Ortiz Open Pit Mine

Past Producer in Santa Fe county in New Mexico, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Copper, Iridium, Arsenic, Lead, Tungsten, 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. 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. Reserves and resources
  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 10038909
MRDS ID M046390
Record type Site
Current site name Ortiz Open Pit Mine
Alternate or previous names Ortiz Mine, Old Placers

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -106.15085, 35.33617 (WGS84)
Elevation 2278
Relative position ABOUT 27 MI S25W OF SANTA FE, 7 MI SOUTH OF CERRILLOS, 3 MI NORTHEAST OF GOLDEN, 35 MI NORTHEAST OF ALBUQUERQUE

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 007E 24 SW4 New Mexico

Comments on the location information

  • LOCATION IS ACCURATE FOR THE SHAFT OF OLD ORTIZ MINE LABELED ON TOPO MAP. UNSURVEYED; THE CADASTRAL GRID IS PROJECTED IN THIS AREA. DISTRICT IS ALSO CALLED DOLORES DISTRICT, PROBABLY BECAUSE MINE IS 0.5 MI ABOVE DOLORES AND 1.25 MI WEST OF DOLORES RNACH INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1979)

Commodities

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

Comments on the commodity information

  • SCHEELITE HAS BEEN OBSERVED IN MINES LESS THAN 0.5 MI AWAY.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Gold Ore
Magnetite Ore
Malachite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Scheelite Ore
Silver Ore
Specularite Ore
Epidote Gangue
Sericite Gangue

Analytical data

Result REPORTEDLY 0.048 OZ/TON IR IN GOLD-QUARTZ SAMPLE

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Trachyte
    Rock unit name Espinosa Volcanics;;
    Rock description Espinosa Volcanics;;
    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) -106.15085, 35.33617

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Ortiz Basin Stock; Tijeras Fault System
Type of structure Local
Structure description Ortiz Basin Stock; Tijeras Fault System

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR VEIN, DISSEMINATED
    Strike N 15 E
    Dip 75 NW
    Length 804.65M
    Width 15.24M
    Depth to bottom 121.92M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Vein System In Brecciated Margin Of The Stock.

Comments on the geologic information

  • IGNEOUS ROCKS IN THE ORTIZ MOUNTAINS CONSIST OF AN EARLIER CALC-ALKALINE GROUP AND A LATER ALKALINE GROUP. MOST GOLD MINERALIZATION IS SPATIALLY AND TEMPORALLY RELATED TO THE ALKALINE ROCKS. K-AR AGES OF THE ALKALINE ROCKS RANGE FROM 30 TO 26 MA

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1832
Discoverer A Mexican Sheepherder
Year of first production 1832
Year of last production 1937

Mining district

District name Old Placers District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Gold Fields Mining Co.
    Home office Cerrillos, Nm.
    First year 1984

Comments on the production information

  • THERE ARE NO PRODUCTION FIGURES AVAILABLE, BUT ELSTON ESTIMATED $200,000 FOR THE ORTIZ MINE.

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1955
    Total resources 90000000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Gold Au 2.211 g/mt Gold Major 1955
    Tungsten Wo3 0.0682 wt-pct Tungsten Trace 1955

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Overall depth 121.92M
    Overall length 396.24M
    Overall width 304.8M

Comments on the workings information

  • LINDGREN (1910, P. 169) REPORTED THE MAIN SHAFT TO BE 400 FT DEEP WITH WATER STANDING AT THE 150-FT LEVEL. ELSTON (1967, P. 46) REPORTED THE MAIN SHAFT AS 250 FT DEEP. JONES, (1904, P. 23) SHOWED A SKETCH OF THE STOPES EXTRACTED PRIOR TO 1850. MODERN OPEN PIT PLANNED TO BE ABOUT 1300 X 1000 X 200 FT.

Comments on development

  • MOST OF THE MINING TOOK PLACE BETWEEN 1832 AND 1870. MODERN DEVELOPMENT COSTS ESTIMATED AT $12-13 MILLION. EXPECTED CAPACITY OF ABOUT 3,000 TONS/DAY

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    OWEN, R.E., AND COX, E.T., 1865, REPORT ON THE MINES OF NEW MEXICO: WASH., D.C., PUB. BY JUDGE JOHN S. WATTS, GIDEON AND PEARSON, PRINTERS, P. 15, 49.

  • Deposit

    LINDGREN, WALDEMAR, GRATON, L.C., AND GORDON, C.H., 1910, THE ORE DEPOSITS OF NEW MEXICO: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 68, P. 169.

  • Deposit

    JONES, F.A., 1904, NEW MEXICO MINES AND MINERALS (WORLD'S FAIR ED.): SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO PRINTING CO., P. 23.

  • Deposit

    NORTHRUP, S.A., 1959, MINERALS OF NEW MEXICO, REVISED EDITION: ALBUQUERQUE, UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO PRESS, P. 262-263.

  • Deposit

    ELSTON, W.E., 1967, SUMMARY OF THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF BERNALILLO, SANDOVAL, AND SANTA FE COUNTIES, NEW MEXICO: NEW MEXICO BUREAU OF MINES AND MINERAL RESOURCES BULLETIN 81, P. 46.

  • Deposit

    NEW MEXICO BUREAU OF MINES AND MINERAL RESOURCES, GENERAL FILE DATA

  • Deposit

    DALE, V.B., AND MCKINNEY, W.A., 1959, TUNGSTEN DEPOSITS OF NEW MEXICO: U.S. BUREAU OF MINES REPORT OF INVESTIGATIONS 5517, P. 38-46.

  • Deposit

    BACHMAN, G.O., 1975, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE MADRID QUADRANGLE, SANTA FE AND SANDOVAL COUNTIES, NEW MEXICO: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OPEN-FILE REPORT 74-175, SCALE 1:48,000.

  • Deposit

    U.S. BUREAU OF MINES INSPECTION, 1980, SIXTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT, P. 57.

  • Deposit

    MCQUISTON, F.W., JR., AND SHOEMAKER, R.S., 1981, GOLD AND SILVER CYANIDATION PLANT PRACTICE, V. 2, SOCIETY OF MINING ENGINEERS, P. 47-50.

  • Deposit

    MAYNARD, S.R., 1991, GEOLOGY AND GOLD MINERALIZATION OF THE ORTIZ MOUNTAINS, IN JULINA, BETSY, AND ZIDEK, JIRI, EDS., FIELD GUIDE TO GEOLOGIC EXCURSIONS IN NEW MEXICO AND ADJACENT AREAS OF TEXAS AND COLORADO: NEW MEXICO BUREAU OF MINES AND MINERAL RESOURCES BULLETIN 137, P. 65-69.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THE ORE OCCURS IN QUARTZ FISSURE VEINS AND STRINGERS IN THE BRECCIATED MARGIN OF THE ORTIZ BASIN STOCK. THE VEIN PINCHES AND SWELLS IRREGULARLY. ORE ABOVE THE 200-FT LEVEL IS OXIDIZED AND FREE MILLING; BELOW 200 FT, PYRITE AND CHALCOPYRITE APPEAR. SPECULARITE AND MAGNETITE ARE FOUND ON THE DUMP MATERIAL. SOME ARSENOPYRITE AND GALENA ARE ALSO REPORTED.; UNPUBLISHED MODEL NAME: SYENITE-HOSTED CU-AU-PGE?.
Deposit RECORD D007829 HAS BEEN MERGED AND DELETED.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JAN-76 Blair, Will N. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-SEP-81 Menzie, David New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources
Updater 01-MAR-84 Murray, Diane New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources
Updater 01-NOV-90 Peterson, Jocelyn A. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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