1. Mineral Resources
  2. Online Spatial Data
  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Mt. Chalchihuitl Mine

Past Producer in Santa Fe county in New Mexico, United States with commodity Copper
Map
XML
JSON
KML
B
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. 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 10014701
MRDS ID D011588
Record type Site
Current site name Mt. Chalchihuitl Mine
Alternate or previous names There Are Seventeen Different Spellings of Chalchihuitl Northrup, 1959, P. 532.

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -106.11501, 35.47367 (WGS84)
Elevation 1902
Relative position ABOUT 19.2 MILES S37W 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

Picture Rock(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 014N 008E 05 SE New Mexico

Comments on the location information

  • LOCATION IS ACCURATE FOR THE OPEN-PIT. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1979

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • THE TURQUOISE WAS MINED FOR USE AS GEMSTONES

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Turquoise Ore

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Monzonite
    Rock unit name Espinosa Volcanics
    Rock description Espinosa Volcanics
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Oligocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Oligocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Oligocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Oligocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Monzonite
    Rock unit name Espinosa Volcanics
    Rock description Espinosa Volcanics

Nearby scientific data

(1) -106.11501, 35.47367
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Faults And Shear Zones
Type of structure Local
Structure description Faults And Shear Zones

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR
    Thickness 60.96M
    Length 92.66M
    Width 91.44M
    Depth to bottom 60.96M

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 950
Discoverer Ancient Indians
Year of first production 950
Year of last production 1951

Mining district

District name Cerrillos District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Tri-State Syndicate
    Home office E. Moline, Il.
    First year 1951

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Length 60.96M
    Overall depth 60.96M

Comments on the workings information

  • GUSTAFSON (1965, P. 17) REPORTS THAT RECONSTRUCTION OF THE ORIGINAL SURFACE AT THE QUARRY SUGGESTS THAT NOT LESS THAN 500,000 CUBIC FEET OR 30,000 TO 50,000 TONS OF ROCK WERE QUARRIED FROM THE PIT. SILLIMAN (1881, P. 169) SHOWS TWO SHAFTS WITH DRIFTS AND TWO CAVES, ONE WITH A DRIFT. THE ANCIENT INDIANS MINED THE ORE WITH STONE HAMMERS AND BLASTED THE TURQUOISE ROCK BY BUILDING A HOT FIRE OVER THE ROCKS AND THEN DOUSING IT WITH WATER, CAUSING THE STONE TO BREAK. THEN, USING THE STONE HAMMERS, THE ORE WAS CRUSHED INTO BEADS TO USE FOR JEWELRY AND ORNAMENTS. (ANON., CERRILLOS NEWSPAPER, 3/12/1897).

Comments on development

  • THE MINE WAS FIRST WORKED BY THE FORERUNNERS OF THE PUEBLO INDIANS. TURQUOISE FROM MT. CHALCHIHUITL HAS BEEN FOUND AT CHACO CANYON, NM AND IN PLACES DOWN IN MEXICO.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    LINDGREN, W., L.C. GRATON AND C.H. GORDON, 1910, USGS PP 68, P. 163-167

  • Deposit

    DISBROWN, A.E., AND W.C. STOLL, 1957, NMBMMR BULL 48, P. 44-46

  • Deposit

    JOHNSON, D.W., 1904, "THE GEOLOGY OF THE CERRILLOS HILLS, NM", COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES QUARTERLY, P. 86-92.

  • Deposit

    SILLIMAN, B., 1881, "TURQUOIS OF NEW MEXICO", ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL, VOL. 32, SEPT. 1, 1881, P. 169

  • Deposit

    GUSTAFSON, W.G., 1965, UNPUBLISHED M.S. THESIS, UNIV. OF NM, P. 17-19

  • Deposit

    ELSTON, W.E., 1967, NMBMMR BULL 81, P. 53-54

  • Deposit

    NMBMMR GENERAL FILE DATA

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THE TURQUOISE OCCURS IN IRREGULAR NARROW VEINLETS AND STRINGERS CUTTING ALTERED MONZONITE PORPHYRY.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAR-1984 Murray, Diane New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources

Beyond USGS

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

Maps centered on this site