Progress Reports
E-1*: Stratiform copper mineralization in the Nacimiento region, New Mexico
by W. H. Kaufman, O. L. Schumacher, and L. A. Woodward, 1972, 9 p.
(*The first 7 publications in this series were designated "target exploration" reports)
In the region of the Nacimiento uplift there is widespread copper mineralization in sedimeatary rocks ranging from the Pennsylvanian Madera Formation to the Agua Zarca Member of the Chide Formation of Triassic age. Copper-bearing sulfides are closely associated with carbonaceous fossil plant material and are surrounded by halos of malachite, chrysocolla, and azurite in the interstices of the clastic host rocks.
Commercial amounts of ore apparently occur at fossil logjams within paleochannels. Primary sedimentary structures in the paleochannels can be used to project trends for exploration. Major faults post-date deposition of the ore and, therefore, can be expected to offset some of the ore bodies.
New Mexico Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources
New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology
801 Leroy Place
Socorro, NM 87801-4796
information: (575) 835-5420
fax: (575) 835-6333
http://geoinfo.nmt.edu
The New Mexico Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources is a research and service division of:
