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Sulfide/Barite/Fluorite Mineral Deposits, Guadalupe Mountains

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Sulfide/Barite/Fluorite Mineral Deposits, Guadalupe Mountains Sulfide/barite/fluoritemineraldeposits, Guadalupe Mountains, NewMexico and west Texas byCarol A. Hrl/,Consulting Geologist, 17 ElArco Drive, Albuquerque, NM87123 Abstract along Basinand Rangefault zones(Wood, Rocky Arroyo prospect (Teepeemine, Sulfide/barite/fluorite mineral depos- 1958).The Bird and Bissettmines in the Pitts and Price,fr.) its in the Guada.lupeMountains are sim- Glass Mountains are associatedwith in- The Rocky Arroyo prospect (RA) is in ilar to those elsewhere in the Delaware trusive bodies (King, 1930).Despite var- SEt/c sec. 26 T2lS R24E along Walt Can- Basin: (1) they are all mineralogically iations in location (from Guadalupe yon -1 km (-0.6 mi) south of NM-137 simple (containing pyrite and usually Mountains to Fort Stockton;Fig. 1) and where the road crossesRockv Arroyo. This sphalerite, calcite, dolomite, and some- geologic association (igneous intrusions, prospect, unlike most of the other mineral times barite, fluorite, or galena);(2) most faults, structural and stratigraphic traps), depositsin the GuadalupeMountains, is have sulfur-isotope values ranging from the mineral deposits around the margins 6vS= - 9 to + (3) have not a sulfide deposit. It is a uranium de- 5%o;and most car- of the Delaware Basin appear to be re- bon-orygen-isotope values ranging from posit where uranium (as much as 2.35Vo; 6t:g- - 5 lo - !5%o,61EO: - 3 to - 107oo. lated. Mineralogy in all of the deposits is Waltman, 1954;Mclemore, 1983)as well The deposits are in structural and strat- similar, and sulfur-isotope values of sul- as arsenic,barium, copper, molybdenum, igraphii traps, occupying the same po- fide minerals usually fall within a fairly nickel (Table 1) are concentrated in -9 and sition as many of the cavesin the narrow range of values(6sS: to I5%o, hydrocarbon (thucholite) pellets dissem- Guadalupe Mountains. The sulfide/bar- CDT) regardlessof location (Fig. 2). Car- inated in the dolomite of the PermianSeven ite/fluorite deposits around the Dela- bon-oxygen-isotope values of ganguecal- Rivers Formation (not in the Yates For- ware Basin are considered to be of the cite also usually plot within a discrete mation as statedby Finch, 1972).The dis- Mississippi Valley type (MVTs). isotopic field (ore-sparfield, PDB, Fig. 3). The origin of MW mineral deposits tribution of the pellets seems to be in the Guadalupe Mountains may be re- controlled by a small, inclined fracture zone lated to the degassing of the Delaware (Motts, 1962), alongwhich a 2 x 2 x 20 Basin where HrS moved from basin to Description of mineral deposits m (6.5 x 6.5 x 65 ft) adit has been ex- carbonate-reefmargin and accumulated Mines, prospects, and other mineral cavated in the dolomite. Hill (1989)re- there in structuraland shatigraphictraps. deposits ported a U-Pb ageof 350-449Ma for the Mineral deposition is believed to be Ol- in the Guadalupe Mountains will be described from the vicinity of Carls- hydrocarbon pellets and suggested that igocene-Miocene in age, a time when these pellets might possibly be derived these traps were still within the reduced bad, New Mexico, southwestward to- zone. Later, in the Pliocene-Pleistocene, ward Guadalupe Peak, Texas.In Fig. 1 from the uranium-rich Devonian Wood- as the mountains uplifted and regional mine localities are identified with letter ford shale in the subsurface. baselevel dropped, the trapped H2Sgas symbols. Mclemore (1983) reported two other was oxidized to sulfuric acid at or near uranium-petroleum sitesin the Rocky Ar- the water table, and the sulfuric acid dis- royo area: the W. H. ShafferRanch pits at solved out the large cave passages.Us- sec.27 T21S R24Eand a roadcut site at Golden Eagle mine (Lucky Strike, Lone ing the Delaware Basin as an example, NE1/+sec. 24 T2lS R24E. In the roadcut Eagle, or Ammon) I propose that the degassingof basinsis site anhydrite-nodulemolds are filled with a possible alternative model for the or- The Golden Eagle mine (GE) is in SW calcite;some also contain "dead oil." Ura- igin of other MVT deposits. 