ReconnaissanceReport Brush Heap Mine KingstonMining District S i e r r a County, New Mexico By : R'obbrt W. E v e l e t h MiningEngirieer Robert M. North Mineralogist . NMBM&MR, May, 1 9 8 0 ReconnaissanceReport Brush Heap Mine Kingston Mining D i s t r i c t S i e r r a C o u n t y , New Mexico Introduction . . .. ;___. . . ... . . . ., The mine commonly r e f e r r e d t o as t h e B r u s h t h r e ep a t e n t e dl o d em i n i n g Heap; M . S . 798B Andy claims as f o l l o w s : Johnson; M.S. Brush metal p r i c e s , w i t h a t t h e $10 t o $20 and $ 5 0 0 t o $ 6 0 0 p e ro u n c er a n g e ,r e s p e c t i v e l y ,t h i s g e n e 7 a t e L d d e r a b l ei n t e r e s t . M.S. 798A 799 Black Eyed Susan.Largely as a resulLof the recent s u r g e i n p r e c i o u s s i l v e r a n dg o l da p p a r e n t l ys t a b l e Heap c o n s i s t s of area h a s Two i n q u i r i e sr e g a r d i n gt h e Brush Heap group i n p a r t i c u l a r were r e c e i v e d by t h i s o f f i c e d u r i n g March,1980. ,The s i t e was t h e r e f o r e v i s i t e d by t h e a u t h o r s on A p r i l 25, t o determine e x a c t l o c a t i o n , a c c e s s i b i l i t y , o w n e r s h i p ,c o n d i t i o n o'f w o r k i n g s , a n d o t h e r p e r t i n e n t d a t a . Ownership - Stiiaron Steel C o r p o r a t i o n( p r e v i o u s l y a/k/a U.S. Smelting,Refining,andMining U.V. Industries, Company), P.O. Box 4 0 6 , Hanover, N e w Mexico 8 8 0 4 1 p r e s e n t l y owns a n u n d i v i d e d o n e - f i f t h ( 1 / 5 )i n t e r e s ti nt h eg r o u p .O t h e ro w n e r s , f o rt h ep r e s e n tr e p o r t . included in Location and were n o t determined Remainingownershipdata a supplementaryreport w i l l be when a v a i l a b l e . Access The claims are l o c a t e d on t h e n o r t h s l o p e o f separatingLadronGulchandMiddlePerchaCreekabout a ridge a mile 2 west - northwestofKingston. o f T16S, R9W, i n an area c o r r e s p o n d i n gt o Theseandother enlargementof A road They l i e i na nu n s u r v e y e dp o r t i o n sections 1 2 and 13. claims i n t h e area are shown i n f i g . 1, an a portionoftheHillsboro15minutequadrangle. .from Kingston t o Ladrori"'Gu1chprovided access i n y e a r s i s now b l o c k e d b y p r i v a t e d w e l l i n g s a n d l o c k e d g a t e s . past but The minescanbereached by d r i v i n g t o t h e C a l a m i t y J a n e T u n n e l (#l, f i g . 1) on MiddlePerchaCreekandthenhiking up t h e r i d g e t o a prominent dump (#2, f i g . 1) where a p r i m i t i v e r o a d e n c o u n t e r e d .T h i sr o a dc o n t i n u e s turnsback up t h e r i d g e t o t o the northwesttowardthe Eyed Susanand i s doubtless the brought i n and ore shipped out T h i sh y p o t h e s i s close bymostof a s a d d l et h e n Andy JohnsonandBlack r o u t e by which materials were i n theearlydaysofmining. i s s u p p o r t e d by t h e f a c t t h a t t h e r o a d p a s s e s theoldersurfaceworkings and Andy Johnson claims ( t h e B l a c k on t h e Brush Heap Eyed Susan claim was n o t visited). The mainBrush seenthroughthe Heap workings ( # 3 , f i g . 