×List of Minerals currently thought to occur at Wind Mountain (from mindat.org; bold=added by the author and/or Jerry Cone , *= EDS, += XRD)
The Wind Mountain laccolith is one of several intrusive igneous bodies found in the Cornudas Mountains. The Cornudas are a small mountain range on the border of New Mexico and Texas which rises above the Diablo Plateau in Otero Co., New Mexico and Hudspeth Co., Texas. Several laccoliths and stocks, along with dikes, sills, and smaller igneous features of varying textures have intruded Permian limestone and other sedimentary rocks in the Cornudas Mountains area (McLemore et al. 1996).
Wind Mountain consists of different textural varieties of syenite porphyry attributed to crystal fractionation, volatile separation and cooling history, not to different pulses of magma (McLemore et al. 1996). These syenite bodies make up a majority of the exposed rock at Wind Mountain, and while most of it is barren of cavites, there are miaroles with nice crystallization to those patient enough to find them and persistent enough to extract them. In these vugs, one is sure to find aegirine, microcline, albite and analcime; one is likely to find thomsonite and natrolite; one will rarely find catapleiite, monazite, georgechaoite, and more. Phonolite dikes crosscut the syenite bodies in multiple places. From one of these dikes on the east side of the mountain, several specimens of bronze-yellow, radiating spherical aggregates of yofortierite were collected (XRD by New Mexico Bureau of Geology). Also, syenite dike-like bodies outcrop in the limestone near the base of the mountain (Boggs 1986). Here one will find the ubiquitous aegirine and albite but also eudialytes are fairly common. These vein-dikes also host heulandite, chabazite, gaidonnayite (possibly georgechaoite) and rarely epididymite. These vein-dikes have metamorphosed the adjacent limestone to a hornfels facies. The emplacement of the main intrusion between sedimentary units altered the country rock to hornfels as well, and one can find large boulders of it on the talus slopes. Small fluorapatite and biotite have been collected from the hornfels to date.
The Cornudas Mountains have been examined for potential economic deposits of gold, silver, beryllium, rare-earth elements, niobium, and uranium, but no production has occurred (McLemore et al. 1996).The nepheline syenite porphyry at Wind Mountain was being considered as raw material for use in dark-colored glass and ceramics. As a result of this prospect, an adit greater than 100 feet in length has been driven into the base of the mountain at the southern end. Wind Mountain is the type locality for the zirconium silicate georgechaoite (Boggs 1985).
Because of its geology, Wind Mountain has incredible potential for an eager mineralogist/collector to discover rare minerals, new minerals to New Mexico, and new minerals to science! This is likely one of the reasons Wind Mountain has historically drawn famous collectors and mineralogists from around the world, and is certainly one of the reasons that inspired the authors to take more than a dozen collecting trips to Wind Mountain. Despite all our time spent hammering, Wind Mountain remains relatively unexplored, and the potential for new mineral discoveries and beautiful mineral specimens remains high to those willing to brave the harsh desert conditions!
