Page 143 - The Geology and Ore Deposits of Sierra County, New Mexico - Bulletin 10

142 GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF SIERRA CO., N. M.
the facts that only small amounts of ore were blocked out ahead of stoping operations and that the conditions in which the stoped out areas were left is uncertain, very little is known as to ton- nages of ore and stope filling which may be available for future mining operations.
GARFIELD-BUTLER GROUP
The Garfield-Butler group, consisting of three claims, is on the southwest slope of Empire Peak, one of the highest peaks of the Animas Hills, and in the extreme southwest portion of the lode-mining area. The claims, named from southwest to north- east are the Silas, Butler and Garfield. They adjoin end to end, and are located so as to include along their center line a long dike of latite porphyry, on the east or footwall side of which faulting, brecciation and mineralization have occurred. (See figure 11.)
On the Silas claim about 500 feet from the north end line a shaft 140 feet deep has been sunk, and a short drift is reported to extend to the north. The drift was driven in brecciated ande- site, but a latite porphyry dike forms the west wall, and there is a seam of gouge on the east or footwall side. The average width of the vein between the dike and the seam of gouge in the ande- site is about 4 feet. In places the dike rock is fractured and brec- ciated, and mineralization extends into the dike. The fractured ground is filled with a network of rusty quartz stringers, in which sulfides are locally abundant. The minerals are pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena and sphalerite ; and secondary limonite, chalcocite, malachite, azurite, and efflorescent coatings of copper and zinc sulfates. Ten tons of ore assaying from $80 to $90 a ton in gold was sorted from the rock broken in the drift, accord- ing to report, and the full width of the vein or drift is said to average $10 per ton, principally in gold but with some silver and copper.
Nearly 200 feet from the south end of the Butler claim, there is a 40-foot shaft, from which ore has been stoped along the south side. The vein here is 3 feet wide, and it is reported that the ore mined from the full width of the vein and treated in the Bonanza mill amounted to 40 tons and had a value of $25 to $30 per ton in gold. From a 50-foot shaft sunk on the vein 200 feet farther north, 15 tons of development ore was shipped, which was valued at $18 per ton. Near the middle of the claim a tunnel 350 long has been driven in a northerly direction along the vein. It was planned to continue this tunnel farther to pros- pect under a fair-sized outcrop of favorable-looking gossan near the top of the hill to the north. In the tunnel just beyond the portal a high-grade streak was encountered, which was followed for 100 feet. It varied in width from an inch to 2 inches and as- sayed $75 to $80 per ton. In this drift the whole vein is from 3 to 4 feet wide and averages $5 to $6 in value, indicating that the fractured andesite between walls, exclusive of the quartz veinlet,