Bernalillo County New Mexico Gold Production |
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By A. H. KOSCHMANN and M. H. BERGENDAHL - USGS 1968
Click here for the Principle Gold Producing Districts of the United States Index
Bernalillo County is along the Rio Grande in north-central New Mexico. Mining has been of slight economic importance in the county, and gold production has come only from the Tijeras Canyon district, between the Sandia and Manzano Ranges.
TIJERAS CANYON DISTRICT
Information on the discovery and production of gold in the Tijeras Canyon district is meager. Total gold production was about 34,488 ounces (Martin, 1953, p. 645), most of which was mined from 1882 through 1903. In 1959 the Tijeras Canyon district was included in the Sandia military base and was made inaccessible to prospectors or miners.
The ore occurs in a north-trending system of fissures and faults in Precambrian granite and metamorphic rocks and along the contact of the Precambrian rocks with the overlying limestone of Pennsylvanian age. The ore chiefly contains lead and silver and smaller amounts of copper and gold. Fluorspar is a common gangue. Apparently most of the ore was mined from the oxidized zone (Ellis, 1922, p. 402).
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