The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1915-06-18
New Mexico News

pfedoulunttnH, renewed movement
or contraction (~probobly both) caused
the tissues IN rhe rock. There are no
faults In the vicinity Of the meer-
schaum veins or its walls. showing u
Ia not a friction breccia. Surrounding
this area are found the Palomas
gravels.
Occurs NJ FissnFc Filling In Brcccia.
The American meerschRum occurs
as a assure filling In the breccia. de-
velopment work proving the veins to
be from 1 to 2 feet in width. The
strike OF the veins is almost north and
south and the dip practically critical.
the analysis Of the meerschaum MI
Ing II; SlO2. 60 pc recent: MgO. 10
pc rcent; H2O. 20 per cent; Al2O, 3
pc recent; Gao. slight. The present
country rock was doubtless covered
by n preceding rock mass containing
magnesium bearing silicates. calcite
and h Characteristic alumina for
which h district IL named. Inhltrat-
Ing waters carrying these ingredients
In solution deposited them In the fa-
sures. Later erosion has left no trace
| OF the preceding rock masses. All in
dications s~ubstantlate the belief that
the naturalization was formed by
percolating surface waters. Nicer
schaum " chalk white 10 cream col
ored. nbrous. tough and breaks even
ly The texture Ii even throughout.
The specific gravity Is about 2. II "
easily carved. takes a high polish and
absorbs fluids rapidly.
Due to the contour OF the country
no shaft-sinklng to any great depth
has been necessary to keep the fac
tory supplied with ore. The main
workings have been In tunneling n
stopping from the south side OF Sa-
pillo Mountain. The portal II located
In a deep canyon cut through breccia.
The adit has been driven about 1900
feet north and Stopping to the surface
of the mountain has been done Ia
many places. The greatest distance
from the surface reached In the tun-
mel Is 23O feet. An mining has been
done by hand. M timbering is re-
quired other thaQ for chutes. ladder
ways. etc. a raise has been made
from the tunnel to the surface. and
preparations were under way by the
! late management to sink to a depth OF
100 feet from the tunnel level and
drin nirth and south along the strike
OF the vein. Thus In a short time "A
large tonnage could have been block
ed out. Numerous small shafts,
drifts and opencuts In many places on
the property. consisting of 400 acres,
have proved the existence Of many
/ commercially valuable merschaum
veins.
Milling Processes Were Experiments.
While choice m-eerschaum. that can
be carved and polished into heautitul
smoking articles. is counters N
the mines. the bulk of the mineral re-
quires a concentrating treatment 10
eliminate the particles OF rock ara
foreign matter that In many places
have become associated with u. the
nrst meerschaum mill In he United
tSates "a serected about n mile from
the mines Of Sapillo Creek, where
there j. a large supply of water the
year round. In outward appearance
IL wa sthe same as any other small
treatment plant. but inwardly II was
the hive q tan unknown and hereto
fore u~nthought-of meerschaum-sep-
arating process. The early equipment
consists Of q coalbreakers, where the
ore was supposed to nave been crush
ed To about 2-inch cubes. after when
IL was spread on a large drying hooi
I'm the sun and q large percentage "l
thc water ~eyaporated. The minera|
wa sthen pulverized In a conee-ml'
To pass "A !i-mesh screen. sizing was
done In a small trommel composed OF
"a series of So. 30. 90 and lf-mesH
scrcens. After this the sized ore wa'
treated on what is nkowu as the kron
concentration. a machine that coulo
b, classified as a dry JIG. the principl'
helm aair pulsation under the ore pass
ing over screens. Due TO improper
sizing II was impossible TO OBTAIN q
perfectly clean concentrate, and onll
so per cent OF the worthless materia
was separated from the meersch1um
This impractical and unsuccessful
method Of concentration was lmproN
cd upon hy the later management, bu
onl, In an experimental way. An au
@,nT,ntic dricr took the place of IN
sun-drying platform, and wet concen
: ~trntion was embodied in the mill IN
Inter being most successful an
turning out an almost pure prouue'
: Tho most recent now sheet of IN
mill was as follows: From mine u
grizzlies Ia samson crusher To hlak
orushcr. the material II men lho'
, % rundcr. elevator 10 automatic ore
, Ia sizing trommcl; oversize To cohe'
mills. undersize 10 ine ore pms p"'
a. fHne ore 20 Krom concentrate,
|. other AS sized Ia whitley table ~
: tafings from krom c~onccntra'"
! treated over whitley table viii a y
! per cent recovery. The meerschau''
a being lighter than It's ganRue' reN'''