1) c a nj u s tb e trees n o r t h w e s t o f t h e s a d d l e on t h i s r o a d . The three claims are surrounded by s e v e r a l o t h e r m i n e r a l s u r v e y s .T h i sd a t a i s summarized i n t a b l e 1. HistoryandProduction L i t t l e has been written regarding the properties in the past. access. The few r e f e r e n c e se x t a n t are scarce and d i f f i c u l t of The d a t a i s t h e r e f o r e summarizedbelow. is Table 1. Mineralsurveys and p a t e n t s i n Mineral Survey i/ Name(s) patent) of time(at 452 Illinois 559 Louisville 616 Independence 617 L i t t l e Stephen 620 U.S. 674 Eclipse Ladron Gulch/Brush Heap Area i/ 11911 4/19/87 15.76 22211 11/2/92 14.76 21571 7/1/92 15.99 23441 10/2/93 12.67 English & American Mining Co. 17258 2/7/91 18.6976 Eclipse Silver Mining 19617 2/6/92 18.61 19310 1/8/92 19.3652 IllinoisSilver,Mining. and Milling do. . Acreage Date H.C. Collins Ladron Gulch Mining Co. 11 co. al. ,798A Brush Heap H.W. Elliot,et 798B Andy Johnson H.W. E l l i o t , et a l . 19 311 1/8/92 19.8041 799 Black Eyed Susan H.W. E l l i o t ,e ta l . 19309 1/8/92 17.81k5 837 Lochiel J.H. Tracy 22121 10/18/92 8 38 L i t t l e Chief J.H. Tracy 21970 9/24/92 13.07 839 Susan Jane J.H. Tracy 22029 10/1/92 19.86 929 Saratoga I l l i n o i s S i l v e r Mining and Milling Co. 24248 4/18/94 9.38 992 Good Will Elizabeth P. Haynes 29910 10/1/98 19.3585 ' . 1, Samos 1464 Atlas Grou-p-1/ 1525 N.Y. Group-2 1 It Cony T. Brown rejected Cony T. Brown 433092 4.71 11 9/24/14 184.898 43.467 Group includes Atlas, TallPine,Peerless,Matchless, Climax, I n d i c a t o r , S a t i s f a c t i o n , B e l Burke, Bel Burke Extension, and Pride of t h e Camp 2/ Group includes N.Y., N.Y. No. 1,' Johnny 3 According t o F a y e t t e Jones ( 1 9 0 4 , p.95, 961, " t h e r e were two p a r t i e s o f .. p- r o s p e c t o r s who f i r s t e n t e r e d t h e Black Range district ... a t the p r e s e n t s i t e of Kingston ... i n t h e iatter p a r t of October,1880." Dan Cameron, Jim The .first p a r t y i n c l u d e d F r a n k p.i..t c h e ..r ,. . . Wilson,and H.W. some o ft h e A f t e rt h e yh a ds t a k e d Elliot. e a r l i e r l o c a t i o n s , such as t h e I r o n King (M.S. 394A) andEmpire, "theBrush Heao [was l o c a t e d ] by a l a t e a r r i v a l h a v i n gt h e of J o h n s o n " , ( J o n e s , 1 9 0 4 , p. 9 6 ) . Forbesand name Two o ft h ef i r s tp a r t y , E l l i o t , s u b s e q u e n t l yl o c a t e dt h e Andy Johnsonand Black Eyed Susan and apparently gained control of the Brush 27). Heap fromJohnson(Greene,1883,p. Burchard(1882,p. 348), i n h i s r e p o r t f o r ' "The Andy Johnson i s a n e x t e n s i o n o f t h e I r o n developed by several shafts.&' contactveinbetween mine. Kinq ... I t withthe same c h a r a c t e r 'The Brush Heap i s a mostpromising " A y e a r l a t e r , t h e BrushHeap,,AndyJohnson,Black S u s a n ,a n do t h e r s were still 'promising'mines. (1883, p. 2 7 , 28)described d i s c o v e r yo f[ t h e s e ] them,veryhighassays B u t Greene them i n g r e a t e r d e t a i l , "The ever d i s t r i c t , as from ore f o u n d w i t h i n 'were o b t a i n e d . " t h e Andy Johnson was o r i g i n a l l y t h o u g h t Of t h e t h r e e t o bethe p r o s p e c ta n dr e c e i v e dt h em a j o r i t yo fa t t e n t i o n .G r e e n e ofthese"shafts"appear / a c t u a l l y" s h a l e " Eyed was t h e c a u s e o f t h e f i r s t e x c i t e m e n t e x p e r i e n c e d by t h e P e r c h a L'most is The Black Eyed Susan i s a l s o a lime and s l a t e / of ore as t h e Andy Johnson. 