Foster Fluorspar Mine

Past Producer in Grant county in New Mexico, United States with commodity Fluorine-Fluorite
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. Workings at the site
  17. Links to other databases
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10013288
MRDS ID D009508
Record type Site
Current site name Foster Fluorspar Mine
Alternate or previous names Foster Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -108.51646, 33.039 (WGS84)
Elevation 1608
Relative position ABOUT 23 MILES N 39 W OF SILVER CITY.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Grant(county)

New Mexico(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Canteen Canyon(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Mogollon Mountains(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Clifton(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper Gila-Mangas(hydrologic unit)

Upper Gila(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Gila(hydrologic subregion)

Lower Colorado(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Gila National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States New Mexico Grant

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
New Mexico 014S 016W 32 CENTER OF S2 New Mexico

Comments on the location information

  • THE MINE IS EAST OF THE GILA RIVER ON THE WESTERN SLOPE OF THE SAME HIGH RIDGE ON TOP OF WHICH THE CLUM MINE LIES. ACCURATE LOCATION IS FOR THE PORTAL OF THE MAIN ADIT. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1978)

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Fluorine-Fluorite Critical Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • METALLURGICAL GRADE FLUORSPAR OBTAINED LARGELY FROM VEINS OF COARSELY CRYSTALLINE, GREEN FLUORITE AND MILLING GRADE FLUORSPAR FROM BRECCIA ZONES.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Fluorite Ore
Calcite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Analytical data

Result WILLIAMS, F.E., 1966, REPORTED A GRAB SAMPLE CONTAINED 76.9% CAF2 AND 12.6% SIO2.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Latite
    Rock unit name Brock Canyon Volcanic Complex
    Rock description Brock Canyon Volcanic Complex
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pliocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pliocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pliocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Latite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -108.51646, 33.039

Economic information

Ore body information

  • General form TABULAR
    Strike N 45 E
    Dip 85 NW
    Thickness 1.83M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Fault-Fracture Structural Control.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Non-metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1885
Discoverer Apolinario Ogas And Pedro Carajal
Year of first production 1885
Year of last production 1953

Mining district

District name Gila Fluorspar District, Gila Mining District

Land status

Ownership category National Forest

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Jack Wallace
    First year 1953
  • Type Owner
    Owner Fayette Rice
    Home office Gila, N.M.
    First year 1966

Comments on the production information

  • MOST PRE-1945 PRODUCTION WAS IN THE 1880'S WHEN THE MINE WAS OWNED BY OGAS AND CARAJAL. THE MINE WAS OWNED AND OPERATED BY JACK WALLACE DURING PRODUCTION BETWEEN 1945-1953.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Length 243.84M
    Overall depth 21.34M

Comments on the workings information

  • WORKINGS REPORTED IN 1964 CONSISTED OF A 700 FT. ADIT WITH IRREGULAR STOPES TO THE SURFACE AND A 45 FT DEEP WINZE FROM WHICH STOPING TO THE ADIT LEVEL HAD TAKEN PLACE. OTHER WORKINGS CONSISTED OF TWO SHORT DRIFTS, THREE SHAFTS WITH ASSOCIATED STOPING, AND SEVERAL TRENCHES ALL OF WHICH EXPLORED THE VEIN FOR A DISTANCE OF 0.25 MI NE OF THE MAIN ADIT. SINCE MINING WAS DONE FROM 1945-1953 WORKINGS ARE MORE EXTENSIVE, BUT NO DESCRIPTION WAS FOUND. THE WORKINGS WERE STOPED TO THE SURFACE AND WERE REPORTED CAVED AND INACCESSIBLE IN 1966.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    JOHNSTON, W.D., JR., 1928 NMBMMR BULL 4, P. 112-113

  • Deposit

    ROTHROCK, H.E., JOHNSON, C.H., AND HAHN, A.D., 1946 NMBMMR BULL 21, P. 89-91

  • Deposit

    GILLERMAN, E., 1964 NMBMMR BULL 83, P. 172-173

  • Deposit

    WILLIAMS, F.E., 1966 USBM IC-8307, P. 44-45

  • Deposit

    RATTE, J.C., AND GASKILL, D.L., 1975 USGS MISC. GEOL. INV. MAP I-886

  • Deposit

    NMBMMR GENERAL FILE DATA

  • Production

    WILLIAMS, F.E., 1966, P.44.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THIS RECORD CONTAINS DATA FROM RECORD D009968 BY RONALD G. WORL WHICH HAS BEEN DELETED FROM MRDS. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT
Deposit FLUORSPAR OCCURS IN A FAULT THAT STRIKES N45E AND DIPS 85NW. A MODERATELY BRECCIATED ZONE 3-8 FT WIDE WAS DEVELOPED BY THE FAULTING, AND BOTH FISSURES AND INTERSTICES IN THE BRECCIA WERE FILLED BY FLUORSPAR. METALLURGICAL GRADE FLUORSPAR CAME FROM FISSURE VEINS CONTAINING COARSE GREEN FLUORITE AND SPARSE QUARTZ. THE BRECCIATED ZONES CONTAINED MILLING GRADE FLUORSPAR. FISSURE VEINS RANGE IN WIDTH FROM A FEW INCHES TO ABOUT 2 FT. SOME STOPES AS MUCH AS 6 FT WIDE WERE MINED.
Deposit Discovery Year: 1880'S

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-AUG-1982 Menzie, David New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources
Updater 01-JAN-1983 Haug, Jerry L. (Worl, Ronald G.) U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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