Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1903-04-09
Special to the New Mexican.


Coal fields IL miles long by about. fou
miles wide, covering 4S square miles, al
underlaid with four workable seams o
fine bituminous coal, sufficient to las
139 years If the coal is taken out at tn
rate of 1,25OO0O tons year, or the en-
tire production of New Mexico in thu
year 1902. But this does not indicate tn,
limit of the possible production but on
face groupings. 1t is beyond doub
the finest coal field in New Mexico anC
the New Mexico Fuel and Iron Com.
pany has control of practically the en-
given to demonstrate the future finan-
cial success of the Santa Fe Central
Railway for it will have the handling
of every ton of this coal to market and
there is a demand for all of it, not
considering the timber in the Man
zano mountains, the salt of the Salt
Lakes, the 100000 sheep that Craze on
the Galisteo, Estancia and adjoining
transit, transportation and passenger
travel, the coal alone will make a rail-
road system.
The principal camp is at present at
Hagan, but severa, other camps will be
established eventually Hagan is most
beautifully situated with majestic
mountain ranges on every side. To the
east are the Ortiz mountains with their
treasures of gold to the southeast the
San Pedro mountains with their wealth
of copper; to the southwest the majes-
tic Jumanes mountains; to west the
giant Sandals with promising indica-
tions of iron and gold and big deposits
of commercial gypsum; to the north
west, the Cochitis with their precious
mineral; and far to the northeast
gleam the snowy peaks of the Santa Fe
range and their but partly guessed at
mineral wealth.
MANY COAL INDICATIONS
: All the way from Clark to Golden
there are coal indications. Tho o. Mara
mines, good proposition but small
compared with the Uno de Cato, Coy
ote and Pima Vititas fields, is a. few
miles from Clark and all around it are
prospect holes and spots where the dia-
mond drill has been at work locating
the strata. Beyond O'Mara and toward
Golden, the contour and appearance of
the country resembles the anthracite |
region of eastern Pennsylvania. 1t is
much broken in spots and seems like a
vast park Of pinon and cedar. Toward |
the base of the Ortiz mountains, where
there has been an uplift of igneous
rocks, there are indications of anthra-
cite coal. Whether these indications
are worth anything need not to be ta-
ken into consideration for the present
by the New Mexico Fuel and Iron
Company. Beyond Golden, on the way
to Uno de Cato, the road follows
gulcf along which there is considerable
working of placer and gravel for gold.
1t is not until leaving this gulch that
The first outcroppings of coal and shale
are noticeable. But then for distance
Of 13 miles, the road follows the face of
the rock formation along which show
the coal seams. There is thick sand
stone cap, then shale and the four
seams of coal which are separated by
layers of sandstone of uniform thick
ness The strata tilt from Is to 30 de-
grees and throughout the entire section
maintain a uniformity in their nature
Ind tilt that make them a beautiful les
son in geology. The San Pedro and
Pima Vititas creeks and tributary
gulches cut deep into these strata ex-
posing the carboniferous outcroppings
IN the face Of the rocks.
The top vein Of the four workable
seams has been named the McCance
vein. 1t is IL feet in thickness. The
vein beneath 1t is the Kennedy vein,
about 1-2 feet thick. The third vein
8 the Hopewell vein, of about the same
thickness. Beneath this is the Andrews
7ein Of about feet thickness
THE MAIN SLOPE.
The main slope at Hagan is into the
Hopewell vein, but from it the other
veins will be worked. The incline Of
he slope is gentle and straight as an
arrow so that the run can be seen from
my point along its entire length. The
slope is in 700 feet and follows the vein
If coal which is Of an exceptionally fine
1uality, maintaining uniform thick
ness and thus far broken by but one
roll of length Of 8 feet.
The force in the mine Is at present
in two shifts breaking the :
slope through this slight fault. At this
point the slope is about 600 feet beneath
he surface. Near this point, too, wa
:er has been struck; pure soft water in
10 small a quantity as not to interfere
With the work but sufficient to be of
yreat value. A cable tramway operat-
ID by steam plant, near the entrance
II the slope hauls out the coal and de-
,ris of which there is already an Inn
nense bank. In the mine, an uplift
.eaches the vein above. An air shaft 1
the main slope and a ventila-
or shaft at the mouth Of which there
will be large air fans, is being extend
d to the main air shaft. Another shaft
o the surface is being run from tbe