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ity within the Dakota to allow passageof the solutions; 4) presence of an impermeable -groupmetals in NewMexico caprock to contain the solutions, which are thought to have risen stratigraphically dur- by VirginiaT. McLemore, Robeft W. Eveleth, Lynn A. Brandvold,and James M. Robensln ing their migration northward toward the NewMexico Bureau of Minesand Resources. Socorro. NM 87801 San |uan Basin or westward toward the Gal- lup sag;and 5) availability of organic material in the Dakota to reduce and thereby precip- PGM reported in New Mexico itate the uranium from the rising solutions. Introduction (Blairet al.,1977) The author's observations agree with those Platinum- (PGM) consist of of Piersonand Green (1980). six elements:platinum (Pt), (Pd), Tampa mine, Bromide district, AcxNowlrpcrr.rrr.rrs-This report would not (Rh), (Ir), (Os), and Rio Arriba County have been completed without the encour- (Ru); platinum and palladium are The Tampa mine in the northern part of agement of Virginia T. Mclemore of the New the most abundant of the group. The PGM the county is one of the largest mines in the Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Re- typically occur together as natural alloys (for Bromide district with a 400-ft shaft and 800- sources. Thanks are owed to Leo E. Little, example, osmiridium-an alloy of osmium 1000ft of drifts (Bingler, 1968). re- Manager of the Grand Junction projects of- and iridium) and to a lesserextent as placement veins containing chalcopyrite, fice of the DOE for accessto the AEC records and .All the metals are rare (Table molybdenite, pyrite, malachite,and somefree stored in the DOE archives at Grand Junc- 1) and therefore expensive. PGM are used occur in schist and gneiss of tion. Raymundof. Chico provided somede- primarily as catalysts in the automotive, Precambrianage (Lindgren et al., 1910). tails of the earlv historv of the Diamond No. chemical,and petroleum-refiningindustries "In the Tampamine, assaysfrequently show 2 mine. John Gabelrnan, Chades Pierson, (U.S. Bureauof Mines, 1987). good valuesin platinum; this is the only place Morris Green,and Orin Andersonreviewed Periodicallv. the NMBMMR is asked to in New Mexico where this rare is ac- the manuscript; their comments are greatly provide informationon the occurrenceof PGM tually known to exist" (fones, 1904a).Sub- appreciated. in the state.More recently,increasing num- sequentlt fones (1904b, 1908, 1915) and bers of investors are being approachedby Northrop (1959)reported the Tampamine as References speculatorsto invest in alleged PGM- a PGM occurrence.However, Lindgren et al. ventures in New Mexico.NO PGM DEPOS- (1910,p. 132)reported that assaysof Albrethsen, Holger, Jr., and McGinley, F. E., 1982,Sum- mary history of domestic uranium procurement under ITS ARE CURRENTLY KNOWN IN NEW from the Tampa mine show NO DE- U.S. Atomic EnergyCommission contracts, final report: MEXICO THAT CONTAIN CONCENTRA- TECTABLEPLATINUM.Infact, L. C. Graton U.S. Dept. Energy, Rept. GJBX)20(82), 1.62pp. TIONS RICH ENOUGH ANDIOR LARGE deliberately visited the Tampamine with the Chenoweth, W. L.,1977,Uraniumin the SanJuanBasin- an overview: New Mexico Geological Society,Guide- ENOUGH TO ECONOMICALLYMINE (Eve- idea of confirming the presenceof platinum book to 28th Field Conf., pp.257-252. leth and Bieberman,1984) despite numerous as reported previously by fones. He had Chico, R. J.,1959,The geologyof the uranium-vanadium claims to the contrary. It is possiblethat a samples assayedfor platinum, something deposit of the Diamond No. 2 mine, near Gallup, New small amount of PGM could be recovered very rarely requested,by Ledoux & Com- Mexico: Unpublished M.S. thesis, Univ Missouri, Rolla, r24 pp. from the anode slimesproduced from a large pany, probably the best private laboratory at Gabelman,J. W., 1956,Uranium depositsin paludal black porphyry copperdeposit such as Chino. For the time, but no platinum was found (Lind- shales, Dakota