coversthe bedrock. The singledeep arroyo in the areais partly filled by a thick
braidedwashof silt, sand,and gravel.
History
The Hansonburg mining district was
namedby Jones(1904,p. 103)for a prospector, Hanson.Ore was first discovered
in the districtby Pat Higginsin 1872.The
red-bedcopperdepositsof the west part
of the district first attracted attention
whena carloadof copperore wasshipped
in 1901by AlcazarCopperCo. In 1916
and 1917,15 carloadswereshippedfrom
the Hansonburgcoppermine.
Lindgren and others (1910, p. 203)
noted many lead ore prospectpits in the
east part of the district; Wootton
(Johnson,1928,p. 123-124)reportedon
the Hansonburgleadmine of the Western
Minerals ProductsCo. on six claimsac- pinger, 1949,p. 16-18).Explorationby
quired in l916 near the presentPortales- opencutswasin progresson the Mex-Tex
Blanchardmine. Lasky (1932)examined and Royal Flush claims;severalcarloads
the area in somedetail in 1929.In addi- of leadore wereshipped.
In 1952,the Hurlow Mining & Milling
tion to the copper ore shipped in
1916-1917from the west part, the Rim Co. erecteda mill on the northeastend of
Rock-Hansonburg
lead mine had shipped the district, and was exploringthe northseveral carloads of lead concentrates; ern extensionof the Royal Flush fault
however, neither mine was working in zone.The Portalesmine and the openpits
of the Mex-Tex Co. (at the Mex-Tex
1929.
In 1943,Rothrock,Johnson,and Hahn mine, Hickey and Ora mines)weretruck(1946,p. 174-176)examinedthe Hanson- ing about 150 tons of ore daily to their
mills in SanAntonio, a distance
burg area and describedthe fluorspar respective
depositsof the McCarthyleadmine (Por- of 30 mi. The Portalesmill producedlead
leadmine)then ownedby concentrates.whereasthe Mex-Tex mill
tales-Blanchard
F. L. Blanchard.By 1947,the Portales producedbarite, galena and minor fluMining Co. wasworking the Hansonburg orite. At the southend of the presentprolead mine, developingmilling methodsto perty, Mr. Barrett was developingopen
separatethe barite and fluorite, and sell- cuts in favorableore beds.Ore from the
ing somebarite for drilling rnuds (ClipA L S O I N T H I SI S S U E :
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FIGURE 2-IIDEX
New Mexico Geology
M i c r o b i o l o g ya n d m i n i n g
T u c s o n g e m a n d m i n e r a ls h o w
F a y e l t eJ o n e s ,M i n i n g E n g i n e e r 1
, 859-1936
D i r e c t o r yo f c o m m e r c i a la n a l y t i c a l
l a b o r a t o r i e si n N e w M e x i c o
New AAexnc@
GEOLOGV
.
andService
Science
May 1979
Ediro.. Neila Pearson
i
ll
etl
i,i
\
P.29
C O M I N GS O O N
.
.
.
.
Volumo 1, Number2,
iF
P.21
P.24
P.27
F . E . Kr.9 7 S
MAp oF EAsrprN HaNsoNsuRG DrsrRtcr
published quilterly bY
New Mexico Bureau ofMines & Mineral Resources
a division ofNew Mexico lnstitute of Mining & TcchnoloSy
BOARD OF REGENTS
Ex Officio
Br\ce KiDE, Governor oJ New Mexico
Leonard DeLayo, Superintendent of Public l6lruclion
ApIpint€d
l-1979, Hobbs
william G. Abbott, l
Judy Floyd, 1977-1981, Las Cruces
Santo Fe
Owen Lopez, Saty/Trcas,1917-1981,
Dave Rice, Pres. 1972-1983, Corlsbad
Steve Torres, 1967-1919, Socoto
New Mexico Institute ofMining & Technology
...., Kennethw. Ford
Preident.
New Mexico Bureau of MiDes & Mineral Resources
..FrankE.Kottlowski
Director..
.........CeorgeS.Austin
DeputyDirector.
. . ,.. , Robertw. Kelley
Bur@uEdilo.Ceologist ......
Issued quarterly, February, May, August,
Subscriptio6:
November; subscription price $3.00/yr.