1/+sec. 74T2lS R25Eabout 13 km (8 mi) nium minerals in the "dead oil" have been northwest of Carlsbad,New Mexico.It is dated radiometrically as Permian (Purvis recorded in the files of the Eddv Countv et al.,1988,p.97). Introduction Courthousethat H. H. Davidsonand Oh The sulfide/barite/fluorite deposits in the Davidson sold a claim on the property on Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico and April 15, 7929, for $200 to the Carlsbad Little Walt prospect Texas, have been studied by King (L948), Copper Company, a partnershipconsist- Little Walt prospect (LW) is in SW'L sec. Mclemore (1983), Thompson (1983), and ing of foe Morosi and others,who named 2T2lS R24E.Motts (1962)speculated that North and Mclemore (1986, 1988). Most the claim the Lucky Strike no. 1. Soul6 the Little Walt was a copper mine like the of the mines and prospects in the Gua- (1956)used the names Lone Eagle and Golden Eagle, but in actuality very little dalupe Mountains probably were devel- Ammon for the mine, but the name Golden copper exists there (Table 1). Little Walt oped in the early 1900s(Thompson, 1983). Eagleappeared on Motts' (1962)map and "mine" is a prospect about 15 m (50 ft) or The mineral deposits are small (probably is the name that is used in this report. so in diameter and 2 m (6.5 ft) deep. A only a few tens of tons) and of low eco- Mclemore (1983,pp. 1-9L)described the 7.5-m-deep (24.6-ft-deep)shaft reported nomic potential. However, these mineral mine as an "open pit 6 m deep with a 7.5 by Mclemore (1983)was not observed at deposits are an important and integral part m decline (caved)." the site. The prospect is a slightly radio- of the geologic history of the Delaware The predominant mineralization at the active iron gossan (30 cps; Mclemore, Basin and may be crucial to understand- Golden Eagle mine is copper, but the de- 1983). Thin veins of resinous sphalerite ing the origin of all Mississippi Valley- posit also includes relatively high amounts were found in mineralized rock scattered type (MVT) deposits (Hill, 1993a,b). of lead and uranium (UrOr:0.004Vo, over the ground surface. Mineral deposits in the Apache and Cu: 1,.05Vo,Mclemore, 1983;Pb :2590 The Little Walt prospect has the same Glass Mountains, although more exten- ppm, Table1). Greenmalachite is distrib- structural and stratigraphic position as the sive than those in the Guadalupe Moun- uted fairlv uniformlv as matrix material Golden Eaglemine: along a biohermal an- tains, have not been economicallv throughout the basafsiltstoneof the Yates ticline (part of the Waterhole anticlinor- profitable because of their small size, loi Formation. The mine is locatedalong an ium and Carlsbad fold complex) and at grade, and remoteness. The Seven Heart anticlinal (biohermal) feature trending ap- the baseof the YatesFormation. The Little Gap barite mine and the Buck zinc pros- proximatelyparallel to the reeffront (Motts, Walt anticline is the northern continua- pect in the Apache Mountains are located 7962\. tion of an anticlinal structure along which August 1993 Nao MexicoGeology ( \ /'1 ( v GYI CARL Wo MF 6l''*) 2Lo ( I Dc. o C l)l u BLS. o LCo,J ( ^El9 Slnlr C ! *'o9 ln '#x Lt3 gr DDM -t- H- "!$4; Breccio {/'1. q\ $(4+ \,\ cp.\\ 36Mo \ \ SIERRA \ \ DTABLo \ / MTS ./ I 7HG I I \ oTG 3cL8K ''-^',,; ; ii"'i Fl. Slockton LEGEND SCALE 1 N a 2Okn. 'i,r, -/ol DISSOLUTION EDGE J4a r cENozorc FILL ,'1.'i..i'.j DEEPCENOZOTC r"-t f #.!"n, 39-37 Mo FIGURE l-Location map of sites mentioned in the text, table, and other figures. Counterclockwisefrom Carlsbad, New Mexico, around and then : within the Delaware Basin: GE Golden Eagle mine, RA = Rocky Arroyo prospect, LW : Little Walt prospect,-= MH : McKittrick Hill pyrite, MF = Middle Fork Waterhole marcasite, DC = Dark Canyon pyrite/marcasite,-2L : Two Ladies prospect, JG Jurnigan gossan, LC : Lechuguilla : : !gve, GR_: Guadalupe Ridge pyrite, 3F Three Fingers Cave Ridge pyrite, FC Fir Canyoh prospect, QG : Queen of the Guadalupes mine, CWC : Cottonwood Cave, LR : LonesomeRidge pyrite, L13 : Lucky 13 prospect, DDM = Devil's Den mine adit, DDP = Devil's Den prospects, CT : Calumet and Tejasmine, GH : Grisham Hunter prospect, GC : Glori Cave fluorite, BS = Bell Springs prospect, MC : McKittrick Cinyon : : : pyrite, CP _ Clve Peak fluorite, 7}{G Seven Heart Gap-: barite mine, BZ Buck zinc prospect, BD-: Bircl mine, BT Bissett mine, CCK : Comanche Creek, LN : Los Nietos, TG : TexasGulf, C Culberson sulfur mine, P : ?okorny sulfur deposit, LM = Leonard Minerals sulfur deposit, YH = Yeso Hills pyrite, BLS : Bell Lake sink. Basemap from Anderson (1981). 13 Nm Mexico Geology August 7993 all of the McKittrick Hill cavesare devel- 6 3as oped (Dry, Endless, McKittrick, Sand, and -30 -20 -to +lO +20 Little Sand; Hill, 1987). Pyrite collected MVT SULFIDES from the area of the McKittrick Hill caves GuadalupeMountains (backreef-reef) was analyzed by M. Buck (pers. comm. Ilrite, McKittrick Hill - 1989) for its sulfur-isotope content (MH, (M. Buck,p. c. 1989) Fig. 1; Fig. 2). Sphalerite,Jumigan gossan a Sphalerite,Little walt prospect a Pyrite,Guadalupe Ridge T Middle Fork Waterhole marcasite Pyrite,Three Fingers Cave Ridge a This site (MF) is in NE1/r sec. 16 T22S Pyrite,Lonesome Ridge a R25E about 1 km (0.6 mi) north of the Pyrite,Fir Canyonmine I Middle Fork Waterhole and 1 km (0.6 mi) Pyrite,Lucky 13prospect a south of Boyd's Canyon. The iron-sulfide Sphalerite,Grisham Hunter prospect o mineralization at this location has been Sphalerite,Devils Den prospect a identified as marcasite (P.
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