886 was much higher than
that indicated above, judging from early reports such
as those by Tinoco (1874, 1885) and by Bouglise and
Cumenge (1885). At that time the ore was shipped
directly to Europe without concentration or smelting,
and it was not considered profitable to ship ore containing less than 20 percent of copper. Although a
considerable amount of sorting was doubtless necessary
to produce such high-grade ore, the copper content of
5 All the analyses for copper discussed in this report, unless otherwise noted, are
on a wet basis, which is the basis customarily used by the Boleo company in its records
of ore shipments and on its assay maps. On a dry basis, the percent of copper would
be Increased by H to \'\ In most of the analyses.
61
the ore mined at that time must nevertheless have been

high, for a considerable tonnage of material was discarded that averaged 8 percent of copper. Tinoco
(1885) estimated that the average copper content of
some 60,000 tons of ore shipped before 1884 was about
24 percent. Moreover, Fuchs (1886a, p. 85; 1886b, p.
419) gives an analysis of an average of 180 samples
taken from all the mines being worked in 1884, which
shows a content of 15 percent of copper.
Large areas of the ore beds have a grade much lower
than the 4.8-percent average of the ore mined to date.
Some of these are unstoped areas in, the mines, and
others are beyond the limits of the mines. Particularly
down the dip toward the gulf from the areas mined are
large bodies of ore that average about 2 percent of
copper. These are the areas that seem to hold the
greatest promise for the future, if some method could
be found of concentrating the Boleo ores or otherwise
working such lower-grade ores at a profit. The grade
continues to decrease farther gulfward to 1 percent
and less, until the beds become virtually barren of
copper.
Most of the mines worked during the past 30 years
or so have been sampled in considerable detail by the
Boleo company, and the results, as averaged by the
writers for different mines and ore beds, have been
given in table 12.
It should be pointed out that the assays forming the
basis for table 12 represent only the mines that have
been worked in the past 20 to 30 years principally
the San Luciano, Montado, and Rancheria mines in
ore bed no. 1, and the lower levels of the Purgatorio,
Santa Rita, and San Antonio mines in ore bed no. 3.
No assay maps are available for the older mines in ore
bed no. 3, such as the California-Lugarda, Humboldt,
Amelia, and San Agustin mines, the older parts of the
Purgatorio and Santa Rita mines, and most of the
Providencia mine. Both the average thickness and
the average grade of ore in these older mines are
believed to have been higher than the averages presented in table 12. Examples of the thickness and
grade of ore shown by the working faces in some of
these older mines in ore bed no. 3 have been presented
in figure 32.
Some reports on the Boleo district have remarked on
the uniformity of the grade of ore. In the writers'
opinion this has been overemphasized; on the contrary,
there seems to be a considerable lack of uniformity, if
one compares different parts of the district, different
ore beds, the history of the grade of ore mined as a
whole, or even the variations along a given working in
a particular ore bed.
A lack of uniformity is indicated most strikingly by
the assay maps of particular mine workings, which
62
show great differences among individual analyses. To

cite an example of a single mine working from among
the_several hundred recorded, a series of 76 determinations of thickness and grade along a particular working
of the Montado mine is given in table 13. The samples
were taken at intervals of approximately 4 meters along
each side of an inclined working, which follows the dip
of the ore bed downward to the east.
TABLE 13. Example of differences in thickness and grade of
ore bed along a particular mine working (5th incline 10
Pedregoso, Montado mine, ore bed no. 1)
North side of working
South side of -working
Thickness
Copper
Thickness
Copper
(centimeters') (percent) (centimeters) (percent)
78
5.4
3.4
90
40
6.6
3.5
90
90
4.9
5.4
97
60
9.1
5.0
95
80
8.2
11.0
80
57
4.9
2.7
105
90
6.7
5.0
75
60
7.4
7.1
48
45
3.6
5.5
88
30
4.8
10.8
70
60
7.1
20
8.3
60
10.5
9.7
60
40
8.4
10.2
75
70
6.6
3.3
40
105
2.7
3.2
45
105
4.5
4.4
100
60
4.2
3.8
65
90
1.1
3.9
25
4.9
80
8.9
85
25
6.4
6.8
60
35
4.8
40
6.2
30
6.1
25
9.1
20
3.1
2.8
40
30
20
1.8
3.0
25
9.5
8.1
20
25
3.2
6.6
35
20
3.4
6.0
30
25
2.9
10
6.5
20
4.7
.3
20
20
.2
6.7
30
9.4
20
20
.7
4.3
36
.2
85
2.7
0.6
40
30
30
9.S
18.2
40
70
15
7.8
.6
30
32. 7.
20
.5
56
1.8
3.9
52
7.6
3.9
30
70
Average of entire'working: Thickness, 51 cm; copper, 5.7 percent
Although the average grade weighted for thickness

along this working is 5.7 percent of copper,6 the limits
ranged from as little as 0.2 percent in one sample to as
much as 32.7 percent in another. Although the range
is not everywhere so great as in the example cited, most
of the detailed assay maps show considerable difference
in successive samples along a given working.
ORE BED NO. 0
Ore bed no. 0, the uppermost ore bed of the Boleo

formation, is fairly extensive but is nowhere sufficiently
rich to be mined commercially. It is the poorest of
the numbered ore beds, is generally less than half a
meter thick, and is commonly manganiferous or
ferruginous. In places it contains a few streaks of
copper minerals, but the grade is nowhere known to be
as high as 1 percent of copper.
6 If one weights the seemingly erratic high assays of 18.2 and 32.7 percent by reducing
them to twice the mean, the weighted average would become 5.4 percent of copper.
The ore bed crops out intermittently over a length of

600 meters on the southeast side of Arroyo del Purgatorio, southeast of the San Francisco shaft. Both to
the northeast and northwest, the bed is cut out by the
unconformity below the Gloria formation; it is missing
in the entire area northwest of Arroyo del Purgatorio.
Scattered outcrops appear along the southeast side of
AiToyo de la Providencia, extending for a length of 2
kilometers northeast of the Juanita fault. No other
outcrops could be definitely assigned to this ore bed.
Ore bed no. 0 was found in 42 of the exploratory holes
drilled in Arroyos Santa Agueda and Montado, but
without exception it was considered too thin and much
too low in grade to be mined commercially. In hole
no. 2 it had a thickness of 30 centimeters and contained
0.06 percent of copper; in hole no. 3 it was 1.20 meters
thick and showed, 0.21 percent of copper, and in hole
no. 33 it was 30 centimeters thick and assayed 0.15
percent of copper. A manganiferous bed cut in the
San Julio shaft may also be correlated with ore bed
no. 0; this ore bed had a trace of copper, 2.11 percent
of FeO, and 11.40 percent of MnO. Ore bed no. 0
was also penetrated in some of the inclined shafts in
the Rancheria and Montado mines, but in those places
the bed was likewise considered unprofitable to mine.
ORE BED NO. 1
Ore bed no. 1 is second in importance to no. 3 as a

producer of ore in the Boleo district, having yielded a
recorded total of 2,045,537 tons of ore from 1886 to
1947, or 16.6 percent of the total production of the
ore that was classified by individual mines for that
period. 7 This ore bed is one of the most extensive in
the district but has been productive only in the southeast area, southeast of Arroyo del Purgatorio. In the
Rancheria, Montado, and San Luciano mines, ore bed
no. 1 has been mined in a nearly continuous area extending from the southeast side of Arroyo de la Providencia southward across Arroyo del Montado to
Arroyo de Santa Agueda, a distance of 5.6 kilometers.
The width of mining reaches a maximum of 1,300
meters in the Rancheria mine, averages 300 meters in
the Montado mine, and averages 600 meters in the San
Luciano mine. The mine workings range in elevation
from 124 meters above sea level to 64 meters below
sea level in the Rancheria mine, and from 59 meters
above sea level to 28 meters below sea level in the
Montado mine. In the San Luciano mine the area
mined is farther down the dip of the ore bed, and the
workings in ore range in elevation from 59 to 182 meters
below sea level.
As compared with the mines in ore bed no. 3, the
7 Of che total production of 13,722,192 tons of ore from 1886 to 1947, some 1,412,613
tons was unclassified as to individual mines or ore beds.
63
COPPER DEPOSITS
area mined in ore bed no. 1 is much, narrower, and the

areas stoped are more sporadic and make up a smaller
proportion of the area explored, a result of the generally
lesser thickness and lower grade of the ore bed.
Assay maps of the three principal mines in ore bed
no. 1 show an average thickness of 75 centimeters of
ore in areas that have since been stoped, and 64 centimeters in areas that were left unstoped. The average
grade is 6.3 percent of copper in stoped areas and 4.7
percent in unstoped areas. These figures are reduced
to 4.7 and 3.5 percent, respectively, after deducting
a dilution factor of 25 percent. The grade of ore
shipped to the smelter from the mines in ore bed no. 1
averaged 5.9 percent of copper in 1909, 5.5 percent in
1919, and about 5 percent in 3926, but it dropped to
about 4 percent from 1935 to 1948.
Northwest of Arroyo de la Providencia, ore bed no. 1
has been exploited only in one small mine, the Cinco
de Mayo, on the southeast side of Arroyo del Purgatorio.
In much of the northwest area, ore bed no. 1 has been
removed by erosion below the unconformity at the
base of the Gloria formation.
Ore bed no. 1 does not crop out in the mined area
that extends southward from Arroyo de la Providencia
to Arroyo de Santa Agueda, as the Boleo formation is
buried in that area by younger sediments. The ore
bed was explored in that area by mine workings and
drill holes, and it was found to extend over a considerable area down the dip eastward from the Montado
and San Lucia.no mines, but it is considered to be too
deep, too thin, and too low in grade to be minable in
that area.
SIN NOMBRE ORE BED
An ore bed called the Sin Nombre (no name) appears

only in the western part of the Montado mine. It is
from 3 to 10 meters stratigraphically below ore bed
no. 1, with which it coalesces locally. It has been explored along the strike for 1,200 meters but mined for
a length of only 350 meters and for widths of 50 to
100 meters.
Although not extensive, the Sin Nombre ore bed
was rich, locally. Exact data on thickness and grade
a.re not available, but the ore was considered to be
some of the best found in the Montado mine and it is
said to have contained about 7 percent of copper.
The rich ore seems to disappear rapidly, however, along
both the strike and dip. In general the areas stoped
in the Sin Nombre and no. 1 ore beds are different,
but in part they overlap along the eastern edge of the
Sin Nombre stoped a,rea. The production from the
Sin Nombre bed is unknown, as it was combined with
the rest of the production from the Montado mine.
The bed is not known to crop out anywhere in the
Boleo district.
UNCORRELATED MANGANIFEROUS BEDS
A few manganiferous beds, which in places contain

small quantities of copper, are found here and there at
different horizons in the tuff between ore beds nos. 1
and 2, as well as between ore beds nos. 2 and 3. These
beds are generally discontinuous, thin, low in grade,
and have nowhere been exploited. They are shown on
the geologic map (pi. 1) in several places, particularly
in Arroyo del Boleo. A manganiferous bed between
ore beds nos. 1 and 2 was noted in drill hole no. 56, and
some manganiferous bands with traces of copper, lying
between ore beds nos. 2 and 3, were noted in the Santa
Rita shaft. Some thin manganiferous and ferruginous
beds near the mouth of Arroyos Boleo and Soledad are
of uncertain correlation. They appear to be without
commercial value.
ORE BED NO. 2
Ore bed no. 2 is one of the most widespread in the

district, but it is generally so thin that it has been
exploited only in comparatively small areas. The
records indicate a production from mines in this ore
bed of only 6,218 tons of ore, which is less than 0.1
percent of the total for the district from 1886 to 1947,
but these figures are incomplete as some production
was combined with that from ore bed no. 3.
The principal area mined in ore bed no. 2 is a narrow
belt along the northeast side of the volcanic mass of
Cerro de Juanita, extending northward from the north
side of Arroyo de la Providencia to the south side of
Arroyo del Purgatorio. Much of this area overlies
the mined area of ore bed no. 3 in the Providencia mine.
The mine in ore bed no. 2 in this area is called Providencia at the south end and Purgatorio at the north
end, but the mine workings are continuous from one
arroyo to the other. A smaller area mined in ore bed
no. 2 on the north side of Arroyo del Purgatorio is
called the Margarita mine, and two small mines farther
northwest in Arroyos Soledad and Boleo are called the
Artemisa and Prosperidad mines, respectively.
Exact figures on grade of ore in the mines in ore bed
no. 2 are not available, but most of the ore mined presumably contained not less than 4 to 5 percent of copper. Some of it must have been richer, for the ore
bed along the northeast flank of Cerro de Juanita was
one of the earliest mined, and Saladin (1892, p. 20-21)
states that in Arroyo de la Providencia this bed provided some ore that contained 20 to 25 percent of
copper. The thickness exposed in the outcrops and
mine workings now open is generally half a meter or
less, although it may have attained a meter or perhaps
more in the oldest mines. The thickness and grade of
ore decrease rapidly down the dip toward the gulf.
All the mines in ore bed no. 2 are in the zone of
oxidized minerals. Many of the ores in this bed are
64
manganiferous and also in part siliceous. This ore bed

contained many of the concretionary bodies of copper
carbonate and oxide minerals which were called boleos
and which led to the discovery of the district.
Ore bed no. 2 crops out extensively along the walls
of many of the arroyos, such as Boleo, Soledad, Purgatorio, and to a lesser extent Providencia. Southeast
of the latter it is buried below the arroyo levels, but it
has been cut in some of the drill holes in Arroyos Santa
Agueda and Montado. The ore bed was found in 11
holes in that area, but in most it was reported to be
too low in grade to warrant assaying. In hole no. 3
in Arroyo de Santa Agueda it has a thickness of 1.25
meters and an average copper content of 1.80 percent,
ranging from 1.20 to 3.36 percent, and in hole no. 4
it has a thickness of 1.2 meters and a grade of 0.20
percent of copper. In hole no. 29 in Arroyo del
Montado the ore bed is 60 centimeters thick and contains traces of copper. A bed cut in the San Julio
shaft, probably correlative with no. 2, contains 0.5 to
1.0 percent of copper, besides considerable manganese
and iron.
Ore bed no. 2 was also penetrated in the Santa
Maria, San Jose, Indios, San Roberto, and San Marcelo
shafts, but in none of those was it considered to be
exploitable. In the San Jose inclined shaft of the San
Antonio mine, it has a reported grade of 0.64 percent
of copper, and in the San Roberto shaft in Arroyo del
Purgatorio, it has a thickness of 95 centimeters and a
grade of 0.45 percent of copper. Ore bed no. 2 was
explored in a long working in the Rancheria mine, near
the San Marcelo shaft, at a depth of 53 to 60 meters
below the mined area of ore bed no. 1 in that mine.
This working follows the ore bed down the dip, between elevations of 8 and 50 meters below sea level,
for a distance of 450 meters. In that area the bed
has an average thickness of 63 centimeters and an
average grade of 1.3 percent of copper, based on a
series of 14 determinations.
If it should become possible to work thinner and
lower-grade ores in the Boleo district, certain unmined
areas in ore bed no. 2 might become exploitable, particularly in the northwest part of the district, from
Arroyo de la Providencia northwestward to Arroyo del
Boleo. Although the bed is comparatively thin, it
has the advantage of lying above the arroyo levels in
most of the northwest area and is thus readily accessible from the arroyo walls.
FALSA TERCERA ORE BED
An ore bed called the Falsa Tercera (false'third) is

found in the northwest part of the district, in parts of
Arroyos Soledad and Boleo. This bed, shown on pis. 1
and 3 as ore bed 3a, is in tuff a short distance ebove ore
bed no. 3. The stratigraphic interval between the two

ore beds averages about 4 meters but ranges from 1 to 9
meters, and locally the beds join. The Falsa Tercera
bed has been exploited in the northeast part of the
Santa Rita mine, in the Buena Suerte mining area.
The production figures for this ore bed have been combined with the production from ore bed no. 3 in the
Santa Rita mine.
In the Santa Rita mine the Falsa Tercera bed has
been explored for 1 kilometer along the strike, from outcrops on the southeast side of Arroyo del Boleo southeastward to the vicinity of the Santa Natalia shafts.
The area stoped has a length of 500 meters and extends
down the dip for an average width of 100 meters, reaching a maximum of 250 meters. The workings lie at
elevations of 38 to 123 meters above sea level. In
general, the area stoped in the Falsa Tercera ore bed is
distinct from that in ore bed no. 3, but in places the two
beds have been stoped in the same area.
A series of 93 determinations of thickness and grade
of the Falsa Tercera ore bed along and near the 55-meter
level in the Santa Rita mine, in an area that is mainly
unstoped, indicates an average thickness in that area of
43 centimeters of ore having an average grade of 5.4
percent of copper. Elsewhere the thickness decreases,
in places to 20 centimeters; this is the main reason for
the limited exploitability of this ore bed. The average
grade of the ore produced from the Falsa Tercera is said
to have been about 5 percent of copper.
Outcrops of the Falsa Tercera bed were noted in
places along the south side of Arroyo del Boleo. The
ore bed was found in several workings in the San Antonio
mine, east of the Santa Rita mine in Arroyo de la
Soledad, but it was not considered exploitable in that
area. It was penetrated at a level of 148 meters above
sea level in the San Agustin shaft in Arroyo de la Soledad, where it is said to have a thickness of 20 centimeters.
ORE BED NO. 3
Ore bed no. 3 is by far the most important in the Boleo

district in terms of production, area mined, thickness,
and grade of ore.
The production from this ore bed is recorded as 10,257,824 tons of ore, which is 83.3 percent of the total
production classified by individual ore beds from 1886 to
1947. This percent is probably somewhat too high,
however, for it includes some of the production from
other ore beds, such as the Falsa Tercera and probably
ore beds nos. 2 and 4. Ore no. 3 also seems to have the
largest reserves of lower grade ore which might become
exploitable at some future time.
Ore bed no. 3 has been mined over a large, almost continuous area extending northwestward from Arroyo de
la Providencia across Arroyos Purgatorio and Soledad
65
COPPER DEPOSITS
to the south side of Arroyo del Boleo. The mine workings over this area are nearly all intercommunicated,
except for a few small isolated mines such as the Humboldt and Curuglu. These mines have been divided
administratively into three main groups, called the
Providencia, Purgatorio, and Soledad, after the arroyos
that constituted the mining center of each group. The
principal mines in the Providencia group have been
called the Carmen, Sontag, and San Alberto; in the
Purgatorio group the California-Lugarda, Humboldt,
San Francisco, and Purgatorio; and in the Soledad group
the Amelia, Curuglu, San Luis, San Agustin, Santa Rita,
San Antonio, and Santa Marta.
The area mined in ore bed no. 3 has a maximum
length along the strike of 6.4 kilometers and a width
down the dip ranging from as little as 500 meters in the
Providencia group to as much as 3.3 kilometers in the
Soledad group. Elevations of the workings in ore bed
no. 3 range from 209 meters above sea level in the
Amelia mine to 73 meters below sea level in the deepest
part of the Purgatorio mine.
The thickness and copper content of ore bed no. 3
have varied considerably from one area to another.
The best ore was in the inland part of the areas mined,
near Cerro de Juanita and the foothills of Cerro del
Infierno. Later, mining extended eastward down the
dip where the bed becomes thinner, lower in grade, and
eventually tmexploitable.
The average grade of the ore mined has probably
been close to 5 percent of copper. The percent of
copper ran as high as 20 in certain localized areas that
were first mined, ranged from 7 to 8 percent in larger
areas of the early mines, and dropped to 3 or 4 percent
in parts of the Purgatorio and Santa Rita mines. The
thickness of minable ore averaged 1 meter or more in
some of the older mines, and was commonly 2 meters
and exceptionally 5 meters in certain local areas of the
Carmen and Amelia mines, according to De Launay
(1913, p. 791), but it decreased to about 85 centimeters
in the more recently mined area of the Purgatorio and
Santa Rita mines.
Detailed assay maps are available for only a small
part of the area mined in ore bed no. 3, mainly in the
lower Uvels of the Purgatorio and the Santa Rita-San
Antonio mines, in which both the thickness and grade
are believed to have been considerably less than in the
older mines at higher levels in this ore bed. The
average thickness indicated by these maps is 86 centimeters in areas stoped and 63 centimeters in areas not
stoped. The average grade of the areas stoped is 6.2
percent of copper, reduced to 4.6 percent after deducting a 25-percent dilution factor. The assay maps
indicate an average grade of 4.8 percent of copper in
the unstoped areas, which, after a deduction of 25 per-
cent for dilution, would leave an average grade of 3.6

percent.
Ore bed no. 3 crops out most extensively in the
extreme northwest part of the district, in the drainage
basin of Arroyo del Boleo, where it lies above the arroyo
level for the most part. It also crops out in two or
three small areas in Arroyo de la Soledad, where it is
mostly below the arroyo level. In Arroyo del Purgatorio ore bed no. 3 is below the arroyo level northeast
of the San Francisco shaft, but southwest of the shaft
it rises above the arroyo level. Some of the most
extensive exposures are around the Humboldt mine, an
isolated area on the southeast side of the arroyo. There
tha ore bed may be seen to rise southwestward against
a ridge of Comondu volcanics, and eventually it rests
directly on the volcanic rocks. The same relationship
exists in part of the Providencia mine. The ore bed
lies below the arroyo level in Arroyo de la Providencia.
Ore bed no. 3 does not appear in the area southeast
of Arroyo de la Providencia, and all the evidence indicates that it was never deposited there. All the drill
holes and shafts in Arroyos Santa Agueda and Montado
that reached the Comondu volcanics revealed the
absence of the ore beds and of most of the rest of the
stratigraphic section below ore bed no. 2. In places
even ore bed no. 2 is absent. Ore bed no. 3 wedges out
against a buried ridge of Comondu volcanics along the
southeast edge of the Providencia mine, as indicated by
a few workings that follow the bed downward at the
southeast extremity of the mine, and particularly by
the long haulageway (Travers-Bancs Montado) 1.6
kilometers in length that runs from the Montado mine
to the Providencia mine at a level of 29 to 34 meters
above sea level, and is in Comondu volcanics for most
of its length. Farther northeast in Arroyo de la Providencia, ore bed no. 3 also wedges out against the
Comondu volcanics, as revealed in a mine working near
the San Eugenio shaft.
One of the largest areas of marginal reserves of lowgrade ore in the district is along the northeastern border
of the Purgatorio and Providencia mines, down the dip
of ore bed no. 3 from the areas mined. One long working in this area is known, from 32 determinations, to
contain an average thickness of 69 centimeters of ore
with an average grade of 3.3 percent of copper, equivalent to 2.5 percent after deducting a dilution factor of
25 percent. The most favorable area for the possible
discovery of new high-grade reserves is also in ore bed
no. 3, northwest of the main part of the district, in the
drainage of Arroyo del Boleo, Canada de la Gloria, and
Arroyo del Infierno.
ORE BED NO. 4
Ore bed no. 4, the lowest ore bed in the Boleo stratigraphic sequence, is of small extent and lias been of
66
slight importance as a producer, although it is a possible source of reserves. It is confined to the northwest part of the district, being unknown southeast of
Arroyo del Purgatorio, and it has been mined only in
small areas northwest of the main part of the district.
Two small mines in this ore bed have been worked
recently by the poquiteros El Bajio mine in Arroyo
del Boleo and El 160 mine in Canada de la Gloria.
The production from these mines is not known exactly
but is probably a few thousand tons of ore. Several
other prospect pits and small exploratory workings have
been made in ore bed no. 4, and some of these may
have furnished a small production.
Ore bed no. 4 is less well defined than most of the
others; it commonly consists of a considerable thickness
of tuff through which the ore minerals are scattered in
irregular masses, lenses, or pockets. Thus more selective mining is required than in such ore beds as no. 3.
The ore minerals m&y be scattered through 10 meters
of tuff, but the minable part, if any, is generally 1
meter or less. The ore mined from this bed has
averaged about 4 percent of copper. The ore bed is
highly manganiferous in some places. The manganiferous and cupriferous parts are in some localities
separated by a layer of tuff, elsewhere they are mixed
together, and in places manganese oxides may be
present to the exclusion of copper minerals. A sample
collected by the writers from a manganiferous bed on
the El 160 claim contained 16.4 percent of manganese
and 0.63 percent of copper.
Outcrops of ore bed no. 4 are few, for the bed lies
below the arroyo levels in the area southeast of Arroyo
del Boleo. The most extensive exposures are in some
of the branches of Arroyo del Boleo and Canada de la
Gloria, in areas where the buried hills of Comondu
volcanics are near the surface and where the ore beds
lap onto the volcanic rocks. In only one small area
was ore bed no. 4 observed to overlie conglomerate, as
do most of the other ore beds in the district. More
commonly the ore bed lies directly on the Comondu
volcanics, or on the basal limestone of the Boleo formation, or in tuff a short distance above the base of
the formation. In some places the ore penetrates the
underlying limestone, which is itself partially replaced
by manganese oxides and less commonly by copper
minerals.
Ore bed no. 4 has been explored by several shafts in
Arroyos Soledad and Purgatorio. In the San Agustin
shaft a thickness of 10.2 meters of argillaceous and
ferruginous rock was found to have traces of copper.
In the Amelia shaft the bed consists of a layer of tuff
9.42 meters thick, which contains 0.14 to 1.74 percent
of copper. In the La Ley interior shaft, the bed consists of 1.10 meters of tuff and manganiferous and fer-
ruginous limestone containing 0.36 to 0.70 percent of

copper. In the San Eduardo shaft the bed consists of
several mineralized zones containing 0.42 to 14 percent
of copper scattered through 9.41 meters of tuff. Some
exploratory workings were made at the bottom of this
shaft, at an elevation of 2 meters above sea level, but
the bed was considered unexploitable.
Short workings in ore bed no. 4 were also driven at
the bottom of the San Alejandro shaft, at a level of 55
meters below sea level, where the bed was found from
13 determinations to have an average thickness of 61
centimeters and an average grade of 4.1 percent of
copper. At the bottom of the Santa Natalia inclined
shaft, east of the Santa Rita mine and north of the
San Antonio mine, ore bed no. 4 lies about at sea level
and has a thickness of 1.8 meters and a grade of 0.35
percent of copper.
The greatest possibilities for production from ore bed
no. 4 seem to lie in the drainage basin of Arroyo del
Boleo and Canada de la Gloria, in an area that is still
imperfectl.y explored and where the bed, in at least a
few places, has been found to be of minable grade and
thickness. The bed is inclined to be irregular and
pockety, however, so that the possibilities are slight
for mining large continuous areas like those in ore bed
no. 3. Ore bed no. 4 is one of the most highly manganiferous beds in the district and would be of considerable importance if some ore-dressing process
should be developed for profitable recoveiy of manganese from low-grade ores of this type.
LIMITS OF ORE BODIES
The ore bodies of the Boleo district are limited in

general by one of four conditions: termination of the
ore beds against the basement of Comondu volcanics,
truncation of the beds by erosion, either at the unconformity at the base of the Gloria formation or in recent
time, faults, and assay walls.
In different places the ore-beds wedge out against
elevations of the basement of Comondu volcanics.
Cerro de Juanita, for example, forms the westward
limit of ore bed no. 3 in the Humboldt mine and in
part of the Providencia group, and it also forms the
westward limit of the principal mine in ore bed no. 2.
A buried ridge southeast of Arro.yo de la Providencia
forms the southeast and northeast limits of ore bed no.
3 in that aiTO}'0. The Sin Nombre and no. 1 ore beds
in a part of the Montado mine are limited toward the
west by the volcanic mass of Cerro del Sombrero
Montado. In the northwest part of the district ore
bed no. 4, as well as ore bed no. 3 in places, is limited
by irregularities in the basement topography.
The truncation of the higher beds of the Boleo formation by the unconformit}' at the base of the Gloria
COPPER DEPOSITS
67
formation has removed in places ore beds nos. 0, 1, and near the middle by the Curulgu fault, but the essential
2. Recent erosion of course limits the ore bodies continuity of the ore shoot on either side of the fault is
wherever they are above the level of the arroyos.
apparent. This ore shoot is 1.5 kilometers long but is
Faults in some places form the borders for individual only 50 to 150 meters wide. It is bordered to the northin in able ore bodies. In very few places has an ore bed east by a belt 250 meters wide of lower grade ore, which
actually been "lost" on one side or the other of a fault, is in turn bordered by another ore shoot 1 kilometer long
but where^the faults are very closely spaced they may and 150 meters wide in the Olvido Nuevo region. This
create conditions under which, commercial mining of is bordered by another belt 100 meters wide of lower
the ore is impossible.
grade ore that runs northwestward from the Amelia
Most of the limits of the areas mined, however, are shaft, and in turn by another belt of higher grade ore
determined by assay walls that is, the ore bed is mined about a kilometer long and 50 to 200 meters wide that
up to the line where the reduced grade or thickness runs northwest into the San Andres region. The ore
renders further exploitation impossible. The gulf- shoots tend to coalesce at the southeast end.
ward borders of most of the mines are of this type, for
In this area the ore shoots have an average strike of
the ore beds gradually decrease in grade and thick- N. 50 W. and cut obliquely across the-Curuglu and
ness in that direction. In some places the ore beds Amelia faults, which strike N. 20-25 W., as well as
pinch out altogether or become quite barren of copper, across the structure contours of the beds, which have
either within some of the mines or along the edges "of an average strike in this area of about N. 20 W.
the mines. The ore bed in the Santa Rita mine gives These ore shoots are reported to have contained 7 to 8
way clown the dip to a bed consisting largely of gypsum percent of copper, and the intervening areas 2 to 4
and iron oxides.
percent.
Similar but less well-defined ribs or ore shoots occur
The depth of the ore bed below the surface, amount of
water, problems of overburden, and accessibility are over much of the area explored in ore bed no. 3 between
other factors that must be considered in determining AiToyos Purgatorio and Boleo. Early reports indicate
that the Providencia mine contained several ribs or ore
the profitably minable limits of the ore bodies.
shoots that were developed by elongated stopes in the
PATTERN OF ORE SHOOTS AND OF DISTRIBUTION
early years of mining. The intervening areas were
OF ORE
found to be high enough in grade to be mined later,
The ore is commonly concentrated in elongate areas and the original pattern has been obliterated! on the
j
or ribs that are more or less parallel and separated from maps of that mine.
one another by other ribs of lower grade ore. The ribs
Aside from the ore shoots just described, the most
of richer ore have the characteristics of ore shoots. evident trend in degree of the mineralization through
The pattern of ore shoots is best revealed in some of the the district as a whole is a decrease in grade of ore
old .mines, particularly those that have not been re- toward the gulf. The highest grade ore bodies those
worked, for in the earlier years only the rich ore was that were first mined, when only ores containing more
mined and the stope boundaries consequently reveal than 20 percent of copper could be shipped are
the approximate form of the higher grade areas. In largely in the inland area, close to the large masses of
recent years, however, there has been a greater tendency Comondu volcanics such as Cerro de Juanita (fig. 36).
to work the lower grade areas as well, and hence the Later, as mining progressed down the dip of the ore
distinction between the higher grade and lower grade beds, the copper content was found in general to
areas is less easy to see, except where detailed assay decrease with increasing distance from the volcanic
masses. The areas mined are bordered on the gulfmaps are available.
One of the best examples of the pattern of ore shoots ward side by areas in which the ore beds contain 2, 1,
is perhaps revealed by the map of the Amelia mine, or only a fraction of a percent of copper.
Some of the richest ore bodies rest directly on the
which is in ore bed no. 3 at the southwest end of the
Soled ad. group (fig. 35). From west to east in this surface of the Comondu volcanics. This is true, for
mine are three rather distinct northwest-trending example, of ore bed no. 4 in various parts of Arroyo del
narrow, elongate stoped, areas of higher grade ore, Boleo, of ore bed no. 3 in the Humboldt mine and part
separated by explored but unstoped areas of lower of the Providencia mine, of ore bed no. 2 in the Providencia mine, and of ore bed no. 1 and the Sin Nombre
grade ore.
The longest and narrowest of these ribs of higher bed in part of the Montado mine. An example of a
grade ore is the most westerly one, revealed in the small but high-grade ore body related to an isolated
Curuglii mine at the northwest end and in a belt called buried hill of Comondu volcanics is at the place called
Olvido Viejo at the southeast end. This rib is offset El Creston or Lazareto, near the coast on the northwest
H2059 55
68
500 N
Sloped
inmmiii -in ji^
Normal fault, dashed where
approximately located, hai
on downthrown side
Structure contours at base of '

ore bed 3, dashed where
approximately located. Contoui
interval 5 meters. Datum is
mean sea level.
200
<r *
600 Meters
I
*0
FIGURE 35. Diagram illustrating distribution of ore shoots in the Amelia and Curuglu mines.
>^
*
69
COPPER DEPOSITS
side of Arroyo del Montado, where some high-grade ore

was found in a small area directly alongside a projecting
hill of the basement rock.
VEINS AND STOCKWOBK BODIES IN THE COMONDU
VOLCANICS
Narrow veins and stockwork bodies of copper and

manganese minerals occur in the Comondu volcanics
in certain parts of the Boleo district. Although most
of these are not considered to be of commercial value,
they are described because of their possible genetic
significance.
Such veins are associated commonly with fault zones
cutting the volcanic rocks. Th&y were noted particu-
larly along the Juanita fault zone which borders the

southwest side of Cerro de Juanita, where there are
many fractures containing veinlets of copper minerals.
They were also noted in some of the volcanic masses
in the various branches of Arroyo del Boleo, and along
some of the faults that cut the Comondu volcanics in
Arroyo del Infierno. Most of these bodies are veinlets
a few centimeters thick of jasper or chalcedony,
calcite, manganese oxides, and copper minerals, chiefly
chrysocolla. In some places a number of reticulating
veinlets form a stockwork body in the volcanic rocks.
A veinlike mass 1 meter thick of siliceous manganese
oxides, accompanied by jasper and copper minerals,
Thin cover of terroce deposits

over Comondu volcanics
in this area
PROVIDENCIA
GROUP OF
Fjoimij 30. Diagram showing relation of ore deposits in the Providcncia group of mines to a former island of Comondil volcanics (Cerro de
Juanita).
70
was noted in the Comondii volcanics near the head of

Arroyo del Boleo.
The largest stock work body observed in the Comondii
volcanics is on the southwest side of Cerro de Juanita
near the Juanita fault zone. Some prospecting has
been done there and a small amount of ore has been
sorted out by the poquiteros for shipment to the smelter.
At that place the stockwork body consists of cupriferous
veinlets extending through a brecciated zone as much
as 3 meters wide. The copper minerals fill the interstices
of the fault breccia and also form definite veinlets
cutting the volcanic rock. The individual veinlets are
1 to 10 centimeters thick; they are irregular and reticulating. A sample of ore from this deposit was studied
by Charles Milton who describes it as follows:
This is an aggregate of coarse white calcite, containing amorphous, black, waxy iron and manganese oxides (X-Ray film
5268) and green chrysocolla (X-Ray film 5267). A bluishgreen material abundantly present is also chrysocolla, with
probably opaline silica, which may have begun to crystallize
to quartz (X-Ray film 5266).
Although these veins and stockwork bodies in the

volcanic basement rocks are not mentioned in some of
the previous reports on the Boleo district, they attracted the attention in particular of Saladin (1892,
p. 14). He pointed out the presence of siliceous and
cupriferous veinlets on the southwest side of the volcanic ("traclrytic") mass of Cerro de Juanita. He also
described copper ore in the form of a breccia resting
directly against the volcanic mass in the Sontag mine
in Arroyo de la Providencia. Tinoco (1885, p. 13)
also observed the stockwork body in Cerro de Juanita,
and he noted in the Olvido mine (part of the Amelia
mine) a true vein containing copper silicates along a
fault in sandstone. Evidence that some of the faults
in the district have been mineralized was also noted by
Bellanger (1931, p. 768).
SPECIAL STRATIGRAPHIC OCCURRENCES OF ORE
In addition to the concentration of ore in regular

beds of clayey tuff, and to the subordinate occurrences
in the Comondii volcanics that have just been mentioned, ore minerals are found here and there in certain
other types of rocks and stratigraphic environments in
the Boleo district. Again, these are mentioned not
because of their commercial value, which is negligible,
but because of their possible genetic significance.
In some places, narrow zones of ore minerals extend
into adjoining rocks either above or below the main
clayey tuff beds that contain the bulk of the ore.
Locally, the ore minerals are found as irregular replacement bodies or fracture fillings in such diversified rocks
as sandy tuff, sandstone, conglomerate, limestone, or
gypsum.
In particular, the ore bodies that are classified as

pertaining to ore bed no. 4 are inclined to be irregular
and scattered through a considerable thickness of rock,
including not only the usual tuff but commonly also
the underlying basal limestone of the Boleo formation.
In several parts of the drainage basin of Arroyo del
Boleo and Canada de la Gloria, copper minerals and
particularly manganese minerals are found penetrating
the impure tuffaceous limestone, and in some places
fossils in the limestone were noted to have been replaced by manganese oxides.
RELATION OF FAULTS TO ORE
The relation of faults to the ore bodies of the Boleo

district is of both economic and scientific importance.
Many of the faults that have been observed to cut the
ore beds seem to be postmineral. Their economic effect
has therefore been merely to displace the ore beds,
without affecting the grade or quantity of ore. The
faults are detrimental to mining operations, and where
they are very closely spaced they may cause an area of
otherwise good ore to be commercially uiiminable.
Most of the faults in the mined areas have displacements of only 10 meters or less; the largest displacement in such an area is along the San Antonio fault,
between the San Antonio and Santa Rita mines, where
ore bed no. 3 has been displaced vertically as much as
80 meters.
The greatest scientific interest, however, attaches to
the premineral faults, which are also of economic
significance because of the role they may have played
in controlling the distribution of the mineralization.
In the discussion on structure, it was pointed out that
a period of faulting of pre-Boleo age affected the
Comondii volcanics of the district. In places, veins
and stockwork bodies of ore minerals occupy these
faults.
Some of the faults that show evidence of such mineralization are the Juanita fault zone, several small faults
in the drainage basin of Arroyo del Boleo and Canada
de la Gloria, and some faults in Arroyo del Infierno
in the mangaiiiferous area of the Lucifer district.
Apart from the premineral faults now exposed in the
outcrop areas of the Comondii volcanics, it is considered likely that many more faults occur in the
basement rocks in the large area covered by the Boleo
formation, and these may have served as pathways for
the mineralizing solutions.
Aside from the evidence of mineralization along
these premineral faults, there appears to be a relation
between intensity of mineralization in the ore beds of
the Boleo formation and proximity to faults. In some
places an ore bed is mineralized on one side of a fault
71
COPPER DEPOSITS
in nearly every instance the gulfwarcl side, down the

dip of the beds but is barren or too low in grade to be
mumble on the opposite side.
Perhaps the best example of this is along the Juanita
fault in Arroyo de la Providencia, where commercial
ore was exploited in the Carmen mine on the northeast,
or gulf ward, side of the fault, but only low-grade ore
was found on the southwest side, despite exploration
in that area. Another possible example is along part
of the Santa Agueda fault /one in Arroyo del Montado,
where a small amount of good ore was found in the
Alhambra mine on the northeast side of the fault, while
on the opposite side, drilling shows the ore bed to be
too low in grade to be mumble. Several smaller examples of apparent relations of intensity of mineralization to faulting were noted in some of the other mines,
and similar examples were observed in the manganiferous deposits of the adjoining Lucifer district (Wilson
and Veytia, 1949, p. 215).
It should be pointed out that some of the premineral
faults were' undoubtedly subjected to renewed movements in postmineral time. Such a renewal of movement along old faults is common. The mere fact,
therefore, that a particular fault displaces the ore beds
and is thus in part postmineral, does not preclude the
possibility that the same fault may also be premineral.
TABLE 14. Minerals found in the Boleo copper deposits

Name
Composition
References
Allophanc (?).
Anglesite- ..
AhSiOs.nHizO.
PbSO4--. -.
Anhydrite. .
Apatite.---...
AragonitC--...
Atacamite....
CaS04.--------------------(CaF)Ca4 (PO4)3 -----CaCO3---------.-------CuCl2 .3Cu(OH) 2 .............
Augitc
Azuritc.
Silicate of Ca,M<*,Fe,Al.
Baritc.
Beidellite (?).
Biotitc-----..
BolCite.-..--.
Ah0 3 .3SiO2.4H2 O._-........

