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I wanted to report on the wonderful opportunity to collect minerals at the Morenci Copper Mine operated by Phelps-Dodge. It's rare to have the chance to collect some top class minerals in a large active mine like Morenci. To the credit of Phelps-Dodge,
they are winning many converts over to the causes of the mining industry by providing such a wonderful free opportunity to the public! Enough of the commercial. Morenci, Arizona is located about 100 miles north of Mexico and about 20 miles or so west
of the border with New Mexico.
On February 6th I showed up in Morenci after having spent the night camped out in the Apache National Forest. I went to the front office announcing that I was ready to go beat on some rocks and was told to go to a different building in the small town
and talk to the tour coordinator. Well, I drove to the place, walked in and made the same "Here I am and let's go" announcement and was told the tour was filled... "Huh?" (Palpable moment of silence all during which: the world comes crashing in on me, my
heart sinks, my spirits and shoulders collapse, and I immediately put on my poor little puppy dog face.) Slowly, I turned to walk out the door with all the visible anguish I felt of someone who was now looking at a 1200 mile drive back home and the
gnawing feeling of having been so close! And yet so far...Oh the pain of it all... Then from some far off point I hear, "did you mean mine tour or collecting tour ?"... I had the sudden sense of being 9 years old again when it is so easy to be filled
with anticipation and joy... "The collecting tour" I frantically yelped out!. "Oh", she said... "Meet at the Morenci Hotel about 12:30 and look for a fellow by the name of Bob Draper". I suddenly went from being 9 in my mind to being 6 and said my many
thanks and ran for the door. Not quite sure what the rush was as I still had over 2 hours to kill but I just had to move...I was joyous!
I met up with Keith and Julie Hayes, who were also going to go on the collecting tour at about 12 noon - still an hour to go. I had met Keith and Julie earlier in Tucson and together we had canvassed a large portion of the mineral shows taking place
across town and spent, at least in my case, more money than I (we?) should have. Such is the hopeless life of a mineral addict...That is another story however... We talked for a while about our mutual passion for minerals and swapped stories of other
specimens we saw at the shows. The rest of the group started to assemble around 12:30 and before I knew it, Bob Draper had a van load of about 8 people with him as the skipper on their way to liberate specimens of azurite, malachite and whatever else we
could find of interest. Bob is a retired employee of Phelps-Dodge and had some wonderful stories of what collecting was like in the "old days". He has seen the hole get pretty big during his lifetime.
Anyways, stop number one was at a chrysocolla locale. Chrysocolla is ok. It looks kinda neat and all, but both Keith and I were on the hunt for treasures. So I picked up, obligingly, a few pieces of chrysocolla and then started my normal sweeping hunt
pattern. I chanced upon a stockwork of veinlets comprised of pure dioptase. The first report of dioptase at the Morenci Mine was only a couple years ago and here I was standing in front of a mess of it! "Keith!" I yelled out, "Get over here!". We
immediately launched into our rendition of human jack hammers and the rocks went flying! The rest of the group, during this time, was tiring of chrysocolla and were ready to move on to a new locale. Keith and I were just reeling with excitement at "our
find" and were incurring the "evil eye" looks of our van mates as they were certain we were a couple of hayseeds who thought we had dioptase but really only had chrysocolla. After 5-10 minutes of coaxing from Bob and two flats filled with specimens, we
agreed to pack up and move on with the rest of group, however, after seeing us, most of the group dropped in for a quick specimen or two of the "chrysocolla" much to amusement of both Keith and I. Being right is a lot of fun for me because it happens,
unfortunately, so infrequently.
Finally, we were on the move and headed to a new spot where Bob said some commercial collector had been finding some "killer" azurite. He stopped the van and the first boulder he picked up had a deep vug filled with bright fresh deep blue azurite. It was
a mad dash to the rock pile with hammers and chisels in hand in pursuit of that rock's brothers and sisters. We spent an hour or so there finding, trimming, sorting and packing up specimens of azurite and malachite. Keith found a nice solid mass of
interbanded azurite and malachite ala Bisbee. That was a score for sure!
Next we headed to the south wall of the mine and were directed to a location where azurite occurs as crystal aggregates in the form of "balls" situated on a matrix of vuggy limonite. We spent the rest of our time here working various locations on the
face collecting azurite. Or guide, Bob, was kind of nervous as the wind was blowing pretty hard and dislodging rocks from the previously blast shattered mine wall above. We were frequently subjected to brief rock/dust rain storms. Oblivious to the
threat, I filled two flats with TN specimens and several minatures - a couple of which you see here.
In all, we spent close to five hours in the pit and I, for one, had a blast! Keith and I bid our farewells and intentions to reconnect next year or maybe even in Denver at that show and departed. The exhaustion I felt was countered by the charge of the
day's adventure. I had 1200 miles of driving ahead of me over the next two days but was ready. If you ever find yourself in SE Arizona with an afternoon to do something with, I encourage you to drive to Morenci and be prepared to have fun!
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Copyright, 1997 by John Veevaert
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Trinity Mineral Co. sells quality mineral specimens including benitoite,
neptunite, fluorite, tourmaline and many others at very affordable prices
over the internet. There are many "Rooms" to visit at Trinity Mineral Co.
including a Micromount Room, local Fossil Room and the first mineral
specimen auction on the internet known as the Auction Room.
Drop in for a
visit and have some fun, or join the Online Mineral Auction!
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