| Basis for focus area |
Alkaline/peralkaline igneous rocks; district boundary from McLemore (2017). |
| Identified resources |
None. |
| Production |
No production, but test shipments of nepheline syenite. |
| Status |
Past exploration for nepheline syenite and REE. |
| Estimated resources |
Unknown. |
| Geologic maps |
O'Neill and Nutt (1998), scale 1:24,000. |
| Geophysical data |
Recent high resolution geophysical coverage over Trans-Pecos areas in Texas and Cornudas Mountains in New Mexico. Inadequate aeromagnetic and aeroradiometric coverage elsewhere. |
| Favorable rocks and structures |
Nepheline syenites, adjacent limestones. |
| Deposits |
Wind Mountains prospect (MRDS dep_id: 10125858). |
| Evidence from mineral occurrences |
MRDS. |
| Geochemical evidence |
See McLemore (2018a), New chemistry indicates most samples below 71 ppm Ga, but a few are up to 7450 ppm. |
| Geophysical evidence |
Recent Rank 1 aeromagnetic and aeroradiometric data over part of the region (Bultman, 2021). |
| Evidence from other sources |
New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division mine permits. |
| Comments |
Important, but poorly understood REE deposit in New Mexico (McLemore, 2018a). |
| Cover thickness and description |
Wind Mountain is at the surface but there are geophysical anomalies in the area that suggest potential subsurface occurrences of similar intrusions. |
| Authors |
Virginia T. McLemore, Joshua M. Rosera. |
| New data needs |
Alteration and mineralization mapping, geochemistry. |
| Geologic mapping and modeling needs |
Wind Mountain is included on the geologic map of O'Neill and Nutt (1998) but no detail showing the mineralization and alteration is shown. Additional detailed mapping is needed. |
| Geophysical survey and modeling needs |
High resolution aeromagnetic and aeroradiometric survey over areas without Rank 1 data. |
| Digital elevation data needs |
Lidar complete in Texas, in progress in New Mexico. |
