BULLETIN 37 Geology and Mineral Deposits of Lake Valley Quadrangle, Grant, Luna, and Sierra Counties, New Mexico BY HENRY L. JICHA, JR. Stratigraphy and structure of sedimentary and volcanic rocks and descriptions of mining districts 1954 STATE BUREAU OF MINES AND MINERAL RESOURCES NEW MEXICO INSTITUTE OF MINING & TECHNOLOGY CAMPUS STATION SOCORRO, NEW MEXICO NEW MEXICO INSTITUTE OF MINING & TECHNOLOGY E. J. Workman, President STATE BUREAU OF MINES AND MINERAL RESOURCES Eugene Callaghan, Director THE REGENTS MEMBERS Ex OFFICIO The Honorable Edwin L. Mechem ............ Governor of New Mexico Tom Wiley .......................... Superintendent of Public Instruction APPOINTED MEMBERS Robert W. Botts ........................................................... Albuquerque Holm O. Bursum, Jr. ................................................................... Socorro Thomas M. Cramer ............................................................ Carlsbad Frank C. DiLuzio ............................................................ Los Alamos A. A. Kemnitz .............................................................................. Hobbs FRONTISPIECE VIEW OF LAKE VALLEY (circa 1905). TOWN OF LAKE VALLEY IN THE LAST DAYS OF THE SILVER BOOM. COMPARE WITH PLATE 2-A. Picture by Henry Schmidt, from the collection of Ray- mond Schmidt. Contents Page ABSTRACT ........................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................. 2 Geography and physiography ....................................................... 2 Nature of investigation ................................................................... 3 Acknowledgments ......................................................................... 3 Previous geologic work ....................................................................... 3 GEOLOGY .................................................................................. 4 The rocks ................................................................................... 6 Precambrian system .................................................................. 6 Cambro-Ordovician ................................................................ 6 Bliss sandstone .......................................................................................... 6 Ordovician system .......................................................................... 8 El Paso group .................................................................................... 8 Montoya group .................................................................... 11 Silurian system ................................................................................. 15 Fusselman limestone ..................................................................... 15 Devonian system ....................................................................... 15 Percha shale ........................................................................... 15 Mississippian system ........................................................................ 16 Caballero formation ........................................................... 16 Lake Valley formation ........................................................ 17 Kelly limestone .................................................................. 21 Pennsylvanian system ...................................................................... 21 Magdalena group ............................................................... 21 Permian (?) system ..................................................................... 24 Lobo formation ................................................................... 24 Cretaceous system ............................................................................ 26 Sarten sandstone ...................................................................... 26 Colorado shale ....................................................................... 27 Tertiary system ...................................................................... 27 Santa Fe (?) formation ................................................................... 28 Other sediments ................................................................. 30 Page Quaternary System ……………………………………………………….. 30 Pleistocene (?) gravels ............................................................. 30 Terrace gravels ................................................................ 30 Talus ............................................................................ 31 Bolson deposits and alluvium ................................................ 31 Summary ........................................................................... 31 Intrusive rocks ........................................................................... 37 Granodiorite porphyry ............................................................ 37 Tertiary volcanic rocks ........................................................ 38 Petrographic methods ................................................................. 38 Macho pyroxene andesites ........................................................ 39 Rubio Peak formation ......................................................... 40 Sugarlump tuffs ......................................................................... 42 Kneeling Nun rhyolite tuff .................................................. 44 Mimbres Peak formation ....................................................... 45 Pollack quartz latite ............................................................ 47 Razorback formation .......................................................... 47 Bear Springs basalt ................................................................... 48 Petrological notes .................................................................. 49 Dike rocks ............................................................................. 49 Structural geology ........................................................................ 54 Folds .............................................................................. 54 Faults ............................................................................. 54 Tectonic history .................................................................... 59 MINERAL DEPOSITS .................................................... 60 Cooks Peak and Jose mining districts ................................................. 60 Geologic relations ................................................................. 60 Character of the ores .................................................................... 60 Silicification ...................................................................... 62 Sources of the mineralizing solutions .......................................... 64 History and production ............................................................ 64 Future possibilities .................................................................. 65 Old Hadley (Graphic) mining district ......................................... 66 Occurrence .............................................................................. 67 Character of the ores .................................................................... 68 Page Lake Valley mining district .......................................................... 68 General geologic features of the district……..………………… 68 Nature and composition of the ores ............................................ 69 Nature, sequence, and source of mineralizing solutions ............ 70 Oxidation of the ores ............................................................. 70 History and Production……………………………………………..71 Future possibilities .................................................................. 74 Macho district .............................................................................. 74 Location and geologic setting .................................................... 74 Pattern of mineralization ........................................................... 75 Nature of the ores .................................................................... 77 Mine workings ................................................................ 79 History and production ............................................................ 79 Future possibilities .................................................................. 80 Victory claims ........................................................................... 80 Perlite deposits ..................................................................... 80 Regional features of mineralization .............................................. 81 Structural relations .............................................................. 81 Origin of the mineralizing solutions ......................................... 81 SUMMARY .......................................................................... 83 REFERENCES .................................................................... 84 APPENDIX ................................................................. 87 Explanation of the geologic sections accompanying the geologic map of Lake Valley quadrangle ................................................ 87 INDEX ............................................................................... 89 Illustrations Page TABLES 1. Generalized stratigraphic section of Lake Valley quadrangle . 4-5 2. Comparative thicknesses of the Lake Valley formation in various parts of Cooks Range and the Lake Valley area ......................... 19 3. Generalized