8
with elevated sulfate sulfur generally suggest the presence of
acidic sulfate salts that potentially could cause short-term
or long-term water quality issues.
PRELIMINARY CONCLUSIONS
A sampling protocol has been developed that can estimate
the chemical composition of mine wastes, including low-
grade stockpiles, mine waste rock piles, tailings, and slags.
Larger mine features are divided into areas for sampling.
Composite samples are collected from cells within the sam-
ple areas and homogenized into a single sample. Elevated
critical minerals are found in some of the mine features
in New Mexico and these features should be evaluated for
potential re-mining. The critical minerals are dependent
upon deposit types. Possible re-mining of mine wastes
could clean up these sites and pay for reclamation.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This report is part of on-going studies of mineral resources
in New Mexico, supported by the New Mexico Bureau
of Geology and Mineral Resources (NMBGMR), Dr.
Nelia Dunbar, Director and State Geologist. This cur-
rent research is funded by USGS National Geological and
Geophysical Data Preservation Program (NGGDPP),
Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (EARTH MRI)
program (G22AC00510), and Department of Energy
CORE-CM project DE-FE0032051 (2021–2024). Past
funding incudes: Energy Minerals and Natural Resources
Department (Abandoned Mine Lands Program) and the
U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Surface Mining
Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE). Additional
funding of student research (including laboratory analyses)
was by the Mineral Engineering Department of NMIMT,
Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME),
New Mexico Geological Society (NMGS), NMBGMR
Brightstar scholarship, and New Mexico EPSCoR (funded
by the National Science Foundation, NSF, award #IIA-
1301346). Thanks to Santa Fe Gold, Inc. and New Mexico
Copper Corporation for access to mining properties.
Thanks to Mark Leo-Russell for database support, students
of the NMBGMR Economic Group for sample collecting
(especially Abena Serwah Acheampong-Mensah, Zohreh
Motlagh Kazemi, and Devlon Shaver), and Richard Kelley
for GIS support.
REFERENCES
Bureau of Land Management, 2014, Abandoned Mine
Land Inventory Study for BLM-Managed Lands
in California, Nevada, and Utah: Site and Feature
Analysis. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land
Management, National Operations Center, Denver,
CO., 24 p., www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm
/wo/blm_library/BLM_pubs.Par.79469.File.dat
/BLM-AML-Inventory-CA-NV-UT_Nov2014.pdf.
Committee on Critical Mineral Impacts of the U.S.
Economy, 2008, Minerals, Critical Minerals, and
the U.S. Economy: Committee on Earth Resources,
National Research Council, ISBN: 0-309-11283-4,
264 p., www.nap.edu/catalog/12034.html.
Long, K.R., van Gosen, B.S., Foley, N.K. and Cordier, D.,
2010, The principle rare earth elements deposits of the
United States—A summary of domestic deposits and
a global perspective: U.S. Geological Survey, Scientific
Investigations Report 2010-5220, 104 p., pubs.usgs
.gov/sir/2010/5220/ (accessed 5/1/12).
McLemore, V.T., 2011, Rare earth elements for emerging tech-
nologies: New Mexico Earth Matters, summer, 4 p., geo-
info.nmt.edu/publications/periodicals/earthmatters/
11/EM11n2.pdf.
McLemore, V.T., 2017, Mining districts and prospect areas
of New Mexico: New Mexico Bureau of Geology and
Mineral Resources, Resource Map 24, 65 p., scale
1:1,000,000.
McLemore, V.T., 2020, Critical minerals in New Mexico
work needed to realize resources: Mining Engineering,
v. 72, no. 2, pp. 31–31, me.smenet.org/abstract.cfm?
preview=1&articleID=9501&page=31.
McLemore, V.T., Hoffman, G., Smith, M., Mansell,
M., and Wilks, M., 2005a, Mining districts of New
Figure 10. Acid Rock Drainage (ARD) plot of waste rock
pile at mines examined during the NMBGMR mine wastes
project
with elevated sulfate sulfur generally suggest the presence of
acidic sulfate salts that potentially could cause short-term
or long-term water quality issues.
PRELIMINARY CONCLUSIONS
A sampling protocol has been developed that can estimate
the chemical composition of mine wastes, including low-
grade stockpiles, mine waste rock piles, tailings, and slags.
Larger mine features are divided into areas for sampling.
Composite samples are collected from cells within the sam-
ple areas and homogenized into a single sample. Elevated
critical minerals are found in some of the mine features
in New Mexico and these features should be evaluated for
potential re-mining. The critical minerals are dependent
upon deposit types. Possible re-mining of mine wastes
could clean up these sites and pay for reclamation.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This report is part of on-going studies of mineral resources
in New Mexico, supported by the New Mexico Bureau
of Geology and Mineral Resources (NMBGMR), Dr.
Nelia Dunbar, Director and State Geologist. This cur-
rent research is funded by USGS National Geological and
Geophysical Data Preservation Program (NGGDPP),
Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (EARTH MRI)
program (G22AC00510), and Department of Energy
CORE-CM project DE-FE0032051 (2021–2024). Past
funding incudes: Energy Minerals and Natural Resources
Department (Abandoned Mine Lands Program) and the
U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Surface Mining
Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE). Additional
funding of student research (including laboratory analyses)
was by the Mineral Engineering Department of NMIMT,
Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME),
New Mexico Geological Society (NMGS), NMBGMR
Brightstar scholarship, and New Mexico EPSCoR (funded
by the National Science Foundation, NSF, award #IIA-
1301346). Thanks to Santa Fe Gold, Inc. and New Mexico
Copper Corporation for access to mining properties.
Thanks to Mark Leo-Russell for database support, students
of the NMBGMR Economic Group for sample collecting
(especially Abena Serwah Acheampong-Mensah, Zohreh
Motlagh Kazemi, and Devlon Shaver), and Richard Kelley
for GIS support.
REFERENCES
Bureau of Land Management, 2014, Abandoned Mine
Land Inventory Study for BLM-Managed Lands
in California, Nevada, and Utah: Site and Feature
Analysis. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land
Management, National Operations Center, Denver,
CO., 24 p., www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm
/wo/blm_library/BLM_pubs.Par.79469.File.dat
/BLM-AML-Inventory-CA-NV-UT_Nov2014.pdf.
Committee on Critical Mineral Impacts of the U.S.
Economy, 2008, Minerals, Critical Minerals, and
the U.S. Economy: Committee on Earth Resources,
National Research Council, ISBN: 0-309-11283-4,
264 p., www.nap.edu/catalog/12034.html.
Long, K.R., van Gosen, B.S., Foley, N.K. and Cordier, D.,
2010, The principle rare earth elements deposits of the
United States—A summary of domestic deposits and
a global perspective: U.S. Geological Survey, Scientific
Investigations Report 2010-5220, 104 p., pubs.usgs
.gov/sir/2010/5220/ (accessed 5/1/12).
McLemore, V.T., 2011, Rare earth elements for emerging tech-
nologies: New Mexico Earth Matters, summer, 4 p., geo-
info.nmt.edu/publications/periodicals/earthmatters/
11/EM11n2.pdf.
McLemore, V.T., 2017, Mining districts and prospect areas
of New Mexico: New Mexico Bureau of Geology and
Mineral Resources, Resource Map 24, 65 p., scale
1:1,000,000.
McLemore, V.T., 2020, Critical minerals in New Mexico
work needed to realize resources: Mining Engineering,
v. 72, no. 2, pp. 31–31, me.smenet.org/abstract.cfm?
preview=1&articleID=9501&page=31.
McLemore, V.T., Hoffman, G., Smith, M., Mansell,
M., and Wilks, M., 2005a, Mining districts of New
Figure 10. Acid Rock Drainage (ARD) plot of waste rock
pile at mines examined during the NMBGMR mine wastes
project