Bisbee daily review., 1909-02-12
NEW CAMP OF SOUTHLAND |S
 PRE-CAMbR|AN
Rock Series Rich in Ore Found in Zones of Limestone Frac- -tures-Mining Journals Ex- pert Gives History

(From the Engineering and Mining
 Journal. New york City. Feb C,
 l909.)
 The new copper camp of Courtland. which is now attracting much atten- tion in the southwest. Is situated In the central part of Cochise county, & miles north of Bisbee and miles south of Pearce, silver camp on a branch of the Southern Pacific rail road. For several ye4ss q little pros Decting work was done near tn eser- face. and q little ore WIS shipped by wagons to Pearce from this district. formrely called the Turquoise district. But only with the recent advent of the Calumet and Arizona and Copper Queen companies into the camp, and the development Of large ore bodies on the property of the Great Western Copper company has the district as sumed any considerable importance.
 The rock series at Courtland consist of quartzite. probably Cambrian in age. oyerlaid by limestone that prob ably includes ages from the Cambrian to the upper carboniferous. The to- tai thickness of the limestone does not appear to be more than 200O feet. The whole series has been tilted to a fairly uniform. steep northeast dip. and many large faults have broken the formation into rather small fault blocks. duplicating the sedimentary sc ries and greatly increasing its ap- parent thickness
 Into these se1imentary rocks have been intruded porphyry that varies in texture from very fine 10 very coarse grain The diorite porphyry varies greatly. in places being entirely free from quartz, and in many others con taining many large quartz crystals. There have probably been several dis tinct intrusions of diorite porphyry The age relation between the two igne- ous rocks has not yet been definitely determined, since the two come in contact in very few places and the two contacts are for the most part covered with talus.
 The ore in the district occurs along zones of fracture in the limestone
 and quartzite. replacing the rock be-
 tween the fractures In all places so | far discovered the ore has been close
 ly associated with one or both DOT phyries and probably both have been
 instrumental in the formation of the
 ore
 l The primary ores as shown in deep er workings in the western part oi | tue camp. is a mixture of iron and copper sulphides in a silicious gangue usually resulting from the alteration of limestone Except for small rich tstreaks, the primary ore has been oi
 very low grade. Secondary alteration however, has resulted in great enrich ment and in the eastern part of the camp the bottom of the enriched ore has not yet been reached. The sec ondary ore consists of maIachite lazuIite, euprite and other oxidized cop per minerals, in q gangue of iron manganese, and aluminium oxides
 often very sillcious. The oxidized ore
 is often of 8 very high grade. Beauti-
 ful specimens of erystallized mala.
 chite, azurite and cuprite are fairly | abundant. Surrounding the ore are large masses of nearly barren silicious
 iron and aluminium oxides. passing iI-
 to the unaltered country rock
 The ore bodies are usually marked
 on the surface by large outcrops of gossan, often copper stained.
 The Copper Queen, Calumet and l Arizona and Great Western companies are each operating two shafts, and a few smaller prospecting shafts are al so in operation. The Copper Queen has considerable ore developed about
 the Casey shaft, and is sinking the l Silverton shaft to open up the east ern part of the camp. The Calumet | and Arizona has large ore bodies blocked out at the Germania shaft. and is sinking the April Fool shaft
 to develop the northern part of the camp. This company is also explor- ing it's territory with a diamond drill. The Great Western company has fine ore bodies well opened up at the Mary shaft. and also has much ore near the surface at the Humboldt shaft ! At the LeadviIle shaft. belonging 70
 an independent operator. some suE phide ere of good grade has been en- eountered.
 ! A company has been Incorporated uBder the laws of Arizona to build a railway connecting Courtland with Douglas. where the Copper Queen and
 Calumet and Arizona smelters are sit
 aated. This road. which is to be called
 the Colorado and Mexico railroad. will
 be controlled by the Phelps-DOdge in
 terests. and operated in connection
 with the Fl Paso and Southwestern. The length of the line with its spurs
 win be about forty-five miles. Surveys
 for this road are well under way. and | the construction will probably be started very soon. Ore can be ship
 ped from several of the shafts as soon
 as the railroad is finished.