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Barite & Fluorite in New Mexico

— Virginia T. McLemore
Ba
Figure 1. Mining districts containing barite and fluorite in New Mexico.

Barite and fluorite are critical minerals because these commodities are mostly imported from other countries. Barite (BaSO4) is a heavy, nonmetallic material containing 65.7% barium oxide (BaO) and 34.3% sulfur trioxide (SO3) and crystallizes in flat crystals having lateral dimensions several times their thickness. The mineral is translucent to opaque with a vitreous luster, commonly colorless to white, but sometimes in light shades of red, yellow, or blue. It is the heaviest nonmetallic mineral, with a specific gravity of 4.5 and is used in drilling muds, as a filler and extender in many manufactured materials, and in heavy cements. Fluorspar is the commercial name for fluorite, calcium fluoride (CaF2). The name, derived from the Latin word to flow, refers to its low melting point and its early use in metallurgy as a flux. It is the principal industrial source of the element fluorine, used to manufacture hydrofluoric acid, which is critical in the manufacture of many materials.

Barite and fluorite occur in a variety of deposits throughout New Mexico (Fig. 1; McLemore and Austin, 2017). Commercial production of barite in New Mexico began in 1918 (Table 1) and fluorite in 1880, but production in New Mexico of both minerals have been insignificant compared with national production and consumption. Barite was produced from the Hansonburg district for many years and concentrated at a mill in San Antonio. Other areas have produced barite (Table 1). Fluorite mills were at Deming and Los Lunas. Fissure vein deposits in Proterozoic granites in the Caballo Mountains, Cooke's Range, Burro Mountains, and Zuni Mountains are, or have been, the most important type of fluorite deposit both quantitatively and productively in New Mexico (Table 2).

The resource potential for barite and fluorite in most known districts is moderate to high, but production in the near future is unlikely because most of New Mexico's deposits are small compared to elsewhere in the U.S.

Table 1. Barite production in New Mexico.
DISTRICT AND MINE ID DISTRICT (MINE) BARITE PRODUCTION
(SHORT TONS)		 CUMULATIVE ESTIMATED VALUE ($) PERIOD OF PRODUCTION REFERENCES
Doña Ana County
DIS024 NMDA0019 Bear Canyon (Stevens) 50 <500 1932 Dunham (1935), Williams et al. (1964), McLemore (1994)
DIS030 NMDA0051  Organ Mountains (Devil’s Canyon, Tennessee, Golden Lily, Ruby) 600 15,000-75,000 1933, mid 1900s Talmage and Wootton (1937), Rothrock et al. (1946), Williams (1966), Williams et al. (1964), McAnulty (1978), McLemore (1994)
NMDA0056.
NMDA0077
NMDA0152
DIS032 NMDA0202 Rincon (Palm Park, Horseshoe) 10,250 <100,000 unknown Williams et al. (1964), Filsinger (1988)
DIS035 Tonuco Mountain 200 77,200-386,000 1919-1935 Rothrock et al. (1946), Clippinger (1949), Williams et al. (1964), McAnulty (1978)
DIS036 Tortugas Mountain 100 200,000-1,000,000 1919-1943 Ladoo (1923), Rothrock et al. (1946), McAnulty (1978)
Socorro County
DIS213 Hasonburg 37,500 <50,000 1951-1960
DIS211 Chupadero (Smallwood-Baca) unknown unknown 1965 Williams (1965)
Torrance County
DIS242 Edgewood (Shockley, Vincent Moore) 50 <500 1956 New Mexico State Inspector of Mines (1956), McLemore (1984)
TOTAL 48,750 1880-1978
Table 2. FLuorite production in New Mexico.
DISTRICT ID DISTRICT FLUORITE PRODUCTION (SHORT TONS) CUMULATIVE ESTIMATED VALUE ($) PERIOD OF PRODUCTION REFERENCES
Bernalillo County
DIS002 Coyote Canyon 200 2,000-10,000 unknown McAnulty (1978)
DIS004 Tijeras Canyon 400 4,000-20,000 unknown
Catron County
DIS010 Wilcox 10,603 100,000-500,000 1880s, 1926-1953 Williams (1966), McAnulty (1978)
Cibola County
DIS017 Zuni Mountains 182,244 1,700,000-8,400,000 1918-1953 McAnulty (1978)
Doña Ana County
DIS030 Bishops Cap area (Organ Mountains district) 150 1,500-7,500 1944, 1969-1972 Williams (1966), McAnulty (1978), Seager (1981)
DIS100 Black Mountain 1,100 11,000-55,000 unknown Dunham (1935), McAnulty (1978), Smith (1981), McLemore (1994b)
DIS030 Organ Mountains (White Spar, Tennessee, Golden Lily, Ruby) 1,500 15,000-75,000 1933, mid 1900s Talmage and Wootton (1937), Rothrock et al. (1946), Williams (1966), Williams et al. (1964), McAnulty (1978), McLemore (1994b)
DIS035 Tonuco Mountain 7,720 77,200-386,000 1919-1935 Rothrock et al. (1946), Clippinger (1949), Williams et al. (1964), McAnulty (1978)
DIS036 Tortugas Mountain 20,751 200,000-1,000,000 1919-1943 Rothrock et al. (1946), McAnulty (1978)
Grant County
DIS044 Black Hawk 615 6,000-31,000 unknown Richter and Lawrence (1983)
DIS045 Bound Ranch 3,230 30,000-162,000 unknown Gillerman (1964), Williams (1966), Richter and Lawrence (1983)
DIS046 Burro Mountains 172,539 1,700,000-8,600,000 1880-1954 Richter and Lawrence (1983)
DIS054 Fierro-Hanover 110 1,000-5,000 unknown McAnulty (1978)
DIS055 Fleming 232 2,000-10,000 unknown Williams (1966)
DIS057 Gila Fluorspar  47,586 470,000-2,350,000 1880-1953 McAnulty (1978)
DIS058 Gold Hill 3,240 30,000-150,000 1952-1953 McAnulty (1978)
DIS060 Malone 408 4,000-20,000 unknown Gillerman (1964), Williams (1966)
DIS061 Northern Cooks Range 63,531 630,000-3,150,000 1948-1953 McAnulty (1978)
DIS063 Ricolite 15,289 150,000-750,000 unknown McAnulty (1978)
DIS066 Steeple Rock 11,000 110,000-500,000 unknown McLemore (1993)
DIS067 Telegraph 16,603 160,000-800,000 1911-1945 Williams (1966)
DIS068 White Signal 3,644 30,000-150,000 1932-1952 Williams (1966), McAnulty (1978)
Hidalgo County
DIS084 Muir 9,175 90,000-400,000 1940s, 1952-1953 Rothrock et al. (1946), McAnulty (1978)
DIS082 Lordsburg 3,527 30,000-150,000 unknown Lasky (1938), Rothrock et al. (1946); Richter and Lawrence (1983)
DIS079 Gillespie  (Red Hill) 1,500 15,000-75,000 unknown Zeller and Alper (1965), Williams (1966), McAnulty (1978)
Lincoln County
DIS092 Gallinas Mountains 2,400 24,000-120,000 unknown McAnulty (1978)
Luna County
DIS105 Cooks Peak 452 4,000-20,000 1918-1954 Rothrock et al. (1946), Griswold (1961), Williams (1966)
DIS106 Florida Mountains 200 2,000-10,000 unknown Griswold (1961), McAnulty (1978)
DIS107 Fluorite Ridge 93,827 930,000-4,650,000 1909-1954 Rothrock et al. (1946), Griswold (1961)
DIS108 Little Florida Mountains 13,428 130,000-650,000 unknown Lasky (1947), Griswold (1961), Williams et al. (1964)
Rio Arriba County
DIS144 Gallina 19 <1,000 unknown
Sierra County
DIS190 Caballo Mountains 33,000 330,000-1,650,000 1918-1954 McAnulty (1978)
DIS192 Cuchillo Negro 500 5,000-25,000 unknown McAnulty (1978)
Socorro County
DIS218 Ladron Mountains 50 <2,500 unknown
TOTAL 720,773 1880-1978