H2 K(Mg,Fe) 3 Al(Si003 --..
9PbCh.8Cu0.3AgC1.9H2 0...
Bornltc.........
Brewstcritc (?).
Calcite...---...
CuFcS4 -.---------....-(Sr,Ba,Ca)O.Ah03.6Si0 2 .5H2 0

CaC0 3 --------------
Cclaclonitc.
Celestlte_.
Cerussite...
Silicate of Fe,Mg,K.
SrS04 .-----PbCOs ----------
Chalcedony.
Chalcocite
Si0 2 _.
Cu 2S.
Chalcopyrite...-
CuFeS 2 .
Chlorite. .
Chrysocolla...
Silicate of Al,Mg,Fe,H.
CuSi03.2H2 0-_.-------
Copper, native.
Cu_.
Covellite....--.
CuS.
Credneritc__.
CryptomelaneCumcngite....
KR8Oie (?), R=Mniv chiefly,

also Mn'iZn,Co. ..........
4PbCh.4CuO.5HjO.. ........
MINERALS IDENTIFIED IN THE BOUEO COPPER DEPOSITS
Cuprite_..
Cu 2 0.
The ore beds of the Boleo district have yielded a rich

variety of minerals, particularly from the oxidized zone.
Altogether some 60 mineral species have been identified
from the ore-bearing rocks of the district. Three new
minerals that are now generally accepted as valid
species Avere originally described from the district
bo!6ite, pseudobo!6ite, and cumengite, all oxychlorides
of lead and copper. Boleite and pseudobol6ite were
named for the Boleo district, and cumengite was named
for E. Cumenge, one of the French engineers whose
detailed study of the district led to the formation, of the
Boleo company in. 1885. Several other rare minerals
have been found in the district, including cre.dnerite,
phosgenite, r6mingtonite, spherocobaltite, and cobaltiferous smithsonite.
Table 14 lists in alphabetical order the minerals that
have been described from the ore-bearing rocks of the
Boleo district, together with their composition and
references to the authorities for the identification of each
mineral. References are given, in general, to the first
published notice or to publications in which the mineral
is described most fully. The references are to publications listed by authors at the end of this report.
Dolomite.---.Epidotc.......
Galena.
...
CaMg(C0 3) 2 ......
.
HCaj(Al, Fe) 3 Si3 Ois- ........
PbS .....................
Garnet..
Gypsum.
Silicate of Ca,Mg,Fe,Mn,Al.
CaS04.2H2 0--,--------
MINERALOGY
Halite..-.---.-. NaCl.
Halloysite. --.Hematite.----.. .
Heulandite.. ..
Hornblende, "basaltic."
Hornblende, common.
KaoliniteLimonite.------Magnesite.-----Magnetite.-----Malachite.. -----
Al 2 O 3 .2Si02.?iH2 0-...........
Fe2 0 3 _.-.-..-................
(Ca,Na2)O.Al20 3 .6SiO2 .5H2 0.
Silicatc of Ca,Mg,Fe,Na,Al,
Ti.H2 0.
Silicate of Ca,Mg,Fo,Na,Al,
H20.
H4 AhShOo...................
Hydrous iron oxides...... ..
MgCOs..-----------Fe3 04---------------CuCO3.Cu(OH) 2 ..........
This report.
Mallard and Cumenge (1891a, p.
520; 1891b, p. 283); Genth
(1893); Lacroix (1895, 1898).
This report.
Touwaide (1930, p. 134).
Inst. geol. M6xico (1923, p. 12).
Fuchs (1886a, p. 82; I886b, p.
415); Lacroix (1895, 1898);
Ungemach (1911); this report.
Touwaide (1930, p. 132).
Fuchs (1886a, p. 82; 1886b,
415); Krusch (1899, p. 84
this report.
Touwaide (1930, p. 134); this
report.
Touwaide (1930, p. 133).
This report.
Mallard and Cumenge (1891 a,
1891b); Mallard (1893); Beaugrand (1894); Lacroix (1895,
1898); Friedcl (1906).
Touwaide (1930, p. 136).
Touwaide (1930, p. 133).
Touwaide (1930, p. 132); this
report.
This report.
Touwaide (1930, p. 134).
Mallard and Cumcngo (1891a, p.
520; 1891 b, p. 283); Lacroix
(1898, p. 44).
Krusch (1899, p. 84).
Saladin (1892, p. 18); Krusch
(1899, p. 84); Touwaide (1930,
p. 134-136); this report.
Saladin (1892, p. 18); Touwaide
(1930, p. 136); this report.
Touwaide (1930, p. 133).
Hutchings (1876, 1877); Jannettaz (1886); Fuchs (1886a, p. 82;
1886b, p. 415); Krusch-(1899,
p. 34); this report.
(1899, p. 84); Touwaide (1930,
(1899, p. 84); Touwaide (1930,
p. 136).
Fuchs (1880a, p. 82; 188Gb, p.
415); Saladin (1892, p. 18).
This report.
4^;
Cumenge (1893); Mallard (1893);

Lacroix (1895); Friedcl (1906).
Saladin (1892, p: 18); Lacroix
(1898, p. 44); Krusch (1899,
p. 84).
This report.
This report.
Fuchs (188Gb, p. 414); Saladin
(1892, p. 18).
This report.
Lacroix (1895, p. 42; 1898, p. 44);
Krusch (1899, p. 84); this
report.
Fuchs (1886a, p. 82; 1886b,
p. 416).
This report.
Aguilcra (1898, p. 120).
Touwaide (1930, p. 132).
This report.
This report.
Touwaide (1930, p. 133).

Touwaide (1930, p. 132).
Krusch (1899, p. 84).
Touwaide (1930, p. 121).
Fuchs (1880a, p. 82; 188GU, p.
415); Krusch (1899, p. 84);
this report.
Melaconite..
CuO.
_
..__. Krusch (1899, p. 84).
Montmorillonite- Silicate of Mg,Ca,Al,HjO.... This report.
Opal--.......... Si02 .?iH2 0................... Jannettaz (1886, p. 211); Krusch
(1899, p. 84); this report.
Phosgcnite ....
Mallard and Cumenge (1891a, p.
520; 1891b, p. '283); Lacroix
(1895, p. 42; 1898, p. 43).
Plagioclase (anTliis report.
desine-labradorite).
Pseudobolfiite... 5PbCh.4CuO.CHjO.......... Lacroix 0895); Frieclel (1906).
Pyrite...----.... FeS2 ......................... Saladin (1892, p. 18); Touwaide
(1930, p. 136); this report.
Pyrolusite.
MnOj..
This report.
Pyromorphitc. (PbCl)Pb4(P04)s --------- Lacroix (1898, p. 43-44).
Quartz ---------- Si0 2 .-.___-_-_._._--_-- Jannettaz (1886, p. 211); Lacroix
(1895. p. 42); Krusch (1899,
RCmingtonitc.... Hydrous cobalt carbonate (?). Ungemach (1911, p. 161).
Silver, native.... Ag.----_------___ .- Fust. geol. MCxico (1923, p. 7).
Smithsonite, co- (Zn,Mg,Co)C03 --.____.-... Warren " '
baltiferous.
Spherocobaltite-- CoCOs ....-------..-...... Lacroix (1898, p. 44).
-Sulfur, native - S.... ...................... Krusch (1899, p. 84).
72

ORE MINERALS IN THE SULFIDE ZONE
The main primaiy ore mineral, which accounts for the

bulk of the copper in the sulfide zone, is chalcocite.
This is found in very small crystals or disseminated
grains which are commonly microscopic in size. Scattered through the clayey matrix, these grains give a
sooty-black to dusky-blue appearance to the ore.
Detailed microscopic studies of the chalcocite have
been made by Touwaide (1930, p. 134-136), who reports
that it is found only in the groundmass "and does not
penetrate the pseudomorphic areas left by former phenocrysts and rock fragments." He describes the chalcocite as having the form of shapeless grains, fine needles,
prismatic crystals, and larger euhedral pseudohexagonal
crystals. The latter are due to twinning of orthorhom<bic crystals and are believed to represent the low-temperature form of chalcocite, formed below 105 C
(Buerger, 1941). Touwaide also describes massive secondary chalcocite formed by accretion on the initial
grains and needles.
The other copper minerals in the sulfide zone are chalcopyrite, bornite, and covellite, all found in small quantities as fine grains or crystals. Of these, chalcopyrite
seems to be most abundant and in some places is in
grams large enough to be distinguished with the unaided eye. All these minerals were found by Touwaide
(1930, p. 136-137) to replace chalcocite in some places,
and the chalcopyrite replaces bornite as well. There is
also later chalcocite which replaces chalcopyrite and
bornite.
Native copper is found both in the sulfide and oxidized
zones. Touwaide (1930, p. 138) found it in the sulfide
zone in the Santa Rita mine, associated with zeolites,
and in the Montado mine near the oxidation zone as
specks on the edge of a grain of bornite. The writers
have observed native copper in the oxidized zone as
platy crusts in veinlets of gypsum, and in the sulfide
zone as plates along slickensided surfaces in the clayey
tuff.
Pyrite exists in small crystals in certain parts of the
district, but it is generally not common. Galena was
noted by the writers to be concentrated in part of the
ore from the Carmen mine of the Providencia group.
It is probably the source of the secondary lead minerals
in the oxidized zone in other parts of the district. No
primary zinc minerals have been identified, although
considerable quantities of zinc are present in the ore.
ORE MINERALS IN THE OXIDIZED ZONE
The oxidized zone has yielded a wide variety of secondary minerals of copper, lead, iron, and manganese,
and to a lesser extent of cobalt, zinc, and silver. The
copper minerals include oxides, carbonates, silicates,
and oxychlorides, of which the most common are chry-
socolla, azurite, malachite, atacamite, melaconite, and

cuprite, and the bulk of the oxidized ore consists of
mixtures of these minerals.
Several samples of oxidized ore were collected by the
writers from the near-surface mines and studied by
microscopic and chemical methods by Charles Milton
and by X-ray methods by J. M. Axelrod. These
samples were collected from the Sin Nombre mine in
Arroyo del Montado, from the stockwork deposits in
the Comondu volcanics on the southwest side of Cerro
de Juanita, from the San Pedro, Santa Teresa, and El
Bajio mines in Arroyo del Boleo, and the Dos de Abril,
El 160, and La Testera mines in Canada de la Gloria.
These studies show the dominant oxidized copper
mineral to be chrysocolla, accompanied in some specimens by azurite, malachite, and atacamite. The accompanying minerals are principally montmorillonite and
oxides of manganese and iron, in addition to calcite,
gypsum, barite, and opaline silica, in part crystallized
to quartz.
The chrysocolla, present in practically all the samples
studied, is green, bluish green, or light blue. It commonly impregnates the montmorillonite clay matrix
and also forms thin bluish-green veinlets in the montmorillonite. The atacamite is in part green and massive,
and in part occurs as small rosettes 2 to 3 millimeters
long coating gypsum. The rosettes have a black
exterior, but the interior is the normal bright green.
Polysynthetically twinned crystals of atacamite from
the Boleo district have been described in detail by
Ungemach (1911). Some of the azurite, which is light
blue to dark blue, is well crystallized, and some of the
crystals are partly altered to green malachite. Cuprite,
consisting of small transparent perfect cubes, as well
as octahedrons, has been described by Lacroix (1898,
P- 44).
Manganese and iron oxides are in nearly all samples
of the oxidized ore. The specimens studied by Milton
and Axelrod include waxy-black amorphous iron and
manganese oxides, hard, heavy, black amorphous manganese dioxide containing a little copper and iron, and
soft, black manganese dioxide. In samples from the
Dos de Abril mine, manganese dioxide impregnates the
green montmorillonite, changing the color to a sharply
contrasting lustrous black. Judged from chemical and
X-ray studies of the manganese minerals of the adjacent
Lucifer district, the principal manganese minerals of
the Boleo district are probably cryptomelane, which
is massive or fine-grained and incoherent, and pyrolusite, which occurs in minute crystals (Wilson and
Veytia, 1949, p. 211). The rare manganese and copper
oxide called crednerite has also been reported from the
district by Fuchs (1886a, p. 82; 1886b, p. 415) and
Saladin (1892, p. 18). Iron oxides are also common in
73
COPPER DEPOSITS
the ore beds, but they have not been studied and have
been classified simply on the basis of appearance as
hematite and limonite.
Perhaps the most notable minerals are the extremely
rare bo!6ite, pseudobo!6ite, and cumengite, all oxychlorides of lead and copper (with, in addition, some
silver chloride in bol6ite), which were first described
from the Boleo district. Bol6ite has since been found
also in Chile and in New South Wales, but pseudobol6ite and cumengite have not been identified elsewhere, so far as known.
These minerals occur as small, blue euhedral crystals;
cumengite has a tetragonal pyramidal form and boleite
and pseudobo!6ite have an external cubic shape, although the latter two are both tetragonal and owe
their pseudocubic appearance to complex twinning.
In bo!6ite the center of the crystal is isotropic and .the
outer part is anisotropic. The minerals commonly occur
in parallel intergrowths. Bol&te was named by Mallard
and Cumenge (1891a, 1891b), cumengite by Mallard
(1893), and pseudobol6ite by Lacroix (1895). The
minerals were described in most detail by Friedel
(1906). The very complex nature of the crystals has
made them the special object of crystallographic studies
by Wallerant (1898), Friedel (1906, 1930), Hadding
(1.919), Gossner (1928, 1930), Gossner and Arm (1929),
Hocart (1930, 1934), and Bellanca (1941).
These minerals were all found in a fairly small area
in ore bed no. 3, in the Amelia mine near the Cumenge
shaft. The locality was exhausted many years ago and
the shaft has long since caved. A few specimens of
these minerals may occasionally be found on the dumps,
but probably most of the existing specimens are now
in museums.
Another unusual mineral from the Boleo district is
a pink cobaltiferous smithsonite, described by Warren
(1898), which consists of crystalline particles of a
delicate pink, embedded in gypsum and associated with
atacamite. This mineral was named cobaltsmithsonite
by Bilibin (1927, p. 34, 36) and warrenite by Boldyrev
(1928, p. 162), although these names have not gained
general acceptance. Two other cobalt minerals have
been reported from the Boleo district, spherocobaltite
and r6mingtonite, although it is not certain that the
latter is a distinct species.
The lead minerals anglesite, cerussite, phosgenite,
and pyromorphite have all been found in association
with the bo!6ite group of minerals, but they do not
occur in commercial quantities. The anglesite was
analyzed by Genth (1893) and was found to be a
mechanical mixture of gypsum and anglesite, believed
to be pseudomorphic after material having an original
composition of 2PbS04 .CaS04 , not yet observed in its
original condition. The phosgenite is found in groups
of small prismatic crystals (Mallard and Cumenge,

1891b, p. 283). The pyromorphite consists of yellowishorange crystals surrounded by crystals of gypsum,
according to Lacroix (1898, p. 43-44).
A few other minerals that have been listed from Boleo
are not generally accepted. Venerite, a cupriferous
chlorite reported by Fuchs (1886a, p. 82; 1886b, p. 415),
is considered in Dana's "System of mineralogy" (6th
edition, p. 711) to be a heterogeneous substance and is
not listed in Dana's "Textbook of mineralogy."
Bouglisite is a name given by Cumenge (Lacroix, 1895,
p. 42) to anglesite impregnated by gypsum, representing the material analyzed by Genth (1893). Percylite
was listed by Lacroix (1895) as one of the bo!6ite group
of minerals, but work by later investigators (Friedel,
1906, and others) shows that it is distinct from the
members of that group occurring at Boleo (boleite,
pseudoboleite, and cumengite).
GANGUE MINERALS
The gangue minerals include the normal rock-forming

constituents of the tuffaceous ore beds, alteration products of these rock-forming minerals, and extraneous
minerals deposited from circulating solutions. In the
high-grade ore beds, alteration has proceeded to such
an extent that the original rock-forming constituents of
the tuff have been almost completely destroyed, although pseudomorphic areas testify to their former
presence. In thin-section and mineral grain studies of
the tuff and ore, the main rock-forming minerals have
been identified as augite, "basaltic" hornblende, common hornblende, biotite, and feldspars, of which the
commonest varieties seem to be andesine and andesinelabradorite, along with very sparse quartz and minor
apatite, magnetite, and garnet.
The bulk of the gangue is composed of clay minerals,
formed by the alteration of the rock-forming minerals
and glass of the original tuffaceous rock making up the
ore beds. Specimens of clay minerals collected by the
writers have been studied microscopically by C. S.
Ross, Charles Milton, and Jewell J. Glass, as well as
by "thermal analysis by George T. Faust, and by X-ray
analysis by J. M. Axelrod, all of the U. S. Geological
Survey. Although these studies are not entirely conclusive, they indicate that the dominant mineral is a
member of the montmorillonite-saponite or montmorillonite-beidellite group, and it is considered most
likely to be montmorillonite, according to the studies
by Ross and Milton.. In the sulfide ore the montmorillonite is generally light to dark gray, but in the samples
of oxidized ore studied by Milton it has a variety of
colors. It is most commonly cream colored to brown,
but is in places also pink, green, buff, or waxy black.
Additional secondary minerals identified by these
74
studies by the Geological Survey are halloysite, eel ad o- minerals in this fraction occurred in minute quantities. Much
nite in one sample, allophane (?), calcite, dolomite, of the material is too fine grained and opaque to be resolved
under the microscope; this may account for the source of elegypsum, barite, epidote, chlorite, opal, which is partly ments in the chemical analyses otherwise not accounted for.
crystallized to quartz, and an unidentified material, The minerals observed in the light and heavy fractions are listed
probably a zeolite. Other minerals reported by Tou- in table 15.
waide (1930, p. 132-134) include kaolinite and the
zeolites heulandite and brevvsterite (?). Krusch (1899, TABLE 15. Minerals identified in mineral grain study of
three specimens of ore from San Luciano mine
p. 84) described the secondary minerals opal and magne[Identification by Jewell J. Glass]
site, the latter of which he found to contain some
strontium, calcium, and copper.
A
B
c
Aside from the clay minerals and the oxides of mangaLight fraction; minerals with specific gravity less than 2.8
nese and iron, the most abundant gangue minerals are
gypsum, calcite, chalcedony, and jasper. These occur
X
X
X
chiefly in veinlets deposited from circulating solutions, Montmorillonite-beidellite- - __
_ _
_.
_ _
X
X
X
although calcite and chalcedony are also found as Halloysite _
Calcite _
_
_
_
X
X
X
alteration products in the groundmass of the tuffaceous - Andesine-labradorite l _
_ _
X
X
X
ore beds. Gypsum is found not only in veinlets but Quartz 2 _
_ ___
__.
X
_
- __
also in distinct euhedral crystals, which have been Gypsum 3
X
described by Lacroix (1898, p. 44). In one of the samHeavy fraction; minerals with specific gravity greater than 2.8
ples studied by Milton the gypsum is quite pure fibrous
selenite, coated with atacamite. Jasper forms fairly
_
large leiislike bodies and veinlets that cut across the "Basaltic" hornblende 4 _
X
X
X
X
X
beds, and it is found also in veinlets in the Comondu Common hornblende _____.._ - __ X
Garnet (n= 1.755)- ________ ______ ___
X
volcanics.
Epidote, _
__
__
_.
- _
X
X
X
Less common gangue minerals are barite, found by Pyrite __
_.
_
__
..
X
X
X
Milton to be occluded in the montmorillonite matrix, Dolomite _
_ _ _.__
_____
X
X
X
__ _
__
_ _
and celestite, reported by Touwaide (1930, p. 134). Biotite. ___
X
X
X
___
_ _
__
_ _ _
X
Native sulfur in small crystals and crystalline aggre- Chlorite_
___
_
___
X
X
gates associated with melaconite was described by Magnetite _ _
Copper carbonate 5 ____
X
X
X
Krusch (1899, p. 84). A peculiar constituent of the Covellite? 6 _ __________________________ X
X
X
ore is halite, which has been found by chemical analyses Miscellaneous 7 - _ ___ __ ___ _ _ _ X
X
X
to be widespread in the tuff and which was recognized
also by chemical analyses and X-ray studies in the Luci1 Calcic plagioclase (andesine-labradorite). Zoning distinct. Abundant, roughly
fer manganese ores (Wilson and Veytia, 1949, p. 212). 10 percent of sample.
2 Quartz is very sparse. Only a few grains were observed in one sample.
The halite may have been deposited from the sea water
3 Gypsum occurs in tiny aggregates of fibrous crystals on the surface of specimen
that once permeated the tuffs. .Anlrydrite is a constitu- A.
< Reddish-brown hornblende; reacts for titanium.
ent of the large gypsum masses that in places underlie
5 Blue carbonate; reacts forcopper; appears to be an alteration product of some other
mineral.
and are penetrated by the ore beds.
MINERAL- GRAIN STUDY
A mineral grain study of three specimens of dominantly sulfide ore from the San Luciano mine was made
by Jewell J. Glass of the Geological Survey. Her
description of the method of treatment and of the
results is quoted below:
The specimens are dull-gray, very fine grained earthy lumps
that appear to be dried-out, silty material. The powdered
material bears a strong resemblance to portland cement.
Each of the samples was crushed down to a powder, screened
carefully, and separated into heavy and light fractions by use
of heavy solutions. Some of the material was studied before
washing with water in order to observe any water-soluble minerals present; some was washed with water to remove dust,
leaving clean grains for study; some was treated with dilute
hydrochloric acid to remove carbonate. The heavy fraction
constituted approximately 1 percent of the sample, and all the
6 Ihdigo:blue, metallic luster; thin plates; reacts for copper.

7 An unidentified black nonmagnetic mineral was noted in all three specimens.
A few black sootlike inclusions in the dry mud of specimen B reacted for MnO.
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE OKE

CHEMICAL, ANALYSES
Chemical analyses of the principal constituents of

Boleo copper ores are given in table 16, which is a
compilation, from various sources, of 28 analyses made
at different times from 1884 to 1946. The earlier
analyses given in this table are of samples of high-grade
ore containing more than 15 percent of copper
mined before the advent of the Compagnie du Boleo
in 1885, and the later analyses are more representative
of the district as a whole. The averages given in the
last line of the table are merely the averages of the
particular analyses listed and are not necessarily true
...
Do--
..
Do-.--.--....---.......... . .................. .
Do..
-..
Sulfldeore (1931) ... .
Do... ...--........-..-. .................... .....

Do..................................... ......
Do...... ..
.......
.......... ............
Olvido mine (1884)... ......
Source of sample and year of analysis
,5.00
7.43
3.24
09 AO
OC
2.64
96
8.10
13.39
11.80
8.36
7.1
2.04
10.00
12.08
8.80
AhOj
OQ eo
OA
OQ CQ
20.98
42.36
CO
Qf\
Q9
Q1
00
OQ
25.86
97 37
22.80
31.1
99 Q*\
28.00
22.00
29. 34
25 94
16.80
16.30
22 60
SiOj
8.32
6.30
7.00
5.93
5.25
12.21
8.74
4.39
2.00
3.00
.68
4. 10
23.40
4.89
7.17
7.20
4.0
3.2.5
3.74
4.74
3.83
12.61
11 64
6.1
7.42
5.96
7.00
9.66
22.00
24.00
MnO
3.60
7.78
10.80
12.60
7.20
FeCM
2.76
7.60
1.30
.69
1.37
4.76
4.43
3.2
3.02
3.37
4.46
4.76
.78
2.42
.66
2.80
MgO
1 Many of the constituents of the original analyses have been recalculated to a uniform basis.
2 Analyses Nos. 1 to 7 from Fuchs (1886a, p. 85; 1886b, p. 419): Nos. 8 to 11 from Saladin (1892, p. 22); No.
12 from Duncan (1917, p. 416); No. 13 from Lockc (1935, p. 411); No. 14 from Touwaide (1930, p. 129); No.
15 from an unpublished analysis by the Boleo chemical laboratory; Nos. 16 to 22 from Pefia (1931, p. 172);
Nos. 23 to 25 from Bellanger (1931, p. 772); No. 26 from an unpublished analysis by Abbot A. Hanks, Inc.;
Nos. 27 and 28 from Villafana and others (1947, p. 298). References arc to publications, listed by authors,
at, the end of this report.
26
27
OK
21
22
23
24
16
17
18
19
10
11
12
13
14
No. 2
3.59
4.44
4.20
1.81
2.78
4.87
8.42
2.66
10. 54
2.61
10.67
12.52
8.80
6.33
9.58
10.87
7.84
5. 2n
4.68
7.50
6.7
6.13
6.16
9.28
19.00
26.60
15.60
15.83
CuO
tr.
0.25
PbO
1.27
2.17
1.20
.60
0.60
1.80
ZnO
0.49
' .40
()
.34
.26
.38
.22
.18
.38
1.95
.46
SO. 46
.56
NiO,
CoO,
ZnO
2 20
6.40
.16
.20
.50
5.10
.83
2.20
NaCl
l.OL
.10
.06
. 1.53
.19
.07
.91
2.50
.20
1.62
.36
.62
3.03
1.7
1.73
1.65
1.09
1.16
.14
.49
1.73
6.03
1.00
3.25
.69
3.41
tr.
.80
.52
.55
4.57
.59
1.47
.76
.32
0.32
SO3
3 Includes Fe2Oa calculated as FeO.

4 COz in analyses 3 to 7 calculated from reported CaCOs.
s NiO, CoO, Mo.
8 Ni, trace; Co, 0.58; As, 0.03; Sb, 0.02.
2.15
1.66
1.27
2.40
3 )7
3.21
6.16
2.2
3.53
2.99
4.98
4.12
2.24
CaO
TABLE 16. Analyses of copper ore from the Boleo district, in weight percent
1.18
1.42
.88
.88
.81
1.76
C0z<
24.11
13.09
29.20
28.00
.25.
20.
28.3
28.00
27.00
24.
28.00
22.00
31.00
24.00
21.00
25.00
19.00
25. 11
H2 O
12.29
11.50
13.40
11.05
14.56
9.4
8.87
10.26
10.22
7.09
6.85
5.92
7.64
7.74
10.74
10.92
9.58
8.76
13.48
12. 58
10.00
20.30
24.00
22.00
10.00
22.00
97.68
98.31
98.53
98.84
90.10
99.23
98.23
98.71
98.93
101.42
100. 14
99.8
98.51
97.74
100. 09
105. 20
104. 69
101. 20
100. 92
101. 78
100. 05
98.81
99.31
101.07
93.91
95.46
100. 26
97.24
Loss on Total
ignition
8.46
8.68
6.26
4.20
3.80
7.89
6.82
5.3
4.90
4.92
5.37
4.68
9.09
5. 12
2.10
8.53
10.01
7.02
5.06
12.00
15.20
15.00
7.34
21.28
12.48
12.66
Cu
76
averages of the general run of ore. Averages based on .TABLE 18. Qualitative spectrogro.phic analysis of a composite
sample of copper ore from San Luciano mine, Boleo copper
additional data for some constituents,are given later.
district
[Analyzed by K. J. Murata, U. S. Geological Survey, 1948]
These analyses are on a wet basis, as are all the ensuing
Relative
order of percent
data and analyses, except where otherwise indicated.
A chemical analysis made by the U. S. Geological 1 percent or more____________ Si, Al, Ca, Mg, Mn, Fe, Na,
and Cu
Survey of a composite sample of low-grade copper ore
O.X percent__-______________ Ti and Zn
collected in 1947 from the San Luciano mine, in the O.OX percent. _______________ Sr, Co, Ni, V, and Ba
sulfide zone of ore bed no. 1, is given in table 17, on a O.OOX percent.--_-____-_____ Zr, Y, Pb, and Mo
dry basis. A qualitative spectrographic analysis of the 0. OOOX percent____________ Cr, Ag, and Be
Looked for but not found.____ As, 1 Sb, 1 Sn, Tl, Cd, Ga, In,
same sample is given in table 18.
TABLE 17. Analysis of a composite sample of copper ore from
San Luciano mine, Boleo copper district
[Dry basis at 110 C. Analyzed by Israel Warshaw and Charlotte Warshaw,
U. S. Geological Survey, 1949]
Percent
SiO2 .
Percent
44. 51
AljOs------- 13. 46
Fe2O3 -..------------- 1.75
-_------------ 2.02
-----------------------_--_
CuO- ------------ZnO-_--------------CaO- -----------MgO--_
---_
Na20.
_-- --
1.37
4.18
2.28
.61
7.50
6.61
1.98
K2O_
TiOj
P2O8
CO2 .
SOs 1
-__--__-_-_-
1.20
- _ _
_
____________
-_-.----___-
.53
.08
6.32
-.-.-----___ 2.36
H2 O-f._.-._._..___._ 2.90
H2 O- (at 110 C)__._ 2 12. 22
Total..________ 99. 66
Total S_._ _ _ _-_ 1.68
Cu._- __ -- _--.. 1.82
Not included in total.
1 Total S as SOs exclusive of FeS2.
Bi, W, Re, Ge, Au, Pt, Pd,

U, and Th
1 The sample had to be ignited before it could be analyzed; this may bave resulted
in the loss of As and Sb.
Some samples of ore collected by the senior author

in 1948 for the purpose of metallurgical experiments
were analyzed by the U. S. Bureau of Mines for copper,
lime, manganese, cobalt, nickel, molybdenum, silver,
and gold. The results of these analyses are presented
in table 19.
Since the gangue or host rock of the Boleo copper ore
is a clay composed largely of montmorUlonite and
related minerals, analyses of the ore were compared
\vith average analyses of the montmorillonite minerals.
This comparison has been made in table 20, in which
the averages have been calculated of all the available
TABLE 19. Partial analyses of some ore samples for copper, manganese, and certain metals occurring in minor quantities in the Boleo
copper district
[Dry basis. Samples collected by Ivan F. Wilson; analyzed by U. S. Bureau of Mines, Metallurgical Division, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1948]
Fill in old stopes;

ore bed no. 3
Providencia
mine
Insoluble (percent)
Mo (percent). '___
_ _
_____
___
4.
4.
45.
2.
2.
.
<.
<.
7
<
2.
San Fernando mine
9
4
0
3
8
10
01
01
2
2
6.
5.
47.
2.
2.
.
<.
<.
10
<
2.
9
2
0
2
6
12
01
01
2
1
Sulfide ore;
ore bed
no. 3
Low-grade
manganese
ore; ore bed
no. 4
Low-grade
manganiferous
copper ore;
ore bed
no. 4
Average
smelting
ore; Mav
27, 1948
La China
mine
Dos de Abril
mine
El 160
mine
All mines
4.
1.
57.
1.
1.
.
.
<.
12
<
2.
5
3
3
6
1
15
02
01
2
1
0. 63
62. 1
7. 6
. 071
5. 6
13. 5
46. 1
16. 4
. 075
3.
.
.
<.
7
<
2.
<. 01
<. 01
2. 4
2. 5
2
13
01
01
2
5
Average of Jolley balance and water displacement methods.
analyses of Boleo copper ore, and an average analysis

of montmorillonite ha? been calculated from 54 analyses
of minerals of the montmorillonite-beidellite series published by Ross and Hendricks (1945, table 1, p. 34).
The averages have been recalculated to 100 percent to
give a better basis for comparison.
The constituents that are most notably higher in the

ore than in the montmorillonite minerals are copper
and manganese, and to a lesser extent iron. The
content of moisture, carbon dioxide, chlorine, sulfur
trioxide, zinc, and cobalt is also higher in the ore than
in the average montmorillonite. The content of silica
77
COPPER DEPOSITS
and of alumina, however, is considerably lower in the

ore than in the clay minerals. The remaining constituents listed in table 20 show no very significant
differences in their proportions.
The content of sodium chloride is exceptionally

high in Boleo ores. In the analyses given, the content
of NaCl ranges from 0.16 to 6.40 percent and averages
2.20 percent. A high content of sodium chloride was
TABLE 20. Comparison of analyses of Boleo copper ore with also noted in Lucifer manganese ores, 15 analyses of
those of minerals of the montmorillonite-beidellite series
which showed a trace to 4.85 percent of NaCl and an
average of 1.22 percent.
Average of
analyses
of
The sulfur content of the ore ranges from 0.06 to
Average of
minerals of Number
analyses of Number
the
montConstituent
of
of
3.98
percent and averages 1.40 percent in the 39 analyses
Boleo cop- analyses morillonite- analyses
per ore,
beidellite
available.
The content of sulfur is considerably higher
series '
in the sulfide ore than in the oxidized ore. The results
of 19 analyses of shipments from different mines in
20. 39
54
SiOn.. .............................
29
49. 22
54
(1. 92
29
A\tOt.. ............................
19.38
1940, for example, showed that the mines in the sulfide
7.40
52
TKO^... ...........................
29
2.80
zone
averaged 2.84 percent of sulfur, while those in
7. 02
12
MnO... ...........................
35
.08
2. 05
54
MK0. .............................
22
3. 80
the oxidized zone'averaged 0.63 percent. The content
3.22
30
CuO. ..............................
1.54
50
of sulfur trioxide in 16 samples of ore ranged from a
31
.90
1
.40
KjO. ..............................
1. 13
33
NmO. .............................
.70
8
trace to 6.03 percent and averaged 1.76 percent. The
1
5. 50
.01
CuO. ..............................
many
SOs,
which occurs mostly in gypsum, is more abundant
1
.91
130
.10
XnO. ..............................
.14
1
120
.12
CoO...............................
in the oxidized zone than in the sulfide zone. It is
1
.05
7
none
NIO. ..............................
particularly abundant in the northern part of the
1.04
1
7
. 30
COj. ..............................
.42
1
27
.34
TIOj...............................
district, in the Santa Rita mine.
1.21
1
7
.28
Cl. ................................
The amount of organic carbon in five run-of-mine
.00
1
PjO... .................. ...........
.20
8
1.01
10
SO.................................
.28
5
and general smelter feed samples was determined by
.20
2
5
.18
C............ ......................
the U. S. Bureau of Mines in Salt Lake City. The
20.98
19
34
M80+. ............................
7.90
11.22
34
28
MzO-. ............................
12.02
samples were analyzed by two different methods, to
eliminate from the result the carbon present in car100.29
100. 07
.29
.07
bonates. These samples contained 0.12 to 0.37
percent of carbon and averaged 0.22 percent, as
100.00
Total........................
100. 00
indicated below:
i Averages calculated by the writers from 54 analyses of minerals of the raontinorillonite-beidcllite series given by Ross and Hendricks (1945, table 1, p. 34).
' Includes FezOa.
The high content of moisture is a notable feature

of the ore. In the analyses listed, the content of
H2O ranges from 2.5 to 31 percent and averages 23
percent, besides an average ignition loss of 12 percent,
which includes water, carbon dioxide, and carbon.
Further data on this subject were obtained from a
series of 240 average monthly analyses of the moisture
content of the ore shipped from each of the principal
mines from 1935 to 1942. The moisture content in
these shipments ranged from 12.5 to 32.5 percent and
averaged 24.3 percent. It averaged 27.0 percent in
the Rancheria mine, 25.8 percent in the San Luciano
mine, 23.5 percent in the Santa Rita mine, 21.2 percent
in the Purgatorio mine, and 23.4 percent in the ore
produced from other mines during that period. The
ore loses a considerable part of its moisture upon
exposure to the atmosphere, and it is said that the
ore as first mined contained at least 5 percent of H2O
more than that indicated by the analyses. In the San
Alberto dump, which has been exposed on the surface
for more than 30 years, the moisture content averages
19.5 percent.
Percent cf
organic carbon
San Luciano mine_____-----------__--.___._-____-___

La China mine _____________________________________
Rancheria mine____ ______ ____________________________
General smelter feed, May 27, 1948..__.____.______.__
General smelter feed, December 29, 1948- _____________
0. 19
. 13
. 30
. 12
.37
These figures contrast with the results obtained by

Locke (1935, p. 411), who reported 3 percent of carbon
in two analyzed specimens. It may be that the carbon
content is quite variable in different parts of the
ore beds.
DISTRIBUTION OF ZINC
A special study was made of the distribution of zinc

in the Boleo ores. In 1948 the senior author witnessed
considerable excitement at Santa Rosalia over the
possibility that the Boleo district might become a zincproducing one. Certain commercial analyses had
indicated a phenomenally high content of zinc in the
Boleo ores, and the question of whether large quantities
of zinc had been overlooked during 60-odd years of
mining copper ores, or whether the analyses were
unreliable, needed to be resolved.
With the cooperation of H. G. Poole of the U. S.
Bureau of Mines, 34 smelter feed samples of Boleo ores
were sent to the Bureau in Salt Lake City for analysis.
78
These samples represented all the mines in the district

that were being operated in 1948; they included ore
from beds iios. 1, 3, and 4 and from both the sulfide
and oxidized zones. Zinc analyses were also obtained
for 19 underground samples collected by G. M. Potter
of the Bureau of Mines, mostly from fill in the old
stopes in ore bed no. 3.
Later, in order to obtain further data on the copperzinc relationship, the senior author carried out systematic sampling of all the mines that were being operated
in the sulh'de zone, both in ore beds no. 1 and no. 3,
and collected. 66 samples from 19 localities. At each
locality the ore bed was sampled in 3 or 4 places from
bottom to top, including in some localities the adjoining
footwall and hanging-wall material.
Altogether, 119 analyses for zinc were made by the
Bureau of Mines. These and 11 analyses from other
sources give a total of 130 analyses available. S. R.
Zimmerley, in charge of the Salt Lake City Branch of
the Bureau, who kindly furnished the analyses, states
that the Boleo ores presented unusual difficulties for
zinc anatysis because of the interference of other constituents. This may have led to erratic results of high
zinc content in the commercial analyses. Many of
the analyses made by the Bureau were checked by two
different methods, and the final results are considered
to be reliable.
The results of these analyses indicate that 2inc is
very widely distributed in the Boleo district but is
seldom concentrated to the same degree as copper, and
very little of the material analyzed could be considered
as commercial zinc ore. The average of the 130 analyses
was 0.80 percent of zinc, and only 30 samples contained
more than 1 percent. The highest content was 6.0
percent and the lowest was <0.05 percent. A sample
of the general smelter feed for December 29, 1948, contained 0.50 percent of zinc, and a sample of the smelter
slag for the same date contained 0.25 percent. Zinc is
concentrated in the flue dust of the smelter six
analyses showed 8.8 to 19.5 percent of zinc and the
possibilities for its recovery there warrant consideration.
This study revealed some relations in the distribution
of copper and zinc in the ore beds of the Boleo district
which had not previously been known. In most of the
localities sampled where a well-defined relation exists
between the two metals, the zinc to copper ratio is
much higher in the hanging-wall part of the ore bed.
At one locality in the Rancheria mine, for example, two
samples from the lower part of the ore bed showed
4 to 13 times as much copper as zinc, while two samples
from the higher relatively barren hanging wall showed 4
to 7 times more zinc than copper. In a locality in the
El Cuarenta mine the main ore bed showed 16 times as
much copper as zinc, while the hanging wall contained
11 times more zinc than copper. In part of the San

Luciano mine the footwall and main ore bed had 12
to 26 times as much copper as zinc, while the hanging
wall had 6 times more zinc than copper.
A similar relation was found in 10 of the 19 localities
sampled in detail. Only 1 locality showed the opposite
relation, and no definite relation could be observed in
8 localities where the zinc was scattered more or less
uniformly through the bed from top to bottom and
generally occurred in very small quantities. It is
noteworthy also that a composite sample from the
San Alberto dump showed 3.22 percent of zinc as
compared to 1.45 percent of copper. This dump is
composed largely of material from the hanging wall
of ore bed no. 3.
The average copper to zinc ratio of 125 recent analyses
for both metals is 5.86 to 1, but the extremes are as
high as 194 to 1 in the lower part of the ore bed of
the San Luciano mine, and as low as 0.09 to 1 (11 times
as much zinc as copper) in the upper hanging wall of
the El Cuarenta mine. Of the 15 samples that showed
more zinc than copper, 12 were in the hanging wall
and 3 in the footwall of the ore beds.
All the recent analyses for zinc are assembled in
table 21, which gives also the copper content and the
copper to zinc ratio for each sample.
TABLE 21. Analyses for copper and zinc in ores of the Boleo
copper district
U. S.
Bureau
of
No.' Minos
laboratory
no.
Percent
Ratio
Locality 2
Cu
Zn
Cu : Zn
Smelter Teed samples
1.
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
76923
76924
76925
76926
76927
76928
76929
76930
76931
76932
76933
76934
76935
76936
76937
76938
76939
76940
76941
76942
76943
76944
76945
76946
76947
76948
76949
76950
76951
76952
76953
76954
76955
76956
76957
2.90
3.90
3.90
5.70
5.30
6.45
4.00
3.25
4.35
3.55
4.25
4.05
6.30
4.75
4.05
6.05
6.55
3. 15
3.60
6.05
3.90
3.80
5.25
5.10
4.65
4.35
3.55
7.65
4.65
5.45
5. 10
6.45
8.60
.48
4.50
0.55
2,20
1.50
.35
.35
.50
.80
.35
.60
.55
.35
.45
.85
.25
.40
.25
.45
.20
.60
.90
.65
.85
.60
1.10
.35
.60
.30
.60
.45
.55
.95
1.45
3.55
.25
.50
5.3
1.8
2.6
16
15
13
5.0
9.3
7.2
6.5
12
9.0
7.4
19
10
24
15
16
6.0
6.7
6.0
4.5
8.7
4.6
13
7.2
12
13
10
9.9
5.4
4.4
2.4
1.9
9.0
San Agustfn mine, ore bed no. 3.

Rosalba mine.
Alhambra mine, ore bed no. 1.
San Fernando mine, ore bed no. 3.
Dos de Abril mine, ore bed no. 3 or no. 4.
La Testera no. 2 mine, ore bed no. 3.
Cananea mine.
San Pedro mine, ore bed no. 3 or no. 4.
El 160 mine, ore bed no. 4.
Malibran mine, ore bed no. 3.
Providencia mine, ore bed no. 3.
San Carlos mine, ore bed no. 3.
San Luciano mine, ore bed no. 1.
La China mine, ore bed no. 3.
San Carlos no. 1 mine, ore bed no. 3.
San Victor mine, ore bed no. 3.
San Francisco mine, ore bed no. 3.
San Fernando mine, ore bed no. 3.
El Cuarenta mine, ore bed no. 1.
Rancherfa no. 2 mine, ore bed no. 1.
Rancheria mine, ore bed no. 1.
Rancherfa mine, ore bed no. 1.
La Testera no. 1 mine, ore bed no. 3.
San Porflrio mine, ore bed no. 3.
Texcoco mine, ore bed no. 3.
Porvenir mine, ore bed no. 3.
San Felipe mine, ore bed no. 3.
Buenos Aires mine.
Malibran mine, ore bed no. 3.
Malibr&n no. 1 mine, ore bed no. 3.
Sin Nombre mine, ore bed no. 1.
Smelter slag from reverberatory furnaces.
General smelter feed, Dec. 29, 1948.
79
COPPER DEPOSITS
TABUS 21. Analyses for copper and zinc in ores of the Boleo
copper district Continued
U. S.
Bureau
of
No. 1 Mines
laboratory
no.
Percent
Ilatlo
U.S.
Bureau
of
No.' Mines
laboratory
no.
Locality 2
Cu
Zn
TABLE 21. Analyses for copper and zinc in ores of the Boleo
copper district Continued
Cu : Zn
Percent
Ratio
Locality
Cu
Zn
Cu : Zn
Mine samples
Mine samples
SAN GU1LLEKMO MINE, ORE RED NO. 3, 15

M-LEVEL, 71 N., 1470 E.
SAN FERNANDO MINE, OHE RED NO. 3
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
4fi
47
48
49
50
76100
76101
76102
76103
76104
76105
76106
76107
76108
76109
76110
76111
76112
76113
76114
19.7
5.25
5. 45
5.9
2.25
3.0
3.5
3. 05
5.5
4.3
2.2
4.25
5.0
4.4
4.2
0.35
.35
.15
.15
.4
.1
.3
3. 05
.1
.45
.15
.25
.2
.1
.25
56
15
36
39
5.6
30
12
1.0
55
9.6
15
17
25
44
17
51
52
53
54
76115
76116
76117
76118
3.55
1.35
3.4
2.65
.75
1.35
3.4
2.65
4.7
1.0
1.0
1.0
Footwall: thin scam.

Fill, 1.65 m.
Footwall of old fill, 95 cm.
Footwall of old fill, 1 m.
Sulflde ore, 1.6m.
Old fill, 1.8m.
Old fill, 1.8m.
Old fill, 1.3m.
Old fill. 1.35 m
Old fill, 1 m.
Old fill, 1.3m.
Old fill, 1.5 m.
Old fill, 1.0 m.
Old fill, 80 cm.
Old fill, 85 cm.
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
.10
.32
7.94
7.85
.41
2.30
.63
1.8S
.24
.14
13
4.2
Low-grade sulfide ore, 1.0 m.