Editoriol molter: Contributions of possible material for conile
welcome.
in futue
issus of NMG
sidsation
Materials cannot be returned unless accompanied by
returtr pcta8e. Address inquiries to Neila Peuson, Editor
New Mexico G@logy, New Mexico Bureau of Mines &
Mineral Resources. S@orro. NM 87801
l,2OO
Cirillolion:
Prirrer.'University of New Mexico Printing Plut
pRoDucrroN FRoM EAsTERNpART oF HelsoNBur.c DrsrRtcr.
Wilpolt and Wanek (1951)mappedthe
strata in the area as the
Pennsylvanian
central& northernmines
southernmines& claims
(Royal Flush, Mountain
(Blanchard-HansonburgSandiaFormationoverlainby the Madera
barite
lead
silver
(shortton)
(shortton)
(ke)
Canyon,Ora, Hickey,and
Portales)
Limestone. Thompson (1942), on the
Mex-Texmines)
basis of fusulinid zonation and detailed
r947
0
few
PortalesMining Co.
variousclaims
of sections,subdividedthe
measurements
1948
0
r20
Pennsylvanianinto 15 formations which
r949
0
I 50r
ScottMining Co.
are usefulin mappingthe mine areason a
1950
400*
2s3
Mex-TexMining Co.
3 8( . 1 5 0 )
small scale.Units mappedin the areaare
750r
l95l
1700r
" (inactive)
the Bolander Group of Desmoinesian
4530r
t952
847
108(.128)
(Westphalian,B, C, and D) age; the
1953
6260t
103l
39(.038
Coane,Adobe, Council Spring,Burrego,
1954
5200+
800
and Story Formations of Missourian
1955
4620r
s28
(Lower Stephanian)age; and the Del
1956
4059
40'7
78(.192)
Moya and Bruton Formationsof
Cuerto,
'7e(.17e)
4441
441
195'.7
age.
Virgilian (UpperStephanian)
44'74
M0*
I 958
Mining Co.
Sunshine
The lower beds of the Pennsylvanian
1959
320
3r
Galbar,Inc.
arein the SandiaFormation.In the north492
1960
5*
ern part of the Oscura Mountains, the
1961
600
6*
formation consistsof arenaceouslimet962
252
2r
stone,greento black shale,and greenish
(Data: Annual Reports U.S. Bureau of Mines; Annual Reports, New Mexico State Inspector of Mines.
ft thick. The Madera
sandstone,16.5-42.5
rDenotes estimated production. Figures in parenthesesare kilograms of silver per ton of lead.)
Limestoneis conformableon the Sandia
ft thick in the
Formation,andis 721-1,100
Royal Flush mine producedin l95l and
Total ore productionof easternpart of OscuraMountains.The middleand upper
1952was reportedto contain 30-55per- district has been about 37,500 tons of part of the Maderaof Wilpolt and Wanek
cent barite, 12-23 percentfluorite, and barite, 5,800 tons of lead, and about (1951)are the samebedsas Thompson's
about 5 percentgalena,in a gangueof 1,900lbs of silver,aswell asa few tons of (1942) Bolander Group and overlying
quartz, calcite, and limestone(Kottlow- copperand zinc.
units; thesewere mapped in the mining
ski, 1953).
district.
Samplesfrom the Mex-Tex mine, anThe BolanderGroup is of gray to buff
Geology
alyzedby Williams (1964,p. 43), yielded
chertylimestones,about 131ft thick. The
A mile southof the Portales-Blanchard
59 percentbarite, 12 percentfluorite, 19
overlying Coane Formation, 59-79 ft
mine, the western fault-scarp of the
percentSiO,, and 9 percentCaCO,.
thick, is of gray to buff limestoneswith
In the early 1960's,Galbar Inc. mined OscuraMountains exposescliff-forming scatteredchert nodules;uppermostbeds
(Upper Carboniferous)
and exploredthe Mex-Tex,Royal Flush, Pennsylvanian
form a massive cliff, 23-33 ft thick.
limestones
rest on Precambrian
that
Mountain Canyon,and Malachitemines,
Above
is the Adobe Formation, 49 fr
granite.The rocks arebrokeninto several
shippingseveralcarloadsof lead concengrayshales,and
gray limestones,
thick,
of
northtratesby truck and rail to the ASARCO fault blocks by nearly vertical
that weathersto form
arkosic
sandstones,
in most
smelterin El Paso, Texas,220 mi to the trendingfaults.The westernsides,
limeplaces, are downdropped,and the up- a broken slope betweenthe thick
south. Some of theseconcentratesconFormationbelow
of
the
Coane
stone
cliffs
the
tainedone percentcopper,tracesof gold, Iifted easternblocks tilted so that
CouncilSpringLimestoneabove.
end
of and the
strata
Near
the
north
dip
eastward.
