Merry Widow Mine

Past Producer in Grant county in New Mexico, United States with commodities Uranium, Gold, Copper, Bismuth
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. Alteration
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Geologic structures
  12. Ore body information
  13. Controls for ore emplacement
  14. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  15. Mining district
  16. Land status
  17. Ownership information
  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 10013291
MRDS ID D009511
Record type Site
Current site name Merry Widow Mine
Alternate or previous names Claims, Merry Widow, Acme, Acme No.1, Merry Widow No.1, Ace-In-The-Hole, Duece-In-The-Hole, Blue Bird, Blue Bird Nos. 1 and 2
Related records 10199018

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -108.38339, 32.05207 (WGS84)
Elevation 1868
Relative position ABOUT 17 MILES S 21 W OF SILVER CITY.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Grant(county)

New Mexico(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Brockman(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Lordsburg(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Silver City(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Animas Valley(hydrologic unit)

Upper Gila(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Gila(hydrologic subregion)

Lower Colorado(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

ST(Federal land areas administered by ST)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States New Mexico Grant

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
New Mexico 020S 015W 22 New Mexico

Comments on the location information

  • ACCURATE LOCATION IS FOR THE MERRY WIDOW SHAFT AS SHOWN ON THE BURRO PEAK TOPOGRAPHIC QUADRANGLE.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Uranium Primary
Gold Primary
Copper Tertiary
Bismuth Critical Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • HEDLUND, D.C., 1978, ESTIMATED THE MAXIMUM U308 CONTENT IS ABOUT 0.2%.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Bismutite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Gold Ore
Torbernite Ore
Hematite Gangue
Limonite Gangue
Magnetite Gangue
Pyrite Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Siderite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Kaolinization, Sericitization

Analytical data

Result LOVERING, T.G., 1956, REPORTED THE RESULTS FROM ANALYSES OF SEVERALHUNDRED SAMPLES.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Rhyolite
    Rock unit name Burro Mountain Granite
    Rock description Burro Mountain Granite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pliocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite > Diabase

Nearby scientific data

(1) -108.38339, 32.05207

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Faults Strike East-Northeast And Dikes Trend Northwest In The Vicinity Of The Mine.

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Mineralization Localized At The Intersections Of Faults And Diabase Dikes.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1885
Year of first production 1900
Year of last production 1925

Mining district

District name White Signal District: Southern Burro Mountains

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Leach, A. A. And F.I.
    Home office Lordsburg, N.M.
    First year 1920
  • Type Owner
    Owner Hill, A. G.
    Home office Dallas, Tx.
    First year 1950

Comments on the production information

  • LOVERING, T.G., 1956, P. 330, REPORTED THAT THE MINE WAS OPERATED AS A GOLD PROPERTY UNTIL EXHAUSTION OF THE EASILY ACCESSIBLE ORES IN THEEARLY 1900'S. TWO CARLOADS OF ORE CONTAINING A MIXTURE OF AUTUNITE, TORBERNITE, SERICITE AND CLAY WERE PRODUCED IN THE 1920'S.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Length 144.78M
    Overall depth 45.72M

Comments on the workings information

  • UNDERGROUND WORKINGS IN THE LATE 1940'S AND EARLY 1950'S CONSISTED OF A 150 FT. SHAFT WITH FOUR LEVELS AND 475 FT. OF DRIFTS. SURFACE WORKINGS CONSISTED OF FIVE SHALLOW TRENCHES AND NUMEROUS PROSPECT PITS.

Comments on development

  • OWNER EXPLORATION IN 1950 CONSISTED OF DIAMOND DRILLING, TRECHING,SAMPLING AND GEOLOGIC MAPPING.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    GRANGER, H.C., AND BAUER, H.L., JR., 1951 U.S. ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION, REPT. TEM-146A,7 PAGES

  • Deposit

    GRANGER, H.C., AND BAUER, H.L., JR., 1952 USGS CIRC 186, 16 PAGES

  • Deposit

    LOVERING, T.G., 1956 USGS BULL 1009-L, P. 329-341

  • Deposit

    GILLERMAN, E., 1964 NMBMMR BULL 83, P. 94-95, PLATES 7, 9 AND 10

  • Deposit

    HEDLUND, D.C., 1978 USGS MISC. FIELD STUDIES MAP MF-1040

  • Deposit

    NMBMMR GENERAL FILE DATA

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Discovery Year: 1880'S
Deposit DEPOSITS OCCUR AS IRREGULAR VEINS, FRACTURE COATINGS AND DISSEMINATED IN ALTERED DIABASE ALONG AN EAST-NORTHEAST STRIKING FAULT ZONE. TEN CLAIMS MINERAL SURVEY NUMBERS 2121 AND 2178 COVERING ABOUT 200 ACRES.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-AUG-1982 Menzie, David New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources

Beyond USGS

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