ities and are generallysparse throughout the Baritein theWhite Sands Missile Range centralarea. The northern depositsexhibit a closeassociation with fault or shearzones. but byThomas J Smith,Washington State University, Pullman, WA toward the south the mineralizationtends to bein the form of replacementdeposits in lime- stoneor dolomite.Associated minerals almost This study of the barite occurrenceswithin mines with appreciablebarite nor any mine alwaysinclude galena and fluorite in at least the confinesof the U.S. Army White Sands calledthe Stevens; therefore, the mine referred minor amounts. Toward the north copper MissileRange (WSMR) is essentiallypart of a to probablyis the one at Bear Canyon.If so, mineralsare occasionally present. larger work concerningbarite in New Mexico this locationwould be the sourcefor the only The northernmostof the SanAndres depos- and is intendedto providea preliminaryreport reportedbarite production from any property its is the Independencemine (locality 2, fig.2), on the subjectfor an isolatedsection of the within therange boundaries. Production from locatedin a small north-south-trendingcan- state.Only limited field time was allottedfor activemines ceased when the federalgovern- yon at Mockingbird Gap. The property is the range project becauseof Departmentof ment withdrew the area for a missiletesting composedof six patentedclaims originally the Army restrictions;therefore, some oc- facilityin thelate 1940'sand early 1950's. locatedby J. B. Leasure.Development of the currencescould not be visited. As a result, Bariteis reportedat l4 localitieswithin the propertyincludes a timberedll4-ft two-com- descriptionsby other authors have been in- range,including one in the SierraOscura and partmentshaft, an 80-ft untimberedshaft ap- cludedas noted in thetext. 13 in the San Andres Mountains(fie. 2). All proximately300 ft southof the first, and sev- The missilerange encompasses about 3,000 the occurrencesare hydrothermal-type depos- eralprospect pits. sqmi of south-centralNew Mexico(fie. l) and its and are mostly replacementdeposits in Barite occursas minor ganguein lead-zinc includeswithin its boundariesthe San An- limestoneor dolomiteor associatedwith fault ores in a silicified and brecciatedfault zone dres and SierraOscura mountain rangesand or shearzones. No residualor sedimentary- that strikesnearly due north and dips60'east. parts of the TularosaBasin and Jornadadel typedeposits have been observed. A summary Mineralizationis confinedto limestonethat is Muerto.Mineral exploration and development of the locationsand geology of the occur- probablypart of the El PasoFormation (Or- in the area beganin the late 1800'sand was rencesis providedin tablel. property pro- confinedprincipally to the SanAndres Moun- dovician).As of 1941,the had (Walter, tains. Most of the initial interestwas in pre- SierraOscura duced60 tons of lead concentrates l94l); however, a 20-ft chip sample taken cious metals; not until after the turn of the The only known barite occurrencein the acrossthe fault zone by the U.S. Bureauof centurydid much activitybegin on othercom- SierraOscura that lies on the missilerange is Mines assayedonly 7.0 percentBaSO. (Wil- modities. The first important discoveryof the Miera prospect(locality l, fie. 2). Al- liamsand others,1964). a barite deposit probably was made around thoughthe propertywas not visitedduring the In the LavaGap area,approximately l0 mi 1900by J. Bennett.He locateda number of courseof this investigation,the Miera pros- south of the Independencegroup, barite was claims-primarily for lead-in the BearCan- pect is probably locatedin limestonesof the observedin a numberof small deposits.The yon districtof thesouthern San Andres Moun- MagdalenaGroup (Pennsylvanian),high atop less important occurrences,located high on tains.Talmage and Wootton (1937)noted that a north-south-trendingridge that forms the the westslope of Capitol Peak,are associated a carload of barite was shipped from the westwall of a narrow canyon.Williams and with coppermineralization related to a north- Stevensmine in the OrganMountains in 1932. others (1964)describe the depositas fissure south-trendingfault system.Two fluorspar A survey of the Organ district revealedno filling in a fault zone; the barite occurswith depositscontain the more substantialquan- quartz and minor fluorspar in massivesili- titiesof baritein thearea. Both aresituated on ceousrock. Apparently,the mineralizationis low ridgeswithin a wide valleyand areassoci- similarin characterto that in the Hansonburg ated with faults in the PantherSeep Forma- district, which is approximatelyI mi to the tion (Pennsylvanian). north, just off therange. The BasoFour mine (locality3, fig. 2) con- The property consistsof two unpatented sistsof two claimsoriginally located in 1925as claims,the Sixty-sixand the SantaRita, which the LavaGap Nos. I and2. Mineralizationoc- werelocated in 1939and l94l by J. Miera. cursin a singlevein that strikesN. 20' E. and Workingsconsist of a20- by 30-by l0-ft open is exposedfor a few thousand feet by numer- cut on the Sixty-sixand a small prospectpit ous prospectpits. A 60-ft shaft sunk toward on the SantaRita. No productionfrom either claimhas been reported. SanAndres Mountains The San Andres Mountains extend north IN THISISSUE: from San Agustin Passfor about 85 mi to Baritein White SandsMissile Range p. 1 MockingbirdGap. The eastside of theridge is a steepescarpment that exposesPrecambrian Ground-waterhead distribution of rocksoverlain by westward-dippingPaleozoic PecosRiver basin p.6 sediments.The crestaverages between 7,000 ERTSphotomosaic map of New ml and 8,000ft in elevationand towersmore than Mexico p.11 0 50 t00 3,000ft abovethe TularosaBasin to the east FIGURE l-LocarroN eNDEXTENToF Wsrrs Snuns (fig. 3). Barite occurrencesin the range are Service/News p.13 Mrssrlr ReNcr. clusteredat the northernand sor.ithernextrem- the middleof a 300-ftopen cut constitutesthe Io56 main workings.Although the vein is predomi- nantlyfluorspar, considerable barite occurs at t090 to70 EXPLANATION thenorthern end of theopen cut. A prospectof unknown name or history, which Williams and others (1964)refer to as Polsozoicrocks theSection 29 prospect(locality 4, fig. 2), con- ''n gangue vein pur- f\:i-'i-|al i,.:i:'i i tains barite as minor in a of V.Ac,tl ple and greenfluorite. Mineralizationoccurs ttP,?l :ttrl in a brecciatedzone along a fault contact Precombrionrocks betweengray shaleand limestone.The vein strikesN. 20oE. abrossa saddleand dips 55' NW. The workingson the westside consist of Terlioryinlrusive I NDEX MAP OF NEW MEXICO a 150-ft open cut with a shaft of unknown depth sunkat the southernend. A smallpros- ITK I pectpit on the eastflank showsmassive white Tertiory I Creloceous rocks bariteassociated with minor amountsof mala- J\ -t<- chite. SalinasPeak, rising to nearly9,000 ft, is the Foult Syncline boll on most prominent featureof the northern San downlhrownside Andres Mountains. The uppermost1,000 ft arecomposed of an extensiveTertiary rhyolite sill that weathersinto characteristictalus slopes(fig. 4) and exhibitscolumnar jointing in many localities.On the easternflank of the mountain, the sill overliesthe Lead Camp Limestone(Pennsylvanian); while to the west, the units intertongueand are overlainby the PantherSeep Formation. The threemost sig- nificantbarite deposits in the areaoccur along thePanther Seep-rhyolite sill contact. The Salinasmine (locality 6, fig.2), whichis noted on the U.S. GeologicalSurvey topo- graphicquadrangle, and a mine referredto as the Unnamedmine (locality 5, fie. 2) by Wil- liams and others (1964) are approximately 4,500ft apart and are separatedby a shallow drainage. Structural relationshipsand min- New AAexnc@ GEOLOGY . Scioncoand Seruice Volume 3, Number 1 , F€bruary 1 981 publishedquarlerly bY New MexicoBureau of Mines& Mineral Resurcs a divisionof New MexicoInstitute of Mining & Tshnology BOARDOFRTcENTS Ex Officio Br\ce King, Governor oJ New Mexico L@ndd Delayo, S/p€rirtendenl oJ Public lrctruction Appointed William G Abbott, Secty/Treas.,196l-1985, Hobbs Judy Floyd, Pres, 1977-1981,Las Cruces OwenLopez, 1971-1983,Sonta Fe Dave Rice, 1972-1983,Catlsbod SteveTorres, 1967-1985,Socoilo Ncw MexicoInstiture of Mining & T@hnology Pr$idilt. ... Kenn€thw,Ford New Mcxico Bureauof Min€s& Mineral Resources Direclor . Frank E. Kottlowski DeputtDirector. ..,... ..Georges Austin BureouEditor-Geologbt. - - - .. .RobertW Kelley Subscriptio6: Issu€d quarterly, February, May, August, November;subscription price $4 00/yr Edilorial mallet Contributionsof possiblematerial for con- siderationin future issus of NMG ile welcome.Materials Whife cannotbe returnedunless accompanied by return postage 43 nds f Addressinquiries to New Mexico Geology,New Mexico Bureau of Mines & Mineral Resources.Socorro. NM 87801 Circulqtion: l,2oo New MexicoPrinting Plilt FIGURE 2-LocerroN oF BARITEoccuRRENcES tN Wsrre SnNosMrssrlr RaNcB(after Fitzsimmonsand Priuler. Univ€rsityof Kelley, 1980).Numbers refer to table l. Februaryl98l New Mexico Ceology TABLE l-Benrrr opposrrsor Wnrrs Saros Mrssu-pRANcE. See fis. 2 for locations. Location Locality and deposit (sec.,T., R.) Quadrangle Type of deposit l-Miera prospect 12,65.,58. Bingham(15') vein; Magdalena limestone 2-Independence mine 5& 6, 95.,58. MockingbirdGap (15') vein; El Paso (?) Limestone (fault zone) 3-Baso Four mine 30,10s.,58. CapitolPeak (15') vein; Panther Seep Formation (fault zone) 4-Section 29 prospect 29,10s., 5E. CapitolPeak (15') vein; Panther Seep Formation (fault zone)