Low-grade sulfide ore, 1.0 m.
Low-grade sulfide hanging wall, 65 cm.
Low-grade sulfide footwall, 65 cm.
85252
85253
85254
6.38
4.75
.94
.4
1.15
.8
16
4.13
1.2
Lower ore, 60 cm.

Upper ore, 45 cm.
Hanging wall, 30 cm.
LEVEL, 214 N., 2578 E.
85255
85256
85257
9. 55
1.09
.13
.6
.1.55
1.45
16
.70
.09
Main ore, 35 cm.

Lower hanging wall, 80 cm.
Upper hanging wall, 40 cm.
344 s., 1433 E.
85258
85259
85260
3.82
8.10
3.42
.1
.1
.45
38
81
7.6
Footwall, 50 cm.
Main ore, 40 cm.
346 s., 1425 E.
85201
85262
85263
4.05
6.25
1.37
.1
.1
.6
40
62
2.3
Footwall, 40 cm.
Main ore, 40 cm.
6. 66
5. 35
.65
.23
1.4
1.05
5.3
1.3
4,8
5.1
.12
.IS
85268
85269
85270
.14.3
5.UO
6.40
3.85
1.25
1.85
3.71
4.72
3.46
S5271
85272
85273
85274
17.6
5.57
.24
.16
6.0
1.55
1.3
1.15
2.9
3.59
.18
.14
Main ore, 35 cm.

82
S3
84
85
85275
S5276
85277
8527S
.15
3.50
5. 55
.28
.6
1.7
.85
1.3
.25
2.1
6.5
.21
Footwall, 40 cm.
Lower ore, 35 cm.
Upper ore, 60 cm.
85287
85288
85289
.56
4.15
8.05
85290
85291
85292
85293
.90
10.4
4.05
4.20
.3
.05
.05
1.9
83
161
Footwall, 60 cm.
Lower ore, 80 cm.
Upper ore, 80 cm.
.15
.15
.15
.1
6.0
69
27
42
Footwall, 55cm.
Main ore, 35 cm.
Lower hanging wall, 1.0 m.
Upper hanging wall, 2.0 in.
SAN LUCIANO MIME, ORE BED NO. 1, 135
M-LEVEL, 4062 S., 4003 E.
101
102
103
85294
85295
85296
.28
16.4
8.93
104
105
106
107
85297
85298
85299
85300
.25
9.70
11.1
6.37
108
109
110
111
85301
85302
85303
85304
2.95
8.97
3.97
.06
112
113
114
85305
85306
85307
1.28
5.30
.22
115
116
117
85308
85309
85310
3.62
12.7
3.02
.1
.15
.45
2.8
109
20
.1
<.05
.1
.35
2.5
194
111
18.2
.1
.15
' .4
.15
29
60
9.9
.40
.1
.2
1.3
13
26
.17
.3
.15
.4
12
85
7.5
3.91
8.67
6.35
.1
<.05
.05
121
122
1.45
9.25
3.22
2.91
.45
3.18
123
1.66
.62
2.7
85311
85312
85313
124
Lower ore, 25 cm.

Upper ore, 40 cm.
RANCIIERiA MINE, ORE RED NO. 1,
M-LEVEL, 497 N., 2928 R.
Footwall, 35 cm.
Lower ore, 50 cm.
Upper ore, 65 cm.
SAN GUILLERMO MINE, ORE TED NO. 3, 15

M-LEVEL, 56 N., 1525 E.
118
119
120
HANCHEIflA MINE, ORE RED NO. 1, 22

M-LEVEL, 403 N., 2970 E.
78
79
SO
8.1
.32
37
16
5.0
Footwall, 75 cm.
Main ore, 40 cm.
Footwall, 45 cm.
Lower ore, 40 cm.
Upper ore, 40 cm.
Footwall, 45 cm.
Main ore, 40 cm.
Footwall, 50 cm.
Main ore, 50 cm.
Lower ore, 60 cm.
Upper ore, 70 cm.
SAN VfCTOR MINE, ORE BED NO. 3, 0 Ml.EVEL, 862 S., 1548 E.
Footwall, 30 cm.
Main ore, 40 cm.
RANCH ERIA MINE, ORE RED NO. 1, 20
M-LEVEL, 412 N., 2963 E.
75
76
77
.4
.2
.3
.65
I.EVEL, 857 S., 1552 E.
LEVEL, 402 N., 2964 E.

85264
S5265
8,5266
85267
.13
7.47
4.72
3.24
SAN viCTOR MINE, ORE BED NO. 3, 0 &I-
RANCIIEKiA MINE, ORE RED NO. 1, 20 SI-
71
72
73
74
85283
85284
85285
85286
SAN LUCIANO MINE, ORE RED NO. 1, 135

M-LEVEL, 4040 S., 4010 E.
LA CHINA MINE, ORE RED NO. 3, 38 M-LEVEL,
68
69
70
Foot wall, 30 cm.

Lower ore, 60 cm.
Upper ore, 70cm.
SAN LUCIANO MINE, ORE RED NO. 1, 135

M-LEVEL, 4065 S., 4020 E.
' LA CHINA MINE, ORE RED NO. 3, 38 M-LEVEL,
65
66
67
.36
16
26
1.7
SAN LUCIANO MINE, ORE BED NO. 1, 135

M-LEVEL, 4058 S., 3990 E.
EL CUARENTA MINE, ORE RED NO. 1, 43 SI-
(12
63
64
94
95
96
97
98
99
100

Upper ore, 40 cm.
Lower ore, 40 cm.
EL CUARENTA MINE, ORE RED NO. 1, 43 MLEVEL, 206 N., 2573 E.
59
60
01
.45
.35
.1
.15
SAN GUILLERMO MINE, ORE BED NO. 3, 15

M-LEVEL, 46 N., 1484 E.
RANCIIERIA MINE, ORE RED NO. 1.
80833
80834
80835
80836
.16
5.46
2.64
.26
SAN OUILLERMO MINE, ORE RED NO. 3, 15

M-LEVEL, 49 N., 1498 E.
SAN VfCTOR MINE, ORE RED NO. 3.
55
56
57
58
85279
85280
85281
85282
39
173
127
.62
125
126
2.60
1.82
.62
.49
4.2
3.7
Average..-.
4.64
0.79
5.87
Lower ore, 50 em.

Upper ore, 65 cm.
San Alberto dump from ore bed no. 3.
Texcoco mine, ore bed no. 3, green oxidized
ore on dump.
Texcoco mine, ore bed no. 3, brown oxidized ore on dump.
Dos de Abril mine, ore bed no. 3 or 4,
dump.
San Luciano mine, ore bed no. 1.
San Luciano mine, ore bod no. 1, composite sample.
1 Samples 1 to 120 analyzed by U. S. Bureau of Mines, Metallurgical Division,

Salt Lake City, Utah. Samples 121 to 125 analyzed by Comision do Fomonto Mincro.
Tecamachalco, D. F., Mexico. Sample 126 analyzed by U. S. Geological Survey,
Samples 1 to 35, 59 to 120, and 126 collected by I. F. Wilson; samples 36 to 54 collected,
by O. M. Potter; samples 55 to 58 and 121 to 125 collected by H. G, Poole and I. F.
Wilson.
2 Thicknesses are in meters (in) or centimeters (cm). Levels are in meters above or
below sea level. Coordinates are in meters from San Francisco shaft.
80

METALS PRESENT IN MINOR QUANTITIES
Analyses for many of these minor metals have been

made in greater detail on certain of the Boleo smelter
products than on the ore itself. Analyses, compiled
from different sources, of the principal smelter products
are presented in table 22.
A number of other metals besides copper and zinc

occur in the ore in minor amounts, but no attempt has
been made to recover any of them except silver, which
is found in very minor quantities in the blister copper.
TABLE 22. Analyses of Boleo smelter products, in percent

No. of analysis '
Type of
material
Blister
copper
Year of
analysis
1934
10
11
13
14
Near
boilers
Half way
in dust
chamber
Foot of
stack
1948
1948
1948
2 present
present
present
present
4.6
11.5
2 present
present
present
present
3.45
15.9
2 present
present
present
present
3.2
17.8
12
Flue dust
SiOj. ....................
AhOs.. ..................
MgO-. ..
.. -.. ._
CaO. ........... ......
Cu. ..................... 99. 30
S. ..................... .
.06
SOz.. ....................
Fe. -- .-.- ...
.05
Mn.. ....................
Zn...... .................
.03
Co.......................
.08
Ni.. .....................
.32
Ph......... ..............
.01
P.. ...... ............... .
Sb.... .............. ....
tr.
As.. .....................
tr.
Bi... ....................
tr.
Ao
.02
Au. ...................._
tr.
Cd.. ....................
V....... ...... .... ...
Black copper
Copper matte
1901
1901
91 . 45
1.00
3. 52
0
.7182
.6200
.1576
.1322
.18
.0128
.0197
.0030
.022
tr.
1892
90. 25
.767
.83
tr.
6""
0
....
01. 52
22.52
13.68
.938
.2333
.4140
.0645
.0270
.019
.0032
.0013
.0008
.0075
tr.
1892
73.08
19. 01
4.24
1.05
Old slag
dump
Slag
1892
1934
41.60
10. 26
6.12
5.50
.90
49.10
13.51
12.10
15. 30
}'
1948
e
l'.l'"
.49
.10
}'
{ Ci.13
<.01
Near Flue to No localboilers stack ity given
1932
1932
8.78
3.20
2.57
3.19
4.74
12.46
9.59
4.89
7.43
5.30
38. 10
5.02
.96
19.01
"."36
30. 43
3.71
1.45
13. 26
"."42
0
0
<. 0003
<. 00002
....
<.01
....
....
u...... ..................
Or...... ................
TL. ....... ..............
Mo.....................
Na...... ...............
K..._ ....................
Sn..... ..................
Ba... ....................
Sr.. .....................
4.43
2.24
19.52
tr.
.31
2.20
tr.
.27
.0088
. 00007
.13
.06
.03
....
Ti... ....................
In.......................
Oc-.
........ ...... ...
Oa..... ..................
Miscellaneous -.-._._
1940
'3)
2. 153
(3)
2.02
....
....
< 76. 6
55.42
54.20
.01
tr.
tr.
tr.
tr.
()
present
present
15.5
present
present
3.25
absent
<.l
<.l
present
present
absent
.12
present
.05
absent
.012
present
present
present
present
absent
absent
tr.
present?
absent
absent
(7)
present
present
10.2
present
present
1.9
absent
<.1
<.l
present
present
absent
.09
present
.04
absent
.013
present
present
present
present
present
present
tr.
present?
absent
absent
(')
present
present
8.8
present
present
1.8
absent
<-l
<.l
present
present
atsent
.08
present
.04
absent
.013
present
present
present
present
present
present
tr.
present?
absent
absent
O
1 Analyses Nos. 1, 7, 9, and 10 by Boleo chemical laboratory; Nos. 2 and 4 from

Keller (1901, p. 243); Nos. 3, 5, and 6 from Saladin (1892, p. 41); No. 8 by U. S. Bureau
of Mines, Metallurgical Division, of sample collected by Ivan F. Wilson; No. 11 by
Abbot A. Hanks, Inc.; Nos. 12, 13, and 14 by U. S. Bureau of Mines, Metallurgical
Division, of samples collected by George M. Potter.
2 Presence or absence of elements in Nos. 12, 13, and 14 determined by spectrographic analysis.
3 Te and Se determined to be absent.

4 Insoluble.
5 Includes C, COz, CoO.
6 Pt group determined to be absent.
7 Absent, according to spectrographic analysis: Hg, Pt, Hf, Li, Ru, Te, Be, Ir,
Cb, Y, Ta, Rh, Zr, W, Th.
Cobalt occurs in noticeable quantities in Boleo ores

but has not been recovered. In order to ascertain the
distribution of cobalt in Boleo ores, samples 1 to 120
listed in table 21 were analyzed for cobalt by the U. S.
Bureau of Mines.. These, together with seven previous
analyses, indicate a range of less than 0.02 to 0.86
percent of cobalt, averaging 0.12 percent. Two
samples of the general smelter feed collected in May
and December, 1948, showed 0.13 and 0.12 percent of
cobalt. Nineteen samples showed more than 0.2 percent of cobalt, and three samples contained more than
0.5 percent. The highest grade samples were from the
Rancheria mine. The two samples that were highest in
cobalt were also high in copper, but otherwise no
definite relation was found between the amount of
cobalt and the amount of copper or zinc.
Analyses of several kinds of smelter products for

copper, cobalt, and nickel made by the Boleo chemical
laboratory in 1934 are presented in table 23. These,
together with several additional analyses, indicate
that slag from the reverb era tory furnaces contains 0.05
to 0.28 percent of cobalt, flue dust contains 0.03 to 0.53
percent, the copper matte contains 0.40 to 0.43 percent,
and the blister copper contains only 0.005 to 0.08
percent.
More recent analyses by the U. S. Bureau of Mines
indicate that the converter slag contains 0.5 to 4.0
percent of cobalt, many samples containing between 1
and 2 percent. Also a metallic iron alloy that accumulates in the bottom of the reverb era tory furnaces has
been found to contain 10 to 20 percent of cobalt. The
problem of possible recovery of cobalt in the Boleo
COPPER DEPOSITS
smelter is being investigated by the Bureau of Mines

at the tune of this writing.
TABLE 24. Summary of available analyses of all constituents

known in Boleo copper ore
Percent
TAB LID 23. Analyses of some Boleo smelter products for copper,
cobalt, and nickel, in percent
[Analysis by Boleo chemical laboratory, 19341
Cu
Ore in reverberatory furnaces.........._._.....__.....
Copper matte from reverberatory furnaces....-....-..--...Blister copper from converters..............................
Slag from roverboratory furnaces_..._..................
Fluedust, in boilers........................................
Flue dust, 30 meters from boilers.....--..-------..-.---.--Fluedust, half way to stack...............................
......__..__._____._
Old flue (lust, near stack; outside for several years.........
1 Estimated.
4.47
54.24
99.30
.20
9.35
4.45
2.03
.
2.18
' Co
Ni
0.33
.40
.08
.28
.53
.20
.17
.32
'0.05
.32
.32
1 .05
.22
.-..
....
....
Very few analyses of Boleo ores are available for lead,

which is believed to range considerably in amount, for in
some analyses it is reported to be absent or present
only in traces, and yet in certain ores the lead minerals
are conspicuously visible to the unaided eye. The
only analyses in table 16 in which lead was analyzed
indicate a trace to 0.25 percent of PbO, the latter
equivalent to 0.23 peicent of Fb.
Nickel occurs only in small quantities in the Boleo
ores, but it becomes concentrated in the smelter
products. Seven analyses of the ore showed a trace to
0.13 percent of nickel, averaging 0.04 percent; a sample
of general smelter feed showed 0.01 percent. Its percent in different smelter products is given in tables 22
and 23. As shown in table 23, the nickel becomes concentrated in the copper matte and blister copper, in
both of which it occurs to the extent of 0.32 percent.
Silver is the only element in the Boleo smelter
products, besides copper, for which payment is received,
but the amount concerned is hardly significant. Four
analyses of the ore indicate that the silver content
ranges from 7 to 12 grams per ton, and averages 9.
The silver becomes concentrated in the blister copper,
in which it ranges from 70 to 200 grams per ton. The
average of 32 analyses of one shipment of blister copper
in 1941 was 87 grams of silver per ton.
Gold is present in the ore and smelter products only
in faint traces, well below the minimum quantities
necessary for commercial recovery. Four analyses of
the ore indicated a gold content of less than 0.2 grams
per ton.
Other metals that have been found in the Boleo ores
in amounts of hundredths of a percent or less include
arsenic, antimony, strontium, barium, vanadium, molybdenum, zirconium, yttrium, chromium, and beryllium . Other elements that have been reported from the
flue dust but not analyzed in the ore are bismuth,
cadmium, uranium, thallium, tin, and traces of indium,
germanium, and gallium.
SUMMARY OF RELATIVE ABUNDANCE OF ELEMENTS
A general summary of the ranges and averages of the

available analyses of all constituents known to occur
in the Boleo ores is given in table 24, which includes also
81
Constituent
Range
Low
Si02
....... 16.30
Number of
analyse
Averag
Remarks
High
51.06
28.90
29
H2O........_.
2.54
31.00
22.98
19 .Sonic loss of moisture before analy-
Ignition loss..
MnO........
5.92
.51
24.00
29.21
12.29
8.34
28
35
FcO..........
A1203
...
Cu... ........
3.80
.96
.05
17.46
14.30
35
8.17
7.58
4.81
29
29
many
CaO- .
1.27
8.42
3.53
30
MgO.........
CO2..._._ ..
S03 . .......
.66
.81
tr.
7.60
5.55
6.03
2.90
1.80
1.76
22
7
16
s_.
.06
3.98
1.40
39
Cl..._.
.10
3.88
1.33
Na2 0. ......
.08
3.39
1.24
6.0
1.05
.80
I
130
K2 O___._
Zn...
Ti02 .......
C (organic)...
Co..........
<.05
.12
.37
.46
.22
1
5
<.02
.86
.12
126
.07
PzOs.. ........
Pb...
Ni .. .
none
.23
.06
tr.
.13
.04
As..........
Sb____ .
Sr.._._
Ba......
.03
.02
' .OX
'.OX
1
1
1
1
'.OX
Mo ..
<.01
Zr........ .
'.OOX
Y._ .
Ag_. ..........
i.OOX
.0009
Or..........
Be.......... .
' . OOOX
i.OOOX
1
1
An........
<. 00002
-1
Bi. ...... .
Cd... . .
U..___
Tl. .......
Sn. .......
In.........
Oe.. ........
Oa.... .......
Miscellaneous..
.0007
.0012
Chiefly in clay minerals; also chrysocolla, and some free silica.
ses are made.

Includes H2O, COj, C.
Highly variable; probably averages 3 to 4 percent in general
smelting ore.
Includes FejOa. Highly variable.
Chiefly in clay minerals.
Âverage is of total production,
1886 to 1947, weighted for tonnages.
Chiefly in clay minerals and gypsum; also some calcite.
As carbonates.
Higher in oxidized ores than in
sulflde ores; mostly as gypsum.
Averages 0.63 percent in oxidized
ores; 2.84 percent in sulflde ores.
NaCl 0.16 to 6.40 percent; average
2.20 percent.
Partly in NaCl; also in clay minerals.
Average includes 34 smelter feed
and 85 mine samples analyzed
by U. S. Bureau of Mines. Flue
dust contains 8.8 to 19.5 percent.
Trace in flue dust.
Based on analyses by Bureau of
Mines. Locke (1935, p. 411) reported 3 percent in two specimens. Probably variable.
0.4 percent in copper matte; 0.05
to 0.28 percent in reverberator y
slag; 0.03 to 0.53 percent in flue
dust; 0.005 to 0.08 percent in
blister copper; 0.5 to 4.0 percent
in converter slag.
0.019 percent P in copper matte;
0.18 percent in black copper;
0.02 to 0.11 percent in. Lucifer
manganese ore.
1.8 to 3.25 percent in flue dust;
0.01 to 1.74 percent in Lucifer
manganese ore.
0.32 percent in blister copper; .22
to 0.50 percent in flue dust.
Trace in smelter products.
Do.
Present in flue dust.
Present in flue dust. 0.05 to 1.45
percent in Lucifer manganese
ore.
0.06 percent in flue dust. 0.04 to
0.12 percent in Lucifer manganese ore.
O.OOX percent in ore, according'to
spectrographic analysis. 0.01
percent in flue dust. 0.081 percent in Lucifer manganese ore.
Absent in flue dust, according .to
spectrographic analysis.
Do.
In ore: 7 to 12 grams per ton, average 9. In blister copper: 70 to
200 grams per ton, average 87 (in
32 analyses of one shipment).
In flue dust: 88 grams per ton.
0.03 percent in flue dust.
Absent in flue dust, according to
spectrographic analysis.
In ore: less than 0.2 grams per ton.
Trace in blister copper. In flue
dust: 0.7 grains per ton.
0.0008 percent in copper matte;
0.003 percent in black copper;
0.27 percent in flue dust.
0.08 to 0.13 percent in flue dust.
Present in flue dust.
Trace in flue dust.
Do.
Do.
Elements absent in ore, according
to spectrographic analysis: W,
Re, Pt, Pel, Th. Additional
elements absent in flue dust:
Hg,
Rh.~ llf, Li, Ru, Te, Ir, Cb, Ta.
General order of magnitude, according to spectrographic analysis.
82
some remarks on the occurrence of some of the elements in the different smelter products. This is mainly
a summary of the data given in previous tables, but it
includes also some additional unpublished partial
analyses for certain constituents: The constituents are
arranged, insofar as possible, in the order of their
abundance in the ore, although the relative rank of the
elements listed toward the end of the table, which have
been analyzed only in the flue dust, is not known
exactly.
TABLE 25. Comparison of relative amount of elements in Boleo
copper ore with their relative amount in igneous rocks, in percent
Element
Manganese ._-__
Symbol
_.__
Copper. _
Aluminum
____ __ _
Sulfur....................
Magnesium. _
____ ___
Potassium- _ ___ ___Zinc __..__
__ ____ -____
Titanium___ __ _ __
Cobalt____---_--_-_-----Lead__ _ __ ____ __ __:
Nickel. _- _-_
_-Arsenic _ __
Antimony.
_ _ ___
_
_ _
Vanadium. .__ __ __ __._

Molybdenum_ _ _
Zirconium ______ _ __
Silver.. __..._._.._..._. __
Chromium _ _ __
Beryllium __ __ ____
Gold... ______ ...__..._.
Si
Mn
Fe
Cu
Al
H
Ca
S
Mg
Cl
Na
K
Zn
C
Ti
Co
Pb
Ni
P
As
Sb
Sr
Ba
V
Mo
Zr
Y
Ag
Cr
Be
Au
Average
Average
amount of
amount of elements in
elements igneous rocks
(R.ankama
in Boleo
copper ore and Sahama,
1950)
13. 67
6. 54
6. 43
4. 86
4. 06
2. 60
2. 55
2. 13
1. 77
1. 35
.93
. 88
. 81
. 72
. 28
. 12
.06
. 04
. 03
.03
. 02 .OX
. OX
. OX
<. 01
. OOX
. OOX
. 0009
. OOOX
. OOOX
<2X10-
27. 72
. 10
5. 00
.007
8. 13
present
3. 63
. 052
2. 09
. 031
2. 83
2. 59
. 013
. 032
. 44
. 0023
. 0016
. 008
. 118
. 0005
. 0001
. 03
. 025
. 015
. 001
. 022
. 0028
. 00001
. 02
. 0006
5X10- 7
It seemed of some interest, particularly in relation to

the problem of the genesis of the ore, to compare the
relative abundance of elements in the Boleo ore with
the estimated relative abundance of these elements in
igneous rocks. In order to place the Boleo analyses on a
comparable basis with tables that have given such
estimates, the following procedure was followed: First,

the ignition loss, or H2O-, was eliminated, and the
remaining averages of the oxides were recalculated to a
total of 100 percent. Then the elements in an oxide
form were recalculated to an elemental form. No figure
is given for oxygen, as this has not been determined in
the ore, nor for the minor elements that are known only
in the flue dust.
The resulting average elemental composition of the
Boleo copper ore is given in table 25, where it is compared with the average abundance of these elements in
igneous rocks, as given by Rankama and Sahama (1950,
p. 39-40).
The elements that have a proportion many times
higher in Boleo copper ores than their estimated averages in igneous rocks are copper, about 700 times as
high; silver, 90 times as high; manganese, 65 times as
high; zinc, 60 times as high; cobalt, 50 times as high;
lead, sulfur, and chlorine, 40 times as high. All these
elements are thought to have been introduced into the
Boleo ores by solutions, although some of the chlorine
may have been a residual product of sea water. Insufficient data are available for an exact comparison of
arsenic and antimony, which also appear to be higher
in the Boleo ores than in igneous rocks.
ORIGIN OF THE DEPOSITS
PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED STATEMENTS ON OKIGIN
The mode of origin of the Boleo copper deposits is

controversial, as seems to be true of many copper
deposits in sedimentary rocks. Some of the earlier
workers believed that the copper was syngenetic that
is, deposited contemporaneously with the enclosing
sediments, through the action of warm springs or of
"muddy submarine eruptions." Many of the later
workers have thought that the copper was introduced
into the beds by ascending hydrothermal solutions,
although the evidence has never been presented very
fully. A contrasting view that the copper was leached
out of the overlying rocks and carried downward by
descending ground waters has been proposed by one
investigator, Touwaide (1930). Because his theory has
been widely quoted in different treatises on ore deposits,
it will be considered in some detail in the present paper.
The earliest investigator in the district, Tinoco (1885,
p. 13), believed that the metalliferous material of the
ore beds rose along faults, as indicated by the presence
of veins and stockwork bodies, and was then deposited
with the surrounding sediments. Martinez Baca and
Servin Lacebron (1898, p. 8-9) reviewed the evidence
given by Tinoco and differed from him in the sedimentary origin, expressing the opinion that the metalliferous deposits were posterior to the sediments of the
ore-bearing formation.
COPPER DEPOSITS
Bouglise and Cumenge (1885) believed that the

deposits Avere formed by ' hydrothermal submarine
emanations, but they do not discuss the mechanism in
detail.
Fuchs (1886a, p. 90-91) stated that the deposits
were formed by muddy submarine eruptions, and that
they have "the double character of eruptivity, with
respect to their origin, and of sedimentation, with
respect to their form, their mode of deposition and
their extent." He suggested that the metals were
carried upward by solutions from underlying igneous
bodies, which are represented by "materials of emanation of essentially a vein-like origin." In the book on
ore deposits by Fuchs and de Launay (1893, p. 351-352),
it is stated that a great fracture parallel to the coast
(probably the Juanita fault) has served for the passage
of waters rich in quartz, which have silicified the rocks
at the contact. The three cupriferous beds are attributed to a submarine effusion or discharge of mud which
rose to the surface along fractures created by successive
dislocations.
Saladin (1892, p. 14-15) states that the copper was
probably introduced above ground by mineral springs
and by muddy eruptions bursting forth through fissures
in the "trachyte." As evidence for the traversing solutions, he cites the siliceous and cupriferous veinlike
deposits on the southwest side of the "trachytic" mass
of Juanita.
PoSepn^ (1894, p. 318), who based his interpretation
of the Boleo deposits on the description by Fuchs; made
the following statement in his treatise on the genesis
of ore deposits:
A periodical metallic precipitation, three or four times repeated,
in an open marine basin, is out of the question; and we are forced
in this case, even more strongly than elsewhere, to assume a
secondary origin for the ores. * * * Certainly the conglomerates underlying the orerbed must have played an important part,
representing, very likely, the channels through which the mineral solutions ascended, to be reduced, probably by the presence
of organic matter, in the tufas above.
Krusch (1899) was particularly impressed with the

unusual metalliferous combination of copper, manganese, and cobalt in the Boleo deposits. He appealed
to the action of siliceous warm springs in forming the
deposits.
Weed (1907, p. 246), in a brief description of the
Boleo district, made the following statement on origin:
"The evidence of silicification and the greater permeability of the conglomeratic beds, resting on impermeable
tuff clays, indicates a circulation of mineralizing waters
(hot-spring action?) after sedimentation." (It should
be noted that the conglomerates rest directly underneath and not on top of the tuff clays.)
De Launay (1913, p. 790-793) states that the sulfide
deposits are the result of chemical concentration, and
83
that they were probably derived from the decomposition of igneous rocks or of the ores that these may have
contained, unless there.has been a subsequent impregnation, which he does not consider very probable. In
a classification of copper deposits in sedimentary rocks
in another part of his book, de Launay (1913, p. 759)
includes the Boleo deposits among ores which are localized in plan view within a restricted radius, which arc
associated with igneous rocks and lines of dislocation,
and which seem to be epigenetic.
Touwaide (1930, p. 140-142) presented a theory of
deposition by descending ground waters. He believed
that the source of the copper was the tuff itself, which
he supposed contained originally 0.2 percent of copper,
although it now contains very little. He suggested that
connate and ground waters slowly leached the copper
from the tuff, and transported the copper as sulfate.
He states:
Downward migration of the copper was hindered by the obstacle of the impervious clay beds but the dip probably allowed
sufficient movement to revive constantly the concentration of
the solution in contact with the clay beds, in which the copper
must have penetrated by diffusion. * * * The initial agent of
deposition was probably the organic matter of the beds, which
generated hydrogen sulphide, or some organic sulphur compound remaining occluded in the groundmass of the clay.
Bellanger (1931, p. 768) does not give a detailed

account of his views on origin, but he states that evidence is present that the metal-bearing solutions came
through small fissures caused by faulting and subsidence, and that the solutions apparently traveled
through some of the faults themselves. He states:
"Association of the ore with the faults indicates that
its formation was subsequent to that of the beds."
Pefia (1931, p. 164) suggested that the copper was
deposited by the circulation of mineralizing solutions
at relatively low temperatures, and that the impermeable clayey tuff served to detain the ascending course
of the solutions or to confine them to certain horizons.
The presence of as much as 3 percent of free carbon,
which would act as a reducing and precipitating agent,
was cited as one of the factors favoring the precipitation of the copper minerals. Pena pointed out the occurrence of wood fragments that have been silicified or
replaced by chalcocite.
Locke (1935, p. 412) briefly discussed Touwaide's
theory of leaching by ground waters, remarking that
"any such copper content as 0.2 percent in the fresh
rocks is improved," and then presented his own views
as follows:
A satisfactory theory of genesis of these ores must account
for the geographic localization as well as the geologic occurrence
in small, uniformly dispersed grains of dominant chalcocite in
thin clay members interleaved with porous sediments of an
igneous basin, as well as the fact that the chalcocite is in the
84
low-temperature form. I am not ready to advance such a

theory but suggest that further study may show that the Boleo
copper traveled upward on crosscutting paths renewing those
which guided the volcanic rocks, and that the ore bodies spread
along porous-zones from these paths. There still seems to be
room for the bedding ores and the crosscutting ores to be parts
of a single genetic system expressed in different rocks and
structures.
THE THEORY OF DEPOSITION BY DESCENDING GROUND
WATERS
The evidence listed by Touwaide (1930, p. 140-141)

that the copper was derived from the overlying tuff
is quoted in full as follows:
(1) The tuff is similar in composition to the augite-andesite
of the bed rock except that it contains very little copper, whereas
the augite-andesite contains 0.2 percent, probably in the pyroxenes.
(2) It is reasonable to suppose that the tuff contained originally
also 0.2 percent of copper.
(3) The amount of copper concentrated in the ore beds is
exactly what would be expected if the tuff contained originally
0.2 percent of copper. Supposing, very conservatively, that
each bed contains two meters of 5 percent ore and was fed by
70 meters of sediments it is found that 0.06 percent copper may
still be present in the tuff.
(4) The great uniformity of the mineralization coincides with
the uniformity of the sedimentary beds.
(5) Richer ore is found in zones parallel to the facies lines of
the conglomerate, that is, parallel to the lines of variation of the
tuff.
(6) The deposit is much poorer inland, where the conglomerate
prevails over the tuff. The copper was much more easily
extracted from the fine grains of tuff than from the pebbles, as
the water circulated more easily through the tuff than through
the pebbles.
(7) It is easily conceivable that the connate and ground waters
could extract the copper from the pyroxenes.
(8) It is equally conceivable that the copper in solution
migrated downward to the argillaceous beds and was precipitated
as chalcocite. The possibility of primary chalcocite in Red Beds
from descending solutions was recognized long ago.
The first point, that the augite-andesite of the bedrock (Comondu volcanics) contains 0.2 percent of
copper, was not confirmed. Seven fresh samples of
the volcanic rocks collected by the writers and analyzed
by E. K. Oslund and S. S. Goldich at the University of
Minnesota showed a range from 0.002 to 0.007 percent
of copper, averaging 0.004 percent (see table 2).
In order to evaluate the second point, that "it is
reasonable to suppose that the tuff contained originally
also 0.2 percent of copper," the writers searched the
literature for previous analyses for copper in rocks.
They received valuable aid from Michael Fleischer and
Maryse H. Delevaux, who also provided the results of
160 unpublished analyses made in the laboratories of
the U. S. Geological Survey.
The earlier literature was summarized by Clarke and
Washington (1924, p. 10, 22), who state that the average
of 169 analyses for copper in igneous rocks before 1924
was 0.018 percent of copper. The later analyses that

the writers have found, for both igneous and sedimentary
rocks, are summarized in table 26.
TABLE 26. The copper content of rocks l
Number of samples containing the
following percentage of copper
Total,
number
0.0005 0.001 0.01
<0.0005 to 0.001 to 0.01 to 0.1 >0.1 of samples
Types of rocks
Igneous rocks (Including a few
100
2
589
metamorphic rocks)....
..
85
S161 3241
151
288
72
5
536
Sedimentary rocks...-....-------.
20
312
172
7
1,125
Total.._----,-_.-_-----..--105
529
1 A complete list of references on which this table is based will not be cited here,
but those giving a large number of analyses for copper (30 or more) include
Archangelsky and Rozkova (1932), Broderick (1935) Broderick and Hohl (1935),
Kowalski (1936), Sandell and Ooldich (1943), Brockamp (1944), Strakhov, Zalmanson,
Arestyakubovitch, and Senderova (1944), Lundegardh (1947), Schneiderhb'hn and
others (1949), and Qraf and Kerr (1950).
2 Includes 6 analyses reported as "<0.001", and 41 analyses reported as "0.0001 to
0.001."
3 Includes 38 analyses reported as "0.001 to 0.02."
This table, based on more than 1,000 analyses, shows

that the largest number of rock samples contain between
0.001 and 0.01 percent of copper. Sandell and Goldich
(1943) obtained a weighted average of 0.007 percent of
copper from analyses of 73 American igneous rocks,
and this figure was accepted by Rankama and Sahama
(1950, p. 39) as the best estimate for the relative
abundance of copper in igneous rocks.
In addition to the analyses included in table 26,
summaries of analyses of nearly 1,000 shales from
Germany showed 0.002 to 0.08 percent of copper,
averaging 0.0066 percent (Schneiderhohn and others,
1949); 71 sedimentary rocks of Azerbaijan contained
0.0015 to 0.0064 percent of copper (Itkina, 1946); and
many analyses of the alum shales of Sweden gave 0.005
to 0.020 percent of copper (Westergard, 1944).
Among the rocks represented in table 26, the ones
whose description most nearly fits that of the tuffs of
the Boleo district are some tuffs from the Santa Rita
area of New Mexico, described by Graf and Kerr (1950,
p. 1033) as "tuff zones partially or completely altered
to pink and white montmorillonite . . . interbedded
with sand and gravels." Spectrographic analyses of
21 samples of these tuffs showed that 12 contained
from 0.0001 to 0.001 percent of copper, and 9 contained
between 0.001 and 0.01 percent of copper.
The writers conclude that it is unreasonable to
suppose that the tuffs of the Boleo district contained
originally 0.2 percent of copper.
The third point made by Touwaide is that the amount
of copper contained in the ore beds is exactly what
would be expected if they were supplied by 70 meters
of sediments containing originally 0.2 percent of copper.
It should be pointed out here that the thickness of tuff
overlying each ore bed reaches 70 meters in only a few
places; the average thickness is 32 meters for the tuff
above ore bed no. 1 and 48 meters for the tuff above
85
COPPER DEPOSITS
ore bed no. 3 (see fig. 18). Although the writers do not
attribute too much significance to the exact figures,
they do believe that, if the copper were derived from
the overlying tuff, there should be a correlation between
the thickness of overlying tuft' and the amount of ore
in a particular place. But no such relation appears, as
may seen from an analysis of figure 18. Some of the
thickest sections of tuft' (for example, above ore beds
nos. 2 and 4) are underlain by very little ore. In
general the tuff thickens toward the gulf where the ore
is poorest, and some of the best ore was found directly
alongside the volcanic hills where the tuff section has
thinned down notably.
Touwaide's fourth point, as to the great uniformity
of the mineralization, was not confirmed by the writers,
as previously discussed and shown in figures 35 and 36
and table 13. The lack of uniformity was not overlooked by Touwaide, for he states in another part of
his paper (1930, p. 128): "In beds 1 and 3 richer zones
have been, found in the vicinity of the main augiteandesite hills, as for example, the Sombrero Montado
and the Cerro Juanita."
The writers agree with Touwaide's fifth point, that
"richer ore is found in /ones parallel to the facies lines
of the conglomerate," but this is regarded as equally
compatible with replacement by ascending or descending solutions. Any replacement deposit is likely to
show a relation to facies changes in the sediments.
The sixth point, that "the deposit is much poorer
inland, where the conglomerate prevails over the tuff,"
requires some clarification. The deposits are "poorer
inland" only on the landward (southwest) side of the
main volcanic hills; on the gulfward or northeast side
they become better inland, up to the point where they
wedge out against the hills. An explanation for this
according to the theory of ascending solutions will be
discussed later.
Touwaide's seventh and eighth points are that "it
is easily conceivable that the connate and ground waters
could extract the copper from the pyroxenes" and that
"the copper in solution migrated downward to the
argillaceous beds and was precipitated as chalcocite."
In this connection it will only be pointed out that some
of the ore beds and overlying tuff beds were probably
well below the water table throughout the time of ore
deposition, as also suggested by Touwaide (1930, p.
138). It is difficult for the writers to see why the copper
was dissolved, migrated downward, and then precipitated in a tremendously concentrated form, in beds
that were saturated with water.
In summary, the principal objections to the theory of
deposition by descending ground waters are considered
to be these: the improbability that the tuff originally
contained enough copper1 to serve as a source for the
deposits; the lack of any correlation between the thickness of the supposed source beds and the distribution
of the ore; the difficulty of invoking both solution and
deposition of copper in beds lying below the water
table; and the inability to explain the vein deposits in
the volcanic rocks by such a theory.
THE PREFERRED THEORY: REPLACEMENT BY ASCENDING
HYDROTHERMAL SOLUTIONS
STATEMENT OF THE THEORY
The writers believe that the Boleo copper deposits

were formed by replacement in favorable beds by
ascending solutions of magmatic origin. The solutions
were of comparatively low temperature because of
their proximity to the surface and their great distance
from the magmatic source. A possible interpretation
of the mechanism of ore deposition, which could explain
the broader pattern of variation in degree of mineralization within the stratigraphic and structural framework,
is presented diagrammatically in figure 37.
In this illustration the structural and stratigraphic
features are drawn to scale, the only departure from
actual conditions being in the elimination of the effects
of postmineral faulting, tilting, and erosion. The
exact position of the premineral faults shown in the
Comondu volcanics is hypothetical, but they are
drawn parallel to mineralized faults and fractures that
have actually been observed in the surface outcrops of
these rocks.
According to this theory, the hydro thermal solutions
are considered to have ascended along premineral
faults and fractures in the Comondu volcanics. When
they reached the contact with the overlying sediments
of the Boleo formation, they in part spread outward
through the porous beds of this formation and in part
ascended along the steep contact bordering the projecting hills and islands of the volcanic basement rocks,
since this contact provided a ready channel way for the
flow of solutions.
When the solutions came into contact with the
relatively impervious clayey tuff beds that overlie
porous conglomerate and sandstone, their ascending
course was impeded or trapped. The most effective
trap was where the clayey tuff beds wedged out against
the volcanic hills. The trapped solutions would be
backed up underneath the clay and would thus eventually be deflected farther and farther down the dip of
the beds; the underlying porous conglomerate (and its
gulfward equivalent of sandstone) would serve as a
good aquifer for this purpose. Thus any part of the
ore bed above the level of the feeder vein and within a
reasonable distance from the feeder would be reached
by the mineralizing solutions. At least part of the
beds were probably already saturated with water,
either meteoric or connate. In any event, the mag-
86

SW. (INLAND)
NE. (GULFWARD)
Variation in degree of mineralization in ore bed 3 Stoped area, 5 percent or more copper
Island or buried hill of Comondu volcanics

(Example Cerro de Juanita)
Explored but unstoped low-grade area, 1-3 percent copper
Each ore bed is relatively impervious clayey tuff

underlain by conglomerate or tuffaceous sand-,
stone. Best ore is at base of bed averaging
0.6 to 1.0 meter in thickness, overlain gradationally by low-grade zone 1 meter or so thick.
Each conglomerate grades gulfward into tuffaceous sandstone
bed 0_____ ^-Conglomerate 0
Barren zone, less

than 1 percent copper
(extends as far
as gulf)
x-Tuff
Pi eent_seajeyel_ _
Position of sea level unknown
at time of mineralization
/I
Section running northeastward from Cerro de Juanita toward San Guillermo

shaft; effects of post-faulting, tilting, and erosion eliminated. Stratigraphic
and structural features drawn to scale; no vertical exaggeration.
FIGURE 37. Diagram suggesting a mechanism by which ascending hydrothermal solutions were trapped to form
the Boleo copper deposits.
(1) Hydrothermal mineralizing solutions prise from depth
along faults and fractures in Comondu volcanics.
(2) Solutions ascend along irregular Comondu-Boleo
contact and may be dispersed upward and outward
through porous beds of Boleo formation. These beds
may or may not already be saturated with water; in
any event, warmer mineralizing solutions will rise toward
top. (3) Solutions are trapped by relatively impervious
clayey tuff and back up below the trap in conglomerate
(or sandstone) which underlies clay and serves as an
aquifer. (4) Constant contact of solutions with clayey
matic mineralizing solutions, being warmer and probably also charged with gasses, would tend to rise toward
the top, until trapped by the impervious clayey tuff.
Constant contact of the mineralizing solutions with
the clayey tuff beds permitted diffusion of solutions
bearing copper and other metals, which were precipitated by some unknown chemical agent present in the
beds. The mineralizing solutions may have reached
the surface in places and issued in the form of springs,
but the major deposition of ore is believed to have
taken place where the solutions were trapped below the
surface.
An outstanding feature of the Boleo deposits is that
replacement affected the more nearly impervious rather
than the more permeable beds. Concerning this, the
recent thought-provoking report by Mackay (1946)
about the control of impounding structures on ore
deposition is of considerable interest. He maintains
"that the relatively impermeable barriers that are
common to these structures impounded the solutions in
such a manner as to cause the metals to be deposited
within the structure and to allow the solvent or ore-
tuff permits diffusion of copper into clay, where it is

precipitated as chalcocite. Best ore is where most
effective trap for ascending solutions exists against volcanic hill. Ore beds become lower grade and eventually
barren away from hills. NOTE: In the area of the
diagram, bed 3 has best ore; bed 2 is mineralized in a
narrow zone, and beds 1 and 0 are practically unmineralized. Assumed reason: Higher beds have very limited
contact with volcanic basement rocks, and bed 3 has
extensive contact; most of the solutions were trapped by
bed 3, and only a small part could reach the higher beds.
carrying fluid to pass on through the relative!}7 impermeable barrier."