225 grams-per-ton
silver(Kopicki, 1962),
At
the
base
of the formation is a green
into the
and somezinc. At that time. the Sunshine the range,the fault blocksmerge
sandstonewith conTo fossiliferousarkosic
Mining Co. wasexploringthe Blanchard- northward-plungingOscuraanticline.
glomeratic lenses and fresh angular
Portales mine area, both underground the north, the Pennsylvanianstrata are feldspargrains.
Abo Forand by surfacecuts. Sporadicmining and overlainby the red bedsof the
The Council Spring Limestoneis light
(Permian).
mation
exploration continued until 1966 (Lewgray, coarse-to-finecrystallinemassive,
Stratigraphy
chalermvog,1973).Beginningin 1972,
and in most placesforms a single,23-ftBasic Earth ScienceSystems,Inc. conPermian, thick cliff. This unit forms the persistent
Precambrian,Pennsylvanian,
ductedexploration-including core drill- mid-Tertiary,and Quaternaryrocks crop and distinctivecliff along the mountain
ing-for a period of severalyears. In out in or near the mining district. The front at the level of the mines; much of
1977, the presentownersof the property, Precambrianis mainly pink muscovite the ore extractedis from fractured zones
HansonburgMines, Inc., beganextensive granite that intruded gray quartzite. in this formation.
exploration,beginningwith 9 drill holes Pennsylvaniangray limestones,greenish The overlyingBurregoFormation,52.5
that coredthe ore zonesto a depth of 650 sandstones.
and shalesoverliethe beveled ft thick. consists of massiveto thinft. Recentdrilling, mainly in the southern surface of the Precambrianrocks, and beddednodularlimestones,with lensesof
area,hasbeenon 20-ft centers.
Permianred bedsrest disconformablyon dark-grayto purplishshaleand brownish
Productionfrom the easternpart of the the upper Pennsylvanianstrata. A few sandstonein the lower part. Two distincHansonburgmining district (determined sillsand dikesof mid-Tertiarymonzonite- tive thin beds of green to purple,
from incompleterecords)is givenin table diorite intruded the Pennsylvanianand crinoidal, arenaceouslimestone,grading
l.
Permianbeds. Quaternaryalluvium fills laterally into micaceous calcareous
occurin the lower
sandstones
The lead concentratescontain varying the valleysand blanketsmost of the sur- argillaceous
amounts of silver; some yearly com- face of the Jornada del Muerto to the part of the formation.The limestonebeds
parisonsareshownin table l.
west.
TABLE
l-MrNrNc
May 1979
New Mexico Geology
crop out as a seriesof partly covered
ledges above the cliff formed by the
Council Spring Limestone.Much ore is
found in the lowerpart of this formation.
The next higher unit is the Story Formation, composedof a lower 23 ft of
reddish-brownshale. arkosic and micaceoussandstone,and gray shale,and an
upper 39.5 ft of light-gray, massive
fossiliferouslimestone.Above is the Del
CuertoFormation,79 ft thick, of nodular
gray limestone,red, green, and brown
arkosic sandstone,limestoneconglomerate, and gray to red shale.The formation
cropsout as scatteredledgeson a covered
slope partly buried by rubble from the
overlying Moya Limestone. The Moya
consistsof massiveto nodular light-gray
limestone that forms high cliffs 53 ft
thick. Most of thedip slopesin the Oscura
Mountains are capped by the Moya
Limestone.
The youngestPennsylvanian
unit is the
Bruton Formation, ll5 ft thick, of red
shales, purple arkosic sandstonesand
conglomerates,
and interbeddednodular
limestones.