1882 s t a t e d , to be prospect pits claims, most promising 4 c o n t i n u e d , "It has been opened deepand on t h e v e i n by a s h a f t 115 f e e t at thirty feet two levels r u n on t h e v e i n , o n e from t h e The ore throughout .. . w i l l average surface and one from the bottom. ~ thirty inches in thickness and ranges in value from $10 t o $1,000 I per t o n ... . N o. . g ..e n e r a l a v e r a g e , o f t.h.e..v e .i..n.. _.'. .. .: was^ e v e r t a k e n b u t .,, ... a s s o r t e d l o t s m i l l upwards o f $ 1 0 0 p e r t o n The Andy Johnson w a s t h e f i r s t mine i n t h e d i s t r i c t t o g i v e a h i g h a s s a y r e t u r n , a p i e c eo f ft h eo u t c r o pg o i n g $750 [ p e rt o n ] . " (See, forexample, NMBM&MR sample # 4 , Table 2 . ) The Black Eyed SusanandBrush Heap were much less developed The former w a s "opened a t t h i s time, t h e l a t t e r least o f a l l . by a n a d i t t w e n t y y f i v e f e e t t h r e ef e e t andfrom i n lengthshowingorefrom wide t h e whole d i s t a n c e . I t averages $ 5 0 . 0 0 t h i r t yt of o r t yp e r c e n ti nl e a d . " open c u t , s i x f e e t wideand by t e n f e e t . filledwith assayshavebeenhad insilver The Brush Heap [was] "opened i n several p l a c e s on t h e s u r f a c e , t h e p r i n c i p l e b e i n ga n two t o is fully six The v e i nh e r e ore from w a l l t o wall. from o r e o u t o f t h i s work Some v e r y h i g h mine, b u t t h e g e n e r a l a v e r a g e , as determined by a c t u a l tests made by ' d i s i n t e r e s t e d p a r t i e s i s $ 6 1 . 0 0 i ns i l v e r . "( G r e e n e ,1 8 8 3 , , p . The r a t h e r l a r g e 28). dump w h i c h c a n p r e s e n t l y b e s e e n Andy J o h n s o n ( a p p a r e n t l y n o t on t h e shown on t h e map) c o u l d e a s i l y a c c o u n tf o rt h ed e v e l o p m e n td e s c r i b e d work a p p e a r s t o h a v e b e e n d o n e e x c e p t f o r byGreene. Little other numerous s u r f a c e c u t s andanoccasional.openstope,oneof which was mined t o a d e p t h of 25 feet o r more. 1% t o 3 f t . wide a t t h i s The narrowvein, point,hadbeencarefullymined,both the h a n g i n g a n d f o o t w a l l s 5 r e m a i n i n gi n t a c t . Remains o f a l a d d e r were e n c o u n t e r e d some 30 f t . from t h e i n c l i n e d entrance; it l e d 1 0 t o 15 f t . down i n t o a wide opening, possibly vein. a mined o u t wide s p o t i n t h e T h i so p e n i n gc o u l dp o s s i b l yc o n n e c tw i t ht h e workingsabout r o p e ,t h i s However, f o r t h el a c k 1 0 0 f e e td i s t a n t . w a s n o td e t e r m i n e d . Andy Johnson of a The numerous s u r f a c ec u t s still v i s i b l e are testimony t o t h e i n t e n s i v e p r o s p e c t i n g d u r i n g t h e f i r s t f e w yearsofmining. among o t h e r p r o p e r t i e s , 'was By 1885,theBrushHeap, " s h i p p i n g s i l v e r ore i n p a y i n g q u a n t i t i e s " (Kimball, 1885,p. 172). i n t h ea b o v er e p o r t , A l t h o u g hn o ts p e c i f i c a l l ym e n t i o n e d it i s l i k e l y , f r o m t h e f o l l o w i n g , t h a t t h e 'among o t h e rp r o p e r t i e s ' : "The g r e a t e s tp r o d u c e r s[ i nt h e K i n g s t o nd i s t r i c t ]h a v eb e e nt h e Heap,Black Andy Johnson,Bullion,Brush C o l t , Comstock,Caledonia, andTemplar"(Kimball,1887,.p. TheBrush Lady F r a n k l i n , Log Cabin, 233). Heap i n f a c t c o n t i n u e d t o b e the district until a major producer s i l v e r market. s