Sandstone Mine

Past Producer in McKinley county in New Mexico, United States with commodities Uranium, Vanadium, Selenium, Molybdenum, Iron
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. Geologic structures
  11. Ore body information
  12. Controls for ore emplacement
  13. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Mining district
  15. Land status
  16. Ownership information
  17. Production statistics
  18. Workings at the site
  19. Links to other databases
  20. Bibliographic references
  21. General comments
  22. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10014458
MRDS ID D011242
MAS/MILS ID 0350310019
Record type Site
Current site name Sandstone Mine
Alternate or previous names Mine: Section 34, John Billy Shaft, Patented Claims 1960: Sandstone Group, Sandstone No. 6, Sandstone Annex No. 3 and 4, Unpatented Claims: 45 Claims-See Holmquist 1970,P.87

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Main Entrance
Geographic coordinates: -107.76973, 35.39612 (WGS84)
Elevation 2141
Location accuracy 10(meters)
Relative position ABOUT 17.60 MILES N 4 E OF GRANTS, NM. Shaft shown and labeled on topo. Waste pile visible on satellite imagery (Bing).

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

McKinley(county)

New Mexico(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Ambrosia Lake(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Grants(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Albuquerque(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Rio San Jose(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 McKinley

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
New Mexico 014N 009W 34 SE New Mexico

Comments on the location information

  • LOCATION IS ACCURATE FOR THE SANDSTONE SHAFT MARKED ON THE 1957 AMBROSIA LAKE QUADRANGLE. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1979

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Uranium Primary
Vanadium Critical Tertiary
Selenium Tertiary
Molybdenum Tertiary
Iron Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Coffinite Ore
Jordisite Ore
Montroseite Ore
Barite Gangue
Calcite Gangue
Kaolin Gangue
Pyrite Unknown

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Sandstone
    Rock unit name Morrison
    Rock description Morrison
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Jurassic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Jurassic

Nearby scientific data

Main Entrance (1) -107.76973, 35.39612

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Chaco Slope - Ambrosia Lake Dome
Type of structure Local
Structure description A Graben Occupies The West Half Of The Section

Ore body information

  • General form TABULAR
    Strike EAST-WEST
    Dip FLAT
    Thickness 18.29M
    Length 609.6M
    Width 45.72M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • The Major Control Of Ore Deposition Is The Thickness Of The Sandstone.

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE DEPOSIT OCCURS IN THE WESTWATER CANYON MEMBER OF THE MORRISON FORMATION.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Underground
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Medium
Significant No
Discovery year 1956
Discoverer Adrian Berryhill
Year of first production 1959
Year of last production 1980

Mining district

District name Grants Uranium District: Ambrosia Lake Subdistrict

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner United Nuclear Corp. Mining And Milling
    Home office P.O. Drawer Qq, Gallup N.M. 87301
    First year 1982

Production statistics

  • Year 1970
    Period 1959 To 1970
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Cp_Grade: ^0.17 Percent U308
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major U3O8 Ore Uranium Uranium 0wt-pct

Comments on the production information

  • PRODUCTION TOTALLED 1,034,255 TONS OF ORE. NO PRODUCTION FIGURES ARE AVAILABLE FOR 1974-1980.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Overall depth 298.7M

Comments on the workings information

  • WORKINGS CONSIST OF A 980-FT SHAFT, 12 FOOT IN DIAMETER AND CONCRETE-LINED, TWO VENTILATION SHAFTS AND A SECOND SHAFT 200-FT DEEP ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE PROPERTY.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    HARMON, C.F. AND P.S. TAYLOR, 1963, NMBMMR MEM 15, P.102-108

  • Deposit

    HILPERT, L.S., 1969, USGS PP 603, P.39

  • Deposit

    HOLMQUIST, R.J., 1970, USAEC RME-172, P.87-89

  • Deposit

    FOSTER, J.F. AND R.J. QUINTANAR, 1980, NMBMMR MEM 38, P.240-243

  • Deposit

    MCLEMORE, V.T., 1983, NMBMMR OFR-183, APPENDIX 1

  • Deposit

    NMBMMR GENERAL FILE DATA

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit ORE OCCURS IN FIVE TABULAR ZONES SEPERATED BY DISCONTINUOUS MUDSTONE UNITS. CARBONAECOUS MATERIAL IS ASSOCIATED WITH MINERALIZATION. A GRABEN IS LOCATED IN THE WEST HALF OF THE SECTION. THE MAJOR GRABEN FAULTS ARE PARALLEL NORMAL FAULTS STRIKING N 10 E AND DIPPING 60 TO 70 DEGREES EAST AND WEST. THE FAULTS ARE 500 FEET APART AT THE RECAPTURE-WESTWATER CONTACT AND HAVE DISPLACEMENTS OF 40 AND 55 FEET. THERE ARE SEVERAL SMALL FAULTS AND NUMEROUS FRACTURES THROUGHOUT THE MINE. THERE WERE ORIGINALLY 45 CLAIMS MADE TO LOCATE THIS PROPERTY (HOLMQUIST, P.87). IN 1960 18 CLAIMS WERE PUT UNDER PATENT. PATENT NO 1207214 COVERS MINERAL SURVEYS 2210, 2217, AND 2218 COVERING 323.75 ACRES.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JAN-84 Murray, Diane New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources
Editor 03-NOV-11 Wilson, Anna B U.S. Geological Survey merged and deleted 10126231
Reporter 18-NOV-83 Intermountain Field Operations Center (IFOC) U.S. Bureau of Mines 0350310019 = 10126231

Beyond USGS

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

External references