Lower Permian units of Wolfcampian
(Sakmarian)age are the Bursum Formation and overlying Abo red beds. The
Bursum Formation, 92-246ft thick, consists of thick beds of dark purplish-red
and green shale interbeddedwith thin
beds of arkose, arkosic conglomerate,
and gray limestone.Thick massivelimestonesat the top of the formation contain
Wolfcampian fusulinids. The Abo Formation, about 754 ft thick, consistsof
dark-red shale, sandstone,arkose, and
conglomerate, in lenticular crosslaminatedbedscontainingplant imprints,
current ripplemarks, and desiccation
cracks.
The formation erodes to the reddishbrown slopesand ledgesthat characterize
the northern end of SierraOscuraalong
us-380.
Sills and dikesof Oligocenemonzonite
and diorite were intruded into the
Paleozoicstrata of the region. Near the
mines a sill of hornblende diorite is altered, with ophitic texture of hornblende
laths set in a matrix of plagioclasecrystals, with outer edgesvery fine grained,
and containingsomebarite.
Geologicstructure
Sierra Oscura is a tilted fault-block
range.The mountainfront is a steepwestfacing faultline escarpmentand the east
slope is a rolling, dissectedupland. The
main Oscurafault bordersthe range on
the west, strikesN. 15' E., has many
small branch and parallel faults, and is
concealedby alluvium except at a few
20
May 1979
New Mexico Gcology
places. The throw of the fault zone
decreases
from south to north, and dies
out northward in the Oscura anticline.
Another fault zone,about a mile eastof
the Oscurafault, occursnear the baseof
the west-facingescarpmentin the mining
district. Beneaththe Malachiteand MexTex mines,this fault hasa throw of about
550ft with the baseof the BursumFormation dropped on the west opposite the
Bolander Group limestones.This fault
zone trendsnorth-south,but at intervals
of about 1,700ft is interruptedand progressivelyoffset to the east,or curvesto
the east before dying out northward. A
complex system of small faults with
displacementslessthan 100ft are parallel
or subparallel to the major faults.
Throughoutthe areaare two intersecting
setsof joints. One set strikesfrom north
to N. 20' W., and the other set strikes
from north to N. 35" E.
Almost all the faults are marked by a
narrow (2-40 inches) silicified or minwith an irregular,
eralizedzoneassociated
wider brecciatedzone (6-50 ft wide).
Many of the joint surfacesare coatedwith
sideriteor calciteand scatteredcrystalsof
ore minerals.
Ore deposits
Most of the mineralizationoccursin the
Council Spring Limestone and in the
lower part of the overlyingBurregoFormation. Smallmineralizedzonesarepresent in the Coane,Story, and Del Cuerto
Formations.The ore depositsare openspace fillings with minor local replacement of favorable strata. Characteristically, the ore has a banded structure,in
which a silicifiedlimestone0.8 to 4 inches
thick is boundedon both sidesby a mesh
of galena and aqua-colored fluorite
cubes. Spacesbetweenthese bands are
2-24 incheswide and are mostly filled by
tabular barite crystalswith a few galena
and fluorite cubes. Vugs are lined in
placeswith tiny drusy massesof quartz
crystals; locally coarse-crystallinequartz
is intergrown with the ore. The banded
texture is similar (Roedder and others,
1968)to the coon-tail texture of fluorite
depositsin Illinois.
Mineralsarelargeand well crystallized,
with fluorite and galena cubes 2 inches
across,and tabularbaritecrystals6 inches
long. Common mineralsare barite, fluorite, quartz, galena, and calcite, with
supergeneminerals anglesite,cerussite,
covellite,malachite,and azurite,and the
unusualmineralslinarite and murdochite
(Sun,1957).