i l v e r and t h e s u d d e n c r a s h How much s i l v e r a n do t h e r produced by t h e mine i s p r e s e n t l y unknown.The ofany maps, r e p o r t s , smelter s e t t l e m e n t s h e e t s f r o mt h ee a r l yd a y s metals were a u t h o r s are unaware or otherdocuments of m i n i n g : t h u s , n o e x a c t f i g u r e s a s s i g n e d t o t h ep r o p e r t y . may be There are some c l u e s , however. The e n t i r e K i n g s t o n d i s t r i c t of $ 6 , 2 5 0 , 0 0 0 in 1893 when most, i f n o t a l l , o f t h e m i n e s c l o s e d as a r e s u l t o f t h e d e m o n i t i z a t i o n o f ofthe Andy Johnson was i s creditedwith a production through 1 9 0 4 (Jones, 1 9 0 4 , p. 9 8 ) ,m o s to fw h i c h w a s mined p r i o r t o 1894. A n o t ei nt h eB u l l i o n (Longuemare, 6 1891,p. 3) o f f e r st h ef o l l o w i n g : thesuperintendencyofThos. "TheBrush c o n t i n u e @ t o make i t s S. O ' N e a l , $ 1 0 , 0 0 0 p e r month since output of mineral and has produced about June,1890." Heap Mine, under The item w a s datedAugust 2 7 , 1 8 9 1a n dt h u s a t l e a s t 1 4 months, or i f t h e f i g u r e s p r e s e n t e d a time spanof are a c c u r a t e a, p p r o x i m a t e l y $140,000. Hedlund (1977, t h e Andy Johnson/Brush Heap mines may haveproduced 500,000ounces re- p t . 2) s a y s as much as of s i l v e r . The a u t h o r s draw t h ef o l l o w i n gc o n c l u s i o n s :s i n c et h e was producingsilverinpayingquantitiesby1885, thebestproducers mine w a s among two y e a r s l a t e r , and was producing a t t h e r a t e of $ 1 0 , 0 0 0 p e r month bymid-1890,Hedlund's f i g u r e i s probably acceptable. Geology and Mineralogy The o r e d e p o s i t s o f t h e K i n g s t o n d i s t r i c t are predominantly veinsandreplacementdepositsinPaleozoicsedimentaryrocks. The s t r a t i g r a p h i c s e q u e n c e o f t h e s e r o c k s i n t h e area i s as follows: - Age Formation Permian Pennsylvanian Mississippian Devonian Silurian Ordovician Ab0 Magdalena Group Kelly/Lake Valley Percha Fusse1.man Montoya Group Rock Type sandstone,mudstone l i m e s t o n e ,s h a l e limestone shale dolomite d o l o m i t e ,c h e r t , sandstone limestone E l Paso Cambrian Bliss sandstone 7 3 t o t h e east T h i sP a l e o z o i cs e q u e n c ed i p sm o d e r a t e l y t o 40°, from 10' and i s c u t bynumeroushigh-angle - southeast faults. They i n t u r n are o v e r l a i n b y C r e t a c e o u s a n d T e r t i a r y s e d i m e n t s and volcanics i n t r u d e d by C r e t a c e o u s s t o c k s a n d T e r t i a r y d i k e s t o Hedlund ( 1 9 7 5 , p. 16), "The s i l v e r - andplugs.According bearingbase ageand metal d e p o s i t s are p r i m a r i l y o f m i d d l e T e r t i a r y are l o c a t e d a l o n g major n o r t h f a u l t s . "T h i s would i n d i c a t e t h e - northwest striking ore d e p o s i t s a r e a s s o c i a t e d with Tertiary volcanism and possibly with earlier Cretaceous plutonism. No Permian o r Cretaceous rocks are exposed i n Ladron Gulch. The youngestrocks are Lake V a l l e yL i m e s t o n eo v e r l y i n g PerchaShaleandFusselmanDolomite(fig. ' >* .