Bulletin 55—The Pelican area, Palomas (Hermosa) district, Sierra County, New Mexico (preliminary map issue)

By R. H. Jahns, 1957, 5 pp, 1 table, 1 plate.

The Palomas mining district, in northwestern Sierra County, NM, is 27 airline miles west of the Rio Grande and 63 airline miles north of Deming. It lies immediately east of the Black Range, and is traversed from west to east by the steep-walled canyon of Palomas Creek.

Deposits of silver, gold, lead, zinc, and copper are present in the Palomas Camp area, which is less than 1mi² in extent but includes the principle mines in the district. The commercial output from this area has consisted almost wholly of precious metals, and its total value since about 1875 is estimated at approximately $1.5 million. A substantial fraction of this production came from the Pelican mine, on the north side of Palomas Creek.

The geologic relations and possibilities for discovery of additional ore in the Palomas Camp area have been discussed in a short preliminary report, published in 1955 as Circular 33. Supplementary information concerning the stratigraphic and structural relationships within a part of this area is offered in the form of the present map. This map will appear later in a comprehensive report on the entire district, but is released separately at this time in order to make representative geologic data available as promptly as possible.