3
one pit and a mill near Cuba. The mining operations,
processing site, and transportation facility of U-Mate
International, Inc. are located in the Gallup area. The Eagle
Mesa mine is near Cuba and the Morningstar mine is in
San Juan County. The Jaramillo humate mine in McKinley
County is under development by Anasazi Stone LLC.
Both El Segundo and Navajo mine produce some humate.
Humate mining began in New Mexico in the 1970s, and
production amounts to more than 900,000 metric tons of
humate. Humate is used as a soil conditioner, medicinal
uses, dispersant and viscosity control in oil-well drilling
muds, stabilizer for ion-exchange resins in water treatment,
and a source of water-soluble brown stain for wood fin-
ishing. Approximately 12.1 billion short tons of humate
resources are within the San Juan Basin.
Bright red clinker deposits (also known as natural sco-
ria and red dog deposits) are associated with some coal beds
in the San Juan Basin coal fields. These clinker deposits are
believed to originally be coal beds and adjacent strata that
caught fire and/or burned in place. The fire was caused by
forest or grass fires, lightning strikes, or even natural com-
bustion. In some areas in the western U.S., evidence sug-
gests that prehistoric humans may have ignited some of the
coal beds