ME589/GEOL571/GEOC 589- 04D/GEOL 589-04/GEOL 589-04D ADVANCED TOPICS MINERAL DEPOSITS IN NEW MEXICO VIRGINIA T. MCLEMORE - NEW MEXICO BUREAU OF ...
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ME589/Geol571/GEOC 589-
04D/GEOL 589-04/GEOL 589-04D
Advanced Topics
Mineral Deposits in New Mexico
Virginia T. McLemore
Safety
Mine Safety: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” –Ben Franklin ME589: 2021 Cynthia Connolly
Prioritize Planning
Improve visibility
Wear personal protective gear, watch for dust hazards, ventilate harmful gases and prepare for the possibility of slips and falls
Account for Harsh Temperatures
Take lifting precautions
Manage vibration and noise levels while implementing rock burst prevention measures
Stay aware of explosion and fire risks
Maintain rigorous standards and pay attention to equipment upkeep
Utilize warnings and shut down unsafe mine shafts
References • https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2019/04/photos-strange-beauty-salt-mines/586417/ • https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/08/catastrophic-failures-raise-alarm-about-dams-containing-muddy-mine-wastes • http://alsphotographyblog.blogspot.com/2017/01/mollie-kathleen-gold-mine-2.html • https://www.tmi2001.com/blog/safe-mining-practices/ • https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/businessman-digging-tunnel-that-ends-beginning-513480472 • https://www.npr.org/2014/11/12/363058646/coal-mines-keep-operating-despite-injuries-violations-and-millions-in-fines • https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/workers-lifting-heavy-rocks-at-the-san-huang-zhai-royalty-free-image/528009752 • https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s- cru6v6697o/images/stencil/1280x1280/products/7903/11459/4x6wireropemat__59327.1507910193.jpg?c=2 • https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3365685/That-s-folks-Centuries-coal-mining-tradition-ends.html • https://www.denverpost.com/2018/10/30/us-west-abandoned-mines-dangerous/ • https://www.thejournal.ie/woman-australia-mine-shaft-3756062-Dec2017/ • https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/students-from-missouri-university-of-science-and-technology-news- photo/119187257?adppopup=true • http://www.miningmayhem.com/2009/04/broken-front-cleats.html
Field trip Feb 19
• Monticello diatomite
• St. Cloud zeolite
• HAND OUT ON MY WEB PAGE
• https://geoinfo.nmt.edu/staff/mclemore/MineraldepositsofNewMexico.ht
ml• 2 Field trip reports due March 5, if you did not go on a field trip,
then do a virtual trip or report on a paper from a guidebook or
other article
• https://geoinfo.nmt.edu/staff/mclemore/home.html
• Google Carlsbad potash videos
• Take a walk around your neighborhood and note geological materials
used in construction
• Other virtual field trips (park service, Bureau of Geology, U-tube
• Summary of an article
• Purpose of reports is to get you to make observations, combine
observations with published or previous written reports (if
possible), and make a coherent report on them
• We will get some of our trips online as soon as we can• Don’t stress out with my class • Try and enjoy and learn from it • I need some metrics to justify a grade • If you need more time, email or talk with me—we will work something out • I will be gone March 4-21 • Hand out midterm next week • I will likely have 1-2 pre-recorded zoom lectures on my web page during that time (I will email you)
April field trips • April 9 Steeple Rock (Friday) volcanic-epithermal Au (4WD) • April 17 Hillsboro (Saturday) porphyry Cu (passenger) • April 23 Minas de Chupadera (Friday afternoon) sedimentary Cu (passenger) • April 25 Gallinas Mountains (Sunday) REE-Th vein (passenger) • All day except for April 23 • If you plan on going on the field trips, we recommend you test before the trip
• Mickey Fulp
April 15-16 is NMGS virtual meeting April 21 is NMT Student Research Symposium Therefore on April 12, 19, those of you who are doing a similar project for NMGS or the symposium can do your presentation in class