The copper and other metals probably penetrated the
ore beds by diffusion, as suggested by Touwaide (1930,
p. 141). The role of diffusion in ore deposition has
been discussed by Duffell (.1.937, p. 509), who states:
Another case where diffusion probably acts in the distribution
of material, is where a solution migrating upwards comes in
contact with an impervious layer. * * * When the solution
comes in contact with such a barrier conditions will become
stagnant and movement of solutions will be very slight. In
such cases it seems likely that diffusion will act to a considerable
extent, moving material from one place to another.
Since ore was not deposited in the porous rocks of

the district, except to a minor degree, the writers
believe that the copper was not deposited as a mere
result of the effect of decreasing temperature and pressure on a saturated solution, but rather that some
particular chemical constituent caused it to be precipitated in the cl&y. The writers are not .yet prepared, however, to state the nature of the chemical
agent that might have precipitated the copper.
COPPER DEPOSITS
EVIDENCE FOR ASCENDING SOLUTIONS
87
it is virtually unmmeralized in the northwest part of the

The main lines of evidence that the Boleo ore was district, where ore bed no. 3 is the main bed. The
deposited by ascending solutions, which arose along writers' explanation is that ore bed no. 1 lies much
fractures in the underlying volcanic rocks and- then nearer the base of the formation in the southeast part of
spread outward through the sediments, are believed to the district (the lower part of the sedimentary section
be the folloAving:
being absent there due to nondeposition) and has ex1. The presence of veins and stockwork bodies in the tensive contact with the volcanic basement rocks
Comondii volcanics. These bodies seem to point around Cerro del Sombrero Montado. But in the northclearly to the fact that mineralizing solutions traversed west part of the district ore bed no. 1 is much higher
the volcanic rocks and were localized along faults and and has only a limited contact with the highest parts
fractures. Some of these deposits are in the highest of the volcanic hills. Thus almost no mineralizing soluprojecting masses and islands of the Comondu volcan- tions were able to reach it in that area, most of them
ics, which were never covered by sediments; hence there having been trapped below by ore bed no. 3, and to a
lesser degree by ore bed no. 2. This does not deny that
was no available source for the solutions from above.
2. The localization of certain high-grade ore bodies the different degree of mineralization in the different
along the surface of the Comondu volcanics. In some ore beds is partly due to original differences in the sediplaces, concentrations of ore were found directly against mentary beds themselves, which caused some to be
the volcanic surface, even where there was no clayey more susceptible to replacement than others.
7. The vertical distribution of ore within a particular
tuff bed, the usual matrix of the ore. This seems good
evidence that mineralizing solutions once flowed along bed. Copper is concentrated toward the base of each
this contact between the Comondu volcanics and the clayey tuff bed and gives way upward to a low-grade
zone in the hanging wall of the bed. Assuming that
Boleo formation.
3. The areal pattern of variation in grade of ore. The the copper was distributed by diffusion, as Touwaide
larger bodies of high-grade ore are wrapped around the suggested and as the writers also consider probable, it
gulfward side of the projecting masses of Comondu seems that the greatest concentration should be where
volcanics, as illustrated in figure 36. Toward the gulf the diffusion began, and that it would gradually defrom these volcanic masses, the grade of ore decreases crease outward. Concentration of ore at the bottom
gradually, until eventually the stratigraphic equivalents would thus indicate that the solutions came from below
of the ore beds become virtually barren of copper. This rather than from above. This question is closely
relationship seems best explained by the theory that the related to the following point.
8. The zonal arrangement of copper and zinc in the
mineralizing solutions rose along faults and fractures in
these projecting masses of Comondu volcanics and ore beds. In most parts of the district where zinc is
then spread out along the tufTaceous beds of the Boleo sufficiently abundant to show a well-defined relationship to the copper, it is relatively concentrated toward
formation.
4. The relationship of the ore bodies to structural the hanging-wall part of the ore bed where copper is
features. In particular, some of the best ore is found relatively scarce. It is well known that in a mixed
where a structural trap would have impeded the flow of solution containing salts of copper and zinc, copper is
ascending solutions, as shown in figure 37. There is precipitated first. If zinc or zinc sulfide comes into
also evidence that certain of the deposits are related to contact with a solution containing copper it will go
back into solution and precipitate the copper. Experipremineral faults.
5. The localization of the ore in proportion to the mental proof of these statements has been presented
total extent of the tuff. The ore bodies are confined to by Wells (1915, p. 15-16), Zies, Alien, and Merwin
a narrow, elongated belt occupying only a small part (1916, p. 492), and Watanabe (1924a, 1924b). When a
of the large area covered by the tuffaceous beds. This solution carrying copper and zinc is diffused through a
suggests that some special structural conditions were clay, copper will be precipitated in the zone first
responsible for the localization of the ore, and it is par- penetrated by the solution, and zinc will be precipitated
ticularly incompatible with the theory that the copper in an adjacent zone farther outward. If a bed of clay
may have been derived from the tuffaceous beds them- were penetrated by solutions migrating downward,
selves. The ore-bearing zone is elongated parallel to copper would be deposited at the top and zinc at the
the main projecting masses in the volcanic basement bottom, but if it were penetrated by ascending solurocks and to the pattern of faults and fractures.
tions, copper would be concentrated at the bottom and
6. The repartition of ore among the different ore zinc at the top the situation found at Boleo.
Interesting experimental evidence for a zonal arbeds. It is necessary to explain why ore bed no. 1 is the
main ore bed in the southeast part of the district, while rangement of copper and zinc under conditions closely
88
analagous to those at Boleo has been given by Watanabe

(1924a, 1924b). He poured a mixed solution of copper
and zinc sulfates on a consolidated jelly containing a
small amount of sodium sulfide, in a glass tube closed
at the lower end. His description of the reaction follows
(1924b, p. 497-498):
The deposition of both zinc and copper sulfides commenced
immediately as the metallic salts diffused from the overlying
solution into the jelly containing sodium sulfide. The precipitation of the two sulfides, however, did not occur in a
mixture, but in two different zones, sharply separated from each
other. Both zones advanced with time deeper into the jelly,
still retaining a sharp boundary between them. The zone of
white colloidal zinc sulfide always advanced deeper than that of
dark brown copper sulfide, the former being replaced from its
rearward side by the latter, while it was advancing deeper on
its forward side. In other experiments, the relative concentration of zinc and copper sulfates in the diffusing solution was
changed from Cu 95: Zn 5 to Cu 5: Zn 95. In any case, the zone
of zinc sulfide advanced at the front of the zone of copper sulfide.
The order of these two zones was always constant, independent
of the relative concentration of diffusing salts in the overlying
solution.
AGE OF THE MINERALIZATION AND RELATION TO IGNEOUS ACTIVITY
The mineralization took place sometime after the

deposition of the Boleo formation, but probably not
long afterward. It was apparently completed before
the deposition of the Gloria formation, for no trace
of the effects of mineralization appear in the Gloria
or any of the younger formations. The unconformity
at the base of the Gloria cuts cleanly across some of the
copper ore beds, dividing them into separated segments
in places where structural irregularities existed, and the
ore bodies were evidently eroded before the Gloria
formation was deposited. From what is known of the
geologic history of the region, therefore, the time of
mineralization was apparently toward the close of the
early Pliocene.
The mineralization is believed to have been related
to the same period of igneous activity that produced the
tuffaceous beds themselves. The underlying igneous
bodies regarded as the source of the mineralizing solutions are not exposed and are believed to lie at great
depth.
RELATION OF THE BOLEO COPPER DEPOSITS TO
OTHER COPPER DEPOSITS OF THE WORLD
3. The native copper deposits of the Lake Superior

region in Michigan, occurring as bedded and fissure
deposits in basic lavas and conglomerate, and to a
large extent also in sandstone and shale, of late preCambrian age;
4. The "Red Bed" deposits of dominant primary
chalcocite in porous sandstones of Permian and Triassic
age, widely scattered over the Southwestern United
States and through Europe and Asia;
5. The great copper belt of Northern Rhodesia, consisting of tabular-shaped deposits of chalcocite, chalcopyrite, and bornite widely disseminated through
particular beds of metamorphosed argillites and quartzites of possible pre-Cambrian age;
6. The Zoutpansberg district of the Transvaal in
South Africa (Kent, 1940), consisting of low-temperature chalcocite deposits in quartzitic sandstones and
altered andesitic lavas adjacent to a fault.
No one of these deposits duplicates all the pertinent
characteristics of the Boleo deposits, such as: the confinement of the mineralization to relatively impervious
tuffaceous sedimentary beds; the Pliocene age of the
mineralization; the dominance of low-temperature
chalcocite as the primary mineral; and the metalliferous combination of copper, manganese, zinc, cobalt,
and lead, but with a virtual lack of precious metals.
Perhaps the most similar deposit, considering host
rock, primary minerals, and metalliferous combination, is the Kupferschiefer of Germany. This deposit,
though not necessarily of the same origin, shares one
of the unusual features of the Boleo deposits, in that
the ore minerals are found principally in the more
impervious rather than in the more permeable beds.
It also shows a zonal relation of copper and zinc
similar to that of Boleo (Cissarz, 1929; Kriill, 1933).
Many if not most of the copper deposits listed above
are of controversial origin, and for some of them at
least three different types of theories have been proposed for the origin of the copper: a syngenetic origin,
leaching and deposition by descending solutions, and
deposition from ascending hydrothermal solutions.8
MINING OF THE COPPER DEPOSITS
HISTORY
DISCOVERY AND EARLY OPERATIONS, 1868-85 D
The Boleo copper deposits show certain similarities

to the following copper deposits of the world:
1. The Kupferschiefer of the Mansfeld district in
Germany, in which primary bornite and chalcocite are
disseminated over a broad area in an impervious black
shale of Permian age;
2. The Corocoro deposits of Bolivia, consisting of
native copper and chalcocite deposits localized near a
fault in tuffaceous sediments of Pliocene age;
The Boleo copper deposits were discovered in the

3êar 1868 by Jose Rosa Villavicencio, then owner of
the Santa Agueda ranch, which is 12 kilometers south8 Thb literature on the deposits enumerated above is voluminous. Worldwide
reviews covering some of these deposits have been published by lagovkin (1932)
and Bastin (1933). Most of the deposits are described in the symposium on "Copper
resources of the world" published by the 16th International Geological Congress
in Washington in 1935.
The history for the period 1868 to 1885 is taken largely from reports by Tinoco
(1874, 1885) and by Bouglise and Cumenge (1885).
89
west of the present site of Santa Rosalia. This rancher,
while searching for a passage across the mesas to reach
the port of Santa Maria, noticed a number of blue and
green nodules in Arroyo del Purgatorio. These detrital
ball-like fragments composed of copper carbonates and
oxides, called boleos in Spanish, provided the name
that has been used for the district since 1885. Before
that it was officially known as the Santa Agueda
mining district.
Senor Villavicencio took some of the boleos, out of
curiosity, to Guaymas, Sonora, where they were recognized to consist of high-grade copper ore. Senores G.
Blumliardt and Julio Muller, residents of Guaymas,
are said to have purchased Senor Villavicencio's rights
to his discovery for 16 pesos, and some time thereafter
set out to prospect the region. They first worked an
outcrop of copper ore pertaining to ore bed no. 3 near
the arroyo level in Arroyo del Purgatorio, and were
followed by other prospectors who discovered several
outcrops of rich oxidized ore in Arroyo del Boleo.
The ore was removed from opencuts along the outcrops
and was packed and hauled by wagon to the beach,
from where the first shipments of ore to Europe are
said, to have been made in 1872.
The ore produced by the beginning of the year 1874,
the major part of which had been extracted during the
previous year, is given by Tinoco (1874) as 6,000 tons,
with a value in Europe of 480,000 pesos. It was considered profitable to ship only ore containing more
than 20 percent of copper, and lower-grade ore was
sorted out and piled on the dumps.
The first underground workings were intersecting
drifts following the ore beds inward from the sides of
the arroyos. The three principal copper beds were
discovered in the earliest years of mining and were
numbered 1. to 3 from top to bottom, designations
which have been followed ever since, although less
important beds were later found both above no. 1 and
below no. 3.
In the period from 1875 to 1884, mining operations
were continued by several small companies, chiefly
under the control of Germans, but beginning in 1879
economic difficulties were encountered, due partly to
a sharp drop in the price of copper in England, and to
the increasing costs of mining because of greater distance
of the ore bodies from the surface and the necessity for
sinking deeper shafts for ventilation purposes. Two
of the early companies, Camou Hnos. of Guaymas and
the J. Kelly Cia. of Mazatlan, failed in the year 1879;
by 1884 the principal claims in the district were in the
hands of the Cia. Minera Elhuyar y Sontag and of
Seiiores Guillermo Eisenmann and Eustaquio Valle.
The total production through 1884 was about 60,000
tons of ore with an average copper content of 24 percent,
according to Tinoco (1885). He states that an additional 120,000 tons of ore with an average grade of 8
percent of copper had been thrown on the dumps or
used as fill in the stopes. Tinoco states that by the
year 1884 it became evident that investment of considerable capital in the region was needed in order to
carry out the mining operations in a systematic manner,
and particularly to build a smelter in order to work
ores containing less than 20 percent of copper.
OPERATIONS OF THE COMPAGNIE DU BOIJBO, 1885-1938
Several French geologists arid engineers visited the

region in the year 1884, among them M. Edmund Fuchs
of the School of Mines of Paris, and Messrs. G. de la
Bouglise and E. Cumenge, who were commissioned by
certain French mining interests to make a detailed
study of the district. The highly favorable report of
Bouglise and Cumenge (1885) led to the formation of
the Compagnie du Boleo in Paris on May 16, 1885,
backed mainly by the banking interests of the French
house of Rothschild. On July 7, 1885, this company,
through an agreement with the Mexican Government,
purchased all the mining claims then extant in the
region and received the concession to an area of some
20,655 hectares (about 80 square miles). The Compagnie du Boleo, later to be known in Mexico as the
Compania del Boleo, S. A., began its operations the
same year.
The early years of operation by the Boleo company
were devoted not only to organizing a systematic
development of the mines, but also the construction of
a smelter, the town and mining camps, harbor, railroads, machine shops, a pipeline for water, and all the
other facilities needed for large-scale operations in a
region that had previously been an uninhabited desert.
The first smelter, consisting of small blast furnaces,
was finished in 1886, although it was rebuilt toward the
close of the century. The smelter produced copper
matte and black copper in amounts equivalent to 196
tons of pure copper in 1886 and 1,822 tons in 1887, thereafter increasing each year until a production of 10,537
tons of pure copper was attained in 1894, which was not
far from the normal annual production in the ensuing
years.
Until 1917 the copper matte and black copper were
transported to Europe to England, France, and
Germany. Most of these products were carried directly
by ships, but for a time they were transported partly
by rail from Guaymas to New Orleans, from where
they were shipped as ballast in steamers used in the
cotton trade. In 1922 the present smelter was completed, consisting of reverberatory furnaces and converters whose product is blister copper. This product
90
has been shipped to Tacoma, Wash., where it has been

refined electrolyticahV by the American Smelting and
Refining Company. In 1924 an electrolytic refinery
was installed in Santa Rosalia, but the operation was
unsatisfactory and was abandoned after a trial period
of about 6 months.
The early mining by the Boleo company was confined
largely to the rich oxidized zone of ore bed no. 3,
which was mined from three main centers, in Arroyos
Providencia, Purgatorio, and Soledad. Eventually the
mine workings radiating out from these centers were
intercommunicated to form a large area of continuous
workings. The dumps and mines of the previous
operations were reworked. In turn, some of the early
mines of the Boleo company were reworked in a much
later epoch, when it was found possible to treat lowergrade ore. Some of the older parts of the mines have
in fact been stoped two or three times.
The two decades preceding World War I probably
formed the epoch of maximum success of the Boleo
operations. The great bulk of underground development in the district was accomplished at that time, as
may be seen from a map of the mine workings extant
in 1917 (Boletin Minero, 1917, map facing p. 470).
All the extensive zone of ore bed no. 3 in the Providencia, Purgatorio, and Soledad groups of mines had been
explored and largely stoped out down to the level of
25 meters above sea level, which is approximately the
level of the water table in that area. The Rancheria
(then called Santa Rosalia) and Montado mines in ore
bed no. 1 in the southeast part of the district had also
been explored but not yet stoped, except for a rich
oxidized zone in the Montado mine adjacent to Cerro
del Sombrero Montado.
The history of mining operations since World War I
has been one of decreasing grade and thickness of ore
and increasing costs due to greater depths of mining.
Since 1918 exploitation has been carried out mainly in
the sulfide zone of ore bed no. 3, at depths of 25 meters
above sea level to 50 meters below sea level in the
Purgatorio and Santa Rita mines, as well as in ore bed
no. 1 in the Rancheria and Montado mines. Despite
the mining of thinner and lower-grade beds, a high
production was attained in the period 1926 to 1932,
nearly equalling that of the peak epoch of 1906 to 1916.
This was made possible by improved stoping methods,
particularly the installation of conveyor belts within
the mines. The production of copper declined considerably after 1932, as the result mainly of the decreasing grade of the ore mined.
In 1927, as it became evident that the known exploitable ore bodies were rapidly becoming exhausted,
an exploratory churn-drilling program was begun.
Mainly as a result of this drilling program a new mine,

the San Luciano, was opened in Arroyo de Santa
Agueda, where the ore body the sulfide zone of ore
bed no. 1 is deeply buried below the surface. Development of this mine began in 1932 with the completion
of the William shaft, deepest in the district, which
reaches a depth of 255 meters below the surface (199
meters below sea level). An aerial tramway 5 kilometers long was built to transport the ore from the
William shaft to Santa Rosalia. Difficulties were experienced in the San Luciano mine because of the heat
and water found at depths of 90 to 185 meters below
sea level. Additional drilling over an extensive area
southeast of the San Luciano mine was continued until
1940, but the ore bed was considered too thin, too low
in grade, and too deep to be exploitable in that area.
EPOCH OF THE POQUITEROS, 1938-48
The Compagnie du Boleo went into liquidation in

July 1938, and at several times since then it has reportedly been on the verge of ceasing operations
altogether, but World War II, with its attendant
demand for copper, permitted a temporary prolongation of mining activities. Again definite announcement
was made in April 1946 that the smelter would close
down, and many of the townspeople of Santa Rosalia
emigrated to Ensenada, Mexicali, and other places.
As a result of increases in the price of copper about
that time, however, together, with favorable governmental concessions, this decision was revoked and operations have continued on a reduced scale until the
time of writing (1949). The company was reorganized
in Mexico in 1948 as Boleo Estudios e Inversiones
Mineras, S. A. It was considered then that operations
might be continued for several years longer, assuming
favorable economic conditions.
In the epoch since 1938 the company gradually gave
up most of its mines but continued operating the smelter
on ore extracted by the poquiteros. These are small,
independent operators who have generally from 10 to
20 men working under them and who sell ore to the
company at a certain price per ton, depending upon the
grade of ore and the current price of copper. The
poquiteros are in part reworking filled stopes and extracting pillars in the old abandoned mines, and in part
working deposits that were never mined by the company because of their small size, low grade, difficulty
in exploitation, inaccessibility, or some other reason.
Almost all the old mines of the Boleo company have
been reentered at some point or another by the poquiteros, who in 1948 were working in about 20 different
localities. The principal new areas that have been
mined are in the northwest part of the district, in the
drainage basins of Arroyo del Boleo, Canada de la
Gloria, and Arroyo del Infierno, areas that were left by

the company because of their distance from the railroad.
The last mine that was owned outright by the Boleo
company was the San Luciano, which was expected to
close down in 1950. After that time it was expected
that the entire production of ore would come from the
poquiteros and that the activities of the company
would be confined mainly to operating the smelter and
railroad system. The company assists the poquiteros,
however, by furnishing equipment, electric power, and
engineering advice, and by supplying funds for certain
exploratory workings that the poquiteros would not
other-wise be able to undertake.
The Boleo copper district thus has a history of some
80 years as a copper camp, and of more than 60 years
of active exploitation by the Boleo company. In total
production it ranks second among the copper districts
of Mexico, and in total length of underground workings more than 588 kilometers it doubtless ranks
well up among the metal mines of the world. Apart
from its size and production record, however, its
picturesque setting and its unusual geologic occurrence
should alone assure it a prominent place among the
notable copper mines of the world.
PRODUCTION
The total production of the Boleo copper district

during its operation by the Compagnie du Boleo from
1886 to June 30, 1947, was 13,622,327 metric tons of
ore, from which the equivalent of 540,342 metric tons
of metallic copper was recovered. Table 27 gives, for
each year from 1886 to June 30, 1947, the production
of ore and of copper, as well as other data such as the
length of mine workings completed, the average grade
of ore, the average yield of ore smelted, the amount of
waste extracted, and the production and grade of the
smelter products, namely, black copper and copper
matte from 1886 to .1.922 and blister copper from 1922
to 1947. Following the totals, the same table gives
the annual averages of these production figures during
different epochs in the company's history; namely, the
preliminary period: fmm. 1886 to 1893, the epoch of
peak production from-l?894-to^l91.6.jv the period of reduced production from 1917 to 1925, the epoch of
renewed, high production from 1926 to 1932, and the
more recent period of declining production from 1933
to 1947.
The annual production of ore in this period, 18861947, averaged 221,504 tons and reached a peak of
371,300 tons in .1913. The production of copper
averaged 8,786 tons per year and attained a maximum
of 13,000 tons in 1910 and 1913. The average grade
of ore for the entire period, weighted for tonnages, was
323059 55
91
4.81 percent of copper, and the average yield of ore

smelted was 3.98 percent.
The fluctuations in the production of ore and of copper and in the grade of ore through the years are shown
in figure 38, which also shows variations in the price of
copper over the same period. The prices shown are based
on published figures for the average market price in New
York for each year, but they are not necessarily the exact
price received by the Boleo company. It may be seen from
this chart that the fluctuations in production were determined largely by factors other than the price of copper,
for there is only a slight relation between the production and price curves. The highest peaks in price of
copper, in 1917 and again in 1947, were both times of
declining production at Boleo due to other reasons.
The very sharp drop in production in 1919 and 1920
is said to have been due largely to the exodus of workers
to the cotton fields in the Imperial Valley.
The production of ore from the Boleo district has
been tabulated for individual mines and ore beds in
table 28. This covers the period 1886 to 1947, but the
production from 1886 to 1892 was unclassified as to
individual mines, and the ore purchased from 1939 to
1947 from the poquiteros was again unclassified as to
mines and ore beds. The slight discrepancy in total
production as compared with table 27 is due to the fact
that table 28 covers the entire year 1947, whereas table
27 ends with June 30, 1947.
Of the total production of ore classified by individual
ore beds, ore bed no. 3 is credited with 10,257,824 tons
or 83.3 percent, ore bed no. 1 with 2,045,537 tons or
16.6 percent, and ore bed 110. 2 with 6,218 tons or 0.1
percent; and 1,412,613 tons of ore is unclassified. This
classification is not exact, however, as some of the
production listed for ore beds 1 and 3 came from beds
2 and 4 and the Falsa Tercera and Sin Nombre beds.
Four individual mines or mining areas have each produced more than a million tons of ore; namely, the San
Alberto mine, 1,900,686 tons; the Purgatorio mine,
2,091,141 tons; the California-Lugarda mine, 1,632,909
tons; and the Santa Rita-San Antonio mine, 1,502,773
tons.
Between 1890 and 1899 the Boleo district was the
leading copper producer in Mexico. During most of
the years since 1900 it has ranked second, having been
exceeded by the Cananea district of Sonora, although
during a few years it has ranked third, having been
surpassed also by the Nacozari district of Sonora. In
total production of metallic copper the Boleo district
ranks second in Mexico. The rank of the Boleo district
in annual production among copper mines of the world
was fifteenth in 1912, dropping to twenty-ninth place
in 1929 and to thirty-sixth place in 1935, according
to data given by Croston (1937, p. 331). The total
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94
TABLE 28. Production of ore, in metric tons, from the Boleo copper
Year
Ore bed no. 1
Ore bed
no. 2
RancheHa
or Santa
Rosalia
Mines in
ore bed
no. 2
Montado
Gin co
de Mayo
Total
190
989
710
150
1SQQ
1900.... ..... ...... ..

1901
1902.
-.-
190
989
710
150
545
180
1904... --------1905.. ...... ----1906....... . ----------------
1910
1911
-------1912
1913... ... --------1914
.1915
--------1916 --------
('")
1,730
n
6
6
-------------------------------------
Total
1,730
5,443
1918... .... ---------1919 ... --------1920

.1921
1922
--------1923.-.
------
1931
-----1932 . . --------1033
.
1934
1935
1936.
1937 ------1938.
--------1939.- . . ---------1940
---------1941
-...-..-.
1942----.-. -------1943
1944-.--...--------.,
1945
. -------1946 . .........
1947.. .... ------
San
Alberto
515
45
1897.... ........ .....

1898.......--..-..--
1925
1926
1927.-..
1928
1929
Purgatorio group
Providencia group
San
Luclano
1886-1892..
1893
.
1894. . ............ ...
1895... . ............ .
1908--
Ore bed no. 3
60
1,540
910
2,830
33, 275
32, 400
14,455
17, 155
26, 310
31, 080
80, 480
57, 610
68,540
70, 214
56, 000
58,210
60, 480
27, 040
15, 000
4,740
22, 990
26, 520
46. 420
68,030
72, 620
86, 690
75, 000
57, 386
5,900
486, 636
17, 820
2,910
(')
(7)
(')
(7)
(7)
(7)
5,340
33, 220
44, 230
59, 450
78, 960
82, 350
81, 770
58,690
600
487
3,080
4,636
1,970
720
6,040
52, 440
46, 400
62, 280
69, 930
59, 340
57, 790
46, 520
635, 288
912, 720
10, 893
17,820
36, 185
32, 400
14, 455
17, 155
26,310
31, 080
80, 480
63, 437
104, 840
119, 080
117,420
137, 890
142, 830
108,810
58,750
2,140
910
2,830
21, 040
57, 180
67, 900
72, 920
108, 700
137, 960
131, 960
144, 480
121, 520
57, 386
5,900
2, 045, 537
dollar value of the metallic copper produced from the

Boleo district is estimated to be about $166,000,000. 10
MINING CLAIMS
Before the Compagnie du Boleo was formed, some 77

mining claims of varying size, shape, and orientation
were scattered about the district, according to a map
by Tinoco (1885).
These early claims and a large additional area were
included in the original Boleo concession, granted in
1885, which covered an area of 20,655 hectares. This
concession was divided into 11 claims numbered I to
10 This is an approximation based on the average New York market price of copper
for each year; it does not indicate the amount of money actually received by the
Boleo company for its copper.
Carmen
Son tag
3,070
920
5,950
590
530
11, 720
12,250
6,040
4,000
1,470
7,097
18, 430
2,800
6 33,275
6 32. 400
6 14, 455
8 17, 155
6 26, 310
6 31, 080
48, 577
55, 425
68,390
64, 700
65. 070
48, 500
34, 440
44, 430
63, 530
75, 530
84, 420
92, 070
96, 640
115,660
116, 180
125, 970
122, 480
109, 557
119, 180
104,670
83, 010
75, 495
44, 420
14, 455
17,155
26, 310
31, 080
50
8 53, 020
6.218
24, 165
8 9, 239
53, 020
11,470
24. 165
9,239
s 29, 360
29, 360
1,900,686
181, 485
Purgatorio CalifomiaLugard a
48, 085
61, 900
72, 060
48, 085
61, 385
72, 015
48, 577
55, 425
68, 390
64,700
62, 000
47,580
28, 490
43, 840
63,000
63, 810
72, 170
86, 030
92,640
114, 190
109, 083
107, 540
119, 680
109, 557
119, 180
104, 670
83, 010
42, 220
12, 020
Total
229, 542
2,311,713
22, 280
34, 950
42, 670
38, 790
44, 660
51,611
51, 020
45, 990
51, 260
50, 010
53, 290
45, 590
33, 770
560
5,170
(')
(5)
(5)
(5)
14, 440
43, 750
59, 310
46,550
42, 430
75, 940
67, 660
57, 370
60, 930
2,445
1,370
9,705
36, 300
33, 662
27,810
12, 041
735
32, 763
88,310
69, 560
62, 070
61,750
74, 000
77, 030
75, 190
71, 520
63,960
55, 840
61, 130
67, 880
69, 850
88, 480
77, 750
70, 860
72, 140
54,060
35, 820
44, 120
46, 160
40, 130
32, 510
14,658
1, 66
95, 830
130, 130
108, 960
108, 790
98,090
95, 460
88. 780
88,630
63,230
2, 091, 141
1,632,909
XI, a twelfth unnumbered claim that covered more than

half the total area, and two additional claims called
Santa Rita and Santa Rosalia del Carmen (Barrios,
1886). The concession extended from Arroyo de las
Palmas on the northwest beyond Arroyo de Santa
Agueda on the southeast (see pi. 2).
The greater part of this concession was given up in
later years, and in 1936 the Boleo company took up 22
claims, designated by roman numerals I to XXII,
covering an area of 1,791 hectares (see pi. 2). These
claims were divided into two main groups. A northern
group extended from the Rancheria mine northwestward
across the Purgatorio mine to the Santa Rita mine.
The southern group covered the San Luciano mine and
95

district, 1886 to 1947, tabulated by ore beds and individual mines
Ore bed no. 3
Purgatorlo group
San
Francisco TJ umbo kit
Unclassified
Solcdad group
Total
Santa
.Rita, San
Antonio,
Santa
Marta
Inficrno
Amelia
San
Agustfn
San Luis
Curuglu
Total
Ore purTotal, ore Miscella- chased

from
bed no. 3 neous mines poquiteros
1 391, 587
10,715
13,075
11,215
7. 945
24, 235
48.310
41,870
51,800
40, 625
9, 600
8, 565
810
26,049
07, 070
41,467
34,210
s 6, 300
"24,770
S28..170 ...........
8 700
8 3, 403
22, 760
23,010
21,730
44, 245
57, 897
76, 120
79, 960
119,605
120,855
110,590
104.510
104. 740
100, 540
1 18, 660
128,641
126,210
117,510
115,220
105,850
114,420
113,470
103, 620
89. 040
82, 920
70, 860
72, 140
54, 060
35, 820
58,560
89,910
99, 440
79, 060
57. 088
75, 940
67, 660
58, 670
65, 140
101.270
78, 270
95, 830
130, 130
108, 960
133,560
126,260
96. 160
88, 780
92, 033
03, 230
1,020
1, 720
80
110
137
540
760
1.605
820
230
1,380
880
780
35, 350
27, 531
16,730
27, 230
23, 180
19,820
20, 760
22, 280
(4 )
4,420
46, 820
46, 080
57, 960
56, 650
32,170
6,130
870
10, 100
23, 200
40, 290
53, 530
71,390
95, 230
87, 060
84,310
89, 340
112,420
84. 530
83, 330
67,910
56, 600
63, 040
26, 450
8,840
9,700
17,970
13,685
19, 362
23. 045
16, 170
13,030
29, 000
38,685
39, 940
51,430
57, 520
62,810
45, 169
42, 980
32, 920
49, 770
60, 800
46, 810
44, 570
41,250
35, 530
31,600
26, 080
21,920
7,270
62, 050
59, 890
51,890
50, 220
58,390
39, 090
12,590
34, 089
62,810
55, 700
61. 170
52, 450
56, 890
66, 770
64,630
68, 630
23, 990
14. 550
37,315 ............
36, 520
38, 120
60
42, 540
170
52, 638
45
31,300
5.380
72, 540
4,355
(2)
8 10,260
86,585
s 13, 490
s 8, 370
s 13,050
819,890
8890
s 42, 795
8 14, 026
47, 175
47, 950
56, 230
56, 505
72, 182
60, 265
93, 825
76, 685
89, 710
90, 805
91,540
110, 700
97, 390
110,750
106, 789
122,520
115,850
134,120
133, 070
124, 460
133, 620
105, 880
108,580
102,410
86, 710
79, 880
63,920
32, 170
6, 130
870
10, 100
33, 460
46, 875
67, 020
79,760
108, 280
106,950
85, 200
89, 340
112,420
84. 530
83, 330
67, 910
56, 600
63,040
69. 245
14,026
30
1,770
4,300
2,280
118,020
132,860
150, 020
155,820
178, 656
191,810
242, 175
260,990
275, 635
249, 895
230, 490
259, 870
261, 460
304, 940
319,850
340, 800
330, 000
365, 000
355, 100
364, 850
369, 570
319, 057
316, 800
290, 000
240, 580
227,515
162, 400
82, 445
81,845
117,090
140, 620
112, 520
103, 963
142, 960
147,420
166,980
173. 860
190,770
169,890
208, 250
214, 660
192, 290
201,470
182, 860
212,220
169, 495
130,224
72, 469
9305
8 6, 575
29, 360
931,290
9 8, 956
915,534
323, 343
153, 561
4, 200, 954
1,502,773
887, 856
895, 799
440, 329
10, 020
3, 736, 777
8,380
10, 257, 824
454, 247
Total, all
mines and
ore beds
35, 281
78, 931
96, 040
104, 780
93, 030
101,024
123,850
139, 830
185, 600
391, 587
118, 020
132,860
150,020
156,010
180, 190
192, 520
242, 325
261,170
275, 635
249, 895
230, 490
259, 870
261,460
304, 940
319, 850
340, 800
330, 000
365, 000
355, 100
364,850
371,300
324, 500
316, 800
290, 000
258, 400
263, 700
194,800
96, 900
99, 000
143,400
171,700
193, 000
167, 400
247, 800
266, 500
284,400
311,800
333, 600
278, 700
267, 000
216,800
193, 200
204, 300
203, 900
269, 400
237, 700
245, 000
260. 100
234, 000
266, 100
268, 800
231,500
196, 770
145,730
185, 600
958, 366
13,722,192
1 Before 1893, records are not available for individual mines. The production
from 1886 to 1892 probably came largely from the Carmen, California-Lugarda, San
Francisco, Humboklt, Amelia, and San Luis mines.
2 Production included in figure for Amelia mine.
s Sonic production from Margarita mine, ore bed no. 2, included in figure for
Purgatorlo mine, ore bed no. 3.
< Production included In figure for San Agustin mine.
8 Production included in figure for California-Lugarda mine.

6 From 1918 to 1923 the records for the Montado and Son tag mines were combined,
although the Montado mine is in ore bed no. 1 and the Sontag is in ore bed no. 3.
The figures for these years are arbitrarily divided equally between the two mines.
7 Production included in figure for Montado mine.
8 Production from dumps.
8 Includes production from slag dumps.
an additional area southeast of Arroyo de Santa

Agueda where exploratory drilling was carried out.
By 1948 all these claims had likewise been given up, with
the exception of those covering the San Luciano mine.
With the growth of mining by poquiteros since 1938,
the Boleo district has again been covered by a large
number of claims of many sizes and shapes. The
principal claims in existence in 1948 are shown in plate
2, but it should be pointed out that these are in a constant state of flux in respect to number, name, location,
and ownership.
MINING METHODS
The mining methods in the Boleo district are similar

to those sometimes used in mining thin coal seams and
are quite distinct from those used in most metal mines.
The most unusual problems are occasioned by the
nature of the soft clay comprising the ore beds, which is
under strong pressure that gives the workings a tendency to close in from the roof, floor, and sides shortly
after they are opened. This is true particularly of the
deeper mines below the water table. As a result, an
abnormal amount of timbering is required, and it is
96
350
300
UJ
oc
250 o
200 P
'PRODUCTION
o
a:
OF
en
o
PRODUCTION OF COPPER
Q.P.A. ceiling price. Does no

include wartime bonuses
PRICE
OF COPPER
FIGURE 38. Trends in price of copper, production of ore and of copper, and grade of ore in the Boleo copper district, 1886 to 1947.
commonly necessary to retimber a given working two

or three times before the adjoining area can be stoped
out. For this reason, very few of the several hundred
kilometers of workings made in the district are now
accessible, except those that are currently being worked.
Other problems in the deeper mines are the heat and
high humidit}^. The temperature gradient has been
determined as 1 C per 15 meters of depth, or more than

twice the usual rate. Because of the excessive humidity
the miners customarily wear nothing but a loin cloth
and a hat while at work.
In the earliest years of mining, the ore bed was
followed by irregular drifts and was stoped out according to a modified room-and-pillar system, and this
method is still used by the poquiteros in the smaller

mines. In the larger mines, however, the Boleo company has followed in general a method called locally the
system of tallas, in which the ore bed is completely
stoped out along an advancing face and the waste from
the hanging wall is used as fill in the stopes. Since
1927, conveyor belts along the stoping faces have been
used as an integral part of this method. This system is
called by Bellanger (.1931, p. 769) the shortwall method;
it is similar to the longwall method of the coal-mining
industry, except for the shorter length of the faces.
The mines are generally developed by two intersecting
sets of workings: a set of horizontal drifts following the
strike and a set of inclined workings following the dip
of the ore bed, which ranges from 3 to 15 in most of
the mines. In plan view the horizontal drifts are
irregular in detail, as they follow the structure contours
of the ore bed, whereas the inclined workings are
commonly driven along straight lines. The main
haulageways are commonly driven in the footwall
conglomerate or sandstone, which stands better than
the ore beds, and they follow a straighter course than
the drifts in ore. They are driven with a grade of
0.5 to 1 percent to favor the transportation of loaded
ore cars.
In preparing for stoping, a block is outlined by two
major inclined workings commonly 100 to 120 meters
apart, and by two horizontal drifts following the
strike, generally 100 to 180 meters apart, the exact
spacing depending upon structural features, faults, or
other local conditions. These major blocks are divided
into smaller sections by temporary horizontal drifts
spaced 20 to 30 metars apart, and each of these sections
forms a stoping unit called a talla. The stoping face
is along the dip of the ore bed, parallel to the inclined
workings and between two of the horizontal drifts,
and the stoping advances inward along the strike.
Miners are stationed along the face of each talla,
and each miner is assigned a working portion, generally
2.2 meters wide. An electrically driven conveyor
belt is placed parallel with the face and the ore is
shoveled onto the belt. Because of the soft character
of the ore, the stoping is done with pick and shovel.
Only rarely is blasting necessary, as when jasper or
some other hard rock is encountered. Since the ore
is nearly always thinner than the necessary working
height, a variable thickness of wall rock from the hanging wall is removed, and shoveled as fill into the stoped
area behind the conveyor belt. Common proportions
are 60 to 80 centimeters of ore plus 1.2 to 1.0 meters
of wall rock, to make a total working height of 1.8
meters. After the face has advanced an average of 1.1
meters, the stoping is halted temporarily while the
conveyor belt is moved forward to a new position, a
97
process that requires about 2 hours. As the face

advances, the partially filled stope behind is abandoned
and soon caves in.
It is necessary to timber the area being stoped, keeping up with the advancing face, for otherwise caving
takes place very rapidly. Very little of the timber
is salvaged. Bellanger (1931, p. 769) states:
As subsidence is greater ahead than behind the working face,
only advance methods can be used at the Boleo mines. In bad
ground, to keep a drift open ahead of the face is practically
impossible. The change of equilibrium is felt as far as 100
meters ahead of the advancing face.
Supporting pillars are left adjacent to the principal

galleries and inclined workings. Aside from these
pillars, the ore is stoped out completely, except for
those areas where the ore bed is considered too thin or
too low in grade to be exploitable, or where it cannot
be stoped conveniently because of faulting, structural
irregularities, or some other reason. The coefficient
of exploitability that is, the percent of total area in
a given mine that can actually be stoped averaged
about 35 percent for the mines as a whole during the
1930's, and ranged from as little as 24 percent in the
Rancheria mine to as much as 59 percent in the Purgatorio mine.
Three sets of conveyor belts are commonly used:
one set along the stoping face, another along the horizontal drift adjoining the stope, and a third along the
major inclined working bordering the general block
being stoped. The last belt, dumps the ore into a
chute, from which it is loaded into ore cars in the main
haulageway, usually situated about 6 meters below the
level of the ore bed. The main haulageways are provided with double tracks, along which trains of ore
cars are pulled by mules. The subsidiary workings
are provided with single tracks along which the ore
cars are propelled by hand. The small ore cars, made
locally, are of 400 kilograms capacity.
In the mines below the arroyo levels, the ore is
brought to the surface either by inclined entries or by
vertical shafts. The inclined entries, which are locally
called chiflones, have been very commonly used in the
Boleo district. They generally have an inclination of
15 to 30 percent, the inclination varying along the
length in the form of a curve concave upward, to allow
for sagging of the cables. They commonly have a
three-rail track, providing for ascending and descending trains of cars, which are pulled by electrically
operated hoists locally called "donkeys."
Some of the extraction has also been by vertical
shafts, of which the only one still in use at the time of
writing was the William shaft of the San Luciano mine.
In places where the ore bed lies above the arroyo
levels, the ore has been extracted from adits.
98
At the surface the ore has generally been dumped

from the mine cars onto a sorting belt, where the obvious
pieces of wall rock are discarded, although the finer
waste can not be sorted out. The ore is then dumped
into loading bins, for transportation by railway, aerial
tramway, or truck to the smelter. Any waste rock not
used as fill in the stopes is disposed of at the surface in
the form of conical dumps. Cars loaded with waste
are pulled by a winch along tracks leading to the apex
of the cone, where the material is dumped. These
cone-shaped dumps, some of which are very large, are
characteristic of the Boleo district.
Artificial ventilation is required in nearly all the
mines. The larger mines have had one or more shafts
equipped with electric ventilators for this purpose. In
addition, portable blowers and canvas tubing are used
to supply air to the working faces. All the mines below
the water table are equipped with electrically operated
pumps.
For a more detailed account of the mining methods
and equipment used, as well as a statement of operating
costs, the excellent report of Bellanger (1931) is recommended. Similar data will also be found in the reports
by Huttl (1931), Pefia (1931), and Cardenas (1939).
EXTENT OF EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT
UNDERGROUND WORKINGS
northwest, in the drainage basin of Arroyo" del Boleo,

Canada de la Gloria, and Arroyo del Infierno.
Some relatively small workings in ore bed no. 2 are
superimposed upon the no. 3 workings in Arroyos
Providencia and Purgatorio. Small workings in the
Falsa Tercera ore bed are superimposed upon the no.
3 workings on the south side of Arroyo del Boleo. A
small area of workings in the Sin Nombre ore bed
slightly overlaps at a lower level the area of workings
in ore bed no. 1 in the Montado mine. A few small
workings in ore bed no. 4, which are of slight importance, are below or to one side of the no. 3 area. In
general, with the exceptions noted above, in any particular area only one ore bed has been worked and there
is accordingly only one level of workings, except for
haulageways or entries at a higher or lower level; but
from one area to another the levels of workings change
constantly according to the dip of the ore beds.
SHAFTS
About 56 vertical shafts have been sunk in the district. Their depths average 90 meters, and some are
as deep as 255 meters. The total combined depth of
the principal shafts is 5,047 meters, excluding several
smaller shafts of only a few meters depth. These
shafts have been sunk for extraction, ventilation, or
exploration purposes. Among the latter may be mentioned the San Agustin, Amelia, La Ley, San Eduardo,
and San Alejandro shafts, which explore ore bed no. 4;
the Santa Marta, San Enrique, San Roberto, San
Alfonso, and Falla shafts, which explore ore bed no. 3
outside the limits of the area mined; and the San Julio,
Santa Agueda, and San Luciano shafts, which explore
ore bed no. 1 beyond the limits of the area mined.
Data concerning the location, elevations, and depths
of the shafts and of the principal ore beds cut therein
are presented in table 29. Columnar sections of the
rocks exposed in the shafts for which data are available
are given in plates 5 and 6.
The length of underground workings in the Boleo

district was recorded through the year 1945 as having
reached a total of 588 kilometers. At one time, practically the entire system of mines was intercommunicated; it was possible to enter the Montado mine near
the southeast end of the district and proceed entirely
underground through the Providencia and Purgatorio
mines to the northwest end of the Santa Rita mine, over
an air-line distance of 10 kilometers (a much longer
distance by way of the underground workings). At
present, however, the great majority of the underground
workings are caved. Most of the old mines have more
recently been reentered at a number of scattered
DRILL HOLES
localities by the poguiteros.
The areas stoped in ore beds nos. 1 and 3 are separate,
An extensive exploratory drilling program was carried
although they were formerly intercommunicated by on by the Boleo company from 1927 until 1940, during
haulage ways. The area of workings in ore bed no. 1 which period 46 vertical holes were made by churn
extends from Arroyo de Santa Agueda on the southeast drilling. The holes were drilled to depths ranging
to Arroyo de la Providencia to the northwest, and in- from 19 to 398 meters, the average depth having been
cludes the San Luciano, Montado, and Rancheria mines. 222 meters. The aggregate total of drilling was 10,237
A smaller isolated area is in the Cinco de Mayo mine meters. Records were kept of the elevations at which
farther north in Arroyo del Purgatorio. The area of different lithoJogic units and ore beds were penetrated,
workings in ore bed no. 3 begins to the southeast in and assays were made of the more important ore beds.
Arroyo de la Providencia, farther inland from the no. 1 Data on location, elevations, and depth of the holes as
workings, and extends northwestward across Arroyos well as elevations, depth, thickness, and grade of ore
Purgatorio and Soledad to Arroyo del Boleo. A few bed no. 1, the principal ore bed found in the holes,
small isolated workings in ore bed no. 3 are also farther are given in table 30.
99

TABLE 29. Shafts in the Boleo copper district
[Measurements are in meters]
Name of shaft
Coordinates, based
on Sun Francisco
Distance
of the
shaft
bottom Total No.
Altitude ofabove
or depth of principal
at surface below sea
ore
bed
shaft
exposed
EastNTorthlevel
SOUtll
west
803 N.
3584 N.
2894 W.
2717 W.
205. 24
46. 45
158. 79
80. 36
5.30
75.00
180 S.
221
1583
794
090
803
W.
W.
E.
E.
E.
73.77
182.50
107. 05
112.92
185. 10
01.82
148. 52
53.17
62. 26
28. 95
11.95
33. 98
53. 88
50. GO
150. 15
554 N.
233 N.
1093 \V.
2838 W.
140. 00
259. 53
111.57
168.36
28.43
91.17
008 N".
035 N.
Do Ouulle.. ............ 4935 S.
3440 W.
3455 W.
3809 E.
204.32
202.01
62.31
130.15
125.58
-106.89
74.17
70.43
109.20
Falla. . ................. 2130 S.
240 E.
121.44
23.00
98.44
.Bomplaiul. ............. 108 N.