Sandstone.San fuan Basin, New Mex- example, the concentratesproduced by In- gren et al., 1910,p. L32,footnote a). ico; in Page. L. R., Stocking, H. E., and Smith, B. B. spiration ConsolidatedCopper in Arizona (compilers), Contributions to the geology of uraniun and thorium by the Geological Suroey contained a mathematically calculated Red River district, Taos County andAtomic Energy Commissionfor the United Nations 0.0000028troy oz PGM per ton of ore (Phil- The Red River district, near Red River, International Conferenceon PeacefulUses of Atomic lips, 1980; Eveleth and Bieberman, 1984). consistsof numerous mines and prospects Energy, Geneva, Switzerland, 1955: U.S. Geological There is no documentedproduction of PGM ranging from Precambrianore-bearing quartz Survey, ProfessionalPaper pp. 300, 303-319. from New Mexico. veins (copper,tungsten, gold, ,and other Gruner,J. W, Gardiner,Lynn, and Smith,D. K.,Jr.,7954, Mineral associationsin the uranium deposits of the Recent$ the U.S. GeologicalSurvey (USGS) ore ) to Tertiary ore-bearingveins ColoradoPlateau and adjacentregions, interim report: reprinted a map of reported PGM occur- and disseminated deposits (molybdenite, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Rept. RME-3092, rencesin the conterminousUnited States(Blair galena-sphalerite-chalcopyrite, chalcopyr- TechnicalInlormation Service, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, et al., t977). That report lists UNVERIFIED ite, galena-sphalerite,and pyrite-gold veins) 48 PP' Hilpert, L. 5.,1959, Uranium resourcesof northwestern PGM occurrencesin New Mexico as cited in to Tertiary-Quaternary placer deposits. New Mexico: U.S. GeologicalSuwey, ProfessionalPa- the literature.Not one of those"occurrences" Mineral deposits occur in Precambriangran- per 603, 156pp. has been found to actually contain PGM. ite and metamorphicrocks and Tertiary vol- Landis, E. R., Dane, C. H., and Cobban,W. A., 7973, Stratigraphicterminology of the Dakota Sandstoneand The purpose o{ this report is to briefly canic and intrusive rocks (Schilling, 1960). Mancos Shale,west-central New Mexico: U.S. Ceoloq- summarize and evaluatehistorical reports of In 1910,Fain (1910, p.3) stated,"there are icafSuruey, Bulletin 1372-J, pp.ll-JM. PGM occurrencesin New Mexico and to con- alsoindicationsof. . .(PtAs,). . ." Mclemore, V T., 1983,Uranium industry in New Mex- sider possiblegeologic environments in New in the Red River district. Northrop (1959) ico-history, production, and present status: New MexicoCeology, v. 5, no. 3, pp.'45-51. Mexico thatmight containundiscovered PGM. stated, "I know of no subsequentreport of Mirsky, Arthur, 1953, Preliminary report on uranium this mineral." PGM have yet to be verified rnineralization in the Dakota Sandstone,Zuni uplift, from the Red River district. New Meico: U.S. Atomic EnergyCommission, Rept. TABLE1-Abundance of platinum-groupmetals RME-47, Technical Information Service, Oak Ridge, in crustal rocks (from Greenwood and Earnshaw, Ortiz mine, Old Placersdistrict, Tennessee,21 pp. 1e84). Pierson, C. T., and Green, M. W., 1980,Factors that lo- Santa Fe County calized uranium deposition in the Dakota Sandstone, The Ortiz mine is one of the oldest mines Abundance Gallup and Ambrosia Lake mining districts, McKinley Atomic in the district. The mine is located on the County, New Mexico: U.S. GeologicalSurvey, Bulletin Element Symbol no. (ppm) 1485,31 pp. Cunningham Gulch volcanic vent and fol- Reimer, L. R., 7969, Stratigraphy, paleohydrology, and Palladium Pd 46 0.015 lows an irregular gold-quartz vein as much uranium deposits of Church Rock quadrangle, Mc- Platinum Pt 78 0.01 as 4 ft wide and 1 mi long (Lindgren et al., Kinley County, New Mexico: Unpublished M.S. thesis, Osmium Os 76 0.005 19L0;Elston, 1967).Most of the mining oc- ColoradoSchool of Mines, 254pp. Iridium Ir 77 0.001 curred between1832 and 1870although sev- U.S. Atonic Energy Commission, 1959, Guidebook to Ruthenium RUM 0.0001 eral attempts have been made more recently. uanium deposits of westem United States:U.S. Atomic Rhodium Rh 45 0.0001 Energy Commission,Open-file Rept. RME-141,359 pp. Owen and Cox (1865,p. 15) reported an

