Mineral Evolution Database
Created and maintained by the Mineral Evolution Project in partnership with RRUFF and mindat.
Mineral locality data provided by mindat.org



The Mineral Evolution database is currently under development.

The goal of this page is to present localities at which the mineral is found, and estimates of the oldest possible geologic age of the minerals at these localities.


Locality Name:
Esperanza Mine [new] (Esperanza Pit; Esperanza Open Pit Mines; West Esperanza Mine), Pima District (Olive District; Mineral Hill District; Twin Buttes District), Sierrita Mts, Pima Co., Arizona, USA

Oldest recorded age at locality: 67
Youngest recorded age at locality: 53

mindat Locality ID: 11013
mindat URL: http://www.mindat.org/loc-11013.html

Tectonic Settings:

Total number of sublocalities beneath "Esperanza Mine [new] (Esperanza Pit; Esperanza Open Pit Mines; West Esperanza Mine), Pima District (Olive District; Mineral Hill District; Twin Buttes District), Sierrita Mts, Pima Co., Arizona, USA": 0
Total number of bottom-level sublocalities: 0

Latitude: 31°52'4"N
Longitude: 111°7'44"W
Decimal Degree (lat, lon): 31.867777777778,-111.12888888889
AThis mineral is Anthropogenic.
GThis mineral is directly dated.
BThis mineral is reported as having this age.
YThis mineral is using an age reported as an element mineralization period.
OThis mineral is using an age calculated from all data at the locality.
RThe age displayed for this mineral originates from a different, non-child locality.
PThe age displayed for this mineral is the range of ages for this mineral at all of this locality's children.
This mineral's age has not yet been recorded.

This Mineral list contains entries from this locality, including sub-localities. Minerals in bold are reported by mindat.org as occurring directly at this locality, and do not occur at any children (sublocalities) of this locality.

Elements at this locality, including sub-localities: Al As C Ca Cu F Fe H K Mg Mo Na O P Pb S Sb Si Ti U Zn 

Elements from minerals reported directly at this locality: Al As C Ca Cu F Fe H K Mg Mo Na O P Pb S Sb Si Ti U Zn 

Structural Groups for minerals in this locality: 
AllophaneAluniteBrochantiteChalcopyriteClayClinozoisiteCopperCorundumCovelliteDiaspore
EnargiteEpidoteFeldsparFluoriteGypsumKaoliniteMalachiteMarcasiteMicaMolybdenite
NickelineNoneNot in a structural groupPyriteQuartzRocksaltRutileSmectite-vermiculiteSphaleriteSpinel
TetrahedriteTridymiteTurquoiseWurtzite

40 IMA Minerals at location:
Alunite  (*)Anhydrite  (*)Ankerite  (*)Azurite  (*)Bornite  (*)
Brochantite  (*)Chalcocite  (*)Chalcopyrite  (*)Chrysocolla  (*)Copper  (*)
Covellite  (*)Cuprite  (*)Enargite  (*)Epidote  (*)Ferrimolybdite  (*)
Fluorite  (*)Galena  (*)Goethite  (*)Gypsum  (*)Hematite  (*)
Jarosite  (*)Kaolinite  (*)Lindgrenite  (*)Magnetite  (*)Malachite  (*)
Marcasite  (*)Molybdenite  (*)Montmorillonite  (*)Muscovite  (*)Nepheline  (*)
Orthoclase  (*)Pyrite  (*)Pyrrhotite  (*)Quartz  (*)Rutile  (*)
Sphalerite  (*)Tenorite  (*)Tetrahedrite-(Zn)  (*)Torbernite  (*)Turquoise  (*)
Mineral nameStructural GroupsIMA FormulaMax Age (Ma)Min Age (Ma)# of Sublocalities containing mineralLOCALITY IDs, not mindat ids# of localities containing mineral
Alunite  (*)NoneKAl3(SO4)2(OH)663.1530966
Anhydrite  (*)Not in a structural groupCa(SO4)63.15301588
Ankerite  (*)NoneCa(Fe2+,Mg)(CO3)263.15303092
Azurite  (*)Not in a structural groupCu3(CO3)2(OH)2575305509
Bornite  (*)NoneCu5FeS4575305516
Brochantite  (*)BrochantiteCu4(SO4)(OH)6575301633
Chalcocite  (*)NoneCu2S575305707
Chalcopyrite  (*)ChalcopyriteCuFeS25753027198
Chrysocolla  (*)Allophane(Cu2-xAlx)H2-xSi2O5(OH)4·nH2O575303531
Copper  (*)CopperCu575303846
Covellite  (*)CovelliteCuS575304165
Cuprite  (*)Not in a structural groupCu2O575302970
Enargite  (*)Enargite WurtziteCu3AsS457530910
Epidote  (*)Epidote ClinozoisiteCa2(Al2Fe3+)[Si2O7][SiO4]O(OH)575308173
Ferrimolybdite  (*)NoneFe3+2(Mo6+O4)3·7H2O63.1530345
Fluorite  (*)FluoriteCaF2575309617
Galena  (*)RocksaltPbS5753024243
Goethite  (*)DiasporeFeO(OH)63.15307437
Gypsum  (*)GypsumCa(SO4)·2H2O63.15306890
Hematite  (*)CorundumFe2O363.153014640
Jarosite  (*)AluniteKFe3+3(SO4)2(OH)6575302228
Kaolinite  (*)Clay KaoliniteAl2Si2O5(OH)4575305591
Lindgrenite  (*)NoneCu3(Mo6+O4)2(OH)263.156.9021
Magnetite  (*)SpinelFe2+Fe3+2O45753014899
Malachite  (*)MalachiteCu2(CO3)(OH)25753012537
Marcasite  (*)MarcasiteFeS2575305674
Molybdenite  (*)MolybdeniteMoS263.15305800
Montmorillonite  (*)Clay Smectite-vermiculite(Na,Ca)0.3(Al,Mg)2Si4O10(OH)2·nH2O575301508
Muscovite  (*)Mica ClayKAl2(Si3Al)O10(OH)263.153017380
Nepheline  (*)TridymiteNa3K(Al4Si4O16)63.1530884
Orthoclase  (*)FeldsparK(AlSi3O8)63.15302349
Pyrite  (*)PyriteFeS25753039462
Pyrrhotite  (*)NickelineFe7S8575309056
Quartz  (*)QuartzSiO263.153061156
Rutile  (*)RutileTiO2575305614
Sphalerite  (*)SphaleriteZnS5753021482
Tenorite  (*)NoneCuO575301101
Tetrahedrite-(Zn)  (*)TetrahedriteCu6(Cu4Zn2)Sb4S13575305317
Torbernite  (*)NoneCu(UO2)2(PO4)2·12H2O575301059
Turquoise  (*)TurquoiseCuAl6(PO4)4(OH)8·4H2O57530484