California. ............. 255 N.
Carmen ................ 1573 S.
Curro................... 1887 S.
Conchas.. ..............
Indlos......... ...... . 1728 NT.
4-.-...
Distance
of
of ore bod Depth
bed
above or ore
below
below sea surface
level
190.17
49.15
4 (?)...._
3...
3.
....
1
(barren)
3
.
3
1
...-
15.07
150. 09
75
02
149
53
62
151.42
12
34
54
51
33. 08
112
28
130. 06
125. 58
-95. 26
73. CO
76.43
157. 57
77. 66
41.06
141=h
134. 40
93.71
-3s
85.25
120.85
35
41.97
82.66
63db
62
67
26
139. 93
37.13
15.50
1 18. 30
24
41.97
-55.30
57
37.40
134.67
382 W.
162.91
34. 42
128. 49
1743 W.
1700 W.
176.37
141.20
141.22
00.40
35.15
80.80
080 N.
577 E.
60. 50
-3.00
03. 50
81 S.
412 N.
350 N.
82 W.
427 NV.
134 E.
87.80
78.49
79.01
61.96
07. 19
24. 95
25.84
11.30
54.00
1989 N.
2054 W.
155.43
26.93
128.50
553 S.
395 NT.
1258 E.
197 W.
81.06
79.37
24.02
-58. 30
57. 04
137.67
2420 S.
33 W.
140.80
28. 46
112.34
Sun Diego.... .......... 1008 S.

Sun Edimrdo. .......... 276 N.
2943 E.
994 W.
120.38
87.12
-43.08
1.86
169. 46
85. 26
9.16
9.62
117.22
77.50
San .Eiirlquo. ........... 2877 N.
826 W.
88. 64
47.87
40.77
47.87
40.77
Nlfla. ........ ..........

Pablito... ..............
Ptirgatorio. . _ .........
Sun Alberto.. .... ..

San Alejandro ... ... ._
2
3
3
3 -----
-..
San Eugenlo (or 'Mullbran).

Sun Fellpe.. _ .........
Sun Francisco.... ....
260 S.
1912 E.
81.34
-4.90
86.24
none (?).
960 N.
0
1803 W.
0
237. 44
78.17
104.01
37.75
73.43
40.42
3-
38
Sun Oregorlo. ..........

Sun Oulilermo. _ ......
181 N.
402 N\
2509 E.
1213 E.
127.29
129.68
55.03
-13.15
72. 26
142. 83
-13.15
142.83
2050 Nr .
1004 W.
152. 94
32. 63
52.03
100.91
Sun Juan............. . 2849 Nr .
2202 \V.
104.09
79.34
84.75
1324 S.
2343 E.
100. 42
6.42
160.00
Sun' Luciano. _ ........ 3821 S.
3275 E.
142. 70
37.80
104.90
(?). _
(?).....
(?)... ..
(?)... -
85.37
57.27
21.07
80.80
81.05
109, 15
145.35
61.90
1 (?).....
46.30
160
96.40
8=fc
120.31
Sun Luls.. ............. 1043 N.
2370 W.
108.52
150. 96
17. 56
Sun M'urcelo. . ..........
2572 E.
184.92
-21.19
206. 11
Sun I'ublo... ...........

Sun Podro.. ............
547 S.
0
1
2
0
--..
370 NT.
039 iV.
210 W.
545 E.
77. 05
04. 33
48. 02
20. 93
2S.43
43.40
3..-.
San I'orflrlo. ........... 1497 N.

Sun Koberto . _
_. 1305 iV.
1003 W.
12S5 E.
198.92
55. 21
103. 56
-9. 89
95.36
65. 10
Suntu Aguuda. ......... 337 l.S.
4489 E.
43. 43
-139.92
183.35
3
2
3 0
Santa Barbara. _
1351 E.
484 W.
109. 32
142. 51
26. 59
42.81
82.73
99.70
1183 S.
1995 \r .
Suntu Murta. ........ . 3260 NT.
250 W.
85. 34
0.87
84.47
Santa Natalia no. 1...

3155 Nr .
Santa Nutullu no. 2..... 3113 N.
1071 \V.
1097 W.
1516 W.
111.99
113.41
115.28
83. 43
27. 06
19. 28
28. 50
SO. 35
90. 00
2035 NT .
Remarks
Exploration of ore
bed no. 4; extraction of ore
bed no. 3.
Exploration of ore
bed no. 4 (?).
Ore bed no. 4: 0.14 1.74 percent Cu.

Comondu volcanics at 49.15 m. Formerly an important extraction shaft.
Extraction, ventilation.
81.88
103.04
142. 42
208. 11
28
103. 56
17.51
-9.89
-99.07
-130.42
95.36
37.70
65. 10
142. 50
179. 85
Bottom of shaft 5 m above ore bed no. 3.

Most recent shaft; completed in 1944, to
ventilate San Luciano mine.
Lies inland from mined area; ore bed
probably found, but not considered exploitable.
Ventilation..--..
Exploration of ore Comondu. volcanics at 78=fc m.
bed no. 4.
Exploration of ore Used as water well.
bed no. 3.
Exploration of ore
bed no. 4; extraction of ore
bed no. 3.
Exploration of ore
bed no. 4; ventilation.
Exploration of ore
bed no. 4.
Exploration, ventilation.
40
42.50
-21.19
49
Used as a water well for many years.

Now caved.
Bottom of shaft approximately at depth

of ore bed no. 3.
(?)
170 S.
195 S.
La Ley (surface shaft)..

La Ley (Interior shaft). _
Main purpose of
shaft
Bottom of shaft is above ore bed no. 3.

Formerly an important extraction
shaft.
Ore bed no. 4 not exploitable. Formerly
an important extraction shaft.
Formerly an important extraction shaft.
Ore bed no. 4: 2.3 5.1 percent Cu. Comondu volcanics at 55.30 m.
Lies inland from mined area; ore bed
probably found, but not considered
exploitable.
Comondu volcanics at 1.86 m.
Ore not exploitable.
Formerly an important extraction shaft;
now caved. Center of coordinates.
Bottom of shaft approximately 25 m
above ore bed no. 3.
Bottom of shaft is slightly above ore bed
no. 3.
Ore beds not considered exploitable.
Comondu volcanics at 6.42 m.
Exploration of ore
bed no. 1.
Ore beds not considered exploitable.

Comondu volcanics at bottom.
Extraction, ventilation.
Formerly an important extraction shaft.
Exploration of ore
bed no. 2.
Ventilation....--..
Exploration of ore Ore beds no. 2 and no. 3 not considered
exploitable.
bed no. 3.
Exploration of ore Ore bed no. 1 : 3.8 percent Cu. Not considered exploitable.
bed no. 1.
53. 90 Ventilation... ----- Bottom of shaft about 22 m above
88.01
2
ore bed no. 3.
(barren)
Exploration, ven- Lies seaward from mined area.
tilation.
none.. ... ~~54~67(Y) ""58~74(?) Ventilation.... -. Not deep enough to reach ore beds.
Reached Falsa Tercera ore bed.
Manganiferous beds found above ore
95. 32
3
19.96
bed no. 3. Formerly an important extraction shaft.
100

TABLE 29. Shafts in the Boleo copper district Continued
[Measurements are in meters]
Name of shaft
Coordinates, based
on San Francisco
shaft
Northsouth
Eastwest
Distance
of the
bottom Total No.
Altitude ofabove
or depth of principal
ore
bed
at surface below sea
shaft
exposed
level
Distance
of
of ore bed Depth
bed
above or ore
below
below sea surface
level
19.37
Remarks
Manganiferous beds found above ore

bed no. 3.
Ventilation. ---.... Bottom of shaft 50 m above ore bed
no. 3, west of Santiago fault.
2615 N.
1495 W.
115. 62
18.23
97.39
1491 N.
358 E.
117. 70
5.46
112.24
Solitario.. .............. 1483 N.

Sombrero Montado no. 2593 S.
1.
Sombrero Montado no. 2555 S.
2.
1000 S.
William................ 4040 S.
871 W.
2596 E.
187. 42
132. 48
68.03
34.34
119. 39
98.14
3.. ......
(?)
68
(?)
2638 E.
130. 90
34.31
96.59
0 (?)--..
75.47
55.43
Ore beds no. 1 and Sin Nombrc near bottom of shaft.

Bottom of shaft 7 m above ore bed no. 1 .
763 E.
4086 E.
118.03
55.60
59.69
-199. 45
58.34
255. 05
3.--....60
0-..-.... -105.30
1. ....... -149.27
58db
160.90
204.87
Deepest shaft in district; used for extraction from San Luciano mine.
Columnar sections of the rocks cut in the drill holes,

arranged roughly in geographic order from northwest
to southeast, are presented in plates 5-8. In these
columnar sections the data on elevations, thicknesses,
and grade of ore have been taken from the company's
records, but the correlations of the lithologic units and
96. 25
Main purpose of
shaft
119
(?)
.
the assignments to geologic formations are interpretations ofXthe writers, based on then' stratigraphic studies
in the region. Certain of the driller's lithologic terms
have also been reinterpreted in the light of the writers'
observations. The locations of the drill holes have
been indicated on the mine map of the district, plate 9.
TABLE 30. Drill holes in the Boleo copper district

[Measurements, except as noted, are in meters]
Drill
hole
no.
Coordinates, based on
San Francisco shaft
Altitude
at surface
Distance of
bottom
below sea
level
Total
depth of
hole
Distance of Depth of
Grade of
bed no.
ore bed no. ore bed no. Thickness
of ore bed ore
1 below
1
(percent
1 below
no. 1 1
surface
copper) i
sea level
South
East
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
3469
3552
4308
4209
4197
4596
4286
4138
4081
4263
4418
4062
3915
3883
4056
4349
4273
4485
1637
4672
1648
5153
1168
5266
730
5353
1281
4499
4318
3586
4171
4691
4537
4102
4249
4348
4219
4358
4036
3904
4039
3900
4435
4576
4284
4275
4276
3728
4727
3561
4558
4975
4482
4322
33. 90
42.32
62.42
37.68
35.01
34. 42
39.23
35.66
33.56
37.21
37.50
56.39
65.70
57.25
64.80
37.36
35.53
37.99
36.00
54.75
57. 47
125. 92
60.80
134.61
6.60
136.36
26. 35
-210.10
-247. 12
-116.92
-242. 31
-262. 20
-281. 40
-156.88
-172.65
-182.99
-172.32
-189. 11
-138. 81
-83.44
-116.60
-101. 52
-186. 20
-208. 30
-181.47
-151.45
-179. 95
-56. 52
-265. 75
-50.76
-141. 72
-12.90
-125.63
-76. 67
244. 00
289. 44
179. 34
279. 99
297.21
315. 82
196. 11
208. 31
216. 55
209.53
226. 61
195. 20
149. 14
173. 85
166. 32
223.56
243.83
219. 46
187. 45
234.70
113 99
39l! 67
111.56
276. 33
19.50
261. 99
103. 02
-159. 16
-160. 20
-53. 78
-168.65
-200. 14
-201. 65
-155.05
-169.60
-181.16
-169.27
-187.89
-137.59
-82. 22
-115.38
-99. 90
-185. 59
-206. 48
-179.64
-90. 18
-178. 12
-55. 91
-201.43
-48. 93
-141. 72
193. 06
202.52
116.20
206.33
235.15
236.07
194. 28
205. 26
214. 72
206. 48
225. 39
193. 98
147. 92
172.63
164. 70
222. 95
242. 01
217. 63
126. 18
232.87
113.38
327. 35
109. 73
276. 33
0.62
0.30
1.65
0.76
0.55
?
0.50
0.51
0.15
0.55
0.40
0.70
0.50
0.75
0.45
0.70
0.55
0.65
0.55
0.40
0.55
0.60
0.60
0.42
-125.63
261. 99
0.40
4.69
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
36
38
40
42
44
46
48
49
50
52
56
58
5425
845
5205
839
5435
3254
5532
5680
5540
4949
5038
5135
4864
4312
910 North
5920
5790
4586
4774
4416
3529
4630
3412
4650
5026
4580
4717
4850
4413
4297
4162
4472
3844
920
5155
5363
3709
3799
139. 87
70.13
130. 97
77.22
131. 74
26.14
134. 27
122. 58
114.11
56.27
57.30
59.49
55.15
46.49
51.00
99.72
74.78
60.09
43.67
-139.33
-78.40
-229. 61
-20.62
-192. 26
-305. 09
-135.48
-84. 07
-223.30
-158.00
-145.39
-109. 98
-185.95
-128.16
-114.51
-89. 26
-322. 98
-174. 00
-115.44
279.20
148. 53
360.58
97.84
324. 00
331. 23
269. 75
206. 65
337. 41
214. 27
202.69
169. 47
241.10
174. 65
165. 51
188. 98
397. 76
234.09
159. 11
-117.68
-28.99
-223. 51
-18. 79
-154. 16
-291. 67
-134. 56
(2)
-221.17
-151.91
-143.87
-95. 04
-162.78
-112.01
W
257. 55
99.12
354.48
96.01
285. 90
317. 81
268.83
0.57
0.80
0.65
1.07
0.45
0.40
0.49
1.29
7.48
4.16
6.08
3.76
0.08
4.22
-319. 93
-113. 65
-115.44
394. 71
173. 74
159. 11
' Thickness and grade of ore bed refer in general only to the exploitable part, if any.
2 Boleo formation is missing in hole 36, probably because of lack of deposition over
buried hill of Comondu volcanics.
335. 28
203. 18
201. 17
154.53
217.93
158. 50
(3)
0.60
0.50
0.55
1.11
1.10
1.71
0.97
0.65
20.85
1.85
9
5.59
5.72
1.29
7.23
2.11
6.09
6.96
7.20
4.81
1.57
3.62
6.54
1.63
4.04
3.18
2.40
3.60
4.81
0
4.4
0
0
3.69
6.6
Remarks
Comondu volcanics at 236.45 meters, below

gypsum.
Comondu volcanics at 112.34 meters.
Gypsum at 241.09 meters.
Gypsum at 260. 37 meters.

Comondu volcanics at 72.71 meters, below
gypsum.
Gypsum at 304.48 meters.

Not deep enough to penetrate ore beds.
0.25
0
3.55
3 Hole 49 was drilled to explore ore bed no. 3, which was penetrated at 25.20 meters,
or 76.20 meters below the surface. The bed was very thin and barren.
With the exception of a single hole (no. 49) drilled

to explore ore bed no. 3 in Arroyo del Purgatorio, all
the holes were drilled in the southeast part of the district, where ore bed no. 1 is the most important ore
bed and is generally buried rather deeply below the
surface. Seven holes were drilled in Arroyo del
Montado, 27 holes in and near Arroyo de Santa Agueda,
and 11 holes on the mesas southeast of Arroyo de
Santa Agueda.
Most of the holes penetrated a considerable thickness of the fossiliferous sandstone and conglomerate of
the Gloria and Inaerno formations, before striking the
ore-bearing beds of the Boleo formation. Eleven holes
were drilled entirely through the Boleo formation and
reached the Comondu volcanics (uniformly designated by the drillers as "trachyte") at depths of 10
to 236 meters below sea level. In two of these holes
gypsum was found to lie directly on the Comondu
volcanics. Five additional holes were drilled as far as
the gypsum, at depths of 242 to 305 meters below sea
level, and then stopped, for it was considered likely
that the Comondu volcanics would be found directly
below. Most of the other holes were terminated after
reaching ore bed no. 1, although a few continued down
into ore bed no. 2.
It was demonstrated that ore bed no. 3 is missing
over the entire area covered by the drill holes. Ore
bed no. 2 was found in 11 of the holes, but without
exception it was considered to be unexploitable. Seven
additional holes were deep enough to demonstrate the
absence of ore bed no. 2. Ore bed no. 1 was found in
all but three of the holes nos. 25, 27, and 36 where
its absence is evidently due to nondeposition over
buried hills of Comondu volcanics. Ore bed no. 0 was
found in all but four of the holes, but it is extremely
low in grade and was considered unexploitable throughout.
One of the results of the drilling program was to
block out the exploitable ore body of the San Luciano
mine, the most recent mine in the district, developed
deep below the surface in Arroyo de Santa Agueda.
In the vicinity of the San Luciano mine, 12 drill holes
outlined an area in which ore bed no. 1 lies between
82 and 180 motel's below sea level (148 to 233 meters
below the surface), and was shown by the drill-hole
samples to have an average thickness of 62 centimeters
and an average grade of 7.1 percent of copper. (These
figures compare with averages of 76 centimeters in
thickness and 6.0 percent of copper determined by
later sampling involving 2,301 measurements in the
mine.)
An additional 18 holes south and east of the San
Luciano mine explore an area in which the ore bed
has an average thickness of 50 centimeters, an average
101
grade of 3.3 percent of copper, and lies at depths of

118 to 224 meters below sea level. The grade decreases
farther down the dip to the northeast, for in drill hole
33, the most northeasterly hole in Arroyo de Santa
Agueda, ore bed no. 1 lies at 292 meters below sea level
and was found to have a thickness of 40 centimeters
and a grade of only 0.08 percent of copper. The lack
of commercial possibilities in the most southeasterly
holes, nos. 36, 38, and 52, indicates that the southeastern
limit of possible exploitability of marginal reserves is
formed by holes nos. 32 and 34, in which ore bed no. 1
has a grade of 3.76 and 3.31 percent of copper, respectively.
Two of the holes in Arroyo del Montado nos. 31
and 29 cut ore bed no. 1 at depths of 19 to 29 meters
below sea level (96 to 99 meters below the surface),
where it has a thickness of 107 and 80 centimeters in
the two holes, respectively, and a grade of 6.07 and 7.48
percent of copper. As the depth, thickness, and grade
were considered to be favorable, the workings of the
Rancheria mine were extended to the area covered by
these holes. Three additional holes in Arroyo del
Montado nos. 19, 21, and 23 outline an area southeast of the Rancheria mine, in which ore bed no. 1
lies at depths of 49 to 90 meters below sea level (110
to 126 meters below the surface), has an average thickness of 57 centimeters, and contains an average of
2.80 percent of copper.
Holes 25 and 27, near the mouth of Arroyo del
Montado, reached the Comondu volcanics at shallow
depth without penetrating any ore beds. They apparently struck the western slope of a buried ridge of
Comondu volcanics that reaches the surface along the
sea coast near the mouth of Arroyo del Montado. The
entire Boleo formation is missing in hole 36, which
seemingly passed from the Gloria formation directly
into the Comondu volcanics at a depth of 81 meters
below sea level. The Comondu lies at a higher position
in this hole than in localities nearby, and the absence
of the Boleo formation is attributed to nondeposition
over a buried hill.
A stereogram showing the structural and stratigraphic
relations in the area explored by drill holes in the vicinity
of AiToyo de Santa Agueda is presented in plate 10.
This stereogram shows the irregularities in the surface
of the Comondu volcanics, which reaches a high point
(46 meters above sea level) in the San Luciano shaft to
the northwest and a low point (more than 305 meters
below sea level) in drill hole 33 to the northeast. The
buried hill penetrated by hole 36, at the southernmost
corner of the diagram, is also shown.
The stereogram illustrates the manner in which beds
of the Boleo formation wedge out against the irregularities of the surface of the Comondu volcanics. It also
102
illustrates the local distribution of the gypsum and the

lenticular character of the conglomerates in the Boleo
formation, as well as the facies changes in the Gloria
formation (seaward thickening of sandstone and landward thickening of conglomerate). Interfmgering of
sandstone and conglomerate in the Gloria formation is
well shown by the cross section running northwest from
drill hole no. 38 through no. 22 to no. 6.
METALLURGICAL TREATMENT OF ORE"
The Boleo copper ore is smelted directly after crushing and drying. Before 1922 the ore was smelted in
blast furnaces, from which two products were obtained
simultaneously: black copper, averaging 93.4 percent of
copper, and copper matte, averaging 63.6 percent of
copper. The two products were in an average ratio of
I ton of black copper to 2.5 tons of copper matte.
These products were shipped to Europe for further refining; The slag from the blast furnaces was comparatively
high in copper content, much of it containing about 1
percent. The average recovery from 1886 to 1922 was
79.5 percent.
Since 1922 the ore has been smelted in reverberatory
furnaces, producing a relatively high-grade copper
matte which contains from 60 to 65 percent of copper.
The matte is treated in a converter, the product of which
is blister copper containing an average of 99.3 percent
of copper. The blister copper is shipped to Tacoma,
Wash., where it is refined electrolytically by the American Smelting and Refining Company. An electrolytic
refinery was installed at Santa Rosalia in 1924 but was
abandoned after about 6 months of operation.
The smelter capacity since 1922 has been about-12,000
tons of blister copper per year, although it was reduced
in 1948 to about 7,000 tons, because of a decrease in the
number of reverberatory furnaces in operation. In
1948 the daily capacity was about 600 tons of ore, yielding about 20 tons of blister copper. -The average
smelter recovery from 1922 to 1947 was 87.4 percent.
Most of the loss is in the slag, which contains about 0.4
percent of copper, but some is in the flue dust.
Both oxidized ores and sulfide ores have been treated
together in the Boleo smelter. The ore is deficient in
sulfur which must be added to the furnace charge,
either as imported pyrite or locally mined gypsum.
Carbon is also added to the charge, in order to reduce
the copper oxides and the sulfur contained in the sulfates. The source of the carbon has been coal, either
bituminous or anthracite, coal dust, or coke breeze.
Other materials added to the furnace charge are a siliceous slag and a calcareous flux, such as gypsum or rocks
II Assistance in the preparation of this part has been provided by Alan Probert
of the U. S. Bureau of Mines, and by J. Ranc, Boleo smelter superintendent, who
kindly guided the writers through the smelter. Descriptions of the smelter have
been published by Huttl (1931) and Bellanger (1931).
containing a high proportion of calcium carbonate.

The source of the latter has been a shell-bearing calcareous sandstone of the Infierno formation, or the impure limestone of the Boleo formation.
The Boleo smelter is near the northwest end of the
harbor at Santa Rosalia. The smelter building contains space for 6 reverberatory furnaces, 4 rotary driers,
2 converters, crushing equipment, a flue system, and a
slag disposal plant. It also houses a powerplant which
utilizes waste heat from the furnaces.
Bins and elevated railroad platforms provide for
stockpiling large tonnages of ore north of the smelter.
The ore is hauled by bottom-dump 6-ton railroad cars
to a loading platform, where it is weighed and dumped
into loading bins, having automatic samplers. The ore
is conducted by a metallic conveyor to hammer crushers,
which deliver a }-inch product, and is thence conducted by conveyor belts to the driers. Four AllisChalmers rotary driers, each of 300 tons per day
capacity, utilize waste heat provided by gasses from
one of the reverberatory furnaces.
The dried ore, mixed with the other materials composing the furnace charge, is side fed through hoppers
into the reverberatory furnaces. A maximum of 6
reverberatory furnaces have been operated, but in 1948
3 furnaces were in operation, having a capacity of
about 250 tons per day of solid charge each. The
furnaces are fired by fuel oil, mostly imported from
California. The hot gasses from the furnaces are conducted through Stirling waste-heat boilers, which
provide steam for the powerplant, and are then discharged through a flue 600 meters long. The slag is
tapped continuously from the end of the furnaces,
and is granulated by flowing into a trough of running
sea water. The granulated slag is carried by a drag
conveyor to a loading bin beside the harbor, and disposed of by barges or by trucks.
The copper matte is tapped once in 24 hours, from
one side of the furnace, into 5-ton cast iron ladles and
transported by overhead crane conveyors to the converters. Two basic-lined converters are available, with
a capacity of about 32 tons of blister copper per day
each, although generally only one is in use. The converters are charged with molten copper matte and a
flux consisting of silica, silica brick, and slag. The
converter slag, which contains 1.5 to 3.5 percent of
copper, is crushed and charged back into the reverberatory furnaces.
Molten copper from the converters is poured by a
ladle into 24 anode molds mounted on a track car and
quenched by a spray of sea water. After cooling, the
rectangular anodes of blister copper, which weigh
approximately 140 kilograms each, are removed from
the molds and stored for shipment.
The direct smelting method results in a comparatively

high cut-off grade for ore, which must contain at least
3 to 3.5 percent of copper to be commercial. In the
past the Boleo ores have not been considered amenable
to concentration, mainly because of the extremely fine
size of the ore minerals and the close association of
these minerals with the clayey matrix. The matrix
has the swelling properties of a bentonitic clay, which
makes filtration of the pulp almost impossible in oredressing experiments. The ore is not of the type
amenable to preliminary heavy media separation, nor
would the commonly known methods of gravity concentration be expected to be satisfactory.
One means of prolonging the life of the Boleo district
would be the development of some ore-dressing process
that would make possible commercial exploitation of
the lower grade ores. With this view in mind, the
senior author collected several large samples in 1948
which were sent to the U. S. Bureau of Mines in Salt
Lake City for ore-dressing tests. Later, George M.
Potter of the Bureau of Mines collected other samples.
The work on these samples was carried out in cooperation with the Comisi6n cle Fomento Minero of Mexico.
Some preliminary results of these experiments
indicate that the Boleo ores pose difficult problems for
ore-dressing, but that a method that might be applicable
is a combination leach and flotation process. Although
moderately good results were obtained by this method,
the leaching process would be expensive because of
high acid consumption, and the sulfides respond poorly
to flotation. .S. R. Zimmerley, chief of the Salt Lake
City Branch, Metallurgical Division of the Bureau of
Mines, states: "The problem of milling and leaching
the ores has by no means been solved but neither do we
believe that the problem is hopeless."
DESCRIPTION OF PRINCIPAL MINES
NOMENCLATURE OF MINES
The nomenclature of the mines in the Boleo district

is subject to confusion because an area has sometimes
been given two or three different names, and many of
the mines merge into one another without any definite
boundaries. In the early years of the Boleo company
the mine workings in ore bed no. 3 radiated from three
main, centers, established in Arroyo de la Providencia,
Arroyo del Purgatorio, and Arroyo de la Soledad.
The three main groups of mines were named after the
arroyos and called the Providencia, Purgatorio, and
Soledad groups. Within each group different mines
were named according to the centers of extraction used,
as for example the Amelia, San Luis, San Agustin, and
Santa Rita mines in the Soledad group. In later years
these different mines and groups were nearly all intercommunicated underground and the mine workings
103
in ore bed no. 3 covered one large continuous area;

on the mine maps it is often difficult to find any exact
dividing lines between the groups. Some areas have,
moreover, been served at different times by different
centers of extraction, thus causing added confusion
in the nomenclature and in the production records for
individual mines.
The principal individual mine workings have been
named according to their elevation in meters above or
below sea level and the name of the mining area or the
geographic "band" in which they occur. For this
purpose the district has been divided into east-west
bands 500 meters wide, each named after some prominent feature within the band (see pi. 9). A working
termed "Nivel 25 Indies", then, means a mine level
at 25 meters above sea level in the band called Indios;
"Nivel 1.0 Carmen" means a mine level at 10 meters
below sea level in the band called Carmen. The
principal types of workings named are nivel, meaning
level; tiro, meaning shaft; chiflon, a name applied
specifically in the Boleo district to a gently inclined
entry from the surface, although this does not correspond to the Spanish usage of this term everywhere;
inclinado, an inclined working; and travers-bancs, a
French term for crosscut.
The principal mines are described in the succeeding
sections primarily in the order of the ore beds which
have been exploited, beginning with ore bed no. 1,
and secondarily in geographic order, beginning at the
south end of the district and proceeding northward.
The mine workings and drill holes of the district are
shown on a general mine map (pi. 9).
SAN LUCIANO MINE (ORE BED NO. 1)
The San Luciano mine is in Arroyo de Santa Agueda,

4.5 kilometers inland from the mouth of the arroyo,
at the southeast end of the Boleo district. It is communicated underground with the Alontado mine to
the northwest, but the exploited ore bodies of the two
mines are separated by a gap of roughly 300 meters.
The San Luciano is the deepest mine in the district,
extending to a depth of 185 meters below sea level in
the lowest drifts and to 199 meters below sea level in
the William shaft.
The San Luciano is the newest of the large mines in
the district and is the only important mine that was
not discovered during the early years of operations.
It was outlined entirely by exploratory churn drilling,
for the ore bed does not crop out anywhere in the
vicinity of the mine. Production from the San Luciano
mine began in 1932, with the completion of the William
shaft, and operations were continuing in 1949, but the
mine was expected to be closed down in 1950 because the
area of exploitable ore would then be largely exhausted.
104
Ore bed no. 1 has provided all the ore produced from
the San Luciano mine. Ore bed no. 2 was followed in
two places in the minus 60-meter level at the northwest
end of the mine, but it was not considered exploitable.
The ore bed has a fairly uniform dip of 10-12 E.
The structure contours show a broad arcuate curve in
strike, concave eastward (see pi. 4). At the south end
of the mine the strike is N. 50 W.; it swings around to
north in the central part and to N. 15 E. at the north
end. The elevations of the workings that are in ore
range from 59 meters below sea level at the northwest
end of the mine to 182 meters below sea level at the
east end. Most of the stoping has been confined to
the levels ranging from 70 to 170 meters below sea level.
Several minor faults were exposed in the mine, closely
paralleling the general strike of the beds, some dipping
westerly and others dipping easterly, but in general
they have only a few meters of displacement.
Data on thickness and grade of ore in the San
Luciano mine are given in table 12. Monthly smelter
returns indicate that the average grade of ore actually
shipped from the mine has ranged from 2.9 to 6.3
percent of copper, staying mostly between 4.0 and 4.5
percent. The ore in the San Luciano mine is practically
all of the sulfide type, although oxidized copper minerals
appear in places as thin films along fractures.
The entire mine is below the water table, which was
originally at an elevation of about 8 meters above sea
level. The San Luciano mine has probably offered the
greatest engineering difficulties of any of the Boleo
mines, mainly because of its great depth below sea
level and the consequent problems of water, heat, and
keeping the workings open. The mine has been highly
mechanized, however, and all the stoping has been
done according to the shortwall system, using conveyor
belts along the stoping faces.
The San Luciano mine has about 15 kilometers of
underground workings. It extends 1,200 meters from
north to south and 700 meters from east to west.
The limits of the stoped areas are determined nearly
everywhere by assay walls.
All the extraction from the San Luciano mine has
been from the William shaft, 255 meters in depth, which
is the deepest and best equipped shaft in the district.
It is a two-compartment circular shaft 4.25 meters in
diameter, and is lined with cement, to prevent the
influx of water. Details of the construction of this
shaft have been published by Pena (1932). For ventilation purposes the De Gaulle shaft, 169 meters deep,
was sunk at the south end of the mine in 1944. Ventilation is also provided by an inclined entry at the north
end of the mine, called Chiflon 40 Pedregoso, which
communicates with both the San Luciano and Montado
mines.
Ore is transported within the mine first by inclined

workings running down the dip to the east, and thence
by a series of haulageways in the footwall that run
northward and communicate at various levels with the
William shaft. The principal levels used for haulageways are at approximate elevations of 60, 90, 135, 160,
and 185 meters below sea level. An aerial tramway
nearly 5 kilometers long was installed to transport ore
from the William shaft to the railhead at the Rancheria
mine, on the south edge of the town of Santa Rosalia.
The production of the San Luciano mine from 1932
to April 1948 was 587,502 tons of ore. Extraction of
waste from 1932 to the first part of 1946 amounted
to 307,608 tons, or 39 percent of the total extraction for
that period.
The ore body of the San Luciano mine is outlined on
nearly all sides by drill holes. Toward the west, the
ore bed was found to be barren in hole no. 56, to
contain only 0.65 percent of copper in hole no. 3,
and to be unexploitable in the San Luciano shaft,
which is an exploratory shaft 500 meters northwest of
the mine, sunk in 1905-06. To the east and southeast,
drill holes indicate that the ore bed continues, but with
reduced thickness and grade. If a commercial method
were found to utilize the lower-grade ores of the
district, this could be considered an area of marginal
reserves, but a major disadvantage is the great depth
of the ore bed in this area from 118 to 224 meters
below sea level and the consequent high cost of
muiing.
Exploration was carried out from 1925 to 1927 in the
Santa Agueda shaft, 550 meters northeast of the San
Luciano mine. Drifts at a level of 136 meters below
sea level explored ore bed no. 1 through a length of 200
meters. The ore bed was found from a series of 99
samples to have an average thickness of 58 centimeters
and an average grade of 3.3 percent of copper, or 2.5
percent after reduction by a dilution factor of 25 percent. If ore of this thickness and grade should someday
become exploitable, a substantial area between this
shaft and the San Luciano mine to the southwest, as
well as the Montado mine to the northwest, might
warrant further exploration.
MONTADO MINE (ORE BED NO. 1 AND SIN NOMBRE ORE BED)
The Montado mine is in Arroyo del Montado and its

branches, 3.5 to 4 kilometers inland from the coast, on
the east flank of Cerro del Sombrero Montado. It is
adjoined by the San Luciano mine to the south and
the Rancheria mine to the north.
Work began at the Montado mine as early as 1894
or perhaps before, but the principal productive period
was between 1918 and 1931. The mine was abandoned
after the great cloudburst of September 12, 1931,
105
which flooded many of the workings. Some ore was along the ore bed with the Rancheria mine in Arroyo de
later extracted through the Rancheria mine to the la Providencia to the north, which is in ore bed no. 1,
nortli. and also through the San Luciano mine to the about 115 meters stratigraphically above ore bed no. 3
south. A part of the mine was being reopened by the in that arroyo. Ore bed no. 3 wedges out against a
poguiteros in 1948 and 1949 under the name of the Sin buried ridge of Comondu volcanics southeast of Arroyo
Nombre mine, and the ore was being hauled by truck de la Providencia and does not extend southeast as far
from Arroyo del Montado to the smelter.
as the Montado mine.
Although the principal ore bed mined has been ore
Ore bed no. 1 in the Montado mine has been followed
in a long, narrow, sinuous belt, which runs northward bed no. 1, in a small part of the mine south of the
from the San Luciano mine for 700 meters, swings Sombrero Montado shafts another ore bed was mined
around, to the west for an additional 700 meters, that is called the Sin Nombre. This bed lies about 3
and then continues to the north and northeast for meters stratigraphically below ore bed no. 1, although
1,500 meters where it merges into the Rancheria mine. the interval increases to as much as 10 meters in some
The strike in these different segments ranges from due localities and locally the two beds join. The Sin
north, to due west and back to due north, swinging Nombre ore bed was apparently exceptionally rich in
around locally to N. 40 E. at the north end of the places, but it was found only over a fairly small area.
mine. The dip ranges from 5 to 12 E. The structure It was mined for a length of 350 meters and width of
contours reveal a broad northeast-trending structural 50 to 100 meters, between levels of 37 and 57 meters
trough near the Sombrero Montado shafts, bordered, to above sea level.
the south by a north east-plunging anticlinal nose (see
The Sin Nombre ore bed was followed in exploratory
pi. 4). These structural features are believed to be drifts for an additional distance of 425 meters to the
related to the buried topography of the bedrock surface east and 400 meters to the north of the mined area, but
on the eastern slope of Cerro del Sombrero Montado. over those areas it was not considered exploitable. The
The beds in the Montado mine have been offset by stoped area in the Sin Nombre ore bed lies in general to
a number of faults, most of which are of minor dis- the west of that in ore bed no. 1, although in places the
placement. Near the north end of the mine is the two overlap. Ore bed no. 0 was encountered in two
Montado fault, which strikes N. 50 W. and has workings at the southeast end of the Montado mine
dropped the beds downward about 30 meters on the but was not considered exploitable.
southwest side. The dip of the beds is such that the
The Comondu volcanics were exposed in several of
mumble belt has been displaced a considerable distance the workings of the Montado mine, particularly at the
to the northwest on the southwest side of the fault. southwest end where the ore beds wedge out against
In the south central part of the mine is another fault the rising surface of Cerro del Sombrero Montado. The
in which the southwest side has been downthrown as long haulageway called Travers-Bancs Montado, which
much as 20 meters.
extends to Arroyo de la Providencia, went through
Elevations of the mine workings that are in ore range Comondu volcanics for much of its length, beginning
from 59 meters above sea level at the west end, where about 100 meters northwest of the main Montado mine
the ore bed is present on the surface of the Comondu at an elevation of 34 meters above sea level. The Comonvolcanics southwest of the Sombrero Montado shafts, du volcanics were also penetrated for a distance of 100
to as low as 28 meters below sea level at the southeast meters by a haulageway called Travers-Bancs 34 Santa
end of the mine.
Agueda, lying at an elevation of 39 meters above sea
The ore beds do not crop out anywhere in the general level in the south central part of the mine.
vicinity of the Montado mine, as they are buried below
Data on thickness and grade of ore, calculated from
Arroyo del Montado by the Gloria and Infierno forma- assay maps of the Montado mine, are given in table 12.
tions. The principal ore bed was discovered at an The assay maps do not represent the older part of the
early date, however, by the first Sombrero Montado mine which contained richer ore. The highest grade
shaft, and it was followed by exploratory workings ore appears to have been found where the beds wedge
driven from the shaft. This ore bed was for many years out toward the bedrock surface in the western extremity
considered to be ore bed no. 3 the same ore bed that of the mine. The average grade of ore shipped from
was being exploited in the Providencia group and the the Montado mine was recorded in 1909 as 5.96 percent
other principal mines to the northwest. One of the of copper, in 1919 as 5.59 percent, and in 1926 as apBoleo engineers concluded on the basis of stratigraphic proximately 5.5 percent. The Sin Nombre ore bed
studies, however, that the bed was more likely cor- is said to have contained about 7 percent of copper, but
relative with no. 1, and this was eventually proved this provided a relatively small proportion of the total
beyond a doubt when the mine was intercommunicated production of the mine. Some oxidized ore was found
106
in the higher levels of the mine, particularly in the

stoped areas of the Sin Nombre ore bed south of the
Sombrero Montado shafts. Much of the ore shipped
from the Montado mine, however, is said to have been
of the sulfide type.
The underground workings of the Montado mine
have an aggregate length of more than 33 kilometers.
The ore has been mined only in a fairly narrow belt
having a length of 2.4 kilometers and a width of 200 to
300 meters. Exploration has been carried out for an
additional 100 to 200 meters down the dip to the east,
but the ore bed in that area was considered too low in
grade to be mined.
The main entry for extraction was the haulageway
known as Travers-Bancs Montado, which extended for
a distance of 1.5 kilometers to Arroyo de la Providencia,
where it communicated with the Providencia group of
mines and was entered by the Yaqui inclined shaft.
Ore cars were pulled through this haulageway by electric
locomotives. The principal haulageways within the
mine were at levels of 34, 20, and 5 meters above sea
level, and 10 meters below sea level. The mine workings communicated to the northeast with the Rancheria
mine, through which some ore was extracted after the
Travers-Bancs Montado was abandoned in 1931.
After completion of the William shaft of the San Luciano
mine in 1932, ore from a small area at the southeast
end of the Montado mine was extracted through the
San Luciano mine.
The only vertical shafts in the Montado mine are the
two Sombrero Montado shafts in Arroyo del Montado,
which were used for ventilation. Ventilation, as well
as extraction of waste, was also provided by several
gently inclined shafts.
The Montado mine is recorded as having a total
production of 635,288 tons of ore, although this figure
is not exact because for many years the production
figures were lumped with those of the Sontag mine of
the Providencia group. Some 748,425 tons of waste
is recorded as having been extracted, giving a ratio of
waste to total extraction of 54 percent the highest
ratio for any of the Boleo mines.
The Montado mine contains some relatively large
explored but unstoped areas of low grade marginal ore,
particularly in the central and eastern parts of the mine,
at levels ranging in general from 20 meters above sea
level to 5 meters below sea level.
Also, the mine is believed to offer good possibilities for
the recovery of some ore of currently minable grade.
The mine was never stoped out completely, but was
abandoned after flooding of the main haulageway in
1931, and in later years the central part of the mine
was considered too distant from either of the extraction
centers of Rancheria to the north or of San Luciano to

the south to warrant further exploitation.
RANCHERIA MINE (ORE BED NO. 1)
The Rancheria mine, also formerly known as the