New Mexico Geology May 1989 analysis of gold from the Ortiz mine as con- Stillwater Complex in Montana containing are a number of localities in the state where taining 99.L70Vagold, 0.782V" silver, and known amounts of platinum and palladium Early Proterozoic mafic and, much more 0.0487'iridium. This report is more detailed were used as in-housestandards io confirm rarelv, ultramafic rocks occur. Someareas are than most that mention occurrencesof PGM that PGM couldbe detectedby standardan- Pecosgreenstone belt, Sangre de Cristo in New Mexico; however, no one since has alyticalmethods. Selected samples were an- Mountains (Wyman, 1980;Robertson and vedfied the presenceof PGM in this district. alvzed bv two or more different methods in Moench, 1979); and Tijeras-Hell Canyon The assaymethods in 1865were not as ac- oider to-address the question of interfer- greenstone belt, Manzanita-Manzano curateas thoseused todav nor was the assav ences.The NMBMMR and a number of rep- Mountains (Cavin et al., 1982). Mafic and method reported by Ow-enand Cox (1865j. utablecommercial labs have yet to detectPGM especially ultramafic rocks in these areas Iridium, along with ruthenium, is the most in any New Mexico samples. should be examinedfor PGM. difficult of the PGM's to determine and this assayis open to question. Assay Methods for PGM Alkalic Rocks Early methods used for determining PGM Very little information exists on PGM ficarilla district, Lincoln County (fire assay, colorimetric, gravimetric) were occurrencesin alkalicrocks (Mutschler et al., The Jicarilladistrict consistsof Tertiary- inexact, subiect to interferences,and re- 1985),but PGM values have been obtained Quaternary placer deposits,Tertiary vein quired that the elementsbe present in the from sulfide associatedwith alkalic rock deposits of pyrite, quartz, copper, gold in ppm range for detection.In the 1950'sand suites in British Columbia, Washington, monzonite and monzonite porphyry, and 1960's,arc emissionspectrography was used Montana, and Colorado(Finch et al., 1983). skarn depositsof magnetitewithin the San for determining PGM. However, the PGM have been recoveredfrom the Palabora Andres Formation adjacent to granitic intru- spectrum possessesstrong lines that overlap carbonatite in (Mutschler et al., sives (Griswold, 1959). the weak PGM spectrallines and often result 1985).The presenceof detectablePGM in Ellis (1930,p. 60) noted that ". . . plat- in falsepositive values for the PGM. Iron, of thesealkalic and carbonatiticrocks suggests inum and otherrare metals are reported from course/ is almost always present in miner- that similar rocks in New Mexico might con- this district . . . ." Northrop (195b)cited Ellis alized rock where one would look for PGM. tain PGM. (1930)as the source for listing this district as Similar problems are encountered with cal- Tertiary alkalic rocks occur in the Laughlin a PGM occurrence.No other information is cium, which is also, like iron, abundantly Peakarea, Colfax County; SierraBlanca area, available and PGM have never been con- distributed in the earth's crust. In the early Gallinas Mountains, and Carrizozo areas, firmed as occurringin this district. 7970's, the USGS developed a fire assay Lincoln County; and CornudasMountains, methodfor concentratingand collectingPGM Otero County. A Proterozoicalkalic complex Tecolote iron district, Lincoln County, and that eliminated iron interference. The bead occursin Otero County at PajaritoMountain. Tuerto Arroyo, SantaFe County containing the noble metals was then ana- Carbonatite dikes are found in the Lemitar PGM were reported to occur in trace lyzedby arc emission spectrography.This is and ChupaderaMountains, Socorro County; amounts in black sand in both areas(North- an excellentmethod for determining the con- Monte Largo, Bernalillo County; Lobo Hill, rop, 