El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-05-18

Box is located is called SteepIe Rock
district being in the eXtremeSsOutheTn
end of the MagOllOn mountain range,
In range locally often called the Pr
nos Altos range. There are several
gold quartz mines OF note in the Vi
cinity, such as the Twin Peaks mines,
the Clear Lake or Huxley mines. ana
the Carlisle mines, etc 1t lies in
northwestern Grant county, n. NJ, close
10 the Arizona line. The general ele-
TatiOn is $500 to 5000 feet, and the
country is rough and the drainage is
south and west into the ella river.
The Geology.
The region around Steple Rock ex-
poses chiefly ELUSIVE rocks. Of which
the most important is a reddish, me-
dunn grained variety that resemble in
appearance Of the soda rhyOlite Of the
MOgollin mountains Quartz occurs in
medium sized grains. There are also
dlorlte pOrphyrles and andesites, da-
cites and GRANTEES.
The ore deposits OF that district are
said TO be similar TO those Of MOgol-
lin, COchiti and other gold regions Of
New Mexico. Quartz is the predOmi-
nant gangue mineral The veins are
marked in many places by rather
strong slllcious OuIcrOps. The vein
system is rather complex; most Of the
veins so far worked have a northwest
ward strike. / saw several prominent
outcrOps OF quartz or more properly,
quartz-porphyry, which look very at
JracllTe as gold prospects.
A Rich Quartz Mine.
The old Carlisle vein was developed
several years ago to a depth Of about
600 feet The best ore was found in
the upper 300 feet; below that the val
ues were lower and extraction more
difficult. A stOpe was opened 100 feet
long and 40 feet wide. now caved in ana
filled with water. 1t is said TO have prO-
duced So, 200, 600 North of and parallel
TO the main vein was a stringer. a few
inches wide, Of granular quartz with
Ilne particles OF free gold scattered
through 1t, and was very rich. II is
said the old tailings from the old SO
ton mill, now dismantled. could be cv-
anided with profit Other old mines
are the Imperial, showing good ore in
the bottom Of the 200 foot shaft. the
Jim Crow and New Years: the T,sure-
the East Group the HOmestaBe: the
clear Lake or Hinckley, and Twin
Peaks mines.
A New Type Of Ore Deposits.
The discovery Of the immense ore
shoots in Apache Box IS a reVe1af ior7
ana viii doubtless work a revolution
In future prospecting and exploration
work. Hereafter the hunt will be after
dlkes Of rhyolite pOrphyries. which
have become brecciated and silicffied-
LOT crushed zones cemented by softer
material where the ore bearing so1.7
tons penetrating the porous rbvoIi+s
pOrpnyry after its brecciatfon md -
mentauOn, deposited auriferOus r,7-rfts
IN the cavities, and the pyrites after-
wards oxldized, left the free gold. Thev
viii hunt for groupings shov-i1s q
graduation from loose brecci9fed f3,e-
hole irony quartz to highly siIicified
hard rnyollue pOrphyry. Thew Mill
look for mineraliZed zones rather +bsr
for fissures. If they look for otber
mines fthe Apache Box tyne thew
viii look for volcanic necks or rbvoIi+i5,
masses, fractured in all directions IN
which the gold was originally 5ie+rib-
uted uniformly through the rocl- and
was afterward segregated alone The
fracture plains, thus making f6e 70
gions Of greatest fracture, zones of
richest ore, which must have bae0
caused by ascending heated soIutfons
The PrOspecUOr's Key to Gold
In that district and in any other dis
trict in western Grant county. the mos
pectOr viii have to thoroughly prospect
The country rock wherever there is
1recciatlOn. silicificatiOn and Oyidiza-
tiOn-sillica and iron or gossan out
crops are the key to the gold in that
great district.