Santa Rosalia mine, is on the south side of Arroyo de la
Providencia near the mouth of the arroyo. The main
entries are near the south edge of the town of Santa
Rosalia. The mine extends from the arroyo southward
for a distance of about 2 kilometers, where it adjoins and
intercommunicates underground with the Montado
mine. The Rancheria mine has been Avorked intermittently from 1910 until the present time. Production
was very small before 1925, however, and the main
productive periods of the mine have been from 1926 to
1932 and again from 1937 to 1944. Different parts of
the mine have been worked since 1944 by the poquiteros.
All the production of the Rancheria mine has been
from ore bed no. 1. This bed crops out along the
south side of Arrojô de la Providencia, and a number
of the mine workings follow the ore bed into the hill
from the outcrops. Toward the east the bed dips
down below the arroyo level, however, and in that part
of the mine the ore bed has been reached by inclined
entries. The elevations of workings in ore range from
124 meters above sea level at the west end of the mine to
64 meters below sea level at the east end.
Ore bed no. 1 in the Rancheria mine has a general
northerly strike and easterl}7 dip, but the structure is
locally complicated by gentle flexures and by faults.
In the south central part of the mine, between the San
Marcelo and San Diego shafts, is a conspicuous eastward-trending structural trough, bordered to the south
by an eastward-plunging anticlinal nose. Farther
north in the central part of the mine is a broad, irregular,
dome-shaped structure, resulting in a wide flattish area
lying 43 to 44 meters above sea level west of the San
Marcelo shaft. Near the outcrops at the north end of
the mine the structure has many local complications, as
shown on the structure contour map (pi. 4). Aside
from the areas just mentioned, where the strike is
highly variable and the dip is in places reversed, the
usual strike is due north to N. 25 W. and the average
dip is about 12 E., ranging in general from 8 to 28 E.
Faults are particularly numerous in the Rancheria
mine, with the result that exploitation in many parts of
the mine has been confined to narrow strips. Altogether, about 20 faults in this mine have offset the ore
bed by significant amounts. Most of the faults strike
north to northwest, and the west side is generally
downthrown, although in some the east side is downthrown. The Rancheria fault, whose southwest side
has been downthrown 35 meters, terminates the workings in the deepest part of the mine at the northeast end.
Most of the other faults have displacements that do

not exceed 10 to 15 meters.
The '.Ranch erf a mine has been rather thoroughly
sampled, except for the older highest levels in the west
part of the mine. The results of thickness and grade of
ore determined from this sampling are given in table 12.
Smelter records indicate that the actual average grade
of ore shipped from the Rancheria mine was 5.6 percent
of copper in 1919, 4.3 percent in 1926, 3.9 percent from
1937 to 1942, and 4.0 percent from 1946 to 1948. The
ore in the Rancherfa mine is mostly of the oxidized
type down to levels of 25 to 40 meters above sea level,
whereas in the lower levels it is largely of the sulfide
type.
Ore bed no. 2 was explored in two separate parts of
the Rancheria mine. In the vicinity of the San Marcelo
shaft a working followed that bed for a distance of 450
meters down the dip in an easterly direction, at elevations of 8 to 50 meters below sea level and at depths of
53 to 60 meters below ore bed no. 1 in the same area.
The average thickness was shown by 14 determinations
to be 63 centimeters and the average grade was 1.3
percent of copper- too low in grade to be exploitable.
An ore bed probably correlative with no. 2 was also
found in Chifl6n 30 Santa Rosalia at the north end of
the mine. This working penetrated an ore bed containing less than 1 percent of copper at a level of 11
meters below sea level, whereas ore bed no. 1 lies at
39 meters above sea level at this point.
An exploratory working east of the San Marcelo
shaft was extended downward from ore bed no. 2 to a
dept.li of 84 meters below sea level for the purpose of
exploring ore bed no. 3, which, however, was found to
he absent in this area. Gypsum was found between67 and 81 meters below sea level, and it in turn was
underlain by conglomerate. A black cupriferous unit
a few centimeters thick found in one place at the base
of the gypsum was determined to have a grade of 3
percent of copper. Ore bed no. 0, lying above ore bed
no. 1, was penetrated by several of the inclined workings
from the surface, but in all places it was considered
unexploi table.
The Rancherfa mine has more than 36 kilometers of
workings. The mine has been explored for 2 kilometers
in a northerly direction, and from 1.5 kilometers at the
north end to 0.5 kilometer at the south end. The proportion of stoped area to explored area is one of the
lowest of any of the Boleo mines and reflects the low
grade and thinness of the ore bed over much of the
explored area. The limits of the individual stoped areas
are determined mainly by assay walls, although some
of them are outlined by faults, and the mine is limited
to the northwest by outcrops.
107
The Rancheria mine has several entries, but the

principal entries for extraction were three workings
which enter at nearly the same place on the side of the
arroyo at the north end of the mine, at an elevation of
30 meters above sea level. The westernmost of these
is an adit 1 kilometer long called Travers-Bancs 30
Rancherfa; the middle entry, Chifl6n 0 Santa Rosalfa,
is an inclined working that goes down to sea level; and
the easternmost entry, Chifl6n 35 Santa Rosalfa, extends to 35 meters below sea level.
The principal haulageways within the mine, which
inn in general in a northerly direction and are driven
in the footwall of the ore bed, are at levels of 95, 70,
50, 43, 30, and 0 meters above sea level, and 35 and 55
meters below sea level. Communication between these
levels is provided by inclined workings running downward to the east. There are about 25 entries along the
outcrop of the ore bed on the southeast side of Arroyo
de la Providencia, which were made for purposes of
exploration and ventilation, but they have been used
for extraction only to a limited extent, mainly in the
recent period of exploitation by the poquiteros. Ventilation has been supplied also by two vertical shafts,
the San Marcelo shaft near the center of the mine and
the San Diego shaft in the south-central part, as well
as by half a dozen inclined shafts in the southern part
of the mine. The San Julio shaft, situated inland from
the Rancheria mine workings, was for purposes of exploration, but the ore beds were not considered exploitable in that area.
Production of the Rancheria mine during its period of
operation by the Boleo company through 1944 totaled
912,720 tons of ore. In the same period 581,182 tons
of waste was extracted a proportion of waste to total
extraction of 39 percent. Since 1944 the mine has been
operated by the poquiteros, and the total production
has probably reached about a million tons of ore.
The poquiteros have been working mainly in the
upper levels of the mine, in areas near the outcrops
along the side of Arroyo de la Providencia, where
considerable ore was left by the company. The lower
levels of the mine are flooded. The poquiteros have
worked different parts of the mine as separate units
called by different names. The name Rancheria is
now confined mainly to workings reached from the
30-meter level or lower; an area served by the 40-meter
level is called El Cuarenta; an area reached by the
50-meter level is called El Cincuenta; and an area above
the 70-meter level at the west end of the mine is called
Himalayo.
The ore in the Rancheria mine was not so rich or
thick in general as that of the older mines in ore bed
no. 3, and there would probably be little profit in
reworking the filled stopes or the dumps, as has been
108
possible in the older mines. If thinner and lower grade

ores should ever become exploitable in the Boleo district, however, large unstoped areas remaining in the
Kancheria mine might become of commercial value.
CINCO DE MAYO MINE (ORE BED NO. 1)
The Cinco de Mayo mine is one of the smaller mines

of the Boleo district, and it is not communicated with
the main groups of mines. It is the northernmost of
the mines in ore bed no. 1. The mine is on the southeast side of Arroyo del Purgatorio, 1.5 kilometers
inland from the mouth of the arroyo, on the northwest
slope of Cerro de la Calera. It is separated by a
distance of 1.5 kilometers from the Rancheria mine in
the same ore bed to the southeast, and by a like distance
from the Purgatorio mine in ore bed no. 3, exploited
farther inland to the southwest in the same arroyo.
The mine has been known since the earliest years of the
district, but it was operated by the Boleo company
mainly from 1925 to 1929, and it has been operated
more recently on a small scale by the poquiteros.
The Cinco de Mayo mine is entirely above the arroyo
level and consists of .many short workings that have
followed the outcrops of ore bed no. 1 into the slope to
the southeast. The ore bed lies at elevations ranging
from 152 meters above sea level at the south end of the
mine to 66 meters above sea level at the north end.
The bed strikes N. 45-60 W. and has an average dip
of about 12 NE., although in part of the mine the dip
is comparatively flat. The bed is offset by several
small faults, some of which have displacements downward to the southwest and others to the northeast.
The ore bed is comparatively thin and averages half
a meter or less in thickness. The grade is quite variable but averages probably between 3 and 5 percent of
copper. Some shipments of ore from the Cinco de
Mayo mine in 1926 contained about 7 percent of copper.
Ore shipped by the poquiteros in 1946 from outcrops
near the Cinco de Mayo mine averaged 3.13 percent of
copper. The limits of mining have been determined by
assay walls and recent erosion. The ore is of the
oxidized type and lies entirely above the water table.
The workings consist of about 25 entries distributed
along the outcrop over a length of 500 meters from
south to north. Some of these entries intercommunicate inward, and irregular stopes have been opened in
the form of a room-and-pillar system. The principal
workings are levels that follow the bed along the strike
to the southeast and are communicated by inclined
workings that follow the dip downward to the northeast. The extent of the workings into the hill averages
about 100 meters and reaches a maximum of 200 meters.
The ore was extracted from different entries and then
lowered by tracks a distance of 400 meters to the railroad in Arroyo del Purgatorio below.
The Cinco de Mayo mine has a recorded production
of 10,893 tons of ore in the period 1925-1929. These
figures are believed to be incomplete, however, and the
total production is probably somewhat greater than
this. The mine has not been greatly developed
because of the .thinness and spotty nature of the ore.
It has the advantage, however, of ready accessibility,
being situated above the arroyo level and close to a
railroad, and it might be a source of reserves in the
event thinner and lower grade beds should become
exploitable.
SMALLER MINES IN ORE BED NO. 1
Several small mines and prospects have been made

in ore bed no. 1 in the drainage areas of Arroyos Santa
Agueda and Montado, northeast of the Santa Agueda
fault zone.
Alhambra. One of the more important of these is
the Alhambra mine, situated on the northeast side of
one of the branches of Arroyo del Montado, 2 kilometers
inland from the arroyo mouth and about 10 meters
above the arroyo level. This mine is about 400 meters
east of the nearest workings of the Rancheria mine,
but it is at a much higher level and is not communicated
with that mine. The Alhambra is a new mine developed
in recent years by the poquiteros.
Ore bed no. 1, which is 20 meters below sea level in
the nearest workings in the Rancheria mine to the
west, has been brought up on the northeast side of the
Santa Agueda fault to elevations of 40 to 53 meters
above sea level in the Alhambra mine. The bed crops
out at the south end of the mine and is cut off by the
fault at the northwest end of the mine. Ore bed no. 1
strikes N. 45-65 W. and has an average dip of 2
NE. in this area. The ore shipped from the Alhambra
mine from 1946 until April 1948 averaged 3.64 percent.,
of copper. The ore is of the oxidized type and lies
above the water table.
The mine workings consist of about 10 entries that
follow the outcrop inward toward the north and are
intercommunicated to form a blocked-out area about
150 meters wide from east to west, and 175 to 285
meters long from north to south. The ore has been
extracted from different entries and then hauled by
truck down Arroyo del Montado and thence to the
smelter.
Production from the Alhambra mine during its
operation by the poquiteros from 1946 until April 1948
was recorded as 11,425 tons of ore. Production was
continuing and the limits of the ore body had not been
reached in 1948, but the grade of ore was comparatively
low.
East and southeast of the Alhambra mine, a few

prospects have been opened in scattered outcrops of
ore bed no. 1 along both sides of Arroyo del Montado
between the Santa Agueda fault and the mouth of the
arroyo, as well as along the south side of Arro}7o de
Santa Agueda, but the results have not been encouraging.
El Creston. An ore bed which probably corresponds
to no. 1 has also been found along the southwest side
of a ridge of Comondu volcanics that crops out here
and there along the coast northwest of the mouth of
Arroyo de Santa Agueda. Some ore was mined there
in the earliest years, before the formation of the Boleo
company, in the El C:rest6n mine, situated in a locality
later called La/areto. This is on the northwest side of
Arroyo del Montado, 500 meters inland from the coast
and at an elevation of 10 meters above sea level (see
pi. 1, coordinates 600 S., 5350 E.). The ore was in tuff
which wedged out against the ridge of Comondu
volcanics. The mine workings have long since caved
and no map of them has been found, but they are
believed to have been comparatively shallow and of
small extent. The ore reportedly has been worked
out, but some of it was high in grade, judging from some
material left on the dump and later hauled to the
smelter at Santa Rosalia. Prospects have been opened
in other localities farther northwest along the same
volcanic ridge, but no minable ore bodies have been
found.
MINES IN ORE BEli NO. 2
The mines in ore bed no. 2 are all fairly small compared to those in beds 1 and 3. They are mainly in
areas superimposed on the workings of ore bed no. 3.
Some of the mines in ore bed no. 2 were worked in the
earliest years of mining, and they were later worked
for a few years by the Boleo company, but over most
of the company's history this ore bed has not been
exploited because of its thinness. Some small mines
in ore bed no. 2 have been worked recentl}7 by the
poguiteros. Production figures for the mines in this
ore bed have generally not been recorded separately.
Prouidencia-Purgatorio Second Bed. The principal
mine in ore bed no. 2 has been called the ProvidenciaPurgatorio Second Bed mine. This is a continuously
mined area extending northwestward from Arroyo de
la Providencia to the southeast side of Arroyo del
Purgatorio, which overlies parts of the Providencia and
Purgatorio mines in ore bed no. 3. This is one of the
oldest mining areas in the district, but it has been
abandoned for many years, although some of the
workings near the outcrops have been reexplored recently by the poquiteros. An old name applied to part
of the mine on the side of Arroyo del Purgatorio is
Escondida.
109
Ore bed no. 2 in the Providencia-Purgatorio mine

dips northeastward from the mass of Comondu volcanics
called Cerro de Juanita. As the ore bed rises against
the basement rocks to the southwest, it rests directly on
the surface of the volcanics for some distance before
wedging out, as may be observed in the outcrops in
both arrojôs. The ore bed ranges in elevation from
164 meters above sea level at the southwest end of the
mine to 98 meters above sea level at the northeast end,
although the principal workings lie between 100 and
128 meters above sea level.
The strike of the ore bed averages N. 50 W., but
it curves from nearly west at the south end of the mine
to N. 30 W. in the central part and back to N. 60 W.
at the northwest end. The dip averages 8-12 NE.
in the area covered by the mine workings, but it becomes steeper farther southwest. Only a few small
faults were exposed in the mine.
The ore bed is comparatively thin, probably averaging only half a meter in thickness. The grade is
.variable, but some ore of comparatively high grade is
known to have been shipped. The ore is all of the
oxidized type and lies high above the water table.
The ore bed is limited by surface erosion to the northwest and southeast, by assay walls down the dip to
the northeast, and in part by wedging out against the
basement rocks of Comondu volcanics to the southwest.
The mine was explored by a series of entries along
the outcrops on the northwest side of Arroyo de la
Providencia and the southeast side of Arroyo del
Purgatorio. There are about ten entries in each
arroyo. These workings followed the strike of the ore
bed inward to the northwest and southeast, respectively,
and are intercommunicated below the ridge that
separates the two arroyos.
The total length of the mine in a northwesterly direction is 1 kilometer, and the width explored down the
dip to the northeast averages about 150 meters in the
center of the mine, and is as much as 400 meters
in Arroyo del Purgatorio and 600 meters in Arroyo de
la Providencia. The principal levels that extend
from one end of the mine to the other are at elevations
of 108 and 128 meters above sea level. The workings
in ore bed no. 2 are communicated with the underlying
workings of the Providencia mine in ore bed no. 3, 65
meters lower in elevation, in an inclined working near
the southwest end of the mine.
Margarita. The Margarita mine is a small mine in
ore bed no. 2 on the northwest side of Arroyo del
Purgatorio, across the canyon and 500 meters northwest of the mine that has just been described. The
name Margarita has also sometimes been applied to
the underlying mine in ore bed no. 3, which is referred
to in this report as the Purgatorio mine.
110
In the Margarita mine the outcrop of ore bed no. 2

has been penetrated by six entries distributed over a
width of 75 meters, and the bed has been followed
inward along the strike to the northwest for a length
of 275 meters. The ore bed lies at elevations of 79
to 90 meters above sea level, and has an average strike
of N. 30 W. and average dip of 5 E. The ore is similar
to that found in the Providencia-Purgatorio Second
Bed mine. The Margarita mine was recently reopened by the poquiteros, but little exploitation was
carried on because of the thinness of the ore bed.
A short distance to the northeast of the Margarita
mine, ore bed no. 2 descends below the level of Arroyo
del Purgatorio. The bed was followed along the dip in
a northeasterly direction in this area by an exploratory
working 240 meters long, lying at elevations of 46 to
61 meters above sea level. This working was reached
by an inclined shaft at the southwest end and by the
Mars vertical shaft at the northeast end. The bed
explored by this working was considered to be unexploitable.
Arlemisa. The Artemisa mine is a small mine recently worked by the poquiteros in ore bed no. 2 on
the southeast side of Arrojô de la Soledad, 300 meters
southeast of the San Agustin shaft. It is 50 meters
above workings in ore bed no. 3 pertaining to the San
Agustin mine, which is below the arroyo level in that
area. The Artemisa mine is above the amô level,
in a small ridge between Arroyo de la Soledad and a
small branch arroyo to the southeast.
Outcrops of ore bed no. 2 have been entered on both
sides of the ridge by intercommunicating workings,
which follow the strike of the bed in a northwesterly
direction. The length of the mine between the two
outcrops is only 200 meters, and the width down the
dip to the northeast is 125 meters. Ore bed no. 2 lies
at elevations of 177 to 193 meters above sea level in
this area, strikes N. 35 W., and dips 9 NE. The ore
bed is cut off to the northeast by a fault, which has the
northeast side down thrown. The same fault was
exposed in the underlying mine in ore bed no. 3.
Prosperidad. The Prosperidad mine is another small
mine in ore bed no. 2, recently worked by the poquiteros.
It is below a long, narrow, northwesterly trending ridge
between two small unnamed southeasterly branches of
Arroyo del Boleo. The mine is 700 meters south of
the Texcoco mine and 700 meters northwest of the San
Luis shaft. It is above workings in ore bed no. 3 that
belong to the San Luis mine of the Soledad group.
Outcrops along the strike of the ore bed on both sides
of the ridge have been entered by mine workings that
intercommunicate under the ridge in a northeasterly
direction. The bed has a general northerly strike, which
is irregular in detail, and has an easterly dip averaging
7. The ore bed lies at elevations ranging from 224

meters above sea level in the west part of the mine to
199 meters above sea level in the east part. Th3
stratigraphic interval between ore beds nos. 2 and e
has lessened in this area, for the workings in ore bed
no. 3 lie at a level of only 35 meters below those in ore
bed no. 2 in this mine. This may be due to the influence of a projecting ridge in the basement rocks of
Comondu volcanics, which come to the surface only 200
meters northwest of the mine. The length of the mine
workings toward the northwest is 250 meters, and the
width between the two outcrops on the southwest and
northeast sides is 160 meters.
A few other prospects and short workings have been
made in ore bed no. 2 in different parts of the district,
all of which are of small extent and appear to be of
slight importance.
PROVTDENCIA GROUP OF MINES (ORE BED NO. 3)
The Providencia group of mines is in ore bed no. 3

in Arroyo de la Providencia, 2.5 to 4.5 kilometers inland
from the town of Santa Rosalia. Different centers of
mining have been given different names, but the workings form a continuously mined zone in which the individual mines cannot be delineated. The Providencia
group merges to the northwest into the Purgatorio
mine, which was exploited from Arroyo del Purgatorio.
It is adjoined to the northeast by the Rancheria mine,
which, however, is in ore bed no. 1 and is not communicated with the Providencia group.
Carmen, La China, San Alberto, San Carlos, San
Victor, and Sontag. The Providencia group was one of
the first areas mined before the advent of the Boleo
company in 1885, after which it was worked by the
company until 1923, when it became the first of the
large mining groups to be abandoned. The Carmen
mine, at the south end of the group, was operated from
the earliest years until 1895 and was replaced by the
San Alberto mine, near the north end, which was
operated from 1894 until 1919. The Sontag mine, near
the center, was operated from 1901 until 1923. Later,
the dumps of the San Alberto mine, which are among
the largest and richest in the district, were reworked
intermittently from 1937 until the present. In recent
years the poquiteros have reopened parts of the Providencia group and have been mining old filled stopes
and pillars that were left in the early operations.
Three principal mines opened by the poquiteros are
called the San Carlos mine in the west central part of
the area, the San Victor mine in the east-central part,
and the La China mine in the northeast part.
The Providencia group follows a belt in ore bed no.
3 that is wrapped around the east and northeast flanks
of a mass of Comondu volcanics known as Cerro de
111
Juanita. This is one of the best areas in which to largely of fill, averaged 3.53 percent of copper from
observe the influence of the topography of the basement March 1947 to April 1948. Shipments from La China
rocks on the structure and. distribution of the ore bed. mine, partly of fill and partly of solid ore down the dip
The bed strikes north to slightly northeast at the from the previously stoped areas, averaged 4.04 percent
south end of the mine, and then swings around to north- of copper from. 1946 to April 1948. Shipments of
west and nearly west at the north end. Many local material from the San Alberto dump from 1937 to 1942
irregularities in strike are revealed by the structure con- averaged 1.72 percent of copper.
tour map (see pi. 4). A northeastward-plunging nose
Most of the ore in the Providencia group of mines
is found at the north end of the mine, northeast of the was of the oxidized type, although sulfides appear in
San. Alberto shaft. A notable feature shown by the the lower levels at the north and east edges of the mine.
structure contours is the rapid steepening of dip at the In some places the base of the ore bed consists largely
west end of the mine, as the ore bed rises up against of sulfides, and the higher part is oxidized. A majority
the surface of the volcanic rocks. In the westernmost of the workings are above the water table, which was
100 meters the dip steepens to 24 E., whereas over the originally at an elevation of about 25 meters above sea
rest of the mine the average dip is 5 E., and it is as level.
little as 2 NE. in a structural terrace in the northThe limits of ore in the Providencia group are decentral part.
termined in part by the termination of the ore bed
A few relatively small faults were exposed in the against the basement of Comondii volcanics, and in
Providencia group of mines. The principal one is a part by assaA^ walls. Toward the west, at elevations
fault that cuts through the northeast part of the mine, of 110 to 116 meters above sea level, the ore bed wedges
from near the Santa Barbara shaft northward past the out against the old island of Comondii volcanics that
San Alberto shaft. This fault strikes N. 0-25 W. makes up Cerro de Juanita. Toward the east the bed
and dips southwest; its southwest side has been down- also wedges out down the dip against a buried ridge of
thrown an average of 10 meters and a maximum of 15 Comondii volcanics a ridge that seems to be a buried
meters. Several smaller faults were found that strike northeastward branch of Cerro del Sombrero Montado.
north to northwest and have their east sides down- Some workings that penetrated the Comondu volcanics
thrown. The Carmen mine is terminated to the south- are listed in table 5.
west by the Juanita fault zone, which is one of the more
To the east and northeast, however, mining was not
important faults in the district and has its southwest carried on to the end of the ore bed, and the limits of
side down thrown as much as 60 meters. Exploration stoping in those directions were determined by assay
has been carried on southwest of this fault, but no walls. Assay maps of the easternmost lowest workings
exploitable ore bodies have been found.
of the mine, beyond the limits of the stoped area,
The workings in ore in the Providencia group range indicate an average thickness of 64 centimeters and an
in elevation from 116 meters above sea level along the average grade of 2.8 percent of copper, based on 39
west side of the mine to 33 meters below sea level at samples.
the east end. The largest part of the stoped area lies
The mine is bordered to the northeast by an area
between 25 and 60 meters above sea level. The ore which has been explored but in which no stoping has
bed is entirely concealed below the surface in this area, been done. This area, known as the San Guillermo
though at comparatively shallow depths, and was region of low-grade ores, is one of the largest explored
explored by vertical and inclined shafts from the areas of marginal reserves in the district. It extends
bottom of the arroyo.
from the San Eugenio shaft at the east edge, northThe ore in the Providencia group was comparatively westward between the Central and San Guillermo shafts
thick and high in grade. Assay maps are not available to the Purgatorio and Mars shafts, where it joins the
for most of these mines, but the thickness of minable Purgatorio mine to the northwest. The ore bed
ore is believed to have averaged about 1 meter, and the probably has an average grade of 2 to 3 percent of
grade of ore mined averaged probably 5 to 6 or more copper throughout much of this area, although local
percent of copper. Ore produced from the San Alberto areas of higher grade ore might be found. A series of
mine in 1909 averaged 5.20 percent of copper. Higher 32 thickness and grade determinations made along one
grade ore was mined in the earlier years, and according of the principal exploratory drifts in this area indicates
to early reports, the highest grade ore was found in an average thickness of 69 centimeters of ore and an
north west-trending ribs.
average grade of 3.3 percent of copper, which, reduced
The fill in the old stopes, now being extracted by the 25 percent for dilution, would indicate an average grade
poquiteros, contains from 3.5 to 4 percent of copper. of about 2.5 percent for minable ore.
Shipments of ore from the San Carlos mine, consisting
The total length of underground workings in the
112
Providencia group of mines amounts to 84 kilometers,

of which 12 kilometers pertain to the Carmen mine, 15
kilometers fco the Sontag mine, and 57 kilometers to
the San Alberto mine. The area mined extends over
a length of 2.2 kilometers from south to north and a
width ranging from 500 meters at the south end to 1
kilometer in the central part of the mine.
The principal centers of extraction in the Providencia
group of mines were the Carmen and Sontag shafts,
used in the very early years, and the San Alberto shaft,
which was one of the more important extraction shafts
in the district. Extraction was also carried out by a
number of inclined shafts or chiflones, and the mining
now being done by the poquiteros is by means of inclined shafts. The Central and Santa Barbara shafts
have provided ventilation, and the San Guillermo and
San Eugenic or Malibran shafts were made primarily
for exploration.
The principal haulageways for ore in the Providencia
group were at levels of 25 to 26 meters above sea level.
An important haulageway at this general level ran
southward from the San Alberto shaft to the southeast
end of the Carmen mine, and was connected to the east
with the Santa Barbara shaft and with the TraversBancs Montado at the foot of Chiflon Yaqui. Other
levels are at elevations of 90, 70, 60, 54, 50, 40, 37, and
34 meters above sea level, and, at the east end of the
mine, at elevations of 15 and 5 meters above and at 5
meters below sea level.
The total recorded production of the Providencia
group of mines, including the mine production from
1893 to 1923 and the production from dumps between
1937 and 1942, is 2,311,713 metric tons of ore, of which
181,485 tons is recorded from the Carmen mine, 229,542
tons from the Sontag mine, and 1,900,686 tons from
the San Alberto mine. The total would be increased
probably on the order of 100,000 tons or so, by the
unrecorded production before 1893 and the production
of the poquiteros in recent years. The amount of waste
extracted from 1893 to 1923 was 1,542,613 tons, equivalent to 40 percent of the total extraction.
The future possibilities of the Providencia group of
mines are considered as good as for any of the old mines
of the district. Much of the material discarded in the
stopes was high enough in grade to serve as minable ore
at the present time. There are also unstoped areas
which contain minable material, particularly in the
northeast area, in the vicinity of the San Victor mine.
It is said that mining in this area was stopped because
of flooding after a cloudburst, leaving small unexploited
areas which had previously been prepared for stoping.
In addition, the largest explored area of low-grade ore
lies in the San Guillermo region north of the Providencia group. An advantage of mining in that area
is that the ore bed does not lie at great depths below
the surface, as it does in the areas of marginal reserves
adjacent to the San Luciano and Montado mines. In
the San Guillermo area the ore bed lies in general at
elevations of 5 to 25 meters above sea level.
CALIFORNIA-LUGARDA MINE (ORE BED NO. 3)
The California-Lugarda mine is on the northwest

side of Arroyo del Purgatorio, 4.5 to 6 kilometers inland
from the coast. It is part of the continuously mined
area of ore bed no. 3 that lies between Arroyos Purgatorio and Boleo, and it communicates with other mines
on all sides, except to the southeast, where the ore bed
crops out along the side of Arroyo del Purgatorio.
The name California-Lugarda was generally applied
to that part of the area mined on the northwest side of
Arroyo del Purgatorio in which the ore was extracted
from surface adits. It is bordered on the northeast
by the Purgatorio inine, situated farther down the dip
where the ore bed has gone below the arroyo level and
where the extraction was from vertical and inclined
shafts. It is bordered on the north by the Santa Rita
mine, on the northwest by the San Augustin mine, and
on the west by the Amelia mine, all of which were
worked from centers in Arroyo de la Soledad.
In the early years three names were applied to different parts of this mining area the La Ley mine near
the La Ley shaft at the southwest end; the California
mine, around the California shaft; and the Lugarda
mine, toward the northeast. In general, however, the
records of these mines have been combined under the
name of California-Lugarda. This was one of the
earliest areas in the district to be chosen for mining,
because of the conspicuous outcrops of ore bed no. 3
on the side of the arroyo. The mine was exploited by
the Boleo company from 1886 until 1925, after which
mining in Arroyo del Purgatorio was confined to the
area lying farther down the dip in the Purgatorio mine.
The California-Lugarda area was rather thoroughly
mined out and has not been reopened in recent years.
The structure of ore bed no. 3 in the CaliforniaLugarda mine consists of a fairly regular northeastdipping bed stepped up repeatedly to the northeast by
small faults, The ore bed has an average strike of N.
10-30 W. and an average dip of 7 NE. The faults
have a northwest trend roughly paralleling the general
strike of the beds, although in detail they cut obliquely
across the structure contours of the ore bed (see pi. 4).
Most of the faults displace the ore bed downward from
5 to 20 meters on their southwest side, although a few
faults displace it downward on their northeast side,
particularly the La Ley fault at the west end of the
mine, whose northeast side has been down thrown as
much as 35 meters. Altogether about 20 faults in the
California-Lugarda mine have offset the ore bed significant amounts.

In the northeast part of the mine, between the Solitario and San Porfirio shafts, is a northeast-trending
nose, bordered to the northwest by a structural trough
which also plunges northeastward. In this area the
structure contours swing around from N. 30 W. to
due west and even southwest before regaining their
normal northwest strike. Elevations along the ore bed
in the California-Lugarda mine range from 165 meters
above sea level at the west end of the mine to 42 meters
above sea level at the east end. The majority of the
workings are between 65 and 150 meters above sea
level.
Outcrops of ore bed no. 3 were originally fairly conspicuous along the northwest side of Arroyo del Purgatorio, but the ore from the outcrops was extracted in
the early years and later the area of the outcrops was
largely obscured by dumps. The ore bed rises as much
as 35 meters above the arroyo level at the northwest
end of the mine and descends about 20 meters below
the arroyo level at the northeast end.
No assay maps are available for this mine, but the
average thickness and grade of ore are believed to have
been at least as high as the average for the district.
Scattered records of ore produced from the CaliforniaLugarda mine during 1909, 1919, and 1926 indicate
that the average grade of ore produced during those
years was about 5 percent of copper. The ore in this
mine lies entirely in the oxidized zone, well above the
water table.
A total of 78 kilometers of underground workings
was made in the California-Lugarda mine. The mine
extends for 1.6 kilometers along the dip in a northeast
direction and for 1.0 to 1.5 kilometers along the strike
to the northwest. The unstoped areas remaining in
the mine are irregular in shape and are mostly small
scattered patches in which the ore decreased in grade
and thickness, or became difficult to mine locally because of faulting.
The ore was developed by irregular-shaped levels
which followed the strike to the northwest, and by long
straight inclines which followed the dip to the northeast.
The extraction was mainly by horizontal adits along the
northwest side of Arroyo del Purgatorio, and by an inclined entry at the east end of the mine. Some of the
more important haulageways within the mine were at
levels of 147, 140, 134, 123, 102, 99, 90, and 70 meters
above sea level.
Ventilation inside the mine was provided by three
shafts between Arroyos Purgatorio and Soledad the
San Felipe, San Porfirio, and Solitario, all of which were
equipped with ventilators. Some smaller ventilation
shafts along Arroyo del Purgatorio were the La Ley,
113
California, Conchas, and Pablito shafts. The La Ley

interior shaft and the San Eduardo shaft were sunk for
exploration below the arroyo level of ore bed no. 4,
which was not considered exploitable in that area.
The California-Lugarda mine had a total recorded
production of 1,632,909 tons of ore. The amount of
waste extracted is recorded as 959,614 tons, or 37 percent of the total material extracted. As the mine has
been almost entirely stoped out, its only possibilities
seem to lie in mining small pillars and perhaps some of
the filled stopes.
HUMBOLDT MINE (ORE BED NO. 3)
The Humboldt mine is a fairly small but comparatively rich mine on the southeast side of Arroyo del
Purgatorio, opposite the California-Lugarda mine, 5
kilometers inland from the coast. It is in an isolated
area on the northwest flank of Cerro de Juanita where
ore bed no. 3 lies fairly close to the surface, and it is
not communicated with the other mines of the district.
The mine was almost completely surrounded by conspicuous outcrops of ore, and it was one of the first
mines to be worked in the district. Two early claims
in this area were known as Tamberlick and Humboldt.
Probably a considerable production from this mine was
attained before the formation of the Boleo company in
1885. The mine was worked by the Boleo company
until 1901, when it was abandoned, having been considered mined out. Recently some of the filled stopes
have been reworked on a small scale by the poquiteros.
The Humboldt mine is in an area where ore bed no.
3 lies close to and in part directly upon the basement
of Comondii volcanics. This relation may clearly be
observed in outcrops at the southwest end of the mine,
where, going southward toward Cerro de Juanita,
conglomerate no. 3 of the Boleo formation wedges out,
and the ore bed rests directly on the surface of the
volcanic rocks for some distance before also wedging
out. In plan view the ore body is semicircular, and
is bounded by outcrops on the west, northwest, and
northeast, and by the line of wedging out to the southeast. Farther east, a few small patches of ore are
found lying on irregularities in the surface of the
Comondii volcanics.
The structure of ore bed no. 3 in the Humboldt mine
is that of a structural trough plunging north to northeast, rather broad and gentle in the middle but steepening rapidly along the sides (see pi. 4). The dip steepens
to as much as 30 E. along the west side of the trough,
but decreases to 7 toward the middle. This structural
trough is considered most likely to be an initial structure, somewhat modified by later tilting and faulting,
reflecting a buried valley in the surface of the underlying basement rocks.
114
A conspicuous fault near the west side of the mine

strikes N. 10 W. and drops the ore bed downward as
much as 30 meters to the west. A few small faults
were exposed in the mine. Elevations of the ore bed
range from as much as 144 meters above sea level along
outcrops at the west end of the mine to 80 meters above
sea level in the structural trough at the northeast end.
The ore bed is above the arroyo level throughout most
of the area mined, but it descends slightly below the
arroyo level at the north end of the mine.
No data are available on the thickness or grade of
ore in the Humboldt mine, but as this was one of the
earliest mines to be worked, the grade is believed to
have been considerably higher than the average for the
district. The ore was entirely of the oxidized type.
The length of underground workings recorded in the
Humboldt mine is 5.7 kilometers, but this does not include the workings made before the operations of the
Boleo company. The mine has a length of 700 meters
from north to south and a width of 300 meters. The
unstoped areas consist of only a few small scattered
pillars and some ground made unexploitable by
faulting.
The ore was extracted from about 35 small surface
entries, mostly horizontal adits but also a few inclined
entries, which are found on all sides of the mine.
These entries provided sufficient ventilation so that no
shafts were needed.
The production of the Humboldt mine recorded by
the Boleo company from 1893 to 1901 was 153,561 tons
of ore, but there was also a considerable production
before 1893. The total might be closer to 200,000 tons.
Considering the small area of this mine, the production
was comparatively large. The recorded extraction of
waste was 39,766 tons, or 21 percent of the total extraction the lowest figure of any of the mines for
which records have been kept.
As the Humboldt mine has been almost completely
stoped out, its possibilities are confined mainly to reworking the filled stopes, as has been done to a small
extent in recent years by the poquileros.
PURGATOKIO MINE (ORE BED NO. 3)
The Purgatorio mine is on both sides of Arroyo del

