Cunningham Hill Mine

Producer in Santa Fe county in New Mexico, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Tungsten, Copper, Lead, Molybdenum
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. Alteration
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Geologic structures
  12. Ore body information
  13. Controls for ore emplacement
  14. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  15. Mining district
  16. Land status
  17. Ownership information
  18. Links to other databases
  19. Bibliographic references
  20. General comments
  21. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10009946
MRDS ID D003247
Record type Site
Current site name Cunningham Hill Mine
Alternate or previous names Mine: Cunningham Hill Deposit, Ortiz Open-Pit Mine, South Tunnel, Delores Tunnel, Upper and Lower Wagon Tunnel, Shafts 1-5

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -106.13668, 35.34034 (WGS84)
Elevation 2179
Location accuracy 250(meters)
Relative position ABOUT 27.0 MILES S 24 W OF SANTA FE, NM

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Santa Fe(county)

New Mexico(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Golden(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Albuquerque(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Albuquerque(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Rio Grande-Santa Fe(hydrologic unit)

Rio Grande-Elephant Butte(hydrologic accounting unit)

Rio Grande-Elephant Butte(hydrologic subregion)

Rio Grande(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States New Mexico Santa Fe

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
New Mexico 013N 008E 19 SW New Mexico

Comments on the location information

  • GEODETIC, CADASTRAL AND UTM LOCATIONS WERE TAKEN FROM MRDS RECORD NO. D007829. THE ORTIZ OPEN-PIT MINE IS LOCATED ON TOP OF THE OLD CUNNINGHAM HILL UNDERGROUND MINE.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Secondary
Tungsten Critical Tertiary
Copper Tertiary
Lead Tertiary
Molybdenum Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Gold Ore
Malachite Ore
Scheelite Ore
Silver Ore
Hematite Gangue
Jarosite Gangue
Limonite Gangue
Pyrite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) The Original Feldspars In The Quartzite Clasts And The Common Porphyry Clasts Are Intensely Altered To Clay-Sericite-Carbonate Minerals. The Metashales Consist Of Microscopic Sericite Embedded In A Finely Divided Matrix Of Quartz And Feldspar.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
    Rock unit name Mesaverde Quartzite;Espinosa Volcanics
    Rock description Mesaverde Quartzite;Espinosa Volcanics
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cretaceous
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cretaceous
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cretaceous
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
    Rock unit name Mesaverde Quartzite
    Rock description Mesaverde Quartzite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -106.13668, 35.34034

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Ortiz Basin Stock; Tijeras Fault System
Type of structure Local
Structure description An Irregular Breccia Pipe; Ortiz Basin Stock

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR
    Thickness 45.72M
    Length 243.84M
    Width 76.2M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • An Irregular Breccia Pipe; Ortiz Basin Stock

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1828
Discoverer Indians Or Early Spanish Settlers
Year of first production 1828
Year of last production 1945

Mining district

District name Old Placers District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Gold Fields Mining Corp.
    Home office P.O. Box 97, Cerrillos, Nm
    First year 1981
  • Type Owner
    Owner Potter And Sims
    Home office Albuquerque, Nm
    First year 1950

Comments on the workings information

  • WORKINGS CONSIST OF 5 SHAFTS TOTALLING 340 FEET; 4 TUNNELS TOTALLING 1135 FEET; 5 TRENCHES (BURNS) OF A COMBINED LENGTH OF 1930 FEET AND NUMEROUS OPEN CUTS. SHAFTS NOS. 1 AND 2 ARE ABOUT 100 FEET DEEP, AND SHAFT NO. 4 IS 30 FEET DEEP AND HAS A 67-FOOT TUNNEL ATTACHED.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    JONES, F.A., 1904, NEW MEXICO MINES AND MINERALS, THE NEW MEXICAN PRINTING CO., P. 21-28

  • Deposit

    LINDGREN, W., L.C. GRATON AND C.H. GORDON, 1910, USGS PP 68, P. 167-170.

  • Deposit

    CRANE, G.W., 1937, "REPORT ON CUNNINGHAM MINE, ORTIZ MINE GRANT, SANTA FE COUNTY, NEW MEXICO", PRIVATE REPT TO THEORTIZ GRANT MINES CORP., ALBUQUERQUE, NM, MAY 31, 1937.

  • Deposit

    DALE, V.B AND W.A. MCKINNEY, 1959, USBM RI-5517

  • Deposit

    ELSTON, W.E., 1967, NBMMR BULL 81, P. 43-49

  • Deposit

    NICHOLSON, M.E., 1979, NMGS GUIDEBOOK, 30TH FIELD CONFERENCE, P. 27-28

  • Deposit

    WRIGHT, A., 1983, NBMG REPT. 36, P. 42-51

  • Deposit

    NMBMMR GENERAL FILE DATA

  • Deposit

    USGS MRDS FILE, 1984

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THE ORE IS FOUND IN AN IRREGULAR BRECCIA PIPE. THE BRECCIA PIPE IS COMPOSED OF APPROXIMATELY 90 PERCENT MESAVERDEQUARTZITE AND ARGILLITE CLASTS AND 10 PERCENT LATITE PORPHYRY FRAGMENTS. CONTACTS OF THE BRECCIA WITH THE MESAVERDE SEDIMENTS ARE COMMONLY VERY SHARP. THE ORE ZONE IS ZONED VERTICALLY.
Deposit THE ORTIZ OPEN-PIT MINE IS NOW BEING WORKED ON TOP OF THE OLD CUNNINGHAM MINE WORKINGS. SEE MRDS RECORD NO. D007829 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION.
Deposit Discovery Year: ABOUT 1828 (OFFICIALY)

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-APR-1978 Hasler, J. William U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-MAR-1984 Murray, Diane U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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