Allamoore Talc District

Producer in Hudspeth county in Texas, United States with commodities Talc-Soapstone, Asbestos
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Alteration
  8. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Geologic structures
  12. Ore body information
  13. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Mining district
  15. Land status
  16. Ownership information
  17. Links to other databases
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10023658
MRDS ID I001057
Record type Site
Current site name Allamoore Talc District
Alternate or previous names Mines and Prospects Include All Described In Individual Records:, Buck Springs, Lone Star Mining Co., Texas Talc Co., Southern Clay Products, Section 18, Milwhite Co., Escondido, Glen Ray Corp., Southwestern, Rossman.

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -105.06719, 31.15017 (WGS84)
Relative position 7 MI NW OF ALLAMOORE

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Hudspeth(county)

Texas(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Bean Hills(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Sierra Blanca(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Van Horn(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Salt Basin(hydrologic unit)

Rio Grande Closed Basins(hydrologic accounting unit)

Rio Grande Closed Basins(hydrologic subregion)

Rio Grande(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Texas Hudspeth

Comments on the location information

  • LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE FOR APPROXIMATE DISTRICT CENTER.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Talc-Soapstone Primary
Asbestos Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • USED BY REGIONAL CERAMICS INDUTRY

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Dolomite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Host Rocks Metamorphosed To Talcose Phyllite In Lprot.

Analytical data

Result TALC CONTAINS AS MUCH AS 15-20% DOLOMITE AND HAS A DARK COLOR. TALC HAS EXCELLENT PRESSING PROPERTIES, EARLY STRENGTH, AND GOOD FIRING CHARACTERISTICS. TALC-BEARING UNITS ARE DIVIDED INTO UNECONOMIC TALCOSE PHYLLITE, CERAMIC-GRADE (MIXED; 5 TO 30 VOL% QUARTZ AND DOLOMITE, 7 TO 11% LOSS ON IGNITION) TALC, AND PAINT-GRADE (SOFT-PLATY; ALMOST NO QUARTZ OR DOLOMITE; LESS THAN 7% LOSS ON IGNITION) TALC.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 67
USGS model code 18i
Deposit model name Carbonate-hosted magnesite-talc

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Chemical Sediment > Chert
    Rock unit name Allamoore Formation
    Rock description Allamoore
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Mesoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Mesoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Mesoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Mafic Volcanic Rock > Basalt
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Dolomite
    Rock unit name Allamoore Formation; Carrizo Mountain Group
    Rock description Allamoore Formation;Carrizo Mountain Gp

Nearby scientific data

(1) -105.06719, 31.15017

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Mprot-Lprot Strike-Slip And Block Faults
Type of structure Local
Structure description Eastern Margin Of District Is Cut Off By The Ltert-Quat Salt Basin Rift Graben

Ore body information

  • General form TABULAR, LENSE

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Non-metallic
Significant No
Year of first production 1952
Year of last production 1992
Production years 1952-

Mining district

District name Allamoore

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Pioneer Talc Co., Southern Clay Products Inc., Texas Talc Co., The Milwhite Co., Apache Materials In

Comments on the workings information

  • MANY OPEN PITS

Comments on development

  • MINING BEGAN ON A SMALL SCALE IN 1952. PRODUCTION EXPANDED CONSIDERABLY IN EARLY 1970'S. ; ECON.COM: MUCH OF TALC IS CALCINED AND SOLD TO THE CERAMIC INDUSTRY IN LUMP FORM AS A SYNTHETIC DIOPSIDE-LIKE COMPOUND. PRINCIPAL CONSUMERS ARE MAKERS OF CERAMIC BUILDING PRODUCTS SUCH AS TILES IN TEXAS AND MEXICO.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    BOURBON, W.B., 1982, THE ORIGIN OF TALC IN THE ALLAMOORE DISTRICT, IN INDUSTRIAL ROCKS AND MINERALS OF THE SOUTHWEST: NEW MEXICO BUREAU OF MINES AND MINERAL RESOURCES CIRCULAR 182, P. 77-84.

  • Deposit

    KING, P.B., AND FLAWN, P.T., 1953, GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS OF PRE-CAMBRIAN ROCKS OF THE VAN HORN AREA, TEXAS: UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, AUSTIN, BUREAU OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGY PUBLICATION 5301, 218 P.

  • Deposit

    FLAWN, P.T., 1958, TEXAS MINERS BOOST TALC OUTPUT: ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL, V. 159, P. 104-105.

  • Deposit

    CHIDCHESTER, A.H., ENGEL, A.E.J., AND WRIGHT, L.A., 1964, TALC RESOURCES OF THE UNITED STATES: USGS BULLETIN 1167, P. 45-47.

  • Deposit

    HARBEN, P.W., AND BATES, R.L., 1990, TALC, IN INDUSTRIAL MINERALS, GEOLOGY AND WORLD DEPOSITS: LONDON, INDUSTRIAL MINERALS DIVISION, METAL BULLETIN, P. 274-281.

  • Deposit

    KYLE, J.R., AND CLARK, K.F., 1990, GEOLOGY OF THE ALLAMOORE TALC DISTRICT, WEST TEXAS, IN KYLE, J.R., ED., INDUSTRIAL MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE DELEWARE BASIN, TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO: SOCIETY OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGISTS GUIDEBOOK SERIES, V. 8, P. 181-190.

  • Other Database

    CIMRI

  • Production

    USBM MINERALS YEARBOOKS 1958-1988; CHIDCHESTER AND OTHERS (1984)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit TALC-BEARING ROCKS CROP OUT IN A BELT 30 MILES LONG EXTENDING WESTWARD FROM NEAR VAN HORN TO THE STEERUWITZ HILLS. COMMERCIAL DEPOSITS ARE RESTRICTED TO A 500 FT THICK SECTION THAT OVERLIES THE BASAL UNIT OF THE ALLAMOORE FORMATION. INDIVIDUAL DEPOSITS ARE TABULAR MASSES UP TO 6,500 FEET LONG THAT PINCH AND SWELL FROM A FEW FEET TO A MUCH AS 500 FEET IN THICKNESS. MOST OF THE BODIES TREND EAST AND ARE NEARLY VERTICAL. IN PLACES, THE TALC OREBODIES ARE IN FAULT CONTACT WITH THE COUNTRY ROCK.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAY-1992 Orris, Greta J. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-MAR-1993 Long, Keith R. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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