1959).Positive identification of PGM has centrations of platinum, palladium, and Torrance County; and Laughlin Peak area, yet to occur. PGM may be confused with rhodium and is the one most freouentlvused Colfax County. magnetite and ilmenite, major constituents by the USCS(Haffty and Riley,igZt). t.t t"- of black sand. cent yearsthe arc emissionspectrograph has Other geologic environments sometimesbeen replacedby the inductively The USGS(Zientek et al., 1988)has iden- Las Animas placers,Hillsboro district, coupled argon plasma (ICAP or ICP) emis- tified severaltypes of depositsthat may con- Sierra County sion spectrograph.Some labs analyzethe fire tain PGM. Someof them occurin New Metco The LasAnimas placersconsist of gold with assay bead by atomic absorption (AA) or and should be examined for their PGM con- limonite and pyrite in alluvial-fandeposits neutron activation(NA). But all the labs use tent. These types include organic-rich shale and arroyodeposits derived from the erosion a form of fire assayfor preconcentrationand (enriched in Zn, Y, Cr, Mo, Ni, Ag, and Se), of the Animai ttitts (Harley, 1934;Johnson, separation,sometimes with nickelinstead of coal, sediment-hosted copper, carbonate- 1972).The sourceof the placersis probably lead as the collector. hosted gold-silver, porphyry copper, gold gold-pyrite veins in Tertiary andesites. Prior to about 1,975,platinum and pallad- skarns, low-sulfide gold-quartz veins, ba- Jones (19(Xb, 1908, 1915)and Northrop ium were analyzed at the NMBMMR by gra- saltic copper, and (Co, Ag, Ni, As) (1959,pp.300, 404)reported the occurrence vimetric senaration combined with deposits. As part of ongoing projects at of iridosmine and platiniridium in the Las colorimetricdetermination; this method was NMBMMR, samplesfrom thesedeposits will Animas placers.However, Northrop (1959, very cumbersomeand time consuming.After be assayedfor PGM. It is interestingto note p. a04)further stated"its (platiniridium) oc- 1975, the NMBMMR analytical lab used the that noneof these potentially favorable geo- currence here has not been verified by recent method of Schmepfe and Grimaldi (1969), logic environments coincide with areascited workers." which consistsof preconcentratingplatinum on the USGS map or with properties cur- and palladium in a gold bead using fire assay rently promoted on the basis of their PGM PGM assaysby NMBMMR techniques followed by atomic absorption content. During the last 25 years, many rock and analysis to determine PGM concentrations. ore samples have been brought to the The detectionlimit is 0.01.ozlton (0.33ppm). Surnmary NMBMMR for platinum PGM analysis, anal- Recently, a graphite furnace attachment to Not one of the reported PGM occurrences ysis being the most frequenily requested. our atomic absorption unit extends the de- in New Mexico (cf. Blair et al., 1977)have Thesesamples have come from all portions tection limit by an order of magnitude. Thus, been verified as actually containing PGM. state, of the but most of them have origi- the NMBMMR can now measurePGM con- Numerous rocks and ore samplesfrom nated from the Caballo Mountains, Sierra centrationsas low as0.001 ozlton (0.03 ppm). throughout the state have been assayedfor County; the Jicarilla Mountains, Lincoln PGM with consistentlynegative results..There County; the Cerrillosarea, Santa Fe County; are, however, a few geologic environments the Roswell area, Chaves Potentially favorable geologic County; and the in New Mexico that may be favorable for Silver City area,Grant County. In environments for PGM in New Mexico caseswhere PGM occurrencesalthough the likelihood of the requesterwas insistent that another lab Ultramafic and mafic rocks economic concentrations is small. Detailed had confirmed presence the of a PGM. du- Many of the world's PGM depositsare in geologicand geochemicalstudies are needed plicate samplesweie analyzedby commer- Archean ultramafic and mafic rocks (Page, to assessthese environments. cial labs known to be familiar with PGM 1986a,b, c; Eckstrand, 1984).There are no analyses.In addition, some samplesfrom the Archeanrocks in New Mefco; however,there (mntinuedon page33)

