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United States

Mission Mine

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Overview

Mine TypeOpen Pit
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Copper
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
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Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotThe Mission Complex, an open-pit mine composed of the Mission, Eisenhower, Pima, Mineral Hill and South San Xavier properties and the nearby North San Xavier mine. Additionally, there are two concentrators: Mission Molienda Norte and Molienda Sur.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Grupo Mexico, S.A.B. de C.V. 100 % Indirect
The Mining Division of Grupo Mexico, S.A. de C.V. (GMéxico) is controlled by Americas Mining Corporation (AMC) which operates the United States subsidiary - Asarco LLC (Asarco).

Asarco LLC includes the Mission, Ray and Silver Bell Arizona mines.

Deposit type

  • Porphyry
  • Skarn

Summary:

The Mission deposit is a porphyry copper skarn deposit located southwest of the city of Tucson in Pima County, Arizona. A series of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks.

Mineralization is a skarn-related copper porphyry deposit with seams and disseminations of copper carbonates and sulfides with minor zinc, lead and molybdenum minerals in a pyrometasomatic deposit in altered, complexly folded, and faulted Paleozoic limestone and Triassic sedimentary and volcanic formations intruded by Laramide and Tertiary intrusives. There is a thin secondary enrichment zone. The host rock unit is the Scherrer Formation.

A series of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, dominated by carbonate, are folded, faulted, and fully inverted. These rocks have an overlying unconformable thick section of fine-grained Mesozoic clastic rock. A tabular body of laramide quartz monzonite porphyry invades the sedimentary sequence. Intrusion-related hydrothermal fluids alter and mineralize the host rock as well as the quartz monzonite porphyry. The result is a series of interbedded skarns and altered siliceous rocks with variable alteration and sulfide mineralogy, which are controlled by the original rock lithology.

About 26 million years ago, the deposit moved laterally about 10.5 kilometers from the Twin Buttes area to its present location on a larger low-angle structure. As a consequence, the deposit partially eroded, failed, and was covered with 61 meters of alluvial soil.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Production

CommodityProductUnits202320222021202020192018201720162015
Copper Metal in concentrate kt  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe5544626868
Copper Concentrate kt  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe220179204271283

Operational metrics

Metrics202320222021202020192018201720162015
Daily milling capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe46.3 kt46.3 kt53.3 kt54.4 kt52.6 kt
Stripping / waste ratio  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe1.83 2.22 2.01 1.65
Ore tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe15,099 kt16,902 kt17,385 kt18,003 kt17,742 kt
Total tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe42,736 kt54,445 kt52,292 kt47,640 kt48,194 kt
Tonnes milled  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe15,099 kt16,902 kt17,385 kt18,003 kt17,742 kt
Daily mining rate  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe144,000 t144,000 t144,000 t144,000 t144,000 t

Production Costs

Commodity production costs have not been reported.

Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required May 29, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required May 29, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required May 29, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required May 29, 2024

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Aerial view:

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