7 Ages assigned to this locality:

Excel IDMax Age (Ma)Min Age (Ma)Age as listed in referenceDating MethodAge InterpretPrioritized?Sample SourceSample NumRun NumAge from other LocalityDated MineralMinerals explicitely stated as having this ageAge applies to these ElementsMinDat Locality IDDated Locality (Max Age)Location as listed in referenceReferenceReference DOIReference IDAge Notes
EG94_211-00050676767Pb-Pb whole rock?KD-GR2-1 Yes  22945Sierrita Mine (Duval-Sierrita Mine; Duval Esperanza Mine; Sierrita Open Pit Mine), Batamote Hills, Pima District (Olive District; Mineral Hill District; Twin Buttes District), Sierrita Mts, Pima Co., Arizona, USASierritaBouse et al. (1999)10.2113/gsecongeo.94.2.211EG94_211 
EG94_211-00051676767Pb-Pb whole rock?D-MR2-2 Yes  22945Sierrita Mine (Duval-Sierrita Mine; Duval Esperanza Mine; Sierrita Open Pit Mine), Batamote Hills, Pima District (Olive District; Mineral Hill District; Twin Buttes District), Sierrita Mts, Pima Co., Arizona, USASierritaBouse et al. (1999)10.2113/gsecongeo.94.2.211EG94_211 
EG94_211-00052636363Pb-Pb whole rock?RS-MR-5 Yes  22945Sierrita Mine (Duval-Sierrita Mine; Duval Esperanza Mine; Sierrita Open Pit Mine), Batamote Hills, Pima District (Olive District; Mineral Hill District; Twin Buttes District), Sierrita Mts, Pima Co., Arizona, USASierritaBouse et al. (1999)10.2113/gsecongeo.94.2.211EG94_211 
EG94_211-00053585858Pb-Pb whole rock?TWB-Pa Yes  22945Sierrita Mine (Duval-Sierrita Mine; Duval Esperanza Mine; Sierrita Open Pit Mine), Batamote Hills, Pima District (Olive District; Mineral Hill District; Twin Buttes District), Sierrita Mts, Pima Co., Arizona, USASierritaBouse et al. (1999)10.2113/gsecongeo.94.2.211EG94_211 
EG94_211-00054585858Pb-Pb whole rock?QL-85-1 Yes  22945Sierrita Mine (Duval-Sierrita Mine; Duval Esperanza Mine; Sierrita Open Pit Mine), Batamote Hills, Pima District (Olive District; Mineral Hill District; Twin Buttes District), Sierrita Mts, Pima Co., Arizona, USASierritaBouse et al. (1999)10.2113/gsecongeo.94.2.211EG94_211 
Mo-0012263.156.9 K-Ar, Unknown radiometric     Ferrimolybdite, Lindgrenite, MolybdeniteMo11013Esperanza Mine [new] (Esperanza Pit; Esperanza Open Pit Mines; West Esperanza Mine), Pima District (Olive District; Mineral Hill District; Twin Buttes District), Sierrita Mts, Pima Co., Arizona, USA Titley et al. (1986); Livingston et al. (1968); Barra et al. (2005)   
PorphCu-00037575357–53      Bornite, Brochantite, Chalcocite, Chalcopyrite, Chrysocolla, Copper, Covellite, Enargite, Epidote, Ferrimolybdite, Fluorite, Galena, Jarosite, Kaolinite, Magnetite, Marcasite, Molybdenite, Montmorillonite, Pyrite, Pyrrhotite, Rutile, SphaleriteCu11013Esperanza Mine [new] (Esperanza Pit; Esperanza Open Pit Mines; West Esperanza Mine), Pima District (Olive District; Mineral Hill District; Twin Buttes District), Sierrita Mts, Pima Co., Arizona, USAEsperanza-SierritaSinger et al. (2008) USGSOFR2008_1155 

SampleSource LocalityReference URL

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