May 1989 Nat MexicoGeology Future Complementary facilities at NMBMMR Staff and hours The New MexicoLibrary of SubsurfaceData Two additional facilities at the NMBMMR The New Meyico Library of Subsurface Data will continue to incorporate well-completion complement the New Mexico Library of Sub- is manned by three full-time employees of data, logs, drill cuttings, and other impor- surface Data. The GeotechnicalInformation the New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Min- tant data into its collections. Present space Center is a repository for records,publica- eral Resources: Ron Broadhead (Head Petro- is sufficient to accommodatelog and sample tions, maps, and other reportspertaining to leum Geologist), Richard Chavez (Assistant additions for at least five more years.After mines, prospects, mineral industries, and Head), and Annabelle Lopez (Petroleum that time, spacelimitations may mandatethat geology of New Mexico. Many documents Records Clerk). The full-time staff members donations to the cuttings and log collections stored in the GeotechnicalInformation Cen- are present to process, catalog, and interpret be acceptedselectively. ter contain information valuable to those data and to see to the needs of visitors and A plan has beeninitiated recentlyto make exploring for petroleum in the state.The cen- other clients. Two or three students are em- well-completion and production data avail- ter is managed by Elizabeth Reynolds, (505) ployed part-time to process new logs and to able on computer; it will take from eight to 835-5145. wash and process new drill cuttings prior to ten years to completedigitization of the data. The NMBMMR core library contains nu- srorage. This form of cataloging on computer will al- merousdrill coresfrom throughoutthe state. The New Mexico Library of Subsurface Data low users of the library to search more effi- Although most corescome from holes drilled is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 ciently through well records to find the data for mineral prospects,several are from pe- a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The telephone number is they need, thereby saving time and effort troleum explorationand developmentwells. (s05)83s-s402. n that can be better devoted to other phasesof The core library is managedby JamesRob- their projects. ertson/ (505)835-5125.

(continuedt'rom page 30) (abs.): Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Northrop, S. A., 1959, Minerals of New Mexico: Univer- Programs, v.15, p.572. sity of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 655 pp. References Greenwood, N. N., and Earnshaw, A.,1984, Chemistry Owen, R., and Cox, E. T., 1865, Report on the mines of of the elements: Pergamon Press, Lld., Orford, Eng- New Mexico: J. S. Watts, WashinIton, D.C., 59 pp. Bingler, E. C., 1968, Geology and mineral resources oI land, 1543 pp. Page, N. J., 1986a, Descriptive model of Rio Arriba County, New Mexico: New Mexico Bureau Griswold, G. B., 1959, Mineral deposits of Lincoln Counfy, PGE; ln Cox, D. P and Singer, D. A. (eds.), Mineral of Mines and Mineral Resources, Bulletin 91, 158 pp. New Mexico: New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral deposit models: U.S. Geological Survey, Bulletin 1693, Blair, W. N., Page, N. and M. G., 1977, Map J., Johnson, Resources, Bulletin 67, 117 pp. P. 14. and list of reported occurrences of platinum-group mei- Haffty, Joseph, and Riley, L.8.,797'1, Suggested method Page, N. J,,1986b, Descriptive model of Duluth Cu-Ni- als in the conteminous United States: U.S. Geoioeical for spectrochemical analysis of geologic materials by PCE; in Cox, D. P and Singer, D. A. (eds.), Mineral Survey, Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF861, 2 the fire assay preconcentration-intermittent d-c arc deposit models: U.S. Geological Survey, Bulletin 