References

  1. Bartsch-Winkler, S.B. and Donatich, A.J., ed., 1995, Mineral and Energy Resources of the Roswell Resource Area, East-Central New Mexico: U.S. Geological Survey, Bulletin 2063, 145 p.
  2. Clippinger, D. M., 1949, Barite of New Mexico:  New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, Circular 21, 26 p.
  3. Filsinger, B., 1988, Geology and genesis of the Palm Park and Horseshoe barite deposits, southern Caballo Mountains, Doña Ana County, New Mexico [M. S. thesis]: University of Texas at El Paso, 250 p.
  4. Jenkins, D. A., 1977, Geologic evaluation of the EPM mining claims, East Potrillo Mountains, Doña Ana County, New Mexico [M. S. thesis]: Socorro, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, 109 p.
  5. Korzeb, S.L., Kness, R.F., Geroyan, R.I., and Ward, D.A., 1995, Mineral resource assessment of the Caballo Resource Area, Sierra and Otero Counties, New Mexico: U.S. Bureau of Mines, Open-file Report MLA 5–95, 177 p.
  6. Kottlowski, F.E., and Steensma, R.S., 1979, Barite-fluorite-lead mines of Hansonburg mining district in central New Mexico: New Mexico Geology, v. 1, p. 17–20, 32.
  7. Kramer, W.V., 1970, Geology of the Bishop Cap Hills, Doña Ana County, New Mexico [M. S. thesis]: University of Texas at El Paso, 77 p.
  8. McAnulty, W.N, 1978, Fluorspar in New Mexico: New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, Memoir 34, 64 p.
  9. McMahon, T.P., 1989, Structural and stratigraphic controls of deposition, and microstratigraphy of fluorite-barite deposits in the southern Rio Grande Rift, New Mexico [M. S. thesis]: Las Cruces, New Mexico State University, 77 p.
  10. McLemore, V.T., 1993, Geology and geochemistry of the mineralization and alteration in the Steeple Rock district, Grant County, New Mexico and Greenlee County, Arizona [Ph.D. dissertation]: University of Texas at El Paso, 525 p. (also New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, Open-file Report 397.)
  11. McLemore, V.T., 1994, Summary of the mineral resources in the San Andres and Organ Mountains, south-central New Mexico; in Garber, R. A., and Keller, D. R., eds., Field guide to the Paleozoic sections of the San Andres Mountains: PBS-SEPM Publication No. 94-35, p. 143–153.
  12. McLemore, V.T., 2017, Update of Industrial Minerals and Rocks of New Mexico: Mining Engineering, v. 69, no. 6, p. 49-56, http://me.smenet.org/reader.cfm?page=49
  13. McLemore, V.T. and Austin, G.S., 2017, Industrial minerals and rocks; in McLemore, V.T., Timmons, S., and Wilks, M., eds., Energy and Mineral deposits in New Mexico: New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources Memoir 50 and New Mexico Geological Society Special Publication 13, 128 p.
  14. McLemore, V.T., and Barker, J.M., 1985, Barite in north-central New Mexico: New Mexico Geology, v. 7, p. 21–25.
  15. McLemore, V.T., Giordano, T.H., Lueth, V., and Witcher , J., 1998, Origin of barite-fluorite-galena deposits in the southern Rio Grande Rift, New Mexico in Las Cruces Country II: New Mexico Geological Society, Guidebook 49, pp. 251-263.
  16. McLemore, V.T. and Lueth, V., 2017, Metallic Mineral Deposits; in McLemore, V.T., Timmons, S., and Wilks, M., eds., Energy and Mineral deposits in New Mexico: New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources Memoir 50 and New Mexico Geological Society Special Publication 13, 92 p.
  17. McLemore, V.T., Sutphin, D.M., Hack, D.R., and Pease, T.C., 1996, Mining history and mineral resources of the Mimbres Resource Area, Doña Ana, Luna, Hidalgo, and Grant Counties, New Mexico: New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, Open file Report 424, 252 p.
  18. North, R.M. and McLemore, V.T., 1985, Geology and mineralization of the El Cuervo Butte barite-fluorite-galena deposit in southern Santa Fe County, New Mexico: New Mexico Geological Society, Guidebook 36, p. 301–305.
  19. North, R.M. and Tuff, M.A., 1986, Fluid-inclusion and trace-element analyses of some barite-fluorite deposits in south-central New Mexico: New Mexico Geological Society, Guidebook 37, p. 301–306.
  20. Northrop, S.A., 1959, Minerals of New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 665 p.
  21. Northrop, S.A., 1996, Minerals of New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 356 p.
  22. Putnam, B.R., III, 1980, Fluid inclusion and microchemical analysis of the Hansonburg Mississippi valley-type ore deposits in central New Mexico [M. S. thesis]: Socorro, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, 120 p.
  23. Putnam, B.R., III, Norman, D. I., and Smith, R. W., 1983, Mississippi valley-type lead-fluorite-barite deposits of the Hansonburg mining district: New Mexico Geological Society, Guidebook 34, p. 253–259.
  24. Rothrock, H. E., Johnson, C. H., and Hahn, A. D., 1946, Fluorspar resources in New Mexico: New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, Bulletin 21, 245 p.
  25. Smith, T.J., 1981, Barite in the White Sands Missile Range: New Mexico Geology, v. 3, p. 1–5.
  26. Talmage, S.B., and Wootton, T.P., 1937, The non-metallic mineral resources of New Mexico and their economic features (exclusive of fuels): New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources Bulletin 12, 159 p.
  27. Williams, F.E., 1965, Barite, in Minerals and Water Resources of New Mexico: New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources Bulletin 87, p. 257-259.
  28. Williams, F.E., 1966, Fluorspar deposits of New Mexico:  U. S. Bureau of Mines Information Circular 8307, 143 p.
  29. Williams, F.E., Fillo, P.V., and Bloom, P.A., 1964, Barite deposits of New Mexico:  New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, Circular 76, 46 p.

updated 8/1/2019