Page 55 - Vol. 1 Walks In The Black Range - 2nd Edition

6. McKinley Mine The Mine
The McKinley Mine (also known as the Caballero Mine, Caballero Claims, or McKinley Mine 1880’s, in some sources) is in the draw to the west of the Ready Pay Mine and east of the Stowaway Mine (see 1909 quadrangle map with names added, right, and trail map on the following page). This pattern of mining (every draw has a mine) seems to prevail on the western and southern flanks of the mountains on the southern and western edges of Copper Flat.
The McKinley Mine produced gold, copper, and silver from various ores, including: calcite, quartz, gold, copper, silver, chalcopyrite, and argentite.
The McKinley Mine operated, at times, between 1885 and 1928. It was owned by Tom Arnett of Santa Rita, New Mexico and Martin Conoby of Hillsboro, New Mexico.
Western Mining History provides these comments about the mine: “Deposits occur as shoots in a northeast striking vein ranging from 3 ft. to 4 ft. in width. High-grade seams of ore within the vein range from stringers to 18 in. in width. Shoots of ore were reported to be 15 ft. to 30 ft. in length and 10 ft. to 20 ft. in height...Vein is part of a radial system of veins associated with the copper flat monzonite porphyry...Workings reported in 1934 (see Harley, Bulletin 10) consisted of a 500 ft. tunnel, another short tunnel, a raise which connects the two tunnels, some drifting and stoping.” (A raise is an excavation which joins two levels of
a mine, it may be vertical or inclined in orientation.) The photograph below shows the interior of the upper adit (tunnel or mine), including the opening of the raise.
Outside the lower adit (in particular) there are a few pieces of old mining equipment, including part of the ventilation system. Keeping mines “dewatered” (yes, mines on the side of the mountain would often flood) and well supplied with air was a constant challenge for the miners in this area. Equipment is of varying age.