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Burro Mountains

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Region West, Southwest
States
Mineral systems
Deposit types
Critical minerals
Other minerals

Information leading to the delineation of this focus area

Basis for focus area Mining district boundaries from McLemore (2017).
Identified resources Historical production of fluorite.
Production 172,539 short tons fluorite (Richter and Lawrence, 1983).
Status Past mining, no current activity.
Estimated resources Unknown.
Geologic maps New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources (2003), scale 1:500,000.
Geophysical data Rank 4 aeromagnetic coverage (U.S. Geological Survey, 1979a); no aeroradiometric coverage.
Favorable rocks and structures Fluorite occurs in veins and breccia zones along faults chiefly in Precambrian granite peripheral to the Tyrone quartz monzonite stock (Richter and Lawrence, 1983).
Deposits Burro Chief mine (MRDS dep_id: 10069416), California Gulch prospect (MRDS dep_id: 10013499), Long Lost Brother mine (MRDS dep_id: 10013290), Shrine mine (MRDS dep_id: 10069415), Spar Hill mine (MRDS dep_id: 10013310).
Evidence from mineral occurrences MRDS; New Mexico Mines Database (McLemore and others, 2005).
Geochemical evidence Fluorite at the Burrow Chief occurs with manganese oxides and secondary copper minerals and hematite (Richter and Lawrence, 1983).
Geophysical evidence Unknown.
Evidence from other sources New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division mine permits.
Comments Four types of ore occur at the Burro Chief mine: 1) veins of high-grade fluorspar with up to 90% CaF2, 2) soft fluorspar breccia with up to 75% CaF2, 3) hard fluorspar breccia with up to 90% CaF2, and 4) low-grade ore with up to 35% CaF2 (Richter and Lawrence, 1983).
Cover thickness and description Exposed at the surface.
Authors Virginia T. McLemore.
New data needs This area needs detailed 1:12,000 mapping, chemistry, alteration mapping, geophysics.
Geologic mapping and modeling needs Detailed geology-structure-alteration-mineralization mapping.
Geophysical survey and modeling needs High resolution aeromagnetic and aeroradiometric coverage.
Digital elevation data needs Lidar complete.