Environmental issues
• The sooner environmental issues are identified as potential
risks, the sooner they can be planned for
• As part of your literature search, include these reports is they
exist
• Case studies are important to identify potential risks during
exploration
• We now mine towards final closure, hopefully we can make a profit at
the end
• Some things to look for (even include in your database)
• Old mine features
• Map pyrite and clay, note any acid drainage (AD)
• Water wells, water bodies, rivers, streams, springs, wetlands
• Bats, other wildlife
• Vegetation
• Roads, trails
• Historical and pre-historical sitesPaleozoic deposits in New Mexico
Paleozoic deposits in New Mexico • Sedimentary-iron deposits • Sedimentary-copper deposits • Potash deposits (Permian)
Sedimentary- iron deposits
Sedimentary-iron deposits • Oolitic ironstone iron mineral occurrences • Banded to poorly banded beds • Hematite, goethite with lesser martite , some copper • Ore is considered to have formed under sedimentary fluviomarine conditions during the deposition
Cambrian-Ordovician
• Mined Fe ore 1937-1939 for pigment from
Caballo Mountains
• Bliss Formation
• Limestone, conglomerate, sandstone
• 138 ft thick
• Upper bed is 1.5- 6 ft thick and 24% Fe
• Lower bed is 4-7 ft thick and 39.2% Fe
• High concentrations of Si and P
Kelley, 1951Fe
District Id District nameFormation production
San Andres
DIS183 Glorieta Formation yes
DIS226 San Jose Bliss Formation no
DIS205 Tierra Blanca Bliss Formation no
DIS203 Salinas Peak Bliss Formation no
DIS033 San Andrecito Bliss Formation no
Caballo
DIS190 Mountains Bliss Formation yes
DIS028 Iron Hill Bliss Formation yesAppears to be a Fe zone
in the Bliss, probably
based on the original
deposit facies
Kelley, 1951Sedimentary-copper deposits
Sedimentary-copper deposits • Contain copper, silver, and locally lead, zinc, uranium, vanadium, and molybdenum • Have been called red-bed or sandstone or sediment-hosted copper deposits • The U.S. Geological Survey now calls these deposits a red- bed type of sediment-hosted stratabound copper deposits
Hayes et al. 2010
Sedimentary-copper deposits in New Mexico, ranked by estimated copper production. * Production includes that from other
types of deposits. 1 TRs-Santa Rosa Formation, TRc-Chinle Formation, Pa-Abo Formation, Pb-Bursum Formation, PPs-
Sangre de Cristo Formation, Py-Yeso Formation.
DISTRICT COUNTY ESTIMATED COPPER ESTIMATED SILVER HOST
PRODUCTION PRODUCTION ROCK1
(LBS) (OZ)
Pastura Guadalupe 13,578,214 42,500 TRs
Nacimiento Sandoval 7,700,000 76,000 TRc, Pa
Scholle Socorro, 1,122,468 8,200 Pa, Pb
Valencia
Coyote Sandoval 462,000 841 Pc
Estey Lincoln 444,000 124 Pa
Sacramento Otero 318,200 1,300 Pa
Chupadero Socorro 80,000 W P
Glorieta Santa Fe 50,000 — PPs
Lone Eagle Eddy 35,236 21 Py
*Zuni Mountains Cibola 30,484 260 Pa
Jemez Springs Sandoval 19,200 159 Pa
Tecolote San Miguel 19,112 128 PPs
Coyote Creek Mora 10,100 48 PPs
Romero Ranch Valencia 9,300 24 Pa
*Placitas Sandoval 2,441 48 Pa
Black Mesa Union 800 10 TRsCharacteristics
• Bleached gray, pink, green, or tan sandstones, siltstones,
shales, and limestones
• Within or marginal to typical thick red-bed sequences of red,
brown, purple, or yellow sedimentary rocks
• Deposited in fluvial, deltaic or marginal-marine environments in
areas where volcanic and magmatic activity are absent
• At or near the base of these sediment
• Some in sedimentary rocks that unconformably overlie
mineralized Proterozoic granitic rocks
• Associated with organic debris and other carbonaceous
material
• Disseminated and occupy original porosityCharacteristics
• Lenses or blankets of disseminated and/or fracture coatings of
copper minerals
• Predominantly chalcopyrite, chalcocite, malachite, azurite, along with
numerous other copper minerals
• Range in size from 1 to 20 m thick
• As much as several thousand meters long.
