Copper Creek, Arizona
Encyclopedia
Copper Creek is a ghost town
in Pinal County
, Arizona
, United States
. Copper Creek is located in a canyon in the Galiuro Mountains
.
was established March 6, 1906 and was disestablished August 31, 1942. A short-lived narrow-gauge railway line was built in 1913, with the locomotive and cars carried overland from the railhead at Winkelman
.
Notable remains of the old town include the foundations of the post office and the shell of the Sibley Mansion.
district contains a substantial copper deposit; in recent years, several companies have proposed opening a mine there. The district hosts more than 500 mineralized breccia pipe
s. Buried porphyry-style, stockwork
copper mineralization has attracted exploration interest in recent years.
, via a rough dirt road.
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
in Pinal County
Pinal County, Arizona
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*72.4% White*4.6% Black*5.6% Native American*1.7% Asian*0.4% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*3.8% Two or more races*11.5% Other races*28.5% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Copper Creek is located in a canyon in the Galiuro Mountains
Galiuro Mountains
The Galiuro Mountains are a large sky island mountain range of southeast Arizona, USA. It is a northerly mountain range in the Madrean Sky Islands region of southeast Arizona, northern Sonora, Northern Mexico, and extreme southwest, bootheel New Mexico....
.
History
This town once had around 50 buildings. It had a peak population of approximately 500. Its post officePost office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
was established March 6, 1906 and was disestablished August 31, 1942. A short-lived narrow-gauge railway line was built in 1913, with the locomotive and cars carried overland from the railhead at Winkelman
Winkelman, Arizona
Winkelman is a town in Gila and Pinal counties in the U.S. state of Arizona. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the town was 444, almost all of whom lived in Gila County.-Geography:...
.
Notable remains of the old town include the foundations of the post office and the shell of the Sibley Mansion.
Geology
The Copper Creek miningMining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
district contains a substantial copper deposit; in recent years, several companies have proposed opening a mine there. The district hosts more than 500 mineralized breccia pipe
Breccia pipe
A breccia pipe, also referred to as a chimney, is a mass of breccia, often in an irregular and cylindrical shape. When exposed at the surface, a breccia pipe may appear as an iron-stained knob, from several feet to several hundred feet in diameter. Breccia pipes may or may not be silicified...
s. Buried porphyry-style, stockwork
Stockwork
In geology, a stockwork is a complex system of structurally controlled or randomly oriented veins. Stockworks are common in many ore deposit types and especially notable in greisens. They are also referred to as stringer zones....
copper mineralization has attracted exploration interest in recent years.
Geography
Copper Creek is about ten miles east of the community of MammothMammoth, Arizona
Mammoth is a town in Pinal County, Arizona, United States. The population was 1,762 at the 2000 census; according to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the town is 2,167.Mammoth was founded c. 1872 as Mammoth Camp, serving the nearby Mammoth Mine...
, via a rough dirt road.