| Deposit ID | 10100911 |
|---|---|
| MRDS ID | W016960 |
| MAS/MILS ID | 0350310185 |
| Record type | Site |
| Current site name | Cliffside Mine |
| Alternate or previous names | Mine: Phillips, Kerr-Mcgee, Section 36 |
| Related records | 10271865 |
| Point of reference | Main Entrance |
|---|---|
| Geographic coordinates: | -107.75006, 35.39561 (WGS84) |
| Elevation | 2193 |
| Location accuracy | 10(meters) |
| Relative position | ABOUT 18.0 MILES N 20 E OF GRANTS, NM. Coodinates are for shaft. |
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)
Federal lands
ST(Federal land areas administered by ST)
| Country | State | County |
|---|---|---|
| United States | New Mexico | McKinley |
| Meridian | Township | Range | Section | Fraction | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Mexico | 014N | 009W | 36 | SE | New Mexico |
| Commodity | Importance |
|---|---|
| Uranium | Primary |
| Vanadium Critical | Primary |
| Molybdenum | Tertiary |
| Selenium | Tertiary |
| Materials | Type of material |
|---|---|
| Coffinite | Ore |
| Montroseite | Ore |
| Result | A 6000-TON SAMPLE ASSAYED: 0.52 PERCENT U308, 0.23 PERCENT V205, 0.012 PERCENT MO, 0.029 PERCENT SE. |
|---|
| Host or associated | Host | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rock type | Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Sandstone | ||||
| Rock unit name | Morrison | ||||
| Rock description | Morrison | ||||
| |||||
| Main Entrance (1) | -107.75006, 35.39561 |
|---|
| Type of structure | Regional |
|---|---|
| Structure description | San Mateo Anticline |
| Type of structure | Local |
| Structure description | San Mateo Anticline; A 100-Ft, Cylindrical Collapse Structure. |
| General form | THE DEPOSIT CONSISTS OF TWO OREBODIES-ONE IS A LARGE IRREGULAR, ROUGHLY CIRCULAR MASS AND THE OTHER A LONG, NARROW POD THAT TRENDS SOUTHEASTWARD. A LARGE, 100-FT CYLINDRICAL COLLAPSE STRUCTURE OCCURS IN THE SOUTHERN EDGE OF THE MAIN OREBODY: ORE IN THE COLLAPSE STRUCTURE IS DISPLACED ABOUT 20 FEET. THE ORE IS GENERALLY THICKER AND HIGHER GRADE THAN IN ADJACENT WALLS BUT SAME STRATIGRAPHIC ZONE |
|---|---|
| Thickness | 12.19M |
| Length | 152.4M |
| Width | 45.72M |
| Operation type | Underground |
|---|---|
| Development status | Past Producer |
| Commodity type | Metallic |
| Deposit size | Medium |
| Significant | No |
| Discovery year | 1957 |
| Discoverer | Phillips Petroleum Co. |
| Year of first production | 1960 |
| Year of last production | 1983 |
| District name | Grants Uranium District: Ambrosia Lake Subdistrict |
|---|
| Type of mineral rights | State Lease |
|---|
| Ownership category | State |
|---|
| Type | Owner-Operator |
|---|---|
| Owner | Kerr-McGee Nuclear Corp. |
| Home office | OK |
| Year | 1979 |
| Type | Operator |
|---|---|
| Owner | Kerr-Mc Gee Corp. |
| Home office | Grants, Nm |
| First year | 1984 |
| Type | Owner |
|---|---|
| Owner | State Of New Mexico |
| Home office | New Mexico |
| Year | 1960 | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Period | 1960 | ||||||||||||||
| Material | ORE U | ||||||||||||||
| Accuracy | Accurate | ||||||||||||||
| Description | Cp_Grade: ^0.41 Percent U3o8 | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Type of workings | Underground |
|---|---|
| Overall depth | 456.29M |
| Agency | Database name | Acronym | Record ID | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USGS | Mineral Resources Data System | MRDS | W016960 | |
| U.S. Bureau of Mines | Minerals Availability System | MAS | 0350310185 | =10271865, merged and deleted. |
| Mine Safety and Health Administration | MSHA | MSHA | 2900543 |
CLARK, D.S., AND S.R. HAVENSTRITE, 1963, NMBMMR MEM 15, P. 108-116
HILPERT, L.S., 1969, USGS PP 603, P. 39
SQUYRES, J.B., 1980, NMBMMR MEM 38, P. 86-96
MCLEMORE, V.T., 1983, NMBMMR OFR-183, APPENDIX 1
NMBMMR GENERAL FILE DATA
NMBMMR MINES FILE
NMBMMR MAP FILES
NMSMIR, 1958
NMBMMR GEOLOGIC MAP 31, 1979
NMBMMR RESOURCE MAP 9, 1979
FILE, 1965, NMBM CIRC 77
| Subject category | Comment text |
|---|---|
| Deposit | THE CLIFFSIDE MINE IS UNUSUAL IN SEVERAL RESPECTS: THE HIGH AVERAGE URANIUM CONTENT; THE EXTREME HIGH GRADE OF THIN ORE STREAKS; THE EQUIDIMENSIONAL PLAN AND GREAT THICKNESS OF THE CENTRAL CORE; THE SCARCITY OF PYRITE; THE SCARCITY OF BLACK, URANIUM DEFICIENT SANDSTONE; THE OCCURANCE OF SANDSTONE PIPES; AND THE COMMON OCCURENCE OF VERY HIGH-GRADE UNOXIDIZED ORE IN CLOSE ASSOCIATION WITH RED SANDSTONE AND MUDSTONE. (CLARK, D.S. AND S.R. HAVENSTRITE, 1963, NMBMMR MEM 15, P. 116) ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT |
| Type | Date | Name | Affiliation | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reporter | 01-JAN-76 | Weeks, Robert | New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources | |
| Updater | 01-FEB-84 | Murray, Diane | U.S. Geological Survey | |
| Editor | 28-OCT-11 | Wilson, Anna B | U.S. Geological Survey | merged and deleted duplicate reocrd 10271865 |
Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.
| Status | Abandoned since 05/23/1985 |
|---|---|
| MSHA mine ID | 2900543 |
| Mine name (MSHA) | Section 36 |
| Current operator | Quivira Mining Company |
| Current controller (parent) | Kerr-McGee Corp |
| Mine type | Underground (Metal / non-metal) |
MSHA cross-reference per the original MRDS record. Mine status and operator reflect MSHA's last published Mines export (February 2025); MSHA's public bulk feed has been unavailable since, so this may be out of date. See the Mine Data Retrieval System for current status.
Open MSHA's Mine Data Retrieval System for inspections, accidents, and violations for this mine.