New Mexico Mineral Symposium — Abstracts

Fluorite is infrequently mentioned in early publications dealing with New Mexico minerals and ore deposits. Fayette Jones (1904) does list fluorite from the Gila River and Sierra Oscura in the census of New Mexico minerals but has little else to say. There is no mention of New Mexico fluorite in The Mineral Collector 1894-1909), an early hobbyist magazine, although a number of other New Mexico minerals are mentioned in ads and articles. There is negligible mention of fluorite in Lindgren et al.'s (1910) monumental work on Ore Deposits of New Mexico. Fluorite mining, however, was apparently ongoing as early as the 1880s. Rothrock et al. (1946) state that "The first fluorspar mined in New Mexico came from the Foster mine in the Gila area in the 1880s," and Gillerman (1951) reports that fluorspar was first mined from the Burro Chief mine near Tyrone in the 1880s for use as flux.

Interest in fluorite as specimens was to come much later, although a hint of things to come was the mention of fluorite in an 1892 issue of a mining gazette published in El Paso, Texas (The Bullion 1892). According to The Bullion, "The claims in the main range of the Oscura afford silver-lead mineral (sic), the latter occurring as a sulphide in large cubes, frequently in clusters frosted with a thin crystal coating of fluorspar and calcite, forming the most beautiful cabinet specimens to be found in New Mexico." In recent years fluorite has become one of the most popular minerals sought by collectors. A number of New Mexico locations have produced high quality specimens featuring a wide variety of habits, forms, and colors. Twenty of the state's 33 counties have reported fluorite occurrences (Rothrock et al. 1946). Grant County leads with 30 locations, followed by Sierra County with 16 locations, and Luna County with 14 locations. Fluorite is not reported from virtually any of the eastern counties.

Most of the fluorite on display today in public and private collections in New Mexico has been collected in very recent years by a handful of individuals. These dedicated (obsessed?) collectors and/or dealers have brought forth specimens instantly recognizable by the cognosenti from London to Tokyo as being from New Mexico. Our presentation will feature some of these fabulous fluorites and their renowned (notorious?) collectors.

References:

1. Gillerman, E., 1951, Fluorspar deposits of Burro Mountains and vicinity, New Mexico: U.S.Geological Survey, Bulletin 973-F.
2. Jones, F. A., 1904, New Mexico mines and minerals: World's Fair edition, Santa Fe: New Mexico Printing Company.
3. Lindgren, W., Graton, L. C., and Gordon, C. H., 1910, The ore deposits of New Mexico: The Mineral Collector, 1894-1909, v. 1-15, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 68, 361 pp.
4. Rothrock, H. E., Johnson, C. H., and Han, A. D., 1946, Fluorspar resources of New Mexico: New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, Bulletin 21, 239 pp.
5. The Bullion, 1891, Territorial newspaper published in El Paso, Texas, 10:3 (July 19, 1892).