1693, sheets. technique; ln'Methods for emission spectro-chemical p. 76. Cavin, W. Connolly, R., parchman, J., Jr., Edwards, P L., analysis: American Society for Testing, and Malerials, Page, N. J.,7986c, Descriptive model of Noril'sk Cu-Ni, M., and Woodward, L. A., 1982, Precambrian stratiq- 6th edition, pp. 1,027-1,037. PGE; ln Cox, D. P. and Singer, D. A. (eds.), Mineral raphy of Manzanita and north Manzano Mounl.aini, Harley, G. T., 1934, The geology and ore deposits of Sierra deposit models: U.S. Ceological Survey, Bulletin 1593, New Mexico: New Mexico Geological Society, Guide- County, New Mexico: New Mexico Bureau of Mines P.77. book to 33rd Field Conference, pp. 797-196. and Mineral Resources, Bulletin 10, 220 pp. Phillips, K. A., 1980, Platinum in Arizona: Arizona De- Eckshand, O. R., 1984, Magmatic , copper, plati- )ohnson, M. G., 1972, Placer gold deposits of New Mex- partment of Mineral Resources, Circular 3, 3 pp. num group elements; ln Eckstrand, (ed.), O. R. Ca- ico: U.S. Ceological Survey, Bulletin 7M8, 46 pp. Robertson, J. M., and Moench, R. H., 1979, The Pecos nadian mineral deposit types: A geological synopsis: Jones, F. W., 1904a, New Mexico; in Report of the Director greenstone belt: a Proterozoic volcano-sedimentary se- Geological Survey of , Economii Geoiogy Re- of the Mint upon the preciousmetal; in the U.S. during quence in the southern Sangre de Cristo Mountiins, port 36, pp. 39-42. the calendar year 1903: U.S. Government Printing Of- New Mexico: New Mexico Geological Society, Guide- R. '165-773. Ellis, W., 1930, New Mexico mineral deposits except fice, Washington, D.C., pp.97 .102. book to 30th Field Conference, pp. fue1s: University of New Mexico, Bulletin 167, geolog- Jones, F. A., 1904b, New Mexico mines and minerals: The Schilling, ). H., 1960, Mineral resources of Taos County, ical series, v. 4, no.2, 1.48 pp. New Mexican Printing Co., Santa Fe, 349 pp. New Mexico: New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Elston, W E., 1967, Summary of the mineral resources Jones, F. A., 7908, Epitome of the economic geology oI Resources, BulletinTT, 124 pp. of Bernalillo, Sandoval, and Santa Fe Counties, New New Mexico; New Mexico Bureau of Immigration, Santa Schmepfe, M. M., and Grimaldi, F. 5., 7969, Determi- Mexico: New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Re- Fe,47 pp. nation of palladium and platinum by atomic absorp- sources, Bulletin 81, 81 pp. |ones, F. A., 1975, The mineral resources of New Mexico: tion: Talanta, v. 16, pp.591-595. Eveleth, R. W., Bieberman, and R. A., 1984, Minerat and New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, U.S. Bureau o( Mines, 1987, Mineral commodity sum- mineral-fuel production activities in New Mexico dur- Bulletin 1, Z pp. maries 1987: U.S. Department of the Interior, 189 pp. ing 1982; ln Annual Report July 1, 1982, to June 30, Lindgren, W., Graton, L. C., and Gordon, C. H., 1910, Wyman, W. F., 1980, Precambrian geology of the Cow 1983, 56th year: New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Min- The ore deposits of New Mexico: U.S. Geological Sur- Creek ultramafic complex, San Miguel County, New eral Resources, pp. 27-j3. vey, Professional taper 68, 361 pp. Mexico: Unpublished M.S. thesis, New Mexico Insti- Fain, C. O., 1910, Taos County, New Mexico: South-West- Mutschler, F. E., Griffin, M. E., Stevens, D. S., and Shan- tute of Mining and Technology. 125 pp. ern Mines, v.2, no.3, pp. 3-4. non, S. S., lr., 1985, deposits related to Zienteck, M. L.. Allcott, G., Page, N. J., and Menzie, W. Finch, R. J., Ikramuddin, M., Mutschler, F. E., and Shan- alkaline rocks in the North American Cordillera -an 8., 1988, Opportunities for a platinum-group-element non, S. S., Jr-, 1983, Precious metals in alkaline suite interpretive review: Transactions Geological Society resource appraisal of the United States: U.S. Geological porphyry copper systems in western South Africa, v. 88, pp. 355-i77. Suruep Open-file Report 88-254, 14 pp. t

Nao Mexico Geology May 7989