< The most i m p o r t adnetp o s i t s 2). are bedding replacement and v e i n si nt h eF u s s e l m a n ;t h o s ei nt h eB r u s h Heap-Andy Johnson area are foundalongtheFusselman-Perchacontact. Here, h o t mineralizing'solutions rising through the Fusselman or were l o c a l i z e d by t h e impermeablePercha. channeledalongfaults Otherdepositsoccuralongmajorfaultsinthe notablytheLadronfault (fig. 2 ) . and I r o n King f a u l t t o t h e n o r t h Ore m i n e r a l so b s e r v e di n c l u d e da r g e n t i f e r o u sg a l e n a , s p h a l e r i t e ,p y r i t e , and c h a l c o p y r i t e .O t h e r sr e p o r t e d Hedlund b u t n o t o b s e r v e d a n dp o l y b a s i t e . and t a l c . area, most by by the a u t h o r s i n c l u d e c e r a r g y r i t e , Gangue m i n e r a l so b s e r v e d were q u a r t z , c a l c i t e , 8 Four grabsampleschosen to represent different rock types were c o l l e c t e d f o r a n a l y s i s f r o m t h e B r u s h i t s a p p a r e n t low manganese c o n t e n t ; Sample 1 w a s chosenbecauseof it was composed o f q u a r t z , w i t hm i n o rp y r i t e . Heap dump ( t a b l e 2 ) . c a l c i t e , a n dd o l o m i t ea s s o c i a t e d Sample 2 w a s chosenbecauseof i t s apparent h i g h manganese c o n t e n t ; it was l a r g e l y q u a r t z , d o l o m i t e , o x i d e sa n dp y r i t e . limestone. Sample 3 was a l m o s te n t i r e l y I t a s s a y e dv e r y manganese c a l c i t e and low i n s i l v e r as e x p e c t e d . Sample 4 was composed o f p y r i t e , m a l a c h i t e , a n d q u a r t z a n d m o s t l i k e l y representedthehighgradeportionofthereplacementore body. as i t s s i l v e r It doubtless contained unobserved silver minerals, c o n t e n t was s u r p r i s i n g l yh i g h ,G r e e n e ' sm e n t i o no f $750 t o see Harley,1934, $1,000 p e r t o n a s s a y s n o t w i t h s t a n d i n g ( a l s o p. 1 0 3 ) . Severalsurface c u t s alongtheLadronfault Johnson were examined.These c u t s c o n t a i n e dt h i n veinletsoflocallyabundantmalachite s t o p e dt o on t h e Andy seams and and were o c c a s i o n a l l y some d e p t h as d e s c r i b e d e a r l i e r . A sampleof m a l a c h i t e was c o l l e c t e d f o r a n a l y s e s b u t r e s u l t s the were n o t a v a i l a b l e a t time o f w r i t i n g . A l l samples were a n a l y s e d by f i r e a s s a y f o r g o l d and s i l v e r ; Amounts shown do not necessarily indicate tenor of remaining ore, if any. Table 2 Sample # Au, oz/ton 3 - 4 - 1 2 Ag, oz/ton 6.58 7.7% 0.17 582.72 9 The absence of gold in all four of these samples was surprising. Most of the production through 1904 was silver, however (Harley, 1934, p. 102). total This is further demonstrated by the fact that silver produced amounted to 67,940 in ounces the district whereas gold between amounted 1934 to and 1957 only 124 ounces or 0.18% (Howard, 1967,p. 129, 130). Condition of workings The main entriesto the mines are shafts - all caved. The M.S. 616 only adit found is near creek level on the Independence (#4, fig. 1). This adit is partially caved but could be opened without difficulty. The other adit shown on this map is actually the Brush Heap shaft. One of the large dumps,in Ladron Gulch is probably the 115 ft. shaft mentioned by Greene. The other and larger of the two dumps is the Brush Heap shaft which was doubtless the main production entry. A considerable amount of early day machinery, including furnace, boiler, steam hoist and pump, cage, etc., is still present here (fig. 3). The presence of the pump suggests that significant The Gulch dump and is Conclusions The extends was encountered. 