Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Volume III, 1863-1867

by Various

The richest and widest veins are those northeast of Mazatlan, near San Dimas, Guarisamey, etc., in Durango. These veins cut all the rocks older than the Cretaceous, whether igneous or sedimentary. The mines of Sinaloa are richer than those of Sonora. In the former State the ore-bearing portion of the veins is from a few feet to several yards in width: in the latter, generally from one to two feet. In Durango and Sinaloa gold, native silver, and sulphuret of silver occur associated with galena, yellow blende, and iron pyrites. In Sonora the principal ores are argentiferous gray copper, with galena, black blende, copper pyrites, arsenical pyrites, carbonate of lead, ruby silver, arsenical silver, and gold. Each mining district is characterized by a peculiar system of veins; in all as many as twenty different systems have been observed. The most abundant vein stones are quartz, either chalcedonic, crystalline, or massive; brown spar; heavy spar; oxide of iron. The veins occurring in the metamorphic Triassic rocks, are usually parallel with the stratification, so that they lie nearly horizontal where the formation has been but little disturbed. As to the yield of the silver ores, it varies extremely, and it would be necessary to enter into a full description of all the different districts to give an idea of it. It may be noticed, however, that the arsenical pyrites, which is auriferous in the Sierra Nevada, becomes argentiferous in the Sierra Madre. The veins vary in their direction from a little east to a little west of north; the richest ores near San Dimas run northeast and southwest. There are but few rich mines in Sonora, a state of which the mineral wealth has been much exaggerated. There are, however, some deposits of variegated copper, and veins of magnetic and specular iron.

The annexed tabular statement will give the principal facts obtained with regard to the mines examined in Northern Mexico.

TABULAR STATEMENT,
SHOWING THE POSITION AND CHARACTER OF THE PRINCIPAL MINES OF NORTHERN MEXICO.

BY A. RÉMOND.—1863-1865.

Mines.	Location.	Country.	Strike.	Dip.	Width.	Matrix.	Ores.	Yield. (Per Ton.)
Naghuila	Near San Javier	Labrador porphyry	N. 35° W.	50° N.E.	1½ ft.	Crystalline quartz	Sulph’ts of zinc, lead, iron arsenical & copper pyrites; ruby silver & native silver	1st class $1200 2nd class $125
Eureka	Bet. S. Miguelito & Los Bronces	Greenstone	N. 45° W.	35°-40° .E.		Quartz	Mispickel, blende, galena
Pleiteada	Near San Javier	Labrador porphyry	N. 30° W.	45° N.E.	1½ ft.	Quartz
San Juan	Near San Javier	Quartzite (triassic)	N. 65° E.	50° S.S.E.	4 ft.	Quartz and iron ore	Galena, zinc, carbonate of lead, iron pyrites
Ceballos	Near Los Bronces	Labrador porphyry	N. 25° E.	85° S.S.E.	2 ft.	Magnetic iron
Higuera	Near Los Bronces	Greenstone	N. 5° E.	80° E.	2½ ft.	Magnetic iron	Copper pyrites and gray copper ore
La Blanca	Near San Antonio de la Huerta	Q’tzite and conglom’e (triassic)	N. and S.	15° E.		Vesicular quartz	Gold and chloro-bromide of silver	$43
San Luis	Near San Antonio de la Huerta	Quartzite (triassic)	N. 40° W.	35° N.E.	1½ ft.	Decomp. quartz and sulfate of baryta	Blende, galena, mispickel, sulphuret of iron, native silver	1st class $787 2nd class $125
Santa Barbara	Near Corral Viejo.	Quartzite	N.E.-S.W.	30° S.E.	1½ ft.	Quartz	Galena, carbonate of lead, iron pyrites, gold	$67.75
La Sierra	Near San Javier	Labrador porphyry	N. 60° E.	80° N.N.W.	3 ft.	Magnetic iron	Gray copper, iron pyrites
San José	Near Los Bronces	Labrador porphyry	N. 27° E.		1½ ft.	Sulphate of baryta	Magnetic iron & iron pyrites
El Secorro	Near Los Bronces	Labrador porphyry	N. 25° E.
Zaragoza	Near Los Bronces	Labrador porphyry	N. 23° E.			Magnetic iron
San Luis Gonzaga	Near San Javier	Labrador porphyry	N. 30° W.	30°-40° N.E.	8 inches	White quartz	Galena, blende, mispickel, iron pyrites
La Colorada	Near Los Bronces	Altered sandst. & slate (triassic)	N. 50° E.	80° S.	5 ft.	Iron ore and quartz
Aguajito	Near San Javier	Labrador porphyry	N. 24° E.			Magnetic iron
Santa Edubigen	La Barranca	Quartzite (triassic)	N.E.-S.W.	30° N.W.	2½ ft.	Quartz
La Cuadra	Near San Javier	Labrador porphyry	N. 10° W.	20°-25° E.	1 ft.	Quartz	Arsenical pyrites, blende, and galena
El Rosario	Near San Javier	Labrador porphyry	N. 10° W.	20°-25° E.		Crystalline quartz
El Escritorio	Near San Javier	Labrador porphyry	N.W.-S.E.	N.E.	1½ ft.	White quartz
Santa Rosa	Bet. Los Bronces and San Javier	Quartzite (triassic)	N. 10° E.	55° S.	3 ft.	Quartz and iron ore	Carbonate of lead, iron ore, galena, blende, iron pyrites
Soledad	Candelero	Porphyry (metam.)	N. 55° E.	85° S.E.	30 ft.	Quartz		$266.65
Carmen	Candelero	Porphyry (metam.)	N. 85° E.	85° N.	28 ft.	Quartz	Silver and gold, sulph. of silver	$186.65
Atocha	Candelero	Porphyry (metam.)	N. 45° E.	85° N.	14 ft.	Quartz	Silver and gold, sulph. of silver	$213.35
Rosario	Candelero	Porphyry (metam.)	N. 50° E.	70° to 80° N.W.	17 ft.		Silver and gold, sulph. of silver	$160
Contrestaca	Near La Puerta	Metamorphic rocks	N. 63° E.	76° N.W.		White quartz	Blende, galena, sulph. of silver
Descubridora	Near La Puerta	Metamorphic rocks	N. 35° E.	69° N.W.		White quartz	Blende, galena, sulph. of silver
Soledad	Bet. La Puerta and San Dimas	Metamorphic rocks	N. 65° E.	Perp.		White quartz	Blende, galena, sulph. of silver
Candelaria	Near San Dimas	Porphyry (metam.)	N. 63° E.	63° N.N.W.		White quartz		1st class $3210 2d class $ 133
Bolanos	Near San Dimas	Porphyry (metam.)	N. 45° E.	75° S.E.	20 ft.	White quartz	Galena
Cinco de Mayo	Near Zaragoza	Syenitic granite	N. 52° E.	75° N.W.	4 ft.	White quartz	Galena, blende, iron pyrites, brittle silver glance, native silver	1st class $800 2d class $180
Cinco Señores	Near Copála	Greenstone	N. 20° W.	45° E.N.E.	1 to 4 ft.	Quartz	Galena, blende, iron pyrites
Napoleon	Near Copála	Greenstone	N. 10° W.	80° E.	2 to 8 ft.	Chalcedonic quartz	Galena, blende, copper pyrites, etc.
Rosario	Near Copála	Greenstone	N. 50° W.	85° E.		Chalcedonic quartz
Patino	Near Copála	Greenstone	N. 22° W.	Perp.	4 ft.	Chalcedonic quartz	Galena, blende, copper pyrites
Haval	A few leagues from Mazatlan	Syenitic granite	N. 80° E.	80° N.		Quartz	Oxide of lead, native silver
Mina Grande	Near San Marcial	Metamorphic slates (triassic)	N. and S.	30° W.	2 ft.	Quartz	Sulphuret of antimony, mispickel, copper pyrites, blende, iron pyrites
Las Cruzecitas	Near San Marcial	Metamorphic slates (triassic)	N. 15° E.	65° E.	4½ ft.	Heavy spar	Tepustete with copper and iron pyrites, and gray copper ore	1st cl. $90-100 2d cl. $35-40
Guijosita Vieja	Near San Javier	Labrador porphyry				Quartz	Galena, arsenical pyrites, blende, copper pyrites
La Antimonia	Near San Javier	Labrador porphyry				Crystalline quartz	Sulphuret of antimony and lead
Dios Padre	Trinidad	Labrador porphyry			9 to 12 ft. of ore		Gray copper ore, galena, iron pyrites, native silver
Agua Grande	9 miles from San Marcial	Porphyry (volcanic)	N. 38°-40° E.	80° N.W.	1½ ft.	White quartz	Indigo copper, chrysocolla, chalkosine, chalcopyrite
La Colorada	Near Copála	Greenstone	N. and S.	20° W.	40 ft.	Chalcedonic quartz
Algodona	Near San Marcial	Metamorphic slates (triassic)	N. and S.	30° W.	8 inches	Rotten quartz and iron ore	Chlorobromide of silver
Los Bronces	Los Bronces	Greenstone	E. of N.	85° E.		Heavy spar	Magnetic iron, gray copper, copper and iron pyrites	1st class $350 2d class $40-60
La Prieta	Los Bronces	Greenstone	N. 40° E.	80° N.W.		Heavy spar	Magnetic iron, gray copper, copper and iron pyrites
Alta Gracia	Near San Antonio de la Huerta	Quartzite (triassic).	N. and S.	30° E.	4 ft.	Brown spar	Copper pyrites and gray copper
Rosario de Guadalupe	San Javier	Greenstone	N. 70° E.	60° S.S.E.	2 ft.	Quartz	Black blende, iron pyrites and galena
Aurora	Near Los Bronces	Greenstone	N. 10° E.	45-50° E.	2 ft.	Magnetic iron	Gray copper ore and copper pyrites
El Taste	Near San Javier	Greenstone	N. 15° E.	50-55° E.	5 ft.	Quartz	Galena, blende, copper and iron pyrites (petanque)	$100
Providencia	Near Tecoripa	Quartzite (triassic)	N. 10° E.	65° E.	1 ft. 2 in.	Quartz		1st class $200 2d cl. $35-40
La Bojorqueña	Near Tecoripa	Quartzite (triassic)	N. 20° E.	65° E.		Quartz (ferruginous)	Black blende, iron pyrites, galena, copper pyrites
La Chipioñena	Near Topisco	Granite
Mina Prieta	Near San Antonio de la Huerta	Quartzite (triassic)				Brown spar	Copper pyrites, gray copper
El Tesoro	Cacachilas	Granite	N.W.-S.E.	75° S.W.	4 ft.			1st class $220 2d class $90
Rosario	Cañada de la Iglesia, near San Antonio	Quartzite (triassic).	N.E.-S.W.	85° N.W.	2 ft.		Galena and blende	$60
Babicanora		Limestone (carboniferous)	N.E.-S.W.	75° N.W.	5 ft.	Quartz	Galena, iron pyrites, fahlerz, ruby silver ore; gold and silver	$34.65

[21] The best map of Northern Mexico is that of M. de Fleury, published in San Francisco, in 1864; but this makes little pretense to a delineation of the topography; the courses of the principal streams and the position of the larger mining towns are often very far from being correct, as must be expected on a map constructed without a basis of instrumental surveys. J. D. W.

[22] See Emory, in Mexican Boundary Report, vol. 1, page 41.

[23] Only a few specimens of the Carboniferous fossils collected by M. Rémond have ever been received, owing to circumstances connected with the present political condition of Mexico. It is hoped, however, that they are not lost, and that they may yet be recovered. Among the few specimens received is a coral, not to be distinguished from the Lithostrotion (L. mamillare) found near Bass’s Ranch, in Shasta County, California. J. D. W.

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