Purgatorio, 3 to 4 kilometers inland from the coast.
It is down the dip from the California-Lugarda mine,
in an area where ore bed no. 3 lies mainly below the
arroyo level and in part below sea level.
The Purgatorio mine communicates with other mines
on all sides except the northeast or gulfward side,
where the ore bed pinches out or becomes too low in
grade to be minable. To the northwest it is bordered
by the Santa Rita and San Antonio mines, the dividing
line being near the Santa Maria shaft. The boundary
with the California-Lugarda mine to the southwest is

in part a fault between the 60- and 70-meter levels,
extending from near the Pablito shaft northwestward
toward the Solitario shaft. To the southeast the
Purgatorio mine joins the Providencia group of mines
about 500 meters southeast of Arroyo del Purgatorio.
Part of the southeast area in the vicinity of the San
Francisco shaft was early known as the San Francisco
mine. Some of the old workings southeast of the
arroyo, reopened by the poquiteros in recent years, are
called the San Fernando mine. The Purgatorio mine
has also commonly been known as the Margarita mine,
although this name referred originally to workings in
ore bed no. 2 in Arroyo del Purgatorio.
Different parts of the Purgatorio mine have been
worked almost throughout the mining history of the
Boleo district. The part known as the San Francisco
mine, where the ore bed is fairly close to the surface,
was one of the earliest mines to be opened and was
worked until 1901. The higher levels of the Purgatorio
mine on the northwest side of the arroyo were worked
from 1902 until about 1920. The lower part of the
mine, below the 25-meter level, was worked from
about 1920 until 1940, when the mine was abandoned
by the Boleo company. The period of peak production was during the decade from 1930 to 1940, when
the Purgatorio mine was the largest producer in the
district. Part of the mine has been reworked recently
by the poquiteros.
Ore bed no. 3 has a general northeast dip over most
of the Purgatorio mine, although the structure becomes
complicated locally by faulting (see pi. 4). A northeast-trending nose lies between the Indios and Santa
Maria shafts, and another is found just northwest of
the Santiago shaft. The two noses are separated by
a northeast-plunging structural trough, and a smaller
trough lies just south of the Santiago shaft. A rather
broad sweeping curve in the structure contours is found
in the vicinity of Arroyo del Purgatorio; southeast of
that arroyo the average strike is N. 65 W., whereas
northwest of the arroyo it swings around to N. 30 W.
Near the arroyo the dip averages 4 NE., but farther
northwest between the Santiago and Indios shafts it
steepens to 15 NE. Southwest of the San Francisco
shaft the ore bed rises up steeply and pinches out
against the northeast flank of Cerro de Juanita a
continuation of the same structural feature that was
described for the Providencia group of mines. Locally
alongside the basement of volcanic rocks the dip
reaches 30 NE.
The principal fault is the Santiago fault, near the
northeast edge of the mine, along which the ore bed
has been downthrown to the southwest as much as
60 meters. Several other faults of smaller displace-
ment were observed, some of which are down thrown

to the northeast and others to the southwest. Some
of these faults cut across the structure contours at a
considerable angle.
In that part of the mine lying on the northwest side
of Arroyo del Purgatorio, the position of the ore bed
ranges from 76 meters above sea level to 73 meters
below sea level. The deepest place is in the structural
trough 300 meters northwest of the Santiago shaft.
In the smaller trough 200 meters southwest of the
shaft the ore bed descends to 53 meters below sea level.
On the southeast side of the arroyo elevations range
from 4 to 1.09 meters above sea level in the mine workings, but reach 135 meters above sea level in some of
the surface outcrops.
The only outcrops of ore bed no. 3 in the vicinity of
the Purgatorio mine are a few scattered patches where
the bed rises up alongside Cerro de Juanita southwest
of the San Francisco shaft. Elsewhere the ore bed
lies below the arroyo level throughout the area mined.
Mine workings in ore bed no. 2 overlie part of the
area of the Purgatorio mine, as already described.
This bed was also penetrated in Travers-Bancs Santiago-San Porfirio along two short stretches at distances, of 100 and 250 meters southwest of the Santiago shaft. Ore bed no. 4 was explored in some small
workings extending from the bottom of the San
Alejand.ro shaft.
Assay maps cover only the lower parts of the Purgatorio mine, below the 25-meter level, and the older,
higher levels are not represented. The average thickness and grade of ore indicated by this sampling is
shown in table 12. The actual grade of ore produced
from the Purgatorio mine averaged 5.8 percent of copper in 1909, representing ore from the higher levels,
but it dropped to 4.5 percent in 1926 and averaged
also 4.5 percent in the period from 1935 to 1940. Ore
shipped by the poquiteros from old filled stopes in the
San Francisco region from 1946 to April 1948 had an
average grade of 3.63 percent of copper. Ore produced
from the filled stopes of the San Fernando mine averaged 3.22 percent of copper during the same period.
Material shipped from the San Francisco dump from
February to June 1936 averaged 2.10 percent of copper.
The ore in the Purgatorio mine was mainly of the
oxidized type above the 25-meter level, but it was
chiefly of the sulfide type below that level, which was
approximately the height of the water table.
The total length of underground workings in the
Purgatorio mine is 79 kilometers. The mine extends
over a length of 2.2 kilometers in a northwest direction
and has an average width of 1 kilometer along the dip
to the northeast.
The northwest part of the mine has been rather
115
thoroughly stoped as far northeast as the Santiago

fault. To the southeast is the San Guillermo region of
low-grade ores, already described. Northeast of the
Santiago fault the ore bed pinches out or becomes virtually barren. To the northeast in Arroyo del Purgatorio, ore bed no. 3 was penetrated by drill hole no. 49
and was explored also in some workings at the bottom
of the San Roberto shaft, but in both localities the bed
was considered unexploitable.
The principal centers of extraction for the Purgatorio
mine have been the vertical Purgatorio shaft and the
inclined entries nearby known as Chifl6n 50 Purgatorio,
Chifl6n Margarita, and Chifl6n 5 Mars, all of which
emptied alongside the railroad line in Arroyo del Purgatorio. The old San Francisco mine was entered by
the vertical San Francisco shaft and also by some
surface entries along the slope of Cerro de Juanita.
Ventilation in the Purgatorio mine was provided by
Chiflon 5 San Porfirio and by the Indies, Santa Maria,
Santiago, and San Guillermo shafts, all equipped with
ventilators. Some smaller shafts that also provided
ventilation were the Pablito, San Pablo, Bompland,
and Nina shafts. The San Alejandro shaft was sunk
mainly to explore ore bed no. 4, the San Pedro shaft
to explore ore bed no. 2, and the Mars shaft was also
for exploration, although it was later used as a water
well. The principal haulageways inside the Purgatorio
mine were at levels of 50, 25, 10, and 0 meters above
sea level, and at levels of 30 and 60 meters below sea
level.
Production figures have been kept separately for the
San Francisco and Purgatorio mines. Production from
the San Francisco mine from. 1893 until 1901, together
with some production from dumps between 1929 and
1939, totaled 323,343 tons of ore. Production from
the Purgatorio mine, excluding the San Francisco mine,
from 1901 until 1940 totaled 2,091,141 tons of ore the
highest figure for any of the mines in the district. The
combined production of the two mines totals 2,414,484
tons of ore. In addition, there was some unrecorded
production from the San Francisco mine before 1893
and also some recent production by the poquiteros from
parts of the Purgatorio mine. The amount of waste
extracted from the San Francisco mine was recorded
as 128,579 tons, or 28 percent of the total extraction,
and the waste extracted from the Purgatorio mine
proper was 1,563,396 tons, or 43 percent of the total
extraction.
The future possibilities of the Purgatorio mine are
believed to lie largely in the explored but unstoped
area in the southeast part of the mine, known as the
San Guillermo region of low-grade ores and previously
discussed in connection with the Providencia group of
mines. The northwest part of the mine has been
116
almost completely stoped out, and as the lower levels

were stoped during a comparatively recent epoch of
operations when the cut-off grade was low, it is doubtful that it would be profitable to rework the filled stopes
in that area. The older higher levels of the mine, however, particularly those in the San Francisco region,
contain filled stopes and pillars that are higher in grade
and that in some places have been reentered and profitably worked by the poquiteros in recent years.
AJVIEMA AND CURUGI.U MINES (OKE BED NO. 3)
The Amelia mine is a part of the large area mined in

ore bed no. 3 near the head of Arroyo de la Soledad.
The mine is bordered on the east by the CaliforniaLugarda mine in Arroyo del Purgatorio, the approximate boundary being the line of the La Ley fault, and
on the northeast by the San Luis mine in Arroyo de la
Soledad, the boundary being about midway between
the Amelia and San Luis shafts. On the west and northwest the Amelia mine is terminated by outcrops of ore
bed no. 3 along the sides of Canada de Curuglu and
other branches of Arroyo del Boleo. The Curuglu mine
is in a downfaulted segment of ore bed no. 3 on the
west side of Canada de Curuglu, separated from the
Amelia mine by the Curuglu fault. Different areas of
the Amelia mine have been given different names,
including Olvido Viejo, Olvido Nuevo, San Andr6s,
San Jorge, and Fortuna. The north end of the Curuglu
mine has been called Santa Teresa.
The Amelia mine is one of the oldest in the Boleo
district, the prominent outcrops along Canada de Curuglu and vicinity having attracted prospecting soon after
the discovery of the district. Operations in the Amelia
mine were carried on by the Boleo company from 1886
until 1919, when the mine was abandoned. The Curuglu mine was worked from 1894 until 1900. Recently,
small parts of the Amelia and Curuglu mines have been
reworked by the poquiteros.
Ore bed no. 3 in the Amelia and Curuglu mines has a
fairly regular strike of N. 5-35 W., averaging about
N. 20 W., and a dip of 3-10 NE. The ore bed is
repeatedly upthrown to the northeast by a series of
northwest-trending normal faults, so that in spite of
the northeast dip of the ore bed, the elevations of the
ore are nearly the same along the northeast border of
the mine as along the outcrops at the southwest side.
The more important faults are the Curuglu in Canada
de Curuglu, with a maximum displacement of 60 meters,
and the Amelia near the Amelia shaft, with a maximum
displacement of 40 meters. A few faults with their
downthrown sides to the northeast are of slight
importance.
Outcrops of ore bed no. 3 are fairly extensive along
the east side of Canada de Curuglu and in the next side
canyon of Arroyo del Boleo to the east. On the west

side of Canada de Curuglu the ore bed has been dropped
below the canyon level by the Curuglu fault. The ore
bed lies below the level of Arroyo de la Soledad in the
Amelia mine. Ore bed no. 4, found 141 meters below
ore bed no. 3 in this area, was explored by the Amelia
shaft, but it was considered unexploitable.
Elevations of the ore bed in the Amelia mine range
from a maximum of 209 meters to a minimum of 144
meters above sea level. Elevations in the Curuglu
mine range from 146 to 117 meters above sea level.
A notable feature of the Amelia and Curuglu mines
is the concentration of the ore in definite shoots, which
are elongate, northwest-trending, subparallel, riblike
bodies, as shown in figure 35.
No assay maps are available for the Amelia and Curuglu mines. The only definite figures found on the grade
of ore shipped from the Amelia mine were for the year
1909, when the grade averaged 4.79 percent of copper,
and for 1919, when it averaged 6.72 percent of copper.
The ore from these mines was all of the oxidized type,
lying entirely above the water table. The area around
the Cumenge shaft is of interest as being the type
locality for the rare minerals boleite, pseudoboleite,
and cumengite.
The length of underground workings in the Amelia
mine totals 44 kilometers and in the Curuglu mine 5.7
kilometers. The Amelia mine extends over a length of
2 kilometers in a northwest direction and has a maximum width of 1 kilometer. The stoped area of the
Curuglu mine forms a single, narrow belt extending for
600 meters to the northwest and having a width of 50
to 150 meters. A pair of exploratory workings, from
which no stoping was done, extends an additional 500
meters along the strike to the southeast and 300 meters
up the dip to the southwest.
Extraction from the Amelia mine was accomplished
mainly from the vertical Amelia shaft and from the
inclined entries nearby known as Chifl6n 186 Amelia
and Chiflon Cumenge. The Cumenge shaft was used
for ventilation. There was also a number of surface
entries, to the south in Arroyo del Purgatorio, to the
west in Canada de Curuglu, and to the north in branches
of Arroyo del Boleo, which were used mainly for ventilation and disposal of waste. Some of the principal
haulageways were at levels of 190, 186, 180, 172, 170,
and 158 meters above sea level.
Extraction from the Curuglu mine was provided first
by one of the Curuglu shafts, the other being used for
ventilation, and later by the inclined entry called
Chifl6n 120 Curuglu. Ventilation was provided also by
Chiflon 142 Curuglu and by several surface entries at
the north end of the mine. The principal levels in this
mine were at 131 and 120 meters above sea level.
In order to transport ore from the Curuglu mine out

to the railroad in Arroyo de la Soledad, the Curuglu
tunnel, 437 meters long, was driven through the ridge
at the head of Arroyo de la Soledad, from near the
Amelia shaft to Canada de Curuglu. A bridge 137
meters long and 35 meters high was constructed across
Canada de Curuglu, and electric locomotives pulled ore
cars across the bridge and through the tunnel to the
former railhead near the Amelia shaft.
Production records indicate a total production of
887,856 tons of ore from the Amelia mine and 10,020
tons from the Curuglu mine, although neither figure is
complete. The total waste extracted from the two
mines was recorded as 459,030 tons, or 34 percent of the
total extraction.
Comparatively large unstoped areas and pillars remain
in the Amelia and Curuglu mines. Although these
areas were considered too low in grade to be mineable
at the time of original exploration, some of them might
now be exploitable by the type of operations recently
carried on by the poquileros elsewhere in the district.
At the time of this writing, only small parts of these
mines had been reentered by the poquiteros, mainly a
small area known as the Santa Teresa mine, at the
north end of the Curuglu mine.
117
west to the outcrops in the drainage basin of Arroyo del

Boleo, approximately at coordinate 2500 N.
The San Luis mine was worked from the earliest
years of operation of the Boleo company until 1899.
The San Agustin mine was operated from 1900 until
1917. Parts of these mines have been reworked in
recent years by the poquiteros.
The structure of ore bed no. 3 in the San Agustin
and San Luis mines is that of a rather broad structural
nose, trending northeast. Southeast of Arroyo de la
Soledad the average strike of the ore bed is about N.
10 W., whereas on the northwest side it swings around
to N. 70 W. and is in places due west. The average
dip is only 3 NE. between the San Luis and San
Agustin shafts, but northeast of the San Agustin shaft
the dip steepens locally to 23 NE.
The structural nose is paralleled to the northwest by a
conspicuous northeast-plunging structural trough,
which produces a distinct U-shaped bend in the structure contours (see pi. 4). The axis of this trough lies
about 500 meters northwest of the San Luis shaft;
from there it trends northeast and then swings around
to the east, reaching Arroyo de la Soledad about 400
meters northeast of the San Agustin shaft. The ore
bed is offset by a few faults in the San Agustin and San
Luis mines, but none is of great importance.
Ore bed no. 3 crops out in a small erosional window in
SAN AGUSTIN AND SAN ILUIS MINES (ORE BED NO. 3)
Arroyo de la Soledad, 100 to 400 meters southwest of
The San Agustin. and San Luis mines are part of the the San Luis shaft, at elevations of 170 to 180 meters
large area mined in ore bed no. 3, whose centers of above sea level. Elsewhere the ore bed lies below
extraction were in Arroyo de la Soledad, 4 to 5 kilome- the arroyo level in the area covered by the San Agustin
ters inland from the coast. These mines are surrounded and San Luis mines. Prominent outcrops of ore are
by others on all sides, except to the northwest, where found at the northwest end of these mines, along some
ore bed no. 3 reaches the surface along some of the of the branches of Arroyo del Boleo. In places the
branches of Arroyo del Boleo. San Luis was the name ore bed covered dip slopes and thus formed extensive
given to workings around the San Luis shaft, the first superficial deposits which were mined in the earliest
sunk in this area. Later, the San Agustin shaft was days by open cuts. An interesting feature in one small
sunk farther northeast in Arroyo de Soledad, and it canyon (pi. 1, coordinates 2000 to 2500 N., 2850 W.)
came to be used for extraction not only from the new is that the ore bed was displaced by a small fault in
area but also from the area formerly served by the San such a way that it crops out in two different belts,
Luis shaft, which was abandoned.
one slightly above the other, on the same slope.
The boundaries of the San Agustin and San Luis
Elevations of ore bed no. 3 in the area of these mines
mines with the other mines were purely administrative range from 197 meters above sea level in some of the
and artificial, and they are difficult to fix exactly. outcrops to 88 meters above sea level along the boun.Roughly, these mines were separated from the Amelia dary with the Santa Rita mine. Most of the mine
mine to the southwest by a line running about midway workings are at elevations of 135 to 160 meters above
between the Amelia and San Luis shafts. They were sea level. Ore bed no. 4 was explored in the San
divided from the California-Lugarda mine to the south- Agustin shaft, where it lies 103 meters below ore bed
east by a line running approximately through the San no. 3, but it was considered unexploitable.
Felipe and San Porfirio shafts. The boundary with the
No exact data are available on the thickness and
Santa .Rita mine to the northeast and north was a line, grade of ore in the San Agustin and San Luis mines,
running northward from the San Porfirio shaft, crossing but they are believed to be at least as great as or greater
Arroyo de Soledad about 200 meters northeast of the than the general averages for the district as a whole.
San Agustin shaft, and then proceeding northwest and The only precise figure found was for the year 1909,
118
when the average grade of ore produced from the San

Agustin mine was 5.43 percent of copper. The ore
mined by the poquiteros in Arroyo de la Soledad from
1946 to April 1948, mainly from filled stopes in the old
San Agustin, San Luis, and Amelia mines, averaged
3.47 percent of copper. Material that was shipped from
the old dump of the San Luis mine averaged 2.6 percent
of copper in 1926 and 2.1 percent in 1938. The ore
found in these mines was nearly all of the oxidized type.
The length of underground workings was recorded as
37 kilometers for the San Luis mine and 40 kilometers
for the San Agustin mine, or a total of 77 kilometers
for the two mines. The mines cover an area that
extends for about 1.5 kilometers to the northwest and
about 1 kilometer to the northeast.
Extraction from the San Luis mine until the end of
1899 was from the vertical San Luis shaft and an adit
nearby at the 168-meter level. In 1900 extraction was
diverted to the vertical San Agustin shaft and to several
inclined entries nearby. Two adits on the southeast
side of the arroyo also served for extraction. Many
entries along the outcrops in the drainage area of
Arroyo del Boleo at the northwest end of the mine
served for ventilation and dumping of waste. Ventilation in the southeast part of the mine was provided by
the San Felipe and San Porfirio shafts. Some of the
major levels in the San Luis mine were at elevations of
180, 168, and 162 meters above sea level, and in the San
Agustin mine at elevations of 160, 158, 150, 138, 136,
and 131 meters above sea level.
The total recorded production of the San Luis mine,
including mine production from 1893 to 1899 and dump
production from 1924 to 1930 and 1938 to 1939, was
440,329 tons of ore. The production of the San Agustin
mine from 1900 to 1917 was 895,799 tons of ore. The
combined total for the two mines is 1,336,128 tons of
ore. In addition, there was some production from the
San Luis mine before 1893 and some production by
the poquiteros in recent years. The waste extracted
from the two mines amounts to 961,415 tons, or 42
percent of the total extraction.
Some of the filled stopes and unmined areas of the
San Agustin and San Luis mines are believed to offer
good possibilities for the type of small-scale mining
operations recently carried on by the poquiteros in the
Boleo district. These mines have been reentered by
the poquiteros at half a dozen scattered localities, both
in Arroyo de la Soledad and also near the outcrops in the
drainage basin of Arroyo del Boleo.
SANTA RITA, SAN ANTONIO, AND SANTA MAB,TA MINES
(ORE BED NO. 3 AND FALSA TERCERA ORE BED)
The Santa Rita and associated mines are in the

north easternmost part of the large area mined in ore
bed no. 3, extending from Arroyo de la Soledad to
Arroyo del Boleo. Different parts of this area have

been given different names, but the production records
have generally been combined. The name Santa Rita
was used for the older part of the mine, lying above the
25-meter level, mainly northwest of Arroyo de la
Soledad. The name San Antonio was applied to the
workings in an upfaulted segment northeast of the
San Antonio fault, on the southeast side of Arixô de la
Soledad, where ore bed no. 3 was brought up from
below sea level to above the arixtyo level. The name
Santa Marta has been applied to the newer workings
on the southeast side of Arroyo de la Soledad, below the
25-meter level of the Santa Rita mine and below the
50-meter level of the San Antonio mine.
Some smaller mined areas with different names include the San Juan mine, in outcrops on the northwest
side of Arroyo de la Soledad, northeast of the San
Antonio fault; the Buena Suerte mine in the Falsa
Tercera ore bed on the southeast side of Arroyo del
Boleo; and the Boleo mine, referring to exploratory
workings on the northwest side of Arroyo del Boleo.
Several small new mines, including the Texcoco, Anahuac, and Mangle have been opened by the poquiteros
along outcrops on the southeast side of Arroyo del Boleo.
The Santa Rita mine is bordered to the southeast by
the Purgatorio mine, to the south by the CaliforniaLugarda mine, and to the southwest by the San Agustin
mine. The approximate boundaries have been given
in connection with those mines. On the northwest of
the Santa Rita ore bed no. 3 crops out on the side of
Arroyo del Boleo; on the northeast it pinches out down
the dip.
Some of the outcrops along Arroyo del Boleo were
probably worked at an early date. Work in the Santa
Rita mine proper began in 1893 or earlier and continued until the 1920's. The Buena Suerte mine was
worked from 1899 to 1908. The San Antonio mine was
operated mainly from 1906 to 1913. Work in the
Santa Marta mine was conducted mainly from 1923 to
1938, after which the entire area was abandoned by the
Boleo company. The peak production was in the
years 1926 to 1937. Work in the Texcoco, Analmac,
and Mangle mines and a few other parts of the Santa
Rita mine has been carried out recently by the poquiteros.
The area covered by the Santa Rita mine provides
some of the best examples in the district of initial
structures formed over irregularities in the basement
topography. In the northern part of the mine, paiv
ticularly, are several eastward-plunging anticlinal noses
and sjaiclinal troughs formed over buried ridges and
valleys. Proceeding from north to south, there are
at least four conspicuous synclinal troughs, separated
by anticlinal noses: one north of the Boleo shaft, one
in the Mangle mine, one between the Texcoco and
Anahuac mines, and one south of the Texcoco mine.

Because of the initial structures the strike of the ore
bed is quite variable in different parts of the Santa Rita
mine, ranging anywhere from due west to northwest or
nort.li.east. Away from the structural irregularities,
however, the average strike is about N". 25 W. The
dip ranges from 5 to 27 E., reaching a maximum on
the flanks of some of the structural troughs.
The most important fault in this area is the San
Antonio, which, separates the lower levels of the Santa
Rita mine from, the San Antonio mine. This fault has
the south.west side downthrown as much as 80 meters.
An interesting feature is the abruptness with which the
fault dies out to the southeast near the Santa Maria
shaft. Several other faults of lesser displacement have
been found in the Santa Rita mine.
Ore bed. no. 3 crops out extensively along the southeast side of Arroyo del Boleo, extending as far northeast
as the Biie.n.a Suerte mine, where the ore bed goes below
the airroyo level. On the northwest side of Arroyo del
Boleo, outcrops are found only in a small area. In
Arroyo de la Soledad, ore bed no. 3 is below the arroyo
level throughout the area under discussion, except for
a short distance northeast of the San Antonio fault.
The positions of the ore beds range from 148 meters
above sea level in outcrops alongside Arroyo del Boleo
to 31 meters below sea level along the southwest side
of the Sa,n Antonio fault. In the upfaulted area northeast of the San Antonio fault the elevations of the ore
range from 112 meters above sea level in outcrops to 3
meters above sea level in the iiortheasternmost level of
the Santa Marta mine.
The Falsa Tercera ore bed was mined at the north
end of the Santa Rita mine, in the Buena Suerte region;
it was followed in exploratory workings southeastward
to the Santa Natalia shafts and was also exposed in a
few other places farther south. This bed lies 1 to 9
meters above ore bed no. 3, with which it locally
coalesces. Outcrops of the Falsa Tercera ore bed are
conspicuous in parts of Arroyo del Boleo. The stoped
areas in the Falsa Tercera ore bed lie in general to the
northeast of those in ore bed no. 3, but in part they
overlap. The principal area mined in the Falsa Tercera
ore bed lies at elevations of 123 to 38 meters above sea
level, but in one working southeast of the Santa Rita
shaft the bed was found as low as 7 meters above sea
level.
Ore bed no. 2 was cut by some of the inclined workings in the Santa Marta area, namely Chiflo'n San Jose
and Chifl6n Santa Maria, but it was considered unexploitable. Ore bed no. 4 was explored at the bottom
of Chill6n Santa Natalia, where it lies about 95 meters
below ore bed no. 3, but it was too low in grade to be
exploitable. Ore bed no. 4 is said to have been found
119
also in the bottom of the Boleo shaft, an old shaft in

Arroyo del Boleo which was once used as a water well
but which has been completely covered by alluvium
for many years.
The ore is rather sporadic over much of the Santa
Rita mine, which has one of the lowest ratios of stoped
areas to explored areas in the district. In part the
ore is concentrated in two elongate ore shoots, which
have a northwest trend and cut obliquely across
structural features. One shoot averaging 200 meters in
width begins in outcrops in the Texcoco mine and
extends for 1.5 kilometers S. 75 E. to the area south
of the Santa Rita shaft. This shoot is separated from
the stoped area of the San Agustin mine to the southwest by a comparatively barren zone about 2 kilometers
long and 300 meters wide. Another fairly definite shoot
is farther north in the Buena Suerte area, involving
stoped areas both in ore bed no. 3 and in the Falsa
Tercera ore bed. This shoot extends from outcrops
along Arroyo del Boleo for 800 meters S. 50 E. It is
separated from the shoot first described by a comparatively barren zone 300 meters wide. Down the dip at
the northeast end of the San Antonio and Santa Marta
mines the ore bed is said to give way to material composed largely of gypsum and iron oxides.
Assay maps are available for the lower levels of the
Santa Marta and San Antonio mines, but the older part
of the Santa Rita mine is represented only by very few
assays. Data on thickness and grade of ore determined
from this sampling are given in table 12. Data on the
actual grade of ore shipped to the smelter from the
Santa Rita and associated mines show an average of
7.39 percent of copper in 1909, 3.88 percent in 1919, 4.7
percent in 1926, and 4.08 percent from 1935 to August
1938. Ore shipped by the poguiteros between 1946 and
April 1948 from the Texcoco mine averaged 3.95 percent of copper. Ore that has been produced from the
Falsa Tercera ore bed is said to have averaged about 5
percent of copper.
The water table as originally found in the Santa Rita
mine was about 25 meters above sea level. Above that
level the ore was largely of the oxidized type, and below
that level mainly of the sulfide type, although there was
no sharp dividing line between the two.
The total length of underground workings in the Santa
Rita, San Antonio, and Santa Marta mines amounts to
77.5 kilometers. The mining area extends for 2.5 kilometers to the northwest and has a width of 1 kilometer to
the northeast. Some exploratory workings in the Santa
Marta area extend an additional kilometer to the northeast. The Falsa Tercera ore bed has been explored for
a length of 1 kilometer and stoped for a length of 500
meters and average width of 100 meters.
The principal centers of extraction from the Santa
120
Rita mine were the vertical Santa Rita shaft and the
inclined entries nearby called Chifl6n 75 Santa Rita and
Chifl6n 50 Santa Rita, which emptied alongside the railroad in Arroyo de la Soledad. Originally an extraction
center was planned also in Arroyo del Boleo, but the
railroad running up that arroyo was washed out in 1898
and never replaced. All the ore alongside Arroyo del
Boleo was extracted toward the southeast, in Arroyo
de la Soledad. A number of entries along Arroyo del
Boleo served for exploration, ventilation, and disposal
of waste. The main extraction center for the Santa
Marta mine was Chiflon 10 Santa Rita, which emptied
near the Santa Rita shaft. Extraction from the San
Antonio mine was mainly from an adit at the 97-meter
level and from an inclined entry which connected with
the 80-meter level.
Shafts equipped with ventilators in the Santa Rita
area included the San Juan, San Jose, and Santa Maria
shafts. Others that served for exploration and ventilation included the Santa Natalia, San Enrique, and
Santa Marta shafts. Ventilation in the Santa Marta
mine was also provided by two inclined shafts.
Some of the main haulageways in the Santa Rita
mine were at levels of 102, 75, 50, and 25 meters above
sea level. The main levels in the San Antonio mine
were at elevations of 97, 80, and 50 meters above sea
level. The principal haulageways in the Santa Marta
mine were at levels of 25 and 10 meters above sea level,
and 0 to 5, 20, and 35 meters below sea level.
The total production of the Santa Rita, San Antonio,
and Santa Marta mines is recorded as 1,502,773 tons
of ore. This does not include some production by the
poguiteros in recent years. The waste extracted
amounted to 1,054,524 tons, or 41 percent of the total
extraction.
The northwest end of the Santa Rita mine, along the
outcrops in Arroyo del Boleo, has provided one of the
most profitable fields for activity of the poguiteros in
recent years. Large areas in that region were left unmined by the'Boleo company, owing to local structural
irregularities that caused difficulties in mining, and also
to the great distance of that area from the extraction
centers in Arroyo de la Soledad. A considerable
amount of ore has been taken out by the poguiteros,
particularly from the Texcoco, Anahuac, and Mangle
mines, using short surface entries from Arroyo del Boleo
and hauling the ore out that arroyo by truck. Several
areas are believed to remain in the Santa Rita region
that could be mined by the present methods of the
poguiteros.
MINES IN ARROYO DEL, BOLEO AND CANADA DE LA GLORIA
(ORE BEDS NO. 3 AND NO. 4)
A number of small mines are in the drainage of

Arroyo del Boleo and Canada de la Gloria, northwest
of the main mining area in the Boleo district. Only a

small amount of work was done in that area by the Boleo
company, but in recent years several small mines have
been worked by the poguiteros, and the ore has been
hauled out by truck to the railhead at El Yeso, in the
lower part of Arroyo del Boleo.
The structure is highly irregular in this area, owing
to the proximity of several buried ridges and valleys
in the topograph}^ on the basement rocks along the
outskirts of Cerro del Infierno. For this reason the
individual mining areas are rather small, irregular, and
difficult to mine by the regular stoping methods of the
Boleo company, but they are well adapted to the smallscale operations of the poguiteros.
The Texcoco, Anahuac, and Mangle mines along the
southeast side of Arroyo del Boleo have already been
mentioned in connection with the Santa Rita mine.
These were areas in ore bed no. 3 that had been left
near the outcrops in Arroyo del Boleo. The Texcoco
mine in particular was one of the best mines that has
been developed by the poquiteros. This mine had a
production of 116,043 tons of ore from December 1945
to April 1948.
The old Macheteros mine on the south side of Arroyo
del Boleo, between coordinates 3100 and 3300 W. ;
consists of a few scattered workings in ore bed no. 4,
which dips steeply north and lies between 82 and 155
meters above sea level. The workings extend over a
length of 275 meters and a width of 75 meters. Only a
few small stopes were made there.
The Los Altos mine consists of some very old scattered
workings in ore bed no. 4 on the south side of Arroyo
del Boleo, extending from coordinates 3500 to 4200 W.
The ore bed there lies at elevations of 110 to 155 meters
above sea level. Practically no stoping has been done in
that area.
The El Bajio mine is a small new mine on the south
side of Arroyo del Boleo just west of the Los Altos
mine, between coordinates 4200 and 4400 W., where
both ore beds no. 3 and no. 4 have been explored.
Ore bed No. 3 lies above the arroyo level, on top of a
thick conglomerate, at elevations Of 172 to 189 meters
above sea level. A small amount of stoping was done
in this bed. Ore bed no. 4 was found directly on the
edge of the arroyo and was followed a short distance
below the arroyo level. It lies below the thick conglomerate mentioned above, in tuff only a short distance
above the Comondu volcanics. Workings in this ore
bed are at elevations of 123 to 130 meters above sea
level. This is a rather irregular bed, in which nodules
and pockets of high-grade oxidized copper minerals,
including some fine euhedral crystals of azurite, are
scattered through a massive clay.
The Neptuno and La Testera mines were recently
opened by the poguiteros on the north side of Arroyo

del Boleo,' between coordinates 4300 and 4600 W.
The Neptu.no is on a small hill almost completely
surrounded by outcrops of ore bed no. 3, which lies at
elevations of 179 to 199 meters above sea level. The
mine was opened by numerous surface entries, and
the intervening area, measuring about 175 by 100
meters, has been almost completely stoped out.
Adjoining the Neptune mine to the north, beyond a
small saddle, is the La Testera mine, where ore bed
no. 3 goes into the slope to the northwest at elevations
of 155 to 184 meters above sea level. Several entries
in the outcrops on the southeast side of this mine have
followed the ore bed inward, and an area of 300 by 50
to 100 meters has been stoped out. The bed is cut
off by a fault to the southwest and crops out to the
southeast and northeast, but it may continue for some
distance farther under the slope to the northwest.
From December 1945 to July 1947 the production of the
La Testera mine was 2,307 tons of ore, which had an
average grade of 4.22 percent of copper.
The El 160 mine is a new mine of the poguiteros in
ore bed no. 4 on the southwest side of Canada de la
Gloria, half a kilometer north of the La Testera mine.
The ore bed lies close to the surface of a steep dip slope
over much of this area and has been removed in open
cuts and shallow workings. To the southwest the ore
bed goes deeper under the slope. Elevations of the ore
range from 193 meters above sea level at the west end
of the mine to 125 meters above sea level at the east end.
The mine workings are scattered at intervals over an
area of 300 by 150 meters. Shipments of ore from the
El 160 mine from September 1946 to July 1947 totaled
2,028 tons with an average grade of 3.80 percent of
copper. Low-grade manganese oxides are prevalent in
the vicinity of the El 160 mine, in places mixed with
copper ore and elsewhere occurring in separate beds.
The Dos de Abril mine is a promising new mine
opened by the poguiteros in Canada de la Gloria, 1.5
kilometers northwest of the El 160 mine. The ore
bed, which is of uncertain correlation, crops out on both
sides of the arroyo. On the south side, elevations
range from 236 to 299 meters above sea level, increasing
toward the west, and on the north, side they range
from 238 to 252 meters above sea level. The ore is a
.rather thin bed of clay from 40 to 50 centimeters thick,
penetrated by oxidized copper minerals, which are
mainly green to blue chrysocolla. The ore tends to
pinch out on the south side of the arroyo, but on the
north side it appears to continue under the slope to the
northwest. Ore shipped from the Dos de Abril mine
from April 1947 to April 1948 totaled 3,997 tons and
had an average grade of 3.80 percent of copper.
A low-grade manganese-oxide bed as much as 2
121
meters thick crops out on the north slope of Canada de

la Gloria, 6 to 7 meters stratigraphically above the
copper ore bed of the Dos de Abril mine. The bed is a
sandy tuff replaced partially by manganese oxides; it
is coarser grained than most of the manganiferous beds
found in the district. This manganiferous tuff has
been explored in open cuts and short workings scattered
at intervals over a length of 900 meters. A sample of
this material collected by the writers contained 7.5
percent of manganese.
Several other prospects and shallow workings are
scattered around the area between Arroyo del Boleo
and Canada de la Gloria, both in outcrops of copper
ores and in low-grade manganese oxide beds. In some
of these localities the possibilities seem favorable for
the development of small mines. Because of structural
irregularities, however, all the mining areas are likely
to be of comparatively small size.
MINES IN ARROYO DEL, INFIERNO (ORE BED NO. 3)
Some small copper mines are in Arroyo del Infierno,

the next main arroyo northwest of Canada de la Gloria,
northwest of the principal area mined in the Boleo
district. The geology of this arroyo is shown on the
geologic map of the Lucifer manganese district (Wilson
and Veytia, 1949, pi. 39). The copper mines are on
both sides of the arroyo about 1.5 kilometers northeast
of the Lucifer manganese mine, at a higher stratigraphic
horizon than the manganese ore bed.
Some prospecting and mining were done along outcrops in that area at an early date, before the operations
of the Boleo company. Some mining was done there
by the Boleo company in 1928 to 1931, but in general
the company took little interest in that area because of
its distance from the smelter and the lack of transportation facilities. The mines in Arroyo del Infierno have
been reopened by the poguiteros in recent years, and
the ore has been hauled by truck to the mouth of the
arroyo and thence along the coast to the railhead at
El Yeso the same route used since 1941 for transporting manganese ore from the Lucifer mine.
The Infierno mine consists of three separate groups
of workings and some other small isolated workings on
the north side of Arroyo del Infierno, besides another
set of workings on the south side of the arroyo. The
principal group of workings covers an explored area of
about 300 by 200 meters, of which about one-third has
been stoped. In this area the ore bed, believed to be
no. 3, lies at elevations ranging from 123 to 164 meters
above sea level. Two other groups of workings, one
to the southwest and the other to the northeast of the
principal group, have explored areas of about 175 by 50
meters each. In these workings the ore bed has elevations of 116 to 190 meters above sea level.
122
On the south side of the arroyo, 200 meters southeast

of the principal group of workings, is a scattered group
of workings covering an area of about 200 by 75 meters.
Very little stoping has been done in that area, where
the ore bed ranges in elevation from 120 to 143 meters
above sea level.
Data on thickness and grade of ore shown by assay
maps of the Infierno mine are given in table 12. The
only data found on the actual grade of ore shipped to
the smelter were for February and March 1947, when
the average grade was 4.86 percent of copper. The production from 1928 to 1931 was 8,380 tons of ore. This
figure does not include the early production from this
area, nor the more recent production of the poquiteros.
The Noche Buena mine is on the south side of the
arroyo, higher up the slope and about 600 meters south
of the workings just described. A few exploratory
workings have followed the ore bed, which is of uncertain correlation, for about 175 meters to the southeast. The bed there lies at elevations ranging from
281 meters above sea level along the outcrops, to 274
meters above sea level farther southeast.
The area of Arroyo del Infierno is believed to offer
good possibilities for the discovery of additional ore
bodies, since it has been very little explored to date
except directly adjacent to the outcrops.
bination of economic conditions, scarcity of copper, and

improved methods of mining and treatment. Whether
these reserves may ever mined, it seems desirable to
record their presence.
The general order of magnitude of marginal reserves,
in beds having a minimum thickness of 50 centimeters
and minimum grade of 2 percent of copper, is estimated
to range somewhere between 2 and 5 million tons. The
figure of 2 million tons could be considered as "indicated
ore," fairty well blocked out by drill holes and mine
workings, and the figure of 5 million tons as "inferred
ore," involving incompletely explored areas. If the
grade were lowered somewhere below 2 percent of
copper, the reserve figure would be considerabty larger.
Although ore of 50 centimeters thickness containing
2 percent of copper is not now commercially minable in
the Boleo district because of the high cost of mining and
treating the ore, it does not seem inconceivable that such
ore might become minable at some time if more econom^.
ical methods of mining or metallurgy are developed or
if the price of copper is greatly increased. In this
connection it might be mentioned that one of the most
nearly similar copper deposits in the world to the Boleo
deposit, the Kupferschiefer or copper-shale in Germany,
which has been mined for 750 years, contains only 20
to 30 centimeters of minable ore averaging 2.5 to 2.8
percent of copper. Neither the mining nor metallurgical
RESERVES AND POSSIBILITIES
problems, however, are so severe in the Kupferschiefer
RESERVES
as in the Boleo deposits.
All four of the principal ore beds are considered as
The Boleo district, after more than 60 years of mining
resulting in the production of more than half a million potential sources of marginal reserves. In ore bed no. 1,
tons of copper, is rapidly approaching the end of its a considerable area has been blocked out by exploratory
reserves of currently minable ore. The known reserves drilling east of the San Luciano and Montado mines.
of high-grade ore amount to only a few hundred thou- An area explored by 18 drill holes showed an average
sand tons, although there exist several million tons of thickness of 50 centimeters with an average grade of
marginal reserves which contain significant amounts of 3.3 percent of copper, and an exploratory working in the
copper but which are not commercially minable at Santa Agueda shaft showed an average thickness of
present because of low grade, thinness, or great depth 58 centimeters and average grade of 3.3 percent of
below the surface.
copper. A disadvantage is the great depth of the ore
It is not practical to list reserves of currently minable bed: 118 to 224 meters below sea level in that area.
ore in this report. Any reserves that might be listed at
Ore bed no. 2 contains fairly large areas of low-grade
the time of this writing would probably be mined out ore which could be considered as marginal reserves,
by the time this report is published, but meanwhile new particularly between Arroyos Providencia and Boleo,
reserves would probably have been found. At no time where the bed lies close to the surface and thus could be
since the senior author first visited the district in 1943 readily mined. Parts of the bed are highly manganiferhave the reserves been considered sufficient for more ous, and this would be of interest in the event any
than 1 or 2 years of operations; yet in 1950 the estimated metallurgical process could be developed for recovering
reserves were not greatly different from those of the both manganese and copper.
earlier year, despite the intervening production.
One of the largest and most favorable areas of marAside from the areas of currently minable ore, the ginal reserves is in ore bed no. 3, in the San Guillermo
Boleo district contains large marginal reserves which area between Arroyos Providencia and Purgatorio.
are not considered to be a profitable source of ore at This area was partially explored at an early date, and
present, but which nevertheless constitute a reserve of one long working showed an average thickness of 69
copper that might be available under some future com- centimeters and average grade of 3.3 percent of copper.
MINING OP THE COPPER DEPOSITS
Ore bed no. 4 is another manganiferous bed, like ore

bed no. 2, which has been exploited only in small areas
and can be considered a potential source of marginal
reserves. This bed was explored by several shafts in
Arroyos Soledad. and Purgatorio, and although it was
considered unexploitable at the time of exploration,
some spotty concentrations of high-grade ore were
found, and in places the low-grade ore extends over a
considerable thickness. In a drift at the bottom of the
San Alejandro shaft the ore bed had an average thickness of 61 centimeters and average grade of 4.1 percent
of copper. It should be minable under present
conditions.
DUMPS AND 8.LAO PILES
Dumps from the richer and older mines have provided

ore for the smelter in recent years. The recorded dump
production through 1947 amounts to 324,163 tons, which
includes 127,254 tons from the San Alberto mine, 67,553
TABI/E 31. Grade and amount, of copper ore in certain dumps
that haw, heen sam.pled in the. Boleo district '
Locution of dump
Grade of dump Estimated

(percent of
amount of
ore concopper)
tained in
dump (metric tons)
Wet
Dry
1.28
1.39
3,000
1.13
2.18
2.67
1.68
1.12
3.00
3.04
2.86
2.24
1.37
2.35
.88
1.80
1.25
2.42
3.10
2.10
1.24
3.24
3.38
3.32
2.46
1.50
3.50
1.10
2.40
100
20, 000
2,000
1,000
1,000
10,000
2,000
1,000
1,000
10, 000
5,000
40, 000
100,000
0.41
.81
1.27
1.17
1.17
2.92
0. 51
1.01
1.74
1.52
1.52
3.32
5,000
10,000
10, 000
60, 000
60, 000
500
1.50
.72
1.19
2. 19
1.71
.73
2.34
2. 10
1.95
.83
1.52
2.46
1.92
.79
2.78
2.44
5, 000
140,000
5,000
2,000
1,000
2,000
1,000
1,000
1.20
1.58
498, 600
Arroyo del Montado
Arroyo dc la Providencia
In front of Chlfl&n 54 Sontag.. ..................

Chiflon Yaciut............. --....._.. ...........
Entrance to level 70 Runcherfa. ................
Arroyo del Purgatorio
Arroyo de la Soledad
San Luls. ....... ...............................