100 feet over indicative and Brush water of down extensive the slope underground toward Ladron workings. Recommendations Heap Mine closed during the 1890's as a result the demonitization of its primary commodity, silver, It is likely that significant ground remains unexplored along the Fusselman- of Percha contact. Doubtless, some low grade ore remains in the mine, grading perhaps 5-20 ounces silver per ton (Harley, 1934, p. 103, 104). The main entries are, unfortunately, caved, and would be of re-opening the costly to rehabilitate. The most economic means mine would be: 1) Determine ownership of various patents and obtain possession by purchase or lease. 2) Conduct an underground examination and preliminary survey of the Independence adit. 3) and/or Determine proximity of above adit to Brush Heap shaft workings. 4) Rehabilitate and drive to intersect Brush Heap workings. 5) If (4) not feasible, collar new adit in Ladron Gulch to achieve above objective. 11 References Cited in Burchard, HoratioC., 1883, Production of Gold and Silver the United States,1882, U.S. Treasury Dept., 873 p. . Greene, Chas. W., Ed.,1883, The Mines of Kingston, New Mexico, Kingston Tribune, 48 p. Harley, George T.,1934, The Geology and Ore Deposits of 10, 220 p. Sierra County, New Mexico, NMBM&MR Bull. Hedlund, D.C., 1975, Geologic Map of the Hillsboro Quadrangle, Sierra and Grant Map Units, U.S.G.S. Counties, New Mexico, Description of Open-file Report 75-108, 19 p. Iledlund, D.C., 1977, Mineral Resources Mapof the Hillsboro and San Lorenzo Quadrangles, Sierra and Grant Counties, New Mexico,U.S.G.S. Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-gOOB, 2 pts. Jones, FayetteA . , 1904, New Mexico Mines and Minerals, World's Fair Edition, SantaFe, 349 p. Howard, E . V . , 1967, Metalliferous Occurrences in New Mexico, State Planning Office, Santa Fe, 270 p. Kimball, JamesP . , 1885, annual Report of the Director of the Mint, U.S. Treasury Department, Washington,317 p. Kimball, James P . , 1887, ibid, 375 p. Longuemare, Chas., Ed., 1891, The Socorro Bullion,Vol. 19 . # 2 2 , 9/1/91, p. 3 SupplementaryReport #I Brush Heap Mine Ownership: Ownership of t h e Brush Heap groupof fromrecords a t t h e S i e r r a CountyCourthouse Owner - U.V. claims was determined -. I n d u s t(rSi h e sa r o n . Percept. , I n t e r e s t Steel) M.J. M o f f i t t E s t a t e Chisholm Rupert as follows: 20 20 20 Estate John A. McDonald E s t a t e 20 Ramona G r i f f i t h 10 Emma T. Dougherty Estate 10 Total 10.0% The i n t e r e s t s are undivided. && Robert W. ETeleth May 2 2 , 1 9 8 0 a. APPENDIX A M i n e r a l S u r v e y Plats of B r u s h H e a p , A n d y Johnson, and Black Eyed Susan Lodes. ~ a e OF T H E r'r _. - I' -2; .5 C L A l M OF 5 ,-. ............................................................................... 8. ................................................................................. ............................. .saubr ......... . - .d7 ~ ~ ........ ~J 0 '031X3W M3N do '~Nn*3 .......... ............". ~ 'L31t118,aON,NlW .... ~ mrv ~ uv Bx~uzvzuO-J . AH0LlHHB.L - ~ - ~ .. ~.... -...~....~....-..{ - ~ afi7mT~e...y.*.2z." c ....""..................................... d p " 7 ..................................... ........................................ m s n y p d h p 3 / 3 D .I) y 3HL N O d n ..............................................................................