Merrimac Mine

Past Producer in Dona Ana county in New Mexico, United States with commodities Zinc, Copper, Lead, Silver, Tungsten
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Public Land Survey System information
  6. Commodities
  7. Materials information
  8. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Ore body information
  11. Controls for ore emplacement
  12. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  13. Mining district
  14. Land status
  15. Ownership information
  16. Links to other databases
  17. Bibliographic references
  18. General comments
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10008854
MRDS ID D001312
Record type Site
Current site name Merrimac Mine
Related records 10150147

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -106.57307, 32.45596 (WGS84)
Elevation 1676
Relative position ABOUT 15.5 MILES N 53 E OF LAS CRUCES.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Dona Ana(county)

New Mexico(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Organ(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Las Cruces(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Las Cruces(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Jornada Draw(hydrologic unit)

Rio Grande-Caballo(hydrologic accounting unit)

Rio Grande-Mimbres(hydrologic subregion)

Rio Grande(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States New Mexico Dona Ana

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
New Mexico 021S 004E 30 N2 New Mexico

Comments on the location information

  • ACCURATE LOCATION IS FOR THE MAIN WORKINGS LOCATED ABOUT 1500 FEET NORTHWEST OF MERRIMAC SPRING.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Zinc Critical Primary
Copper Secondary
Lead Secondary
Silver Secondary
Tungsten Critical Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Hydrozincite Ore
Scheelite Ore
Smithsonite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Calcite Gangue
Garnet Gangue
Pyrite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Quartz Monzonite
    Rock unit name Sugarloaf Peak Quartz Monzonite Porphyry
    Rock description Sugarloaf Peak Quartz Monzonite Porphyry
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Mississippian
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Mississippian
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pliocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pliocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
    Rock unit name Lake Valley Formation
    Rock description Lake Valley Formation

Nearby scientific data

(1) -106.57307, 32.45596

Economic information

Ore body information

  • General form PODS AND SHOOTS
    Plunge 36 DEGREES
    Plunge direction NORTHWEST
    Thickness 1.22M
    Length 60.96M
    Width 12.19M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Mineralization Localized In The Crests Of Minor Folds Which Plunge 36 Degrees Northwesterly.

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE SUGARLOAF PEAK QUARTZ MONZONITE PORPHYRY IS THE MOST VOLATILE-RICH AND ONE OF THE LATEST PHASES OF THE ORGAN BATHOLITH.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1885
Year of first production 1895
Year of last production 1951

Mining district

District name Organ District: San Augustin Mountains

Land status

Ownership category Military Reservation

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Ira Wright And Wade White
    Home office Silver City, N.M.
    First year 1951
  • Type Owner
    Owner White Sands Missile Range

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • ALBRITTON AND NELSON, 1943, ESTIMATED THAT 4000 TONS OF 10 TO 15 % ZN ORE REMAIN ON THE PROPERTY.

Comments on the workings information

  • WORKINGS REPORTED IN THE 1950'S CONSISTED OF TWO ADITS, TWO SHAFTS, MANY SHALLOW PITS AND SEVERAL OPEN STOPES.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    LEMMON, D.M., UNPUBLISHED DATA.

  • Deposit

    LEMMON, D.M., AND TWETO, O.L., 1962, TUNGSTEN IN THE U.S., USGS MAP, MR-25.

  • Deposit

    DALE, V.B. AND MCKINNEY, W.A., 1959, TUNGSTEN DEPOSITS OF NEW MEXICO, USBM REPT. OF INVEST. 5517, 72P.

  • Deposit

    LINDGREN, W., GRATON, L.C., AND GORDON, C.H., 1910 USGS PP 68, P. 205-213

  • Deposit

    DUNHAM, K.C., 1935 NMBMMR BULL 11, P. 234

  • Deposit

    ALBRITTON, C.C., JR., AND NELSON, V.E., 1943 USGS OFR-43, P. 28-30

  • Deposit

    SEAGER, W.R., 1981 NMBMMR MEM 36, P. 83-90

  • Deposit

    NMBMMR GENERAL FILE DATA

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Discovery Year: 1880'S
Deposit DEPOSITS OCCUR IN THREE ORE SHOOTS WHICH RANGE FROM 2 FT. TO 4 FT. THICK AND FROM 20 FT. TO 40 FT. WIDE. TWO OF THE SHOOTS WERE MINED DOWN DIP FOR A LENGTH OF 200 FT.
Deposit WORKED MAINLY FOR ZINC ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUN-74 Elliott, James E. New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources
Updater 01-MAY-82 Menzie, David New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

External references