Mineral Resources of Cochise County, Arizona

Carey, Zoey C.; Carey, Nathan J.

dc.contributor.author	Carey, Zoey C.
dc.contributor.author	Carey, Nathan J.
dc.date.accessioned	2026-03-02T23:40:10Z
dc.date.available	2026-03-02T23:40:10Z
dc.date.issued	2026
dc.identifier.citation	Carey, Z.C., and Carey, N.J., 2026, Mineral Resources of Cochise County, Arizona: Arizona Geological Survey Open-File Report OFR-26-3, 53 p. text, 1 plate.	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10150/679729
dc.description	Cochise County is situated in southeasternmost Arizona, sharing a border with New Mexico to the east and Mexico to the south (Plate 1). The county contains a rich history of metallic mining (e.g., the historic mines of Bisbee and Tombstone) but currently has only one active mining operation (i.e., the Johnson Camp mine operated by Gunnison Copper) (Gunnison Copper, 2026; Plonka and Richardson, 2025). Situated in the metal-rich Basin and Range Physiographic Province, Cochise County is host to numerous ore deposit types (e.g., porphyry, skarn, carbonate replacement, lode, epithermal, and more) and diverse associated commodities. Given the significant mineralization and potential for undiscovered critical and noncritical mineral resources in Cochise County, this region has a clear need for compilation and synthesis of geologic and mineral data into a single report to provide land users and policymakers with the requisite details to make informed decisions. The purpose of this report is to provide a single review publication on the mineral resources of Cochise County to interested members of the general public and the geologic community. The sharing of past mining and exploration data, even in summarized form, is a significant factor in encouraging near-term exploration and bringing resource assessment forward in time to allow for careful consideration of all factors involving mining and resource extraction. This review publication contains brief summaries of each of the important mining districts of Cochise County and an associated map plate (Plate 1) with key mine/prospect locations that are addressed in the text and/or were important historic metal producers. Mining district summaries are generally organized into the following subsections: Location and History, Geologic Setting, Mineral Deposits, and Exploration Overview. Some of the less explored districts are summarized in a single District Overview section. The reader should be aware of a few complementary resources that may aid in further understanding of the geology of Cochise County and its mineral resources. First, the U.S. Geological Survey recently published a new high resolution airborne magnetic and radiometric geophysical survey of the Arizona Porphyry Copper Belt, covering all of Cochise County (Scheirer et al., 2025). As many of the known resources in the county are exposed in uplifted mountain ranges, geophysical data will be important for moving exploration forward, especially in adjacent basins with sedimentary cover. Additionally, the Arizona Geological Survey Mining Info website hosts numerous historical mining reports, maps, drill logs, assays and more from donated mining collections that are not elsewhere available (AZGS Mining Files, 2026). The reader is encouraged to peruse this resource for additional information on each of the mining districts discussed.	en_US
dc.language.iso	en	en_US
dc.publisher	Arizona Geological Survey (Tucson, AZ)	en_US
dc.relation.ispartofseries	Arizona Geological Survey Open File Report	en_US
dc.relation.url	https://library.azgs.arizona.edu/	en_US
dc.rights	Arizona Geological Survey. All rights reserved.	en_US
dc.rights.uri	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/	en_US
dc.title	Mineral Resources of Cochise County, Arizona	en_US
dc.contributor.department	Arizona Geological Survey	en_US
csdgm.bounding.west	-110.28	en_US
csdgm.bounding.east	-109.0	en_US
csdgm.bounding.north	32.26	en_US
csdgm.bounding.south	31.2	en_US
dc.description.collectioninformation	Documents in the AZGS Documents Repository collection are made available by the Arizona Geological Survey (AZGS) and the University Libraries at the University of Arizona. For more information about items in this collection, please contact azgs-info@email.arizona.edu.	en_US
refterms.dateFOA	2026-03-02T23:40:12Z