The ore depositsare, for the most part,
fillings in fissures,fault brecopen-space
cia, and small caves.Individual deposits
are relativelysmall, discontinuous,elongate, lenticular bodies, in most places
lying with long axesparallelto the northsouth-trendingminor faults, particularly
in locationswhere massivebeds of noncherty limestones,such as the Council
Spring Limestone, have been intensely
broken and shattered.Locally, argillaceousbedsin the lower part of the Burrego Formation appear to have trapped
mineralizingsolutionsand causedformation of ore zonesin underlyingbrecciated
limestones.
and sheeted
Developments
Prospectpits, trenches,shallowshafts,
and adits testingthe numerousore outcrops,silicifiedzones,and fracturedareas
along faults are the most favorable
methodsof exploration.Althoughdrilling
in the hard chertylimestones,
is expensive
exploration drilling by previous companies,and by HansonburgMines, Inc.,
ore reserves.
hasblockedout considerable
The presentexplorationprogram began
with widely spaceddeepdrilling to verify
previous testing and results of surface
trenching. This has been followed by
moretrenching,15-40ft deep,and closely
spaceddrilling, with drill holes spaced20
ft apart in places.As a result,throughout
the easternpart of the mining district,
from Royal Flush mine southwardto the
Portales-Blanchardmine area, reserves
areestimatedat I million tons of ore containing an averageof 6 percent galena,20
percent barite, and about l0 percent
fluorite.
One of the major stepsin the development has been to obtain title to all of the
mines and claims in the eastern area,
allowing the total reservesto be available
to a singlecompany.Another crucialstep
was the locating of a water supply for the
milling process.Deep wells drilled in the
Pennsylvanianand Permian bedrock of
the range were dry; even a well at the
mouth of JulianArroyo had low yields.A
350-ft-deepwell spottedby W. K. Sumabout3.5mi north of
mersand Associates
the mines and a mile north of US-380
along a deeparroyo that drainsthe west
slopesof ChupaderaMesaproducessufficient mill water from alluvium and from
Permianrocks.The wateris piped5 mi to
the mill site located northwest of the
mine.
Portales-Blanchard
Previousoperationshadobtainedgalena
and barite concentratesfrom the ore but
had poor recoveryof fluorite. The HansonburgMines, Inc. mill will utilize two
new processes,a concentratingmachine
basedmainly on gravity separationof the
ore, and an impact crusherto take the
(continued on page 32)
mining
Hansonburg
district
(continued
from page20)
place of secondary crushing and grinding
(Steensma,1978).With recoveryof silver
from the galena concentrates, the large
amount of blocked-out ore. and with recovery of fluorite in addition to lead and
barite, this relatively small operation
(about 400 tons per day) should be
economical.
References cited
Clippinger, D. M., 1949, Barite of New Mexico:
New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral
R e s o u r c e sC
, irc. 21,7 p.
Johnson, W. D., 1928, Fluorspar in New Mexico:
New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral
R e s o u r c e sB
, u l l . 4 , 1 5 6p .
Jones, F. A., 1904,New Mexico mines and minerals:
New Mexican Printing Co., Santa Fe, 349 p.
Kopicki, R. J., 1962, Geology and ore deposits of
the northern part of the Hansonburg district,
Bingham, New Mexico: M.S. Thesis, New Mexico
Institute of Mining and Technology, 103 p.
Kottlowski, R. E., 1953, Geology and ore deposits
of a part of the Hansonburg mining district,
Socorro County, New Mexico: New Mexico
Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources,Cir.23,
9p.
Lasky, S. G., 1932, The ore deposits of Socorro
County, New Mexico: New Mexico Bureau of
Mines and Mineral Resources,Bull. 8, 139 p.
Lewchalermvong, C., 1973, Investigation and
evaluation of the Royal Flush and Mex-Tex
mines, and adjacent area, Hansonburg mining
district, Socorro County, New Mexico: M.S.
Thesis, New Mexico Institute of Mining and
Technology, Tl p.
Lindgren, W., Graton, L. C., and Gordon C. H.,
1910, The ore deposits of New Mexico: U.S.
Geological Survey, Prof. Paper 68, 361 p.
Roedder,E., Heyl, A. V., and Creel, J. P., 1968,
Environment of ore deposition at the Mex-Tex
deposits, Hansonburg district, New Mexico, from
studies of fluid inclusions: Economic Geology, v.
63, p. 335-348
Rothrock,H. 8., Johnson,C. H., Hahn, R. D.,
1946,Fluorsparresourcesof New Mexico: New
MexicoBureauof Minesand Mineral Resources,
Bull.21,245p.
Sun,M. S., 1957,Mineralsof the Hansonburgmining district,SocorroCounty, New Mexico:Rock
and Minerals,v . 32,p. 563-564
Systemin
Thompson,M. L., 1942,Pennsylvanian
New Mexico:New Mexico Bureauof Mines and
MineralResources,
Bull. 17,85p.