Chiflon 75 Smitu Rita..........................
Chiflon Santa Marta.... .......................
Averages and total weighted for tonnages .... ..
1 Oracle and tonnage determined by engineering department of the Cla. del Boleo,
May 29, 1946.
2 By eliminating the relatively large but low grade San Agustin dump (140,000
tons) and the conical dump, level 30 Rancherla (40,000 tons), the remaining total
would be 318,600 tons, with an average copper content of 1.55 percent wet and 1.96
123
tons from the San Francisco mine, and 129,356 tons

from the San Luis mine.
Several dumps have been sampled recently by the
Boleo company, and the results are indicated in table 31.
This table lists only a part of the dump material of the
district, inasmuch as 9 million tons of waste is recorded
as having been extracted from the Boleo mines. Some
of the waste has been lost by erosion, and many of the
dumps consist of barren waste material.
In addition to the dumps, some old slag piles from
the early blast furnaces are fairly high in copper, and
this material has been used from time to time in the
reverberatory furnaces of the present smelter. The
slag piles northwest of the Boleo smelter, called the
Terrero Bleichert, were estimated by the Boleo company on May 21, 1943, to amount to 436,985 cubic
meters of material averaging 1.3 percent of copper.
About 5,000 tons of slag has been exploited since the
date indicated above. An analysis of this old slag \>y
the U. S. Bureau of Mines, showing 1.5 percent of
copper, is given in table 22 (see analysis 8). The
volume and grade of the four different slag piles of the
Terrero Bleichert, as calculated by the Boleo company,
are listed below, from south to north.
124
west of Arroyo del Infieriio and also possibly north of

Arroyo de las Palmas, where the geology throughout a
large area is obscured by recent Java flows. Possibly
by some geophysical method the structure of the basement rocks could be discerned in that area, revealing
conditions that may have been favorable for ore deposition according to the theory outlined in this report.
Among the old mines in the district, those with the
most favorable possibilities for yielding continued production of currently minable ore are considered to be
the Montado and Providencia mines. Both mines
were abandoned because of flooding before the explored ore bodies had been completely stoped out, and
both are believed to contain fair-sized areas of ore of
minable grade. The mines between Arroyos Soledad
and Boleo in ore bed no. 3 are also believed to contain
some minable ore in pillars and small unmined areas,
such as those recently exploited by the poouiteros in the
Texcoco and adjacent mines.
Some ore of currently minable grade could probably
also be found in the so-called San Guillermo area of
low-grade ores, in ore bed no. 3 between Arroyos Providencia and Purgatorio. An unexplored area in ore
bed no. 1 between the Cinco de Majô mine in Arroyo
del Purgatorio and the Rancheria mine in Arroyo de la
Providencia might also warrant exploration.
The best areas for exploiting filled stopes are considered to be the older mines in ore bed no. 3, such as
the Providencia, California-Lugarda, San Francisco,
Humboldt, Amelia, San Luis, San Agustin, and the
higher parts of the Santa Rita mine.
The area lying near the coast is not regarded as
favorable for further exploration, with the possible
exception of the immediate vicinity of some of the
buried hills of Comondu volcanics, such as the one
adjoining the old El Ores ton mine north of Arroyo del
Montado.
OTHER MINERAL DEPOSITS IN THE REGION
MANGANESE DEPOSITS
The most important mineral deposits that have been

exploited in the region thus far, aside from those of
copper, are deposits of manganese oxides. The deposit
of greatest importance so far discovered is a single large
high-grade ore body developed in the Lucifer mine, in
Arroyo del Infierno, 17 kilometers by road northwest of
Santa Rosalia. This deposit has been described in
detail in the report by Wilson and Veytia (1949). The
total production of the Lucifer mine from 1942 until
January 1, 1950, amounted to 215,981 long tons of ore,
which greatly exceeds the production of any other
manganese mine in Mexico. On that date the reserves
in sight were considered sufficient for about 2 more
years' production or perhaps longer, and it was con-
sidered likely that some more exploratory drilling would

be done besides that already described in the report by
Wilson and Veytia.
Manganiferous beds have also been found throughout
the Boleo copper district, but no thick bodies of highgrade ore have been discovered such as that in the
Lucifer mine. There are, however, extensive beds that
contain from 5 to 20 percent of manganese. The principal manganiferous beds observed in the field are
indicated on the geologic map (pi. 1). Some of these
correspond to the regular numbered copper beds, but
others are unnumbered beds that occur in tuff between
the copper ore beds. Nearly all the copper ore contains a certain amount of manganese; the average smelting ore contains probably 3 to 4 percent of MnO, and
the 28 analyses of copper ores given in table 21 show a
range from 0.5 to 29 percent and an average of 8.74
percent of MnO.
Probably the most highly manganiferous of the numbered copper beds is ore bed no. 4, as exposed in parts
of Arroyo del Boleo and Canada de la Gloria. In
places the copper and manganese minerals are intermixed in the same bed, as on the El 160 claim; in other
places a manganiferous bed is found a short distance
below a copper bed, as on the Neptuno claim, and elsewhere a manganiferous bed lies a few meters stratigraphically above a copper bed, as on the Dos de
Abril claim. In certain places ore beds no. 1 and no.
2 are highly manganiferous, and in places other manganiferous beds are found between ore beds nos. 1 and
2 and also between ore beds nosi 2 and 3.
As the Lucifer high-grade ore body is approaching
exhaustion, the future of manganese mining in the
district will depend either upon finding another highgrade body of the Lucifer type, or upon the development of a commercial process for concentrating the
lower-grade ores of the district, either in conjunction
with or separately from the copper mining.
The possible application of the dithionate process for
the recovery of manganese from low-grade ores, as
described by Ravitz, Wyman, Back, and Tame (1946),
is of interest in this regard. This is a process of leaching by sulfur dioxide (which might be furnished by
waste gas from the Boleo smelter) in a suspension of
the ore in calcium dithionate (CaSgOe) solution. The
manganese is precipitated as manganese hydroxide,
which is sintered or nodulized to produce a high-grade
manganese-oxide product. (A sintering plant is already
available at Santa Rosalia.) Copper and zinc ma}7 be
recovered in the same process a feature of interest in
regard to the low-grade manganiferous and zinciferous
copper ores of the Boleo district.
Additional manganese deposits along the east side
of Baja California, including deposits on San Marcos
125
OTHER MINERAL DEPOSITS IN THE REGION
Island, near Mulege, near Point Concepcion, and

southeast of Concepci6n Bay, have been described by
Wilson and Veytia (1948) in the general report on
manganese deposits of Mexico published by Trask and
Rodriguez Cabo. None of these deposits appears to
offer very favorable commercial possibilities. The one
of the largest potential tonnage the Gavilan deposit
on Point Concepci6n peninsula is a very low-grade
deposit consisting of thin veinlets of manganese oxides
scattered through a basalt unit of the Comoiidu volcanics. It was planned to strip a large tonnage of the
basalt and to extract the manganese oxides by wet
jigging with, sea water. A plant was constructed for
this purpose in 1944, but successful operations were
not attained and by .1948 the project had been
abandoned.
METALS PRESENT IN MINOR QUANTITIES IN THE
COPPER ORE
A number of metals besides copper and manganese

occur in Boleo ores, but only one silver is recovered
ii> the blister copper, and this only in minor amounts.
The amount of silver in the blister copper ranges from
70 to 200 grams per ton, whereas its content in the ore
ranges from 7 to 12 grams per ton. Other valuable
metals that are found in the Boleo ore or smelter products in noticeable amounts, but which have not been
recovered, include zinc, cobalt, lead, and nickel. The
only one of these metals that concentrates in the blister
copper is nickel, which is present to the extent of 0.32
percent, according to one analysis, although samples of
the ore show only a trace to 0.13 percent of nickel.
Zinc is present in the ore in amounts that average
0.80 percent and are as much as 6.0 percent. The zinc
becomes concentrated, in the flue dust, which contains
8.6 to 19.5 percent. Other potentially valuable constituents of the flue dust, not so far recovered, include
copper, 3.2 to 4.6 percent; lead, 1.8 to 3.25 percent;
cobalt, 0.03 to 0.53 percent; nickel, 0.22 to 0.50 percent; bismuth, 0.27 percent in one sample; and silver,
88 grains per ton.
Cobalt is widely distributed in the Boleo district,
but commercial ore bodies have so far not been found.
The average cobalt content of the ore is 0.12 percent,
ranging from 0.02 to 0.86 percent, according to 126
analyses. In. the Boleo smelter, the cobalt becomes
concentrated in the converter slag, which contains 0.5
to 4.0 percent of cobalt, and in a metallic iron alloy,
containing .1.0 to 20 percent of cobalt, whic.li collects in
the reverberatory furnaces. As an outgrowth of the
present study, the possibilities for the recovery of
cobalt from the Boleo smelter products are now being
investigated by the 0. S. Bureau of Mines.
.Lead appears to be concentrated in certain parts of
the Boleo district, notably in part of the Carmen mine,

where galena appears, and in the vicinity of the
Cumenge shaft, where the lead-bearing boleite group
of minerals was discovered. The ore samples that have
been analyzed from other parts of the district, however,
show only a trace to 0.23 percent of lead. A vein
deposit of galena has been reported from the northwest
side of Cerro de Santa Maria, about 25 kilometers
northwest of the copper district.
GYPSUM
Gypsum is present in enormous quantities in the

Boleo district. It occurs in beds as much as 80 meters
thick intercalated near the base of the Boleo formation.
The gypsum is found in two general areas: in the northwest part of the district from Arroyo del Boleo northwestward to Arroyo del Infierno and Arroyo de las
Palmas, and in the southeast part of the district from
Arroyo del Montado southeastward be}ônd Arroyo de
Santa Agueda. The most extensive exposures are in
the northwest area, particularly in the vicinity of
Arroyo del Boleo. In the southeast area the gypsum
is largely buried, although there is a small exposure near
the mouth of Arroyo de Santa Agueda. Lithologic
descriptions, as well as stratigraphic information and
details about the surface and subsurface distribution of
the gypsum, have already been given in the description
of the Boleo formation.
A chemical analysis of the gypsum is given in table 5.
If we assume that all the sulfur trioxide reported in that
analysis is present in gypsum, the proportion of pure
gypsum would be 95.61 percent. Anhydrite is present
only in minor quantities in the outcrops, although it
was found in large masses in the deeply buried bodies
penetrated by drill holes. In some places seams of
tuff or clay are intercalated in the gypsum, and these
would need to be sorted out in any mining operation.
The gypsum has been mined thus far only for use in
the Boleo smelter, as a combination flux and source of
sulfur. It has been so used during two periods: from
1920-36 and 1939-44. At other times the flux used in
the smelter has been calcareous sandstone or limestone,
obtained locally, and the source of sulfur has been
imported pyrite. Figures available for various years
on the production of gypsum, as well as of calcareous
sandstone and limestone, are presented in table 32.
According to these figures the total production of
gypsum in the Boleo district has amounted to 266,573
tons. The maximum annual production was 36,656
tons, attained in 1925.
The gypsum produced for use in the smelter was
obtained principally from localities along the south
side of Arroyo del Boleo, near the railway loading
point known as El Yeso (Spanish for gypsum). There
126
TABLE 32. Production of gypsum, calcareous sandstone, and

limestone for use in the Boleo smelter, 1909 to May 1948, in
metric tons
127
LIST OF FOSSIL-COLLECTING LOCALITIES
thin, the supply is sufficient to meet all the foreseeable

needs of the region.
An analysis of the limestone from the quarry in the
branch of Arroyo de Santa Agueda is presented in
table 3 in another part of this report. From the content of calcium oxide and carbon dioxide indicated by
this analysis, the proportion of calcium carbonate
present is estimated to be about 80 percent.
The calcareous sandstone mined comes from a sandstone unit of the Tnfierno formation, which is locally
so tightly packed with comminuted shell fragments as
to provide a usable source of calcium carbonate. The
rock has been mined at a locality known as the Calera
mine or the Buena Vista mine, on the northwest side
of Arroyo de la Providencia 1 kilometer inland from
the gulf (pi. 1, coordinates 1100-1300 N., 22502400 E.). The mine is along a steep arroyo wall, at
elevations of 150 to 160 meters above sea level, or 120
to 130 meters above the arroyo level. The sandstone
bed is nearly flat-lying at that place and has been
mined by a room-and-pillar system from a number of
entries that extend over a length of about 250 meters.
The drifts are fairly large, averaging 3 or 4 meters in
width and 4 or 5 meters in height. The sandstone is 30
meters thick at that locality, but the mine workings are
confined to the lowermost 5 to 10 meters of the bed.
The sandstone was lowered by a gravity tram down
a terrace-covered slope northeast of the mine, and
thence was carried by rail a distance of less than 1
kilometer to the smelter. The production of calcareous
sandstone from the Calera mine ranged from 20,000
to 30,000 tons a year through 1914, but then dropped
to 1,000 tons or less a year until 1932, when the deposit
was abandoned. Large quantities of this type of material remain, in. the event any commercial use should
be found for it.
SULFUR,
Deposits of native sulfur have been found in the

vicinity of the Tres Vfrgenes volcanoes. They were
not visited by the writers, but judging from accounts
of them, both published and unpublished, they are
believed to be small and of little potential value. The
deposits were first described by Castillo (1870, p. 50),
Avho states that a vent emitting sulfurous vapors is
surrounded by an area about 50 meters across containing numerous fractures along which native sulfur has
condensed in crystalline forms. A mesa northeast of
the volcano is also described as being traversed by
numerous veinlets of sulfur. A few tons of sulfur are
said to have been exported in early years by some
merchants from Guaymas, but no work has been done
on the deposits in recent years.
BUILDING STONE, PUMICE, AND PEBLITE
The chief source of building stone in the region consists of the massive, resistant basaltic layers of the
Comondu volcanics. Rocks of this type were quarried
from near the top of Cerro del Sombrero Montado,
for use as a foundation in building the breakwater of
the Santa Rosalia harbor.
Extensive pumice deposits are found in the vicinitj^
of the Tres Virgenes volcanoes, 30 to 35 kilometers
northwest of Santa Rosalia. The}^ are crossed by the
main road between, San Ignacio and Santa Rosalia.
Some of the pumice has been carried by truck to Santa
Rosalia and fashioned into special bricks, which have
the advantage of being very light in weight though
comparatively strong. Pumice bricks have been used
for insulating the outside of the reverberatory furnaces
at the smelter, and they have also been used recently
in other construction work, including a new refrigeration
plant for the fishing industry.
Perlite deposits exist near Cerro de Santa Maria,
north of Santa Rosalia, but they have not been exploited. Perlite is coming into increasing industrial
use because of its property of great expansion upon
the sudden application of heat, forming an artificial
pumice having several advantages over natural pumice,
especially as a lightweight aggregate in concrete. The
peiiite near Santa Rosalia has not yet been tested for
its expansion properties, and hence its potential value
as a lightweight aggregate is not known.
LIST OF FOSSIL-COLLECTING LOCALITIES
Fossil localities Fl to FlO are plotted on plate 39 of

U. S. Geological Survey Bulletin 960-F; localities Fll
to F28 are plotted on plate 1 of this report. The
localities are also plotted on figure 3 of the paper by
Wilson (1948). The fossil collections in the followinglist (table 33) are deposited in the U. S. National
Museum.
TABLE 33.
U. S.
Field National
no. Museum
no.
List of fossil-collecting localities
Coordinates, in
meters from San
Francisco shaft
N.-S.
E.-W.
Fl
15442
3950 N.
4350 W.
F2
15443
3310 N.
4560 W.
F3
15444
4230 N.
4240 W.
Formation, age. and description of locality
Boleo formation, early Pliocene. Brownish

basal limestone overlying Comondu volcanics. Northern branch of Arroyo del
Boleo, on San Pedro claim.
basal limestone overlying Comondu volcanics. Contains only unidentified poorly
preserved casts and molds of pelecypods.
North side of Arroyo del Boleo, on Ncptuno
claim.
sandstone overlying basal limestone.
South side of Canada de la Gloria, just east
of Santa Oertrudis claim.
128
TABLE 33.
U.S.
Field National
no. Museum
no.
F4
15445
List of fossil-collecting localities

Coordinates, in
meters from San
Francisco shaft
N.-S.
E.-W.
4200 N.
4260 W.
F5
15446
5150 N.
8220 W.
F6
15447
5780 N.
6490 W.
F7
15448
4640 N.
4770 W.
F8
15449
6360 N.
4420 W.
F9
F10
Fll
F12
F13
15450
15451
16053
16054
16055
8410 N.
6260 N.
2670 N.
810 N.
1410 N.
8370 W.
4410 W.
2200 E.
1390 E.
650 E.
F14
16056
1530 N.
370 E.
F15
16057
1550 N.
700 E.
FIG
10058
1600 N.
580 E.
F17
16059
1870 N.
> 20 E.
F18
16060
1310 N.
670 E.
TABLE 33.
Continued
U.S.
Formation, age, and description of locality
Field National
no. Museum
no.

basal limestone, below the sandstone of
locality F3. Contains unidentified minute gastropods, abundant but poorly preserved. South side of Canada de la Gloria,
on Santa Oertrudis claim.
limestone overlying basal conglomerate.
North side of Arroyo del Inflerno, slope
just below and to east of entries to Lucifer
manganese mine, on Legendario claim.
Santa Rosalfa formation, Pleistocene. Fossiliferous sandstone. South side of Arroyo
del Inflerno, east of Inflerno claim, about
midway up slope between road to San
Ignacio and lava-covered mesa to south.
Gloria formation, (type locality), middle
Pliocene. Fossiliferous gray sandstone,
lying unconformably on Boleo formation.
North side of Canada de la Gloria, at west
edge of Agua Azul claim, about midway up
steep slope between road and top of mesa
to north.
Gloria formation, middle Pliocene. Fossiliferous sandstone forming steep cliffs below
the Inflerno formation of locality F10 (see
fig. 21; locality is in steep cliffs near middle
of left side of photograph). South side of
Arroyo del Inflerno, along cliffs just above
the prominent terrace followed by road to
San Ignacio.
Santa Rosalia formation (type locality),
Pleistocene. Thin fossiliferous sandstone
and conglomerate unconformably overlying Gloria formation. South side of
Arroyo de las Palmas, just below top of
lava-covered mesa on Lucifer claim no. 6.
Infierno formation (type locality), late Pliocene. Highly fossiliferous sandstone unconformably overlying the. Gloria formation of locality F8 (see fig. 21; bench on top
of cliff just below top of mesa, slightly to
left of center of photograph) . South side of
Arroyo del Infierno, bench above sandstone
cliffs of the Gloria formation, below top of
mesa.
Gloria formation, middle Pliocene. Fossiliferous sandstone unconformably overlying
tuffs of the Boleo formation, just southwest
of a small fault (see fig. 27; sandstone cliff
to right of fault) . South side of Arroyo del
Purgatorio, near mouth, 80 m above sea
level.
Infierno formation, late Pliocene. Fossiliferous soft fine-grained sandstone overlying
conglomerate of Gloria formation. South
side of Arroyo del Purgatorio, south of San
Roberto shaft, near top of ridge, 180 m
above sea level.
Gloria formation, middle Pliocene. Fossiliferous gray calcareous sandstone, rich in
echinoids, unconformably overlying conglomerate no. 1 of the Boleo formation.
Northeast side, near mouth, of Canada
Santiago, a northern branch of Arroyo del
Purgatorio, 100 m above sea level.
Infierno formation, late Pliocene. Thick
fossiliferous sandstone overlying conglomerate of the Gloria formation. East side of
Canada Santiago, a northern branch of
Arroyo del Purgatorio, just northeast of
Santiago shaft and southwest of Santiago
fault, 140 m above sea level.
Gloria formation, middle Pliocene. Fossiliferous sandstone unconformably overlying
tuff above ore bed no. 1 of the Boleo formation. North side of Arroyo del Purgatorio,
in small side canyon 200 m northeast of
Canada Santiago, 110 m above sea level.
Infierno formation, late Pliocene. Fossiliferous massive buff sandstone overlying
conglomerate of the Gloria formation. On
slope above locality F15, 150 m above sea
level.
Santa Rosalfa formation, Pleistocene. Thin
fossiliferous gray conglomeratic sandstone
overlying conglomerate of the Inflerno formation. Head of Canada Santiago, a
northern branch of Arroyo del Purgatorio,
at top of mesa, 230 m above sea level.
Gloria formation, middle Pliocene. Fossiliferous sandstone rich in echinoids, same as
locality F13. Southwest side, near mouth,
of Canada Santiago, a northern branch of
Arroyo del Purgatorio, 80 m above sea
level.
F19
16001
List 0} fossil-collecting localities

Coordinates, in
meters from San
Fransico shaft
N.-S.
E.-W.
1930 N.
700 E.
F20
16002
2000 N.
430 W.
F21
10063
2650 N.
1840 W.
F22
10064
3880 N.
3920 W.
Continued
Formation, age, and description of locality
Gloria formation, middle Pliocene. Fossil-
iferous sandstone unconformably overlying
tuff above ore bed no. 1 of Boleo formation.

Side canyon on northwest side of Arroyo
del Purgatorio, opposite San Roberto shaft,
110 m above sea level.
Gloria formation (?). Conflicting evidence for
age; middle or late Pliocene. Soft lightcolored fossiliferous sandstone near top of a
thick cliff-forming sandstone overlying tuff
of Boleo formation, below a conglomerate.
Southeast side of southern branch of Arroyo
de la Soledad, southeast of San Enrique
shaft, 165 m above sea level.
Inflerno formation, late Pliocene. Thick
fossiliferous sandstone, overlying thick conglomerate of Gloria formation and underlying thin conglomerate mapped as Santa
Rosalia formation. Top of ridge on northwest side of Arroyo de la Soledad, west of
Santa Rita shaft, 220 m above sea level.
Age doubtful. Classified in field as Boleo
formation, early Pliocene, but fossils more
closely related to Gloria formation, middle
Pliocene. Dark-brown coarse-grained fossiliferous sandstone directly overlying basal
limestone of the Boleo formation.
North-
ern branch of Arroyo del Boleo, on Hugo
F23
16065
3430 N.
3100 W.
claim, 170 m above sea level.

fossiliferous sandstone in tuff below ore bed
no. 3 of Boleo formation. North side of

Arroyo del Boleo, opposite Texcoco mine,
90 m above sea level.
F24
16066
2240 S.
5100 E.
Infierno formation, late Pliocene (?). Thick
fossiliferous sandstone southwest of Santa

Agueda fault zone. Northwest side of
Arroyo dc Santa Agueda, opposite point
F25
16007
3100 S.
5170 E.
F26
16068
2990 S.
5060 E.
where road to Mulcgfi leaves arroyo, 20 m

above sea level.
Infierno formation, lute Pliocene. Thick
fossiliferous buff sandstone. Southeast
side of Arroyo de Santa Agueda, below road
to Mulegfi, 55 m above sea level.
Infierno formation, late Pliocene (?). Thick
fossiliferous .sandstone; same as at locality
F25 but 25 m lower. Southeast side of

Arroyo de Santa Agueda, below road to
Muleg6, small knob on side of arroyo, 30 m
above sea level.
F27
16009
2950 S.
6380 E.
Gloria formation (?), middle Pliocene.

Thick fossiliferous sandstone. A single
echinoid collected; not certain that it was
in place. Along coast, south of Arroyo de
F28
10070
SI
15616
2700 S.
6240 E.
Santa Agueda, on top of a small knob below

mesa level, 110 m above sea level.
Infierno formation, late Pliocene. Thin gray
calcareous fossiliferous sandstone, unconformably overlying sandstone of the Gloria
formation. South side of Arroyo de Santa
Agueda, near mouth, on narrow ridge just

below top of mesa, 150 m above sea level.
Isidro formation, middle Miocene. Gray

fossiliferous sandstone. Arroyo dc San
Ignacio, bottom of arroyo, approximately
5 km southwest of town of San Ignacio,

which in turn is 77 km by road west of
Santa Rosalia.
REFERENCES CITED
Aguilera, J. G., 1898, Catalogos sistematico y geografico de las
especies minera!6gicas de la Repiiblica Mexicana: Inst.
geol. Mexico Bol. 11, 157 p.
(Minerals from Boleo
district, p. 119-120.)
1907, Apercu sur la geologic du Mexique pour servir
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summary): Sveriges geol. undersokning Arsbok 38, no. 5,
ser. C, no. 463, 22 p.
Wilson, I. F., 1948, Buried topography, initial structures, and
sedimentation in Santa Rosalfa area, Baja California,
METRIC
TEMPERATURE
Co
po
60
50
.40-^
30
20 _
10 -i
0
-10 :
-9O
meters
100
70 \
-
LINEAR
150
. ._
130
120
110
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
lnches
r 40
90
80
-30
70
Mexico: Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists Bull., v. 32, p.

1762-1807. (Also published in Spanish in Mexico, Univ.
Nac., Inst. Geologia Bol. 53, 78 p., 1948.)
Wilson, I. F., and Veytia, Mario, 1948, Baja California, in
Trask, P. D., and Rodriguez Cabo, Jose", Jr., Manganese
deposits of Mexico: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 954-F, p.
228-238. (Also published in Spanish in Mexico, Com. Dir.
Inv. Rec. Miner. Bol. 19, p. 28-41, 1948.)
r 1949 (1950), Geology and manganese deposits of the
Lucifer district, northwest of Santa Rosalia, Baja California, Mexico: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 960-F, p. 177-233.
(Also published in Spanish in Mexico, Inst. Nac. Inv. Rec.
Miner. Bol. 25, 68 p., 1949.)
Wittich, Ernesto, 1915, Uber Eisenlager an der Nordwestkliste
von Nieder-Kalifornien: Centralbl. Mineralogie, p. 389-395.
Woodford, A, 0., 1940, Pre-Tertiary diastrophism and plutonisin
in southern California and Baja California: 6th Pacific Sci.
Cong. Proc., v. 1, p. 253-258.
Woodford, A. 0., and Harriss, T. F., 1938, Geological reconnaissance across Sierra San Pedro Martir, Baja California:
Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 49, p. 1297-1335.
Zies, E: G., Alien, E. T., and Merwin, H. E., 1916, Some reactions
involved in secondary copper sulfide enrichment: Econ.
Geology, v. 11, p. 407-503.
EQUIVALENTS
WEIGHTS
MEASURE
Meters
Feet
looo-^r
J
nSters
100 -
900-^-3000
90-^
80-^
800
Miles
; 2500
700-^ ~
80 ~~
70
-150
70 ~
500
80
80
- 90
70
70
50
50
40
20" .
I
10-: n
80
-
50
70
-
30
20
100
40
40
30
30
30
I cm. = 0.3937 in.

I m.= 3.2808ft.
I km. = 0.6214 mile
lin.= 2.5400cm.
I ft. = 0.3048m.
I mile= 1.6093 km.
I sq. m.(m2) = 1.20 sq. yd.
I hectare (lOOxlOOm.) = 2.47 acres
I cu.m. (m3)= 1.31 cu. yd.
50
30
40
30
20
r 50 20-
20
20
-20
10
10
10
10
.. n
10
60
40
100 . :
50
30-^
80
50 _
-
300^ 1000
-
100
60
30
z 1500
90
60
40-^ -
2000
90
60
400-^ -
90
Short
tons
110
60
40
10
200
Metric
tons
100
100
100
40
500
200^
~
Metric Long
tons tons
60^
50
20
50
:
70-^ -
600^
Pounds
(avoir)
90
60
-10
60
Kilograms
f\
10
. n
I kg.= 2,2046 Ib.

llb.= 0.4536 kg.
I
I
I
I
I
metric ton = 0.9842 long ton

metric ton=l.!023 short tons
metric ton = 2,205 Ib.
long ton = 1.0161 metric ton
short ton = 0.9072 metric ton
INDEX
A
Page
Acknowledgments.__...................... 4-5
Alloplmno, In Boleo formation............_.
29
Alluvium (Recent), distribution and charactor........ .............
42
Alunlte, In Oornondu volcanlcs.__......_
20
Amelia fault, relation to ore shoots_........
OS
Andcslnc, gtmguo mineral....................
73
In Boloo formation___..................
29
Andeslno-labradorlto...__.__...._......
73
Anglcslto. _..............................
73
Antimony...___...__.__.............
82
Apatite, ganguo mineral_..................
73
In Gomondu volcanics....................
20
Arroyo del Boloo, mines...-.-----.......-.. 120-121
Arroyo del Inflerno, mines.................. 121-122
Arsenic___________...............
82
Atacanilto, In oxidized zone__..............
72
Auglto, ganguo mineral__-.._..........
73
In Comondii volcanlcs..__.............
20
A/.urlte, In oxidized zone..-.------...........
72
B
Basement rock. See Quartz monzonltc.
Batholtth, Invaded region in pro-Miocene_..
Bcllangcr, A. J., quoted..._....__.......
Blotlto-.
---Bol6lto... .................................
Boleo, word defined.......
.....
Boleo formation, analysis of composite sample
of limestone........___---basal marine limestone...____........
clnta colorada...._....________distribution and stratlgraphlc relations...
economic Importance.
..
...
faclos changes__...
... .fosslllfcrous sandstone.......... ......
fossils. ......___..._..............
general features_.____..._.......
gypsum...............................:..
lenses of nonmarine conglomerate_......
origin and ago.___'--- __......
steep dip duo to deposltional surface......
thickness.............'.......-...........tuft and tuffacoous conglomerate__.....
variations In thickness and distribution of
units...---------.-----------Bornltc, In sulfldc zone__......._...-.-..
secondary ore mineral....................
Building stone....._._.............._-...
54
97
20,73
71,72
57
25
23-25
29-30
22
33
31
28
32
22
25-28
23
31-33
43
22-23
28-29
30,31
72
55
127
Calcareous sandstone, distribution and production.....-........ ..- 126-127

"Calcareous Series," or Upper Salada. ..._.
15
Calcito, ganguo mineral..
..........
55
In stockwork body.... ...........j...
70
Canada do la Gloria, mines. ...... .. 120-121
Celadonlteln Boleo formation...............
29
Chalcedony, ganguc mineral. ..............
55
Chalcocitc, primary ore mineral.............. 55,72
Chalcopyrlto, In sulfldc zone. ..........
72
secondary ore mineral.-..-...--- ------55
CMfl6n, denned......
-103
Chlorttc, In Boleo formation..
29
Chrysocolla, In oxidized zone----------------72
Cinta colorada, distribution and character.. 29-30
Climate...
9.11-12
Page
Clinopyroxenc, in Comondu volcanlcs ...... 19,20
Cobalt, distribution and amount...- ..... 80-81
in copper ore, converter slag, and reverberatory furnaces .. . 55,125
Comondu volcanics, age.__ . .
. 21-22
andesite and basalt dominant- ---.....
19
composition at type locality..----------16
capper and manganese along faults.......
43
copper content--.----...
.-.
21
distribution and stratigraphic relations... 16-18
economic importance......... .....
22
lateral variation and origin.. .. ......
21
lithology and petrography.
...._... 18-21
provided irregular dcpositional surface_43
relation of "island" to ore deposits_..-..
69
stcrcogram showing surface.......... 101, pi. 10
structure..._.__ __._........... 42-43
subsurface configuration...-.....-.-..--..
18
thickness..___-...____..........
18
veins and stockwork bodies...------------ 69-70
Compagnic du Boleo, history and operations.. 89-90
Copper, analyses of ore on wet basis -61
content of, in igneous and sedimentary
rocks.
__
84
distribution of orebeds...___...... 57,59-60
distribution of ore in working facies of six
mines-..-.---.--------------58
geologic nature.of ore beds..-------------- 55-57
grade of ore....
..-- 61-62
manganiferous beds._ --------------63
native, in primary ore.
.
-. 55
in sulfldc zone..-..------------------72
ore bed no. 0, general description.........
62
ore bed no. 1, general description... 62-63
ore bed no. 2, general description.-. 63-64
ore bed no. 3, general description......... 64-65
ore bed no. 4, general description.-------- 65-66
ore bed, Falsa Tercera, general description.
64
ore bed, Sin Nombre, general description.
63
primary and secondary ore and ganguc
minerals.--.-----------------55
specific gravity of ore.. _.
..
57
system of numbering ore beds.----------- 55,57
thickness of ore...________
I. 60-61
' typical sections of primary ore beds... _- 56-57
Covelllte, in sulfldc zone..__._. ._...j.J
72
secondary ore mineral .. '
55
Crednerlte.--- -- - - 71,72
Cryptomelane __ .
72
Ctimengite--.__.--------------------- 71,72
Cuprite, in oxidized zone 11--....---------72
Curuglu fault, relation to ore shoots.. -----68
D
Dolomite, in Boleo formation__.............
29
Drill holes, general discussion.. 1.'.
98,100-102
list of and data on.._. "
100
Duffell, Stanley, quoted..------------------86
Durham, J. W., quoted._ 35
E
El Cuarenta mine, section of ore bed no. 1....
57
Epldote, In Boleo formation. ... . .
29
E xploration, recommended areas........... 123-124
F
Falsa Tercera ore bed, mined. ------------occu rreiice. ------------------------------
119
57
Page
Faults, general characteristics.-------------- 45,47
relation to ore...._____.
. 70-71
table of data about principal....._..._
47
Fishing industry...________ ._
13
Fossils, listed from Boleo formation...------32
listed from Comondu volcanics..
21
listed from Gloria formation..............
36
listed from Inflerno formation...-- -...39
listed from Isidro formation..__._
..
21
listed from Santa Rosalia formation-.--..
40
localities of collection _... ____. _.. 127-128
G
Galena, In sulflde zone.-- - 72
Garnet....__.___._.__..-.-_._
73
Glass, Jewell J., quoted-.---.---- ---------74
Gloria formation, age and fossils ------------- 35-37
distribution and stratigraphic relations...
33
general features_________._.-....
33
origin... ____._____.__....._
35
thickness, lithology, facies._____.. 34-35
Gold, distribution and amount.__.___
81
Gravel deposits, age, distribution, and character..--..-.-.-_-----_-.-.
42
Gypsum, analysis of composite sample from
Boleo formation.--..-_----27
distribution, grade, production...._.. 125-126
gangue mineral_.-..._____........-55
in Boleo formation.._____..._____ 25-28
stereogram showing local distribution_.. pi. 10
H
Halite
...
...
Halloysite, in Boleo formation..--....
Hematite, in Comondu volcanics -..
Hornblende, gangue mineral____..
in Comondu volcanics._____.
Hydromica, in Comondu volcanics...
Hypersthene, in Comondu volcanics.
74
29
20
73
20
20
20
Iddingsitc, in Comondu volcanlcs.. ------Indinado, defined-.-_

_........--..-..
Inflerno formation, age.- _..__-------distribution and stratigraphic relations...
fossils listed..____.--___.___.genera] features_ ._-........--.---.
origin--.-..............--........-.....range in thickness of units.......--.-....thickness, lithology, and facies ------Iron oxide, gangue mineral-.___-------Isidro formation, age and list of fossils from...
19,20
103
39
37-38
39
37
38-39
36
38
55
21-22
J-L
Jasper, gangue mineral..._ ___........
55
Laboradorite, in Boleo formation._--------29
in Comondu volcanics........_.......... 19,20
La China mine, section of ore bed no. 3 ----57
Lead, distribution and amount_
.
81
in Carmen mine and Cumengc shaft_
125
in copper ore... .-..55
Limestone, distribution, character, and production... ....... ....-.... 126-127
Locke, Augustus, quoted_. .__
.
83
Lucifer manganese district
2,3,124
Mackay, R. A., quoted
.
...
Magnetite gangue mineral.. .
In Comondu volcanlcs.. ....
133
86
73
19,20
134
INDEX
Pago
Malachite, in oxidized zone..... -. .. 72
Manganese, dithionate process for recovery. _ - 124
in Bolco formation....................... 29,33
ganguc mineral......--..-...----.........
55
in Comondu volcanics---22
Manganese deposits, distribution, thickness,
and grade................... 124-125
Lucifer mine.............................. 124
Melaconite, in oxidized zone._..............
72
Metals, in trace amounts in ore and flue dust81
Metric conversion tables__................. 132
Mexican Government, as sponsor_.........
5
Milton, Charles, quoted......................
70
Mine descriptions, Alhambra__........... 108-109
Amelia.......................... 68,116,117,124
Anahuac...--.-.........-....-...---... 118,120
Artern isa................................. 110
Bolco......-----.--..-.-.....---.......... 118
Buena Suertc........................... 118,119
California-Lugarda......--....-.... 112-113,124
Carmen............................ 110,111,112
Cinco de Mayo...........................
108
Curuglu............................. 68,116,117
Dos do Abril............................. 121
El Bajfo..-------....-....-------....-.-.. 120
El Creston------------------------------- 109
E1160.....-- -.-.. ----.---- - 121
Humboklt.......................... 113-114,124
Inflerno.------------------------------- 121-122
La China..-----.....----.-.---.-----..- 110,111
La Ley. See California-Lugarda
La Testera............................. 120-121
Los Altos................................. 120
Machcteros............................... 120
Mangle........-.-.-.---......----...... 118,120
Margarita.-.--...--.-----.-.---..-.-... 109-110
Margarita. See also Purgatorio
Montado...------.-..----.--.-----. 104-106,124
Neptuno _......-..-.--------.---------. 120-121
Noche Bucna..............-...-.-.......- 122
Prosperidad.............................. 110
Providencia group.................. 110-112,124
Providencia-Purgatorio Second Bed-...-- 109
Purgatorio---------..------------------- 114-116
Banchcrfa.............................. 106-108
San Agustin........................ 117,118,124
San Alberto..--._..-._------_---.-- 110,111,112
San Antonio-.-..-...-------..------ 118,119,120
San Carlos-- ........................ 110,111
San Fernando. See Purgatorio.
San Francisco--..-..-------...---------.- 124
San Juan.................................. 118
San Luciano................ ------------ 103-104
San Luis.-------------------------- 117,118,124
San Victor-- --..----------.-- -- 110,112
Santa Marta....................... 118,119,120
Santa Rita..................... 118,119,120,124
Santa Teresa............................. 117
Sontag....
HO, 112
Texcoco..-- 118; 119,120
Mine nomenclature._____
.
..
103
Mine shafts, general discussion........-.-...98
list of and data on...
. 99-100
Mine workings, general discussion..--.------.
98
Mineralization, age and relation to igneous
activity..-.-..-...-.....-..-88
Minerals, gangue___ _.
.
- - 73-74
identified in mineral grain study.-...---.-74
in oxidized zone..............
... 72-73
Minerals, gangue Continued

in sulfldc zone............................
listed in Boleo district....................
Mining, claims._ __._ ._.._. ._. _
history...................................
methods..................................
production...............................
Montado mine, differences in thickness and
grade of ore_................
Montmor jlloiiitc, in Boleo formation.........
main gangue mineral.....................
Page
72
71
94-95
88-91
95-98
91-94
62
29
55, 73
R
Rancherfa mine, section of ore bed no. I......
57
Remingtonite.-.............................. 71,72
Reserves, by area and ore beds.------------ 122-123
in dumps and slag piles-.-.--..-....-----. 123
S
N
Natural resources.--..............--..-......Nickel, distribution and amount----.----.--in blister copper and flue dust.----------Nivel, defined-................................
Q
Page
Quartz..-..---.----..-........-..............
73
Quartz monzonite, age, position, and distribution..........................
16
13
81
125
103
Olivine, in Comondii volcanics.---------..-.20

Ore, comparison of relative amounts of elements with those of igneous
rocks...----.-----------.-.--82
high content of moisture.....---------.--77
high content of sodium chloride___.......
77
metallurgical treatment-....-..-.-....- 102-103
minerals in oxidized-zonc.................
72
minerals in sulfide zone_.. . .
72
pattern of shoots and distribution.------- 67-69
production by beds and mines, 1886-1947-.
94
special stratigraphic occurrences.-.-...--70
spectrographic analysis of composite
sam pie ----------------------76
summary of analyses of all constituents.-81
table of analyses for copper and zinc...... 78-79
tables of chemical analyses__...------.--- 74-77
Ore beds. See under Copper.
Ore deposits, origin, deposition by descending
ground waters.
--.--- 84-85
origin, published statements.------------- 82-84
replacement by ascending hydrothermal solutions.-._----------- 85-88
relation of Boleo to other.---------------88
"Ore Series," or Lower Salada_------------15
Paleogeology.-------------------------------- 51,53
Perlite, deposits,.._.__._...._...
.. ..
127
Phosgenite.---------------_.
71,72
Pigeonite, in Comondu volcanics.-----------20
Physiography, arroyos --------------------- 49, 51
drainage patterns.-----------------------51
general features_...-.......-.---..-..--48
mesas.....-.-.-....--.--......-------.-.- 48-49
terraces ----------------------------- 50-51,52
Plagioclase, in Comondu volcanics.-.-------.19
Population and towns.-- -------. ----13
Pogutteros, as mine operators....---..----.--. 90-91
Posepny, Franz, quoted---------------------83
Providencia group of mines, relation of ore
deposits to "island" of Comondu volcanics------------69
Pscudoboleitc---.._
71,72
Pumice, deposits...-------------------------Purpose of investigation.--..-.....--.-.--!---
127
2-3
Pyrite, in sulflde zone-----------------------Pyrolucite.---------.------------------------Pyromorphite... ..

.
--
72
72
73
"Salada," different uses of term...-----.---..

San Guillermo mine, section of ore bed no. 3..
San Luciano mine, analyses of composite samples. ...----.-..--.-.---..---.
section of ore bed no. !____...............
San Victor mine, section of ore bed no. 3 -...
Santa Rosalia formation, distribution, character, and age..-------------fossils from...............................
Scope of investigation ----___-_--.---_-------Silver, distribution and amount-.---......-..
in blister copper and flue dust..---..----Sin Nombre ore bed, occurrence-.-----.-----Smelter products, table of analyses.. --------Sinithsonite, cobaltiferous.....................
Spherocobaltite.._..___._....___
..
Stocks, in Comondu volcanics---------------Stratigraphic section, in Boleo copper district.
Stratigraphy, synopsis._-------------------Structure, contour map showing faulting, tilting, and initial pattern.......
Structures produced by'deformation^....---..
Submergence and erosion in Pliocene'time....
Sulfur, distribution and production...........
15
57
76
56
57
39-40
40
3-4
81
125
57
80
71,72
71, 72
69-70
14
13-16
pi. 4
45-47
54-55
127
Tamberlick claim. See Mine descriptions,

Humboklt.
Terrace deposits, age, distribution, and character..--..-.-..-----.-------42
Tiro, denned-----.--..---.-...-.-.-......---- 103
Topography. -- -. _.'_
.
8-9,10
Touwaide, M. E., quoted..-.-.-------------- 83,84
Trachyte.---------.---.------..-.,-,-.----------19
Transportation...____..__.____.
- 5-6
Travers-bancs, denned---.
103
Tres Vfrgenes volcanics, age distribution, and
character.-------------------- 41-42
Tridymite, in Comondu volcanics.------.--.20
Veins, in Comondii volcanics.................. 69-70

Vokes, H. E., quoted...-------.----------- 21-22,32
Volcanism, extensive in Miocene time.-.----54
in Pleistocene and Recent times. -----55
AVatanabe, Manjiro, quoted----------------88

Water supply...---...-.--.....-.-..-.-..--.. 12-13
Zeolites, in Boleo formation.....-------.-.---29
in Comondu volcanics...----------------20
Zinc, distribution in Boleo ores.-.---.--------- 77-79
in copper ore and flue dust..------------ 55,125
in sulfide zone-...--....----------.-.--.-.
72
table of analyses in Boleo ores........---. 78-79

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Geology and

Mineral Deposits of the

Prepared in cooperation with the Instituto Nacional

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1955

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office

Copper deposits Continued

Mining of the copper deposits Continued

Hill of Comondu volcanics, once an island, on northwest, side of Canada de la Gloria___________________.____

Analyses of Boleo smelter products.__________________________________________________________________________

GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS OF THE BOLEO COPPER DISTRICT,

The Boleo copper district, second largest producer of copper

The mesas northwest of the Boleo district are covered by the

GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS, BOLEO COPPER DISTRICT, MEXICO

The Boleo copper district is centered near the town

The Boleo copper mines have been operate*! since

The purpose of the study was twofold: first, to

greater part of the underground workings are now

GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS, BOLEO COPPER DISTRICT, MEXICO

and certain preliminary results of the ore-dressing tests

Apparently the first published mention of the Boleo

Servin Lacebron (1898) contains valuable statistical

GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS, BOLEO COPPER DISTRICT, MEXICO

peninsula; Heim (1915, 1916, 1921, 1922), who did

The dominant physiographic features bordering the

The Boleo district is largely isolated from the rest of

GENERAL GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES

Baja California is a long, narrow peninsula extending

ACCESSIBILITY AND TRANSPORTATION

Three methods have been used for transporting ore

GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS, BOLEO COPPER DISTRICT, MEXICO

miners in recent years has been hauled by truck,

The topography of the Boleo copper district is of a

near the Lucifer mine, but they descend gradually

the Santa Rosalia area occupies a major scallop some

The climate of the Santa Rosalia area is hot and

this study are presented in figure 7, which gives the

GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS, BOLEO COPPER DISTRICT, MEXICO

Maximum rainfall in a single day

FiOUKE 7. Erratic character of rainfall at Santa Rosalfa, Baja California, 1927-45.

of the Pacific Coast of California. The Santa Rosalia

Temperatures at Santa Rosalia commonly reach 35 C

GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS, BOLEO COPPER DISTRICT, MEXICO

The humidity is generally very low, but it is often

Although the Boleo region is truly a desert, it is far

Common among the other shrubs are ocotillo, mesquite,

Water is extremely scarce and is one of the major

the William shaft of the San Luciaiio mine, which

The natural resources of the region about Santa

Before the discovery of the copper deposits in 1868,

The stratigraphic section in the Boleo district is

GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS, BOLEO COPPER DISTRICT, MEXICO

Tres Vfrgenes volcanics

Santa Rosalia formation

's^^i2^^^. Unconsolidated gravel, sand, silt, clay

Unconsolidated gravel, cemented conglomerate

O O oooooooo Fossiliferous sandstone and conglomerate; nonmarine

ooooo oa^^/Z/M Fossiliferous sandstone, wedging out into conglomerate

Basal conglomerate, present only locally

Hill of Comondu volcanics, once an island, on northwest, side of Canada de la Gloria_______________.