• Copper is dominant (up to 40-50% cu)
• Silver averages about 0.5 oz/short ton (17 ppm)
• Gold is rare in these deposits
• Some deposits in the Sacramento district are predominantly lead
bearing with subordinate copper and silver
• Other deposits, such as some in the Tularosa and Sabinoso districts,
are predominantly uranium and vanadium bearingAge • After deposition of the Permian or Triassic host rock • Detrital copper minerals are found in some deposits and indicate that some part of the deposit was contemporaneous with sediment deposition • Lead isotope studies on two samples of galena from the Warnock and Courtney mines indicate a model U/Pb age of about 120 Ma, suggesting a modern lead source (Slawson and Austin, 1962; Ewing, 1979)
Sources
Related to
Proterozoic
uplifts,
locally
detrital Cu
minerals
LaPoint, 1974Formation
• Probably transported in low-temperature solutions
through permeable sediments, along bedding
planes, and faults shortly after burial
• Approximate chemical equilibrium with quartz, feldspar,
hematite, and mica at temperatures less than 75°C
• Precipitation occurred at favorable oxidation-
reduction interfaces in the presence of organic
material or H2S-rich waters
• Replacement textures and diagenic features of the
organic material indicate mineralization occurred
during or after diagenesis
• Oxidizing waters could have leached copper and
other metals from
• Proterozoic rocks enriched in these metals
• Proterozoic base-metal deposits
• Clay minerals and detrital grains within the red-bed
sequencesLueth and Whitworth, 2001 Geologic membranes
Nacimiento mine Much of information is from Bob Newcomer
Vitro Minerals Co/Earth
Resources Co. &
Others
Artisanal mining
prior to the mid- Exploration in 1960s to
1800s (started as early 1970s -
Nacimiento Mine
early as the 1500s) Development with open
1868 Nacimiento pit mining started in
Mining Co. 1971, ended 1975
Nacimiento
Conventional
milling/floatation
concentration
mine History early 1900s 1980s
1800s 1970s
Leaching Technology
Juratrias Mining Co. Co.
Senorito Mining Co. In situ & heap leach
Surface/underground mining in operations attempted
early 1900s (high in mid-1980s (sulfuric
grade/smelting on site) acid leach/SXEW) -
Establishment of the targeted deeper
communities of Senorito & reserves near the pit
Copper CityNacimiento Mine – early 1980s
East View of Mine Area
South View of Mine AreaWoodward et al., 1974
Woodward et al., 1974
http://wanderlust.kgbudge.com/2016/10/29/wanderlusting- the-nacimiento-mine/
Mine Features at Site Now • Tailing impoundment • Overburden and waste rock piles • Low grade ore piles and former test leach/solution management areas • Open pit and mineralized high wall • Former mill & concentrator area (structures removed) • In situ leach well field, storage and conveyances facilities • Water treatment/discharge facilities (USDA Forest Service) • Former smelter areas (at least 2)
Environmental Concerns • Runoff and Erosion from the Various Piles at the Site • Contaminated Ground Water from In Situ Leaching Effort • Contaminated Ground Water from Tailing Seepage • Tailing Spill to Senorito Creek - Dam Failure 1970s • Long-Term Pit Lake Water Quality • Soil Contamination from Former Smelting/Other Sites
Resources • Nacimiento mine contains 6 million short tons of ore at a grade of 0.56% Cu and 13 million short tons of ore at a grade of 0.48% Cu as of 5/2/80 • Other estimates 128 to 192 million lbs of Cu as In-Place Reserves; Average Cu Grade is about 0.7% Cu • Under reclamation • Groundwater plume • USFS and public opposition
Hurdles to Redevelopment • Typical Long Lead Time (decade or more) • Risk of A Decreasing Commodity Price • Negotiating Site Access, Property and Mineral Rights • Verification of the Resource Size & Character for Metal Recovery • Feasibility Studies to Support Financial Investment • Mine/Reclamation Plant for New Mexico Mining Act Compliance • Baseline Studies Necessary for Permitting/Impact Assessment • Mitigation of Environmental & Cultural Resources Impacts (NEPA/NHPA/NMMA) • Assessment of Water Supply Needs/Feasibility & Obtaining Water Rights for Operations (NMOSE) • Negotiations of Necessary Financial Assurance
Sabinoso district
Chupadero 1959 to 1960, 2,000
district short tons of copper
and unknown amount
of silver were
upper Moya
produced from the
Member of the
Minas del Chupadera
Atrasado Formation
minesPotash deposits (Permian)
POTASH PRODUCTION
1951-2018 109 million tons worth Recent developments
>$15 billion in potash
• Intercontinental Potash
Reserves in Carlsbad District Corp. (IPC) plans to mine
Potash (>553 million tons) polyhalite at the Ochoa
deposit SE of the district
Potash is used in fertilizers among
other uses
• Intrepid Mining NM LLC
is using solution mining
techniques at the HB
1st in US production of potash
Solar Solution mine (old
potash workings)
Competition from Canadian
depositsProduction 122,732,495 tons crude salts Worth $16,856,426,884 From 1943-2019
Mine Year Potash Grade KCl tons Langbeinite Grade K2O Mine life Company
Name mineralization K2O % Concentrates % (years)
(short tons) (short tons) (langbeinite)
Mosaic
Carlsbad 2019 194,006,799 5.3 35,273,963 22 50 Mosaic
West 2019 82,640,000 22.8 15,410,000 51 Intrepid
East 2019 5,360,000 21.7 920,000 3 Intrepid
East 2019 31,220,000 12,170,000 43.3 34 Intrepid
HB mine 2019 17,390,000 36.4 5,900,000 36 Intrepid
Ochoa US. IC
Potash Potash
2016 182,000,000 78.05 42 (ICP)
https://geoinfo.nmt.edu/staff/mclemore/PotashMines2_16_2021.xlsxRed sylvite Blue halite
Mineral Systems
Deposit type Age Tectonic setting Mineral system group Mineral system
(Australia) (USGS)
Sedimentary- Paleozoic passive margin Basin-related fluid flow, without Marine chemocline
iron deposits active magmatism
Sedimentary- Paleozoic passive margin Meteoric recharge
copper Basin-related fluid flow, without
deposits active magmatism
Potash Paleozoic passive margin Marine evaporite Marine evaporite
depositsDeposit type Metal association Fluids and Mineralogy Production Potential Future
magma critical potential
minerals
Sedimentary-iron Fe, Mn, V, Cu, Co Basin-related fluid hematite, yes Mn, Co, V no
deposits flow goethite,
malachite,
azurite
Sedimentary- Cu, Ag, U, V, As, Basin-related fluid yes U, V, Re, ?
copper deposits Co flow Sc, REE,
Co
Potash deposits K, Na, Br, Mg Marine Sylvite, yes K, Na, Br, yes
polyhalite, Mg
langbeiniteASSIGNMENT • Safety moment • Memoir 50C Uranium (next week’s lecture) • Uranium in Jackpile-Paguate sandstone https://nmgs.nmt.edu/publications/special/14/NMGS_SP- 14.pdf • Uranium in Grants district https://nmgs.nmt.edu/publications/guidebooks/64/ • Memoir 50E potash
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