Williams,F. 8., 1964,Baritedepositsof New Mexico: New Mexico Bureauof Mines and Mineral
Resources,
Circ.76, 102p
Wilpolt, R. H., and Wanek,A. A., 1951,Geology
of the regionfrom Socorroand SanAntonio east
to ChupaderaMesa,SocorroCounty, New Mexico: U.S. Geological Survey, Oil and Gas
PreliminaryMap 121
n
Abstracts
(continuedfrom pase3I)
ment of those resourceswill require use of water
resourcesthat are alreadyover-appropriatedin virtually every western state-water resourcesthat
often are equallynecessaryfor balanced,indigenous
deeconomicgrowth.As a measureof the increasing
mand on western water resources.the western
StatesWater Council estimatesthat by 1990energy
productionin the regionwill requirean increasedannual commitment of approximately2.3 to 3.1
million acre-ftof water.The purposeof this studyis
to contribute to the growing knowledgeabout the
feasibility of energycenters,particularly in relation
to utilization of hitherto unallocated and mainly
unusable ground water in the Western States.
Specificallythe suitability of the Tularosa Basin in
south-centralNew Mexico as the site for a regional
energycenteris studied.The centeris assumedto be
primarily nuclearwith varying potentialsfor fossil,
solar, geothermal, and wind energy-generating
facilities. The analysis also considers anticipated
socio-economicand environmental impact on the
region.(ERA citation03:050430)
N.M. Bur€au of Mlnea & Mlneral
Resources
E. KottENnncvntsouncrs oF NEw Mnxtco byF-rank
Iowski and Sam Thompson III
by the
text of a paperpresented
Translation
of Spanish
junior authorto theMexicanGeological
Society(Sociedad
District,February
A.C.), Chihuahua
Mexicana,
Geologica
3, 1979.
New Mexico's energy resourcesare diverse and
generally abundant. The subsurfaceresourcesare
rankedin order of Btu value: l) uranium-542 x
lorTBtu (952 x 103tonsU308), 2) coal-2.84 x
l0r6Btu(128 x lotons), 3) gas-19.7 x l0l5Btu
(18.29x lot2cuft), 4) oil-7.30 x l0r5Btu(1.26x
l0ebarrels), and 5) geothermal energy-s-g'l x
l0r2kilowatt-hours). These
10r5Btu (1.75 x
estimates include proved reservesand probable
resourcesof producing districts, but excludethe
speculativeresourcesof unexplored areas, which
could increase the totals by many orders of
magnitude.
Northwestern New Mexico contains the largest
reservesof uranium (in Jurassic sandstones)and
coal (in Cretaceousformations), nearly half of the
a small
gas resources(in Cretaceoussandstones),
part of the oil resources(in Pennsylvanianlimeand someof the
sandstones),
stonesand Cretaceous
bestgeothermalprospects(in the Jemezarea on the
westernmargin of the Rio Grande rift). SoutheasternNew Mexico containsthe largestreservesand
and
of oil andgas(in Paleozoiccarbonates
resources
in the remainder
The energyresources
sandstones).
of thestatearestill beingexplored.
and
includesolar,hydroelectric,
Surfaceresources
wind power.Of these,solarenergyhas the greatest
tr
potential.
Coalconference
The secondannual NnrIoteL AnnNnoNEoMtNe
was held in Albuquerque,NM,
L.lNos CoNnETENcE
April 4-6, 1979.Hosts were the FederalOffice of
Surface Mining, State Bureau of Surface Mining
(Mining and Minerals Division of Energy and Minerals Department), and New Mexico Bureau of
Mines and Mineral Resources.Major topics were
reclamationof coal surface-minedlandsin the west,
particularly in New Mexico, and inventories of
includeda field trip to
disturbedlands.The sessions
Anaconda's Paguateopen-pit uranium mine, McCarty's Basaltflows, Red Rock StatePark, Acoma,
and Pittsburgand Midway Coal Mining Company's
McKinley coal surface mine northwest of Gallup.
The road log waspreparedby John Wright and Don
Baker of New Mexico Bureau of Mines & Mineral
Resources.
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