Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1921-02-21
TIN DEPOSITS Of
sOCORROCOUNTy
NOT PROMISING

conto Fe Feb. 20.-J. M. Hin
10 The limited States geological sur
vey has just reported on INC
posts of tin ore discoVereo an'V
the cave and cliff dwellings on t..o
ella river in western SoCoi
county. Stream tin was fouhu ~
1918 along Taylor creek at tne
headyaters of the east FORK OF Ine
C,ila. near what Is called CaNe
city, not far from the Sierra co"h-
ty boundary.
Tin prospects were located IN
this area in 1919. In its northeast
ern part there are prospects on
Hardcastle and Squaw creeks
tributaries of Corduroy creek; IN
its southwest part there are pros
| nects on Beaver creek and on
TavIor creek about three miles
above it's junction with Beaver
creek, near Axes ranch; ana IN leS
southwestern part there are pros
poets at the head OF Taylor CREEK
near Inman's ranch.
The government geologist was
not strongly impressed by any OF tne
nrosnects or lodes seen by him in
The Taylor creek district. Near
Cave city, on lower Taylor creek,
the New Mexico Tin and Metal
company of New York has driven
a nine-foot tunnel into parity al
tered rhyolite to intercept al con-
siderable depth mass OF hlsnly
altered rhyolite in which there are
several veinlets that carry hema-
tito ana some cassiterite. AT the
tor ~ the CANYON wall these vein
let's are exposed by pits ana shal,
low shafts. The tunnel had no.
reached it's objective point In Au,
gust, 1920. The veinlets exposed az
the surface did not appear TO Dc
large or rich enough to mine, ano
unless the soft, altered rock near
them contains enough dissent
mated tin mineral to pay for its ex'
traction by concentration the ven
ture does not promise to be sue
, cessful.
In the rest of the field so little
vork has been done that nothint
definite can be said concerning TN
possibilities of the district, but th'
naturalization was apparently no
strong enough at any place 10 pro
} duce veinlets that can be WORKED
= profitably.
! saws of sorted ore, which wa
t largely FLOAT" or stream TN
. show that even the best materia
: rarely contains more than 30 pc
D cent of tin, which cannot be con
D sidered high grade, and the proc
e net would probably be difficult u
t market, particularly as 1t contain
4 much iron. ,.o
: All the valleys have been locates
f az "placer ground" Some stream
1 fin NAV be found at few places
d hut the erosion of the primary de
e posits has apparently not bee,
sufficiently great to produce ricl
e placers and the narrow box can
e yons contain only small quantit
: of gravel. Add to these drawback
e the difficulty, amounting almost t
an impossibility. of getting Wate
r to much of the supposed place
: ground, and it becomes eVloer
i that the placers can hardly o
d worked profitably except in a 1e'
4 small areas and by hand.
A considerable area OF the fAis
n lite still remains to be prospecte'
o notably in the belt that starts
: Indian peaks and crosses Corduro
II canyon lust below the mouth
n South water canyon and continue
l. southwark across the heads
s. Souaw and Indian creeks to Tal
lor canyon, beyond which it is Coz
,r cred by the tufts and agglomel
IS ates. In going over this area, hoV
d ever, the geologist observed 7
m greatly altered rhyolite, and 1t
J. reasonably certain that unless u
N rock has been considerably sof
Id ened and bleached there is lit
j. chance of finding in it any vel
let's carrying tin. On the Who'll
s. the district does not look promi
e. ling as a possible producer of tn
ch-needed metal -... -