Access to FMF Forum

A general guide for using the FMF Gallery

FMF Minerals Gallery

To access to this FMF post with the image

ON THE ROAD TO THE MILPILLAS MINE

LOCATION 

The Milpillas Copper Mine, also known as La Parreña Mine, is located in the Santa Cruz Municipality of Sonora. Sonora is a large state located in northwestern Mexico. It borders the U.S. states of Arizona and New Mexico to the north, the Mexican states of Baja California to the west, Chihuahua to the east, and Sinaloa to the south. Its western edge lies along the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez). Much of the state is covered by the Sonoran Desert.

The Milpillas Copper Mine is located approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of the US-Mexico border, positioning it as an integral part of a larger, cross-border mining region deeply connected to Arizona’s long-standing mining industry. Specifically, it lies about 60 kilometers (37 miles) southwest of Bisbee, Arizona, a town renowned for its Copper mining history. Tucson, a significant city in Southern Arizona, is roughly 188 kilometers (117 miles) to the north-northwest.

Closer to home, the Milpillas mine is situated about 20 kilometers northwest of Cananea, a significant Mexican mining center with a population of 30,000. Cananea’s economy heavily relies on the large Buena Vista del Cobre mine. The closest settlement to the Milpillas Mine (La Parreña) is the small village of Milpillas, with just over 170 residents. Other nearby communities, such as Cuitaca and Vicente Guerrero, underscore the area’s rural and mining-focused character. Access to the Milpillas site from Cananea involves navigating a mix of paved, secondary, and unpaved mining roads.

BRIEF HISTORY

The Milpillas Mine in Sonora, Mexico, discovered in 1978, faced an uphill battle for development. For decades, it lay dormant, hampered by low Copper prices and significant geological hurdles, most notably being buried beneath 250 meters of water-saturated alluvium. However, extensive exploration efforts by Minera Cuicuilco and Industrias Peñoles between the 1980s and 2001 ultimately confirmed substantial high-grade Copper reserves.

Underground mining operations for Copper finally began in 2006. Milpillas quickly gained fame not just for its Copper, but also for its world-class mineral specimens, particularly the striking "electric blue" Azurite crystals, Malachite, and Cuprite found in its supergene enrichment zones. Despite its geological riches, operations were indefinitely suspended in 2020 due to high costs and falling Copper prices. Fortunately, mining activities resumed in June 2022 and are ongoing.

Geological Setting and Mineralization

The Milpillas mine is discreetly situated within the Cuitaca Graben, a prominent north-south trending extensional basin within Sonora’s Basin and Range province. The valuable Copper deposit was initially concealed beneath younger layers of Tertiary gravels and Quaternary alluvium. The underlying geology primarily consists of volcaniclastic rocks from the Laramide Mesa Formation and older Jurassic Henrietta Formation, which have been intruded by monzonitic to quartz monzonitic porphyry stocks. High-grade supergene enrichment, a process that generated the mine’s renowned Azurite, Malachite, and other secondary Copper minerals, occurred within these host rocks at depths ranging from 150 to 750 meters below the surface.

Climate, Flora, and Fauna

Milpillas experiences Sonora’s characteristic arid to semi-arid climate, set within a Basin and Range topography of alternating mountain ranges and expansive valleys. While higher elevations near Cananea support scattered pine-oak forests, Milpillas’ immediate vicinity is a typical desert environment at lower elevations. The flora is well-adapted to drought, including various cacti (such as nopal and barrel cactus), mesquite trees, creosote bush, and resilient desert grasses and shrubs. The fauna, equally suited to these conditions, includes coyotes, diverse rodents, and numerous reptile species, such as snakes and lizards. (Author: silvia)

ON THE ROAD TO THE MILPILLAS MINE

LOCATION

The Milpillas Copper Mine, also known as La Parreña Mine, is located in the Santa Cruz Municipality of Sonora. Sonora is a large state located in northwestern Mexico. It borders the U.S. states of Arizona and New Mexico to the north, the Mexican states of Baja California to the west, Chihuahua to the east, and Sinaloa to the south. Its western edge lies along the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez). Much of the state is covered by the Sonoran Desert.

The Milpillas Copper Mine is located approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of the US-Mexico border, positioning it as an integral part of a larger, cross-border mining region deeply connected to Arizona’s long-standing mining industry. Specifically, it lies about 60 kilometers (37 miles) southwest of Bisbee, Arizona, a town renowned for its Copper mining history. Tucson, a significant city in Southern Arizona, is roughly 188 kilometers (117 miles) to the north-northwest.

Closer to home, the Milpillas mine is situated about 20 kilometers northwest of Cananea, a significant Mexican mining center with a population of 30,000. Cananea’s economy heavily relies on the large Buena Vista del Cobre mine. The closest settlement to the Milpillas Mine (La Parreña) is the small village of Milpillas, with just over 170 residents. Other nearby communities, such as Cuitaca and Vicente Guerrero, underscore the area’s rural and mining-focused character. Access to the Milpillas site from Cananea involves navigating a mix of paved, secondary, and unpaved mining roads.

BRIEF HISTORY

The Milpillas Mine in Sonora, Mexico, discovered in 1978, faced an uphill battle for development. For decades, it lay dormant, hampered by low Copper prices and significant geological hurdles, most notably being buried beneath 250 meters of water-saturated alluvium. However, extensive exploration efforts by Minera Cuicuilco and Industrias Peñoles between the 1980s and 2001 ultimately confirmed substantial high-grade Copper reserves.

Underground mining operations for Copper finally began in 2006. Milpillas quickly gained fame not just for its Copper, but also for its world-class mineral specimens, particularly the striking "electric blue" Azurite crystals, Malachite, and Cuprite found in its supergene enrichment zones. Despite its geological riches, operations were indefinitely suspended in 2020 due to high costs and falling Copper prices. Fortunately, mining activities resumed in June 2022 and are ongoing.

Geological Setting and Mineralization

The Milpillas mine is discreetly situated within the Cuitaca Graben, a prominent north-south trending extensional basin within Sonora’s Basin and Range province. The valuable Copper deposit was initially concealed beneath younger layers of Tertiary gravels and Quaternary alluvium. The underlying geology primarily consists of volcaniclastic rocks from the Laramide Mesa Formation and older Jurassic Henrietta Formation, which have been intruded by monzonitic to quartz monzonitic porphyry stocks. High-grade supergene enrichment, a process that generated the mine’s renowned Azurite, Malachite, and other secondary Copper minerals, occurred within these host rocks at depths ranging from 150 to 750 meters below the surface.

Climate, Flora, and Fauna

Milpillas experiences Sonora’s characteristic arid to semi-arid climate, set within a Basin and Range topography of alternating mountain ranges and expansive valleys. While higher elevations near Cananea support scattered pine-oak forests, Milpillas’ immediate vicinity is a typical desert environment at lower elevations. The flora is well-adapted to drought, including various cacti (such as nopal and barrel cactus), mesquite trees, creosote bush, and resilient desert grasses and shrubs. The fauna, equally suited to these conditions, includes coyotes, diverse rodents, and numerous reptile species, such as snakes and lizards. (Author: silvia)

Dimensions: 1600 x 1048
File size: 345.09 kbytes
Taken on:  
Camera model:  
Shutter speed:  
Focal length:  
Aperture:  
Flash:  
ISO: