The writer has attempted to show the development of Morenci, Arizona, from the time it was first visited by scouts in search of marauding Indians to the present time. Emphasis has been placed on the earlier history of the area. The first part of the work discusses the earlier explorers and prospectors who have left little but their names and some locations they founded. William Church, the founder of the town, is discussed, and after his departure the Phelps Dodge Corporation became an important factor in the town. The mines and the railroads each tell a story, as do the lives of the people. Morenci is a town of 6541 population located in the Peloncillo Mountains between Eagle Creek and the San Francisco River in eastern Arizona. The town is not directly connected to any main transportation system; the road from Morenci connects in Chase Creek to state highway 666 and the company-owned railroad connects with a branch line of the Southern Pacific Railroad in Clifton, Arizona. The outstanding feature in Morenci is the great open pit mine. Mining has always been the most important single factor in Morenci, but the development of this new pit revitalized Morenci and saved it from the status of a ghost town. This work has been compiled through the use of various sources: books, bulletins, mining journals, magazines, newspapers, and personal interviews. The source that has proved of greatest value is the newspaper. Accounts in the newspapers are not always complete and some papers were published for only a few years and then ceased to exist, but by reading many newspapers a history of the town was available. Many people have been of great help in this work. Ryder Ridgway of Safford, an authority on Graham and Greenlee counties, contributed much material as well as inspiration. Miss Sarah Sloan, of the Historical and Pioneers Library, and Mrs. Good, of the Archives in Phoenix, opened many new avenues of research. The Copper Era staff in Clifton was most helpful and provided many contacts which aided in this work.

Porphyry copper deposits represent one of the largest copper reserves on Earth. They typically contain large, low-grade reserves of primary ore and higher-grade, supergene enrichment blankets of sulfide and oxide ores. Understanding the mineralogy of porphyry copper ores and ores related to porphyry copper systems is exceedingly important for several reasons, foremost of which are the information provided by ore mineral parageneses, assemblages, and mineral chemistry on evolution of these magmatic-hydrothermal systems, and information on mineral processing characteristics of the ores. The focus of this work is to better understand the mineralogy of supergene copper sulfides in porphyry copper systems and hypogene base metal lodes related to porphyry copper systems, and use this mineralogical knowledge to improve our understanding of the processes responsible for ore formation. The objectives of this study are accomplished by two means: focusing on the crystallography and crystal chemistry of minerals, and then applying this mineralogical knowledge to a supergene sulfide enrichment blanket and hypogene massive sulfides from base metal lodes in southeastern Arizona. The discovery of a new mineral, natropalermoite, NaSr2Al4(PO4)4(OH)4, provided the opportunity to use single-crystal X-ray diffraction to solve a crystal structure, and electron-probe microanalysis (EPMA) to study the crystal chemistry of natropalermoite and how the accommodation of Na in the structure changes lengthens the unit cell along [010] and shortens it along [100] and [001] compared to its lithium analogue, palermoite. Solution of the crystal structure of the mineral nickelskutterudite, (Ni,Co,Fe)As3, allowed for the investigation of anion deficiency in minerals of the skutterudite group, a problem whose solution has eluded researchers for nearly 100 years. Two skutterudite (CoAs3) and two nickelskutterudite samples were analyzed using single-crystal X-ray diffraction, EPMA, and procrystal electron density. The results showed fully-occupied anion sites and a cation surplus, which was accommodated in the icosahedral site, proving that minerals of the skutterudite group are not anion deficient. This mineralogical knowledge was applied to the supergene enrichment blanket in the Western Copper section of the Morenci mine, Greenlee County, and hypogene massive sulfide deposits associated with a porphyry copper deposit at Bisbee, Cochise County, Arizona. This is one of very few studies of supergene sulfide blankets ever completed. One drill hole through the supergene blanket at Western Copper was examined using ore microscopy and EPMA. Results showed dominant (Cu+Fe):S ratios of 1.80 ± 0.05, 1.92 ± 0.03, and 1.10 ± 0.10, with higher (Cu+Fe):S dominant high in the blanket and low ratios dominant near the base of the blanket. These values were interpreted to be controlled by activity of Cu2+, Fe2+, and Fe3+ in solution. Massive sulfide deposits at Bisbee were investigated using ore microscopy and EPMA in order to correct the previous conflicting reports of the mineralogy and paragenesis of this famous district and interpret constraints on conditions of ore-forming fluids. Results show four types of ore: chalcopyrite-rich with hematite and/or pyrite, bornite-rich, chalcocite-rich, and a Zn-Pb association. Chalcopyrite-rich ores formed first, followed by bornite-rich and chalcocite-rich ores. All ores were formed at relatively shallow depths from oxidized, moderately sulfur-rich fluids; early fluids were higher temperature and later fluids were lower temperature and considerably more sulfidized. Zinc-lead ores formed early and were continuously dissolved and reprecipitated distal to Cu-mineralization. These patterns are similar to many other base-metal lode districts worldwide, however Bisbee contains more Zn-Pb ore than other districts with hematite-containing ores and less than those without hematite.

Rocks of the Morenci-Metcalf district consist of Precambrian metaquartzite-schist, granodiorite, and granite overlain by Paleozoic and Mesozoic sediments. Intrusion of igneous rocks, emplacement of breccia masses, and associated hydrothermal activity occurred in Laramide time. Breccias of the district are associated with the youngest sialic intrusive complex. This sequence includes intrusion of the Older Granite Porphyry stock, main stage district hydrothermal alteration, quartz veining, breccia formation, main stage district hydrothermal mineralization, and intrusion of the Younger Granite Porphyry plug. Breccia formation in the Morenci-Metcalf district is similar to breccia descriptions reported in the literature for other porphyry copper deposits. Three breccia types, of separate and distinct origins, are herein described as the Morenci, Metcalf and King, and Candelaria Breccias. The Morenci Breccia is an intrusion breccia that has formed along a pre-existing structural feature during the ascent and emplacement of the Older Granite Porphyry stock. It exhibits an oblate lenticular shape with angular to subrounded fragments in a matrix of quartz, K-feldspar, biotite, and minor rock flour. The Metcalf-King Breccias and numerous smaller breccia masses are the remnants of an original Older Granite Porphyry mantle above the ascending Younger Granite Porphyry complex. The breccia masses occur as large 'xenoliths' floating within the Younger Granite Porphyry plug and were formed by surging and collapse during emplacement of this intrusive. Fragments in the Metcalf and King Breccias grade from angular in the central core to rounded at the contacts and occur in a matrix of sericite, K- feldspar, quartz, and rock flour. The Candelaria Breccia is an explosion pipe and is the largest continuous breccia mass in the district. It is oval with an inverted cone appearance consisting of angular to subangular equidimensional fragments in a matrix of sericite, quartz, specularite, and rock flour. All the breccia masses occur within and subsequent to the district phyllic (quartz-sericite-pyrite) alteration zone. Main stage district copper mineralization postdates emplacement of the Older Granite Porphyry stock and breccia formation, and is prior to the intrusion of the Younger Granite Porphyry plug. Late stage quartz-sericite-pyrite-chalcopyrite veinlets occur in the Metcalf-King Breccia group. Field mapping and laboratory studies indicate that the Older Granite Porphyry stock appears to have been the main district mineralizer.