Sierra de Baza, Baza, Granada, Andalusia, Spaini

Regional Level Types
Sierra de Baza	Sierra
Baza	Municipality
Granada	Province
Andalusia	Autonomous Community
Spain	Country

MINERALS OF THE SIERRA DE BAZA

By: José Miguel Sola Fernández (Mineralogist Group of Granada) and Enrique García Guirado (University of Granada).

Granada is located in the eastern part of the Spanish region of Andalusia, south of the Iberian Peninsula, where the highest reliefs of the whole peninsula are located.
In this Andalusian region, there are a series of mountain ranges oriented from northeast to southwest, between the depression of the Guadalquivir River and the Mediterranean Sea, called Baetic System. These are divided in Prebaetic Mountain range, Subbaetic mountain range and Penibaetic mountain range. The last one extends from Gibraltar to the province of Murcia. It's formed by several mountainous alignments that can be differentiated by wide valleys (in this case they are sedimentary basins and corridors), and the main ones are located in the provinces of Granada and Almería.

The most important mountain range, by its extension and its altitude, is Sierra Nevada, which extends with W-E direction by the provinces mentioned above and raises its summits up to 3479 meters, s.n.m., in the Granada part. To the north of this one and separated by the "Dehesas de Guadix" corridor, is located the second mountainous chain in importance, that although it is a single alignment receives two denominations: Sierra de los Filabres to the zone that belongs to the province of Almería and Sierra Of Baza to the sector of the province of Granada, where a great natural park has been formed.

Therefore, the Sierra de Baza (and Sierra de los Filabres which is its continuation and studied separately) rises between the depression of Guadix and the depression of Baza (creating the "Dehesas de Guadix" corridor, and the " Almanzora " corridor), which are two large filling basins of erosion material from these mountains.

Sierra de Baza constitutes a mountain chain where different geological materials appear, and between those there are three units that stand out. They are located in zones that are easily distinguishable:

-1- In the zones from the center to the north and west of the sierra, there are limestone, dolomite and triassic marbles over schists and permotriásicas phyllites of the Alpujárride Complex, in which appear the mineral deposits of Lead-Fluor-Zinc, mainly . The mineral species of this complex are:

Albite
Almandine
Anglesite
Apatite
Azurite
Baryte
Biotite
Calcite
Chalcocite
Cerusite
Cinnabar
Covellite
Quartz
Dolomite
Duftite
Sphalerite
Estaurolite
Fluorite
Galena
Goethite
Graphite
Chlorite Group
Hematite
Hemimorphite
Hydrozincite
Malachite
Muscovite
Pirolusite
Rosasite
Smithsonite
Tetraedrite
Turmaline
Wulfenite
Zincolivenite
Zircon

-2-In the south and east (Filabres prolongation) the Palaeozoic marbles, schists and quartzites of the Nevado-Filabride complex emerge, which is formed in turn by Veleta mantles, composed of graphitic and feldspathic mica-schists, and the Mulhacen mantle, constituted by micaceous quartzites, gneisses and cypolynic marbles, and containing the mineral species detailed below, including those of the veins deposits normally found in this unit.

Albite
Arsenopyrite
Azurite
Biotite
Bismite
Bismuthinite
Bismutite
Chalcopyrite
Chloritoid
Covellite
Quartz
Goethite
Almandine
Chlorite group
Hematite
Malaquite
Moscovite
Piryte
Siderite
Tourmaline

-3- In the basal zone of the mountain range, there have been formed pliocuaternary reliefs of soft forms, which are known as glacis and are the product of:
1) From the beginning, of the accumulation of materials when the depression was under sea water, before rise up.
2) Later, the accumulation of erosion products of the mountain chain.

There are also other pliocuaternary reliefs that stand out in the western margin of the mountain range, and they are the alluvial fans which contribute sediments to the "Guadix-Baza" basin.
The materials that compose this area are mainly clays, sands, conglomerates, silts and marls.
- Minerals from the clay and from the erosion of the two previous complexes.
- Alluvial gold
- Almandine garnet, rutile and other alluvial.

A series of outcrops of serpentine (Nevado-Filábride) atand out along the Sierra de Baza and the Filabres, with the characteristic mineralization of these rocks:

Actinolite
Antigorit
Chrysotile
Talc
Tremolite

The most important mineral deposits of the Sierra de Baza:
1) Belonging to the Alpujárride Complex:

Raimundo Mine, Gor, Pb (association Pb, Zn, Ag)
El Veleta Mine, Gor, Pb-Ba (association Pb, Zn, Ag)
La Minilla, Gor, Pb (association Pb, Zn, Ag)
Rica Mine, Gor, Pb association Pb, Zn, Ag)
De la Hoya del Manzano Mines, Gor, Pb (association Pb, Zn, Ag)
De el Guardia Mines or Encarni Mine, Gor, Pb-F (association Pb, Zn, Ag)
De Prado Piostre Mine, Gor, Pb (association Pb, Zn, Ag)
De Panizo Mine or Curminas, Gor, Pb-F (association Pb, Zn, Ag)
De las Solana de Perrera Mines, Gor, Pb-F-Zn-Cu (association Pb, Zn, Ag)
De el Calar Mine, Gor, Pb association Pb, Zn, Ag)
De la Cuerda Perrera Mining works, Gor, Pb-F (association Pb, Zn, Ag)
El Romeral Mine, Gor, Pb-F (association Pb, Zn, Ag)
Caseta Melero Mine, Gor, Pb (association Pb, Zn, Ag)
De Buenavista Mines (oeste), Gor, Pb (association Pb, Zn, Ag)
Del León Mines, Gor, Pb (association Pb, Zn, Ag)
De casa Heredia Mine, Baza, Pb-Cu (association Pb, Zn, Ag)
De Pinos Merguizos Mining works, Baza, Cu
De los Palos Mines, Baza, Pb-F (association Pb, Zn, Ag)
De los Palos East Mines, Baza, Pb-F (association Pb, Zn, Ag)
De Morro Colorín Mina or La Braña Mine, Baza, Pb-F (association Pb, Zn, Ag)
De Ana Mari Mines or De la Torre Mine, Baza, Pb-F (association Pb, Ba, Sr)
Minillas del pozo de la Nieve, Baza, F (association Pb, Ba, Sr)
San Manuel Mine, Baza, Pb-F (association F, Ba, Sr)
De Quintana Mines(Southeast), Baza, Cu
De Quintana Mines (Northwest) or Enrique Mine, Baza, Hg
De la Fuente de la Taza Mine, Baza, Cu
De las Hoyas de las Papas Mines, Baza, Pb-F (association F, Ba, Sr)
De la Cuesta de las Palomas Mine, Guadix, Pb (association Pb, Zn, Ag)
Minillas de la cuerda del Aceite, Guadix, Pb (association Pb, Zn, Ag)
De las Treguas Mine, Charches, Pb (association Pb, Zn, Ag)
Minados de las Piletillas, Charches, Pb (association Pb, Zn, Ag)
Josipa Mine, Charches, Pb association Pb, Zn, Ag)
De Haza Caida Mines, Charches, Pb (association Pb, Zn, Ag)

2) Belonging to the Nevado-Filábride Complex

PILETAS GROUP:
Precaución Mine, Huéneja, Fe (association Fe, Mn, Ti)
Sorpresa Mine, Huéneja, Fe (association Fe, Mn, Ti)
La Unión Mine or San José Mine, Huéneja, Fe (association Fe, Mn, Ti)
Amelia Mine, Huéneja, Fe (association Fe, Mn, Ti)
La Aparecida Mine, Huéneja, Fe (association Fe, Mn, Ti)
De las Piletas Mine, Huéneja, Fe (association Fe, Mn, Ti)
San Pedro Mine, Huéneja, Fe (association Fe, Mn, Ti)
Purísima Concepción Mine, Huéneja, Fe (association Fe, Mn, Ti)
Lucita, Huéneja Mine, Fe (association Fe, Mn, Ti)
Plutón, Huéneja Mine, Fe (association Fe, Mn, Ti)
Del cerro del Lobo Mine, Huéneja, Fe (association Fe, Mn, Ti)

DEL TESORERO GROUP
Rosario Mine, Baza, Cu, Fe (association Cu)
Electra Mine, Baza, Cu, Fe (association Cu)
José Luis Mine, Baza, Cu, Fe (association Cu)
Paris Mine, Baza, Cu, Fe (association Cu)
La Casualidad Mine, Baza, Cu, Fe (association Cu)
Del Moro Mine, Baza, Fe, Cu (association Fe, Mn, Ti)
Hernán Cortés Mine, Baza, Fe, Cu, Bi (association Fe, Mn, Ti)

De las Tablas Mines, Baza, Fe (association Fe, Mn, Ti)
Del Vinagre Mines, Baza, Fe, Cu, Bi (association Cu)
Del Cortijo de Don Martín Mine, Baza, Fe, Cu (association Cu)
Del Barranco de Medina del Rey Mina, Baza, Fe, (association Fe, Mn, Ti)
Del Rollo Mine, Gor, Fe (association Fe, Mn, Ti)
De la Venta de la Trinidad Mining works, Charches, Fe (association Fe, Mn, Ti)
Del Cortijo de la Esperanza Mines, Charches, Fe (association Fe, Mn, Ti)
De Barranco Hondo Mining works, Charches, Fe (association Fe, Mn, Ti)
Del Cortijo de las Perdices Mining works, Charches, Fe (association Fe, Mn, Ti)
Del Barranco de las Fraguaras Mining works, Charches, Fe (association Fe, Mn, Ti)
De Solanazo West Mining works, Charches, Talco
De Solanazo East Mining works, Charches, Talco
La Artesilla Mines (Pilar y Diana), Dolar, Fe (association Fe, Mn, Ti)

Localities in this Region

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References