New Mexico Mineral Symposium — Abstracts

In September of 1991, during a field reconnaissance of the Hansonburg district in connection with a NMBMMR project, a small tunnel was located on the Mex-Tex claims by two of the authors (SKB and MLW). Referred to as the Snake Pit mine, this tunnel is located 0.25 mi to the northwest and approximately 150 ft lower in elevation than the now-collapsed upper Mex-Tex. A truly interesting mineral suite was observed at this locality.

Along with superb specimens of fluorite and galena reminiscent of upper Mex-Tex material, the mineralized zone exposed by a recent collapse revealed a suite of well-crystallized microminerals, including plattnerite, murdochite, rosasite, aurichalcite, calcite, linarite, cerussite, brochantite, hemimorphite, wulfenite, caledonite, and other minerals typical of the district. Perhaps of most significance was the discovery of a mineral that closely resembles scrutinyite. Only a limited amount of this unknown material was recovered, and on a second trip additional specimens were collected for analysis.