New Mexico Mineral Symposium — Abstracts

Gold mining in New Mexico was reported as early as 1828, but was undoubtedly_ carried on much earlier by the Spanish and possibly by Indians. Total recorded production in New Mexico from 1848-1977 is 2,394,930 troy ounces, ranking New Mexico 12th among the 50 states in gold production. Production peaked in 1915 at 70,681 troy ounces. Most of the gold produced in New Mexico in recent years has been a by-product of copper mining, most notably at the Chino and Continental mines.

The gold deposits of New Mexico are, in general, distributed in a belt 50 to 100 miles wide extending from Hachita, Hidalgo County in the southwest to Elizabethtown, Colfax County in the northeast. The gold deposits are most commonly associated with intrusive rocks of Cretaceous or Tertiary age ranging in composition from quartz monzonite to graodiorite. (Elizabethtown, Central, Pinos Altos, Lordsburg, White Oaks, Nagai, Cochiti, Old Placers, New Placers and Organ districts.) To a lesser extent, the deposits are associated with Tertiary extrusive rocks (Mogollon, Steeple Rock, Hillsboro, and Rosedale districts), and Precambrian rocks (Hopewell, Willow Creek, and Hell Canyon districts). Placer deposits have been important in the Elizabethtown, Pinos Altos, Hopewell, Old Placers, New Placers, and Las Animas districts.

At the present in New Mexico, gold is being produced as a by-product of copper mining in Grant County, by cyanide heap leaching at Mogollon in Catron County and at the Ortiz mine in Santa Fe County, and as lode gold mining in the Steeple Rock district, Grant County and at the Bluebird mine in Santa Fe County. In addition, a number of small operations are also producing minor amounts of gold.