Page 187 - The Geology and Ore Deposits of Sierra County, New Mexico - Bulletin 10

184 GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSJTS OF SIERRA CO., N. M.
from the walls of old stopes, and in this manner much ore that was sub-marginal under the low prices may, by careful work, be shipped for its silver content with profit. From time to time, considerable material that would be sub-marginal under almost any price for silver may be shipped profitably as smelter fluxing material, if the fluxing constituents are paid for and the base- treatment charges eliminated. On the whole, however, exten- sions of the Lake Valley ore deposits are unlikely, either in area or in depth. The known primary deposits of the district, where they have not been enriched, without exception, are below com- mercial grade. Secondary enriched material has been largely restricted to the beds immediately above and below the primary mineralized layer, and only where the primary layer has been much fractured, has it been greatly increased in value by sec- ondary processes.
MACHO DISTRICT LOCATION AND AREA
The Macho mining district is about 8 miles southwest of Lake Valley and approximately 13 miles northwest of Nutt, the junction point of the Lake Valley branch line and the Rincon- Silver City branch line of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe rail- way. The district is a small one, the productive portion being less than a square mile in area, but mineralized veins have been found as much as 3 miles away in a northeasterly direction. Two claims, the Bulldog and the Anniversary, are the only ones hav- ing extensive development work, and it is from these that most of the production from this district has come. Seven other claims included in the Bulldog-Anniversary group have only a small amount of development work on them, and there is no record of production other than a few small shipments. All of these claims are owned by Mr. D. M. Miller of Lake Valley. Surrounding them are a few others, apparently still being held by annual assessment work. On some of these claims a considerable foot- age of work has been done, but no important shipments are known to have been made.
GEOGRAPHY
The immediate vicinity of the Macho district is a basin-like
area of low relief converging into one of the dry washes which in this region drain to the southeast and eventually disappear into the alluvium of the plains north of Deming. Surrounding this basin is a group of low, rounded hills not over 100 feet high. Three miles to the west the summit of the Black Range reaches an elevation of 6,500 feet, while slightly west of south Cooks Peak in Luna County, rising to an elevation of over 8,300 feet, is a prominent landmark.