New Mexico Mineral Symposium — Abstracts

New Red Beryl find in Paramount Canyon shows promise. The occurrence of red beryl in the Black Range of New Mexico has been known for several decades. One of the most well documented occurrences in the Black Range is that of Paramount Canyon, and several claims for beryl been filed here in the past. Perhaps the most productive claim was the Beryllium Virgin, claimed and worked extensively by Patrick Haynes in the 1980s. An estimated 50–80 crystals were collected on his claim with the largest measuring about 5 mm. A majority of these crystals were collected east of a hematite vein outcropping on the rim of the canyon. A new discovery of red beryl on the old Beryllium Virgin claim was made by Jerry Cone in the summer of 2015. Jerry discovered a rhyolite outcrop west of the exposed hematite vein which has since yielded several dozen red beryl crystals, with the largest measuring just over 5mm. Like previous beryl discoveries in the Black Range, the crystals occur in lithophysal cavities as tabular hexagonal prisms with the c-axis greatly shortened. Small hematite, quartz, opal, sanidine and clay-like minerals are associated with the red beryl at this particular outcrop. Bixbyite, cassiterite, chernovite- (Y), fluorite, gasparite- (Ce), ilmenite, pseudobrookite, rutile, and other minerals can also be found at Paramount Canyon, but seem to be absent at the beryl rich outcrop to the west.

Red beryl is very rare and known only from a handful of localities worldwide, including the Thomas Range and Wah Wah Mountains of Utah, as well as the Black Range of New Mexico. Many rhyolite flows and domes, similar in composition to the beryl-bearing flows in the Black Range and Utah localities, occur across the western United States (Christiansen et al., 1986) All of these flows contain vapor-phase minerals such as bixbyite, hematite, pseudobrookite, and fluorite, but the occurrence of beryl is incredibly rare. In the Wah Wah Mountains, even within the rhyolite flow which hosts the red beryl, the productive open pits comprise only 0.02% of the surface area of the flow (Keith et al., 1994). The conditions that favor the formation of red beryl are apparently rarely achieved even within the premier beryl-bearing flow!

Detailed studies in Utah have better elucidated the nature of beryl deposition at specific localities. In the Wah Wah Mountains, all beryl crystals occur exclusively along shrinkage fractures in devitrified rhyolite, rather than in lithophysal pockets or in unfractured rock (Keith et al., 1994). Many studies have been conducted on the chemistry of the Taylor Creek Rhyolites, but all have been centered around tin deposition rather than beryl (Eggleston et al., 1986 and more). If a better understanding of the conditions of formation of Beryl in the Black Range could be achieved, then perhaps one could prospect for additional deposits at Paramount Canyon and other localities throughout the range.

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