Bishop Cap Hills Area

The Bishop Cap Hills Area is a fluorine-fluorite mine located in Dona Ana county, New Mexico at an elevation of 4,600 feet.

About the MRDS Data:

All mine locations were obtained from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System. The locations and other information in this database have not been verified for accuracy. It should be assumed that all mines are on private property.

Mine Info

Satelite View

MRDS mine locations are often very general, and in some cases are incorrect. Some mine remains have been covered or removed by modern industrial activity or by development of things like housing. The satellite view offers a quick glimpse as to whether the MRDS location corresponds to visible mine remains.

Site Name

Primary: Bishop Cap Hills Area
Secondary: Bishop Cap Hills Area: Prospects: Blue Star
Secondary: Grants
Secondary: Conklin Cave

Commodity

Primary: Fluorine-Fluorite
Tertiary: Barium-Barite
Tertiary: Lead
Tertiary: Copper
Tertiary: Uranium

Location

State: New Mexico
County: Dona Ana
District: Organ Mountains

Land Status

Land ownership: Federal
Note: the land ownership field only identifies whether the area the mine is in is generally on public lands like Forest Service or BLM land, or if it is in an area that is generally private property. It does not definitively identify property status, nor does it indicate claim status or whether an area is open to prospecting. Always respect private property.

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Owner Name: F. A. Bunch And B. Germer
Home Office: Las Cruces, N.M.
Years: 1946 -

Owner Name: Allied Chemical Corp.
Years: 1978 -

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1944
Year Last Production: 1972
Discovery Year: 1922
Discovery Method: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: S

Physiography

General Physiographic Area: Intermontane Plateaus
Physiographic Province: Basin And Range Province
Physiographic Section: Mexican Highland

Mineral Deposit Model

Not available

Orebody

Form: TABULAR, POD

Structure

Type: R
Description: Large E-W Normal Faults Related To Caldera Collapse To The North.

Type: L
Description: Several Ne To Nw Trending Faults

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Silicification

Rocks

Name: Quartz Monzonite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Late Permian

Name: Quartz Monzonite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Pliocene

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Fluorite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Barite
Gangue: Hematite
Gangue: Jasper
Gangue: Calcite
Gangue: Pyrite
Gangue: Quartz

Comments

Comment (Workings): THREE SMALL ADITS AND SEVERAL PROSPECT PITS AND TRENCHES. UNDERGROUND WORKINGS TOTAL 170 FT IN LENGTH.

Comment (Geology): MINERALIZATION IS LARGELY CONTROLLED BY A LARGE CURVED, GENERALLY E-W TRENDING NORMAL FAULT KNOWN AS THE BLUE STAR FAULT. MINERALIZATION MAY BE RELATED TO THE ORGAN MOUNTAIN QUARTZ MONZONITE STOCK TO THE NORTH.

Comment (Deposit): THE MINERALIZATION IS LOCALIZED IN FISSURE VEINS ALONG FAULTS AND FRACTURES AND IN IRREGULARLY SHAPED JASPEROIDAL REPLACEMENTS IN BRECCIATED ZONES ALONG FRACTURES AND BEDDING PLANE FAULTS. MINERALIZATION IS WIDESPREAD THROUGHOUT THE PALEOZOIC CARBONATE SECTION.

Comment (Deposit): Discovery Year: EARLY 1920'S

Comment (Deposit): INDIVIDUAL PROSPECTS WITHIN THE BISHOP CAP HILLS PROSPECTS MAY BE KNOWN AS THE BLUE STAR PROSPECT, GRANTS PROSPECT, AND CONKLIN CAVE. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT

Comment (Location): LOCATED AT SOUTHERN TIP OF THE ORGAN MOUNTAINS ON AN ISOLATED ISLAND OF OUTCROPS KNOWN AS THE BISHOP CAP HILLS. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1976)

Comment (Commodity): USBM COMPOSITE SAMPLE RAN 47.5% CAF2; 23% SIO2; 14.9% CACO3; 11.1% BASO4

Comment (Development): INVESTIGATED AND TRENCHED BY USBM IN 1945; A LIMITED CORE DRILLING PROGRAM WAS UNDER-TAKEN BY RANGAIRE CORP. IN 1969-70; ALLIED CHEM. CORP. DRILLED SEVERAL PERC. HOLES IN 1975.

References

Reference (Production): MCANULTY, WN, 1978, P. 16.

Reference (Deposit): WILLIAMS, FE, 1966, USBM INF CIRC 8307, P. 27-28.

Reference (Deposit): SUR, FJ, 1946, NMBMMR REPT INV 3946, 7 PP.

Reference (Deposit): MCANULTY, WN, 1978, NMBMMR MEM 34, P. 23-26.

Reference (Deposit): KRAMER, WV, 1970, MS THESIS, UTEP.

Reference (Deposit): JOHNSTON, W.D., 1928, NMBMMR BULL 4.

Reference (Deposit): ROTHROCK, HE, ET AL, 1946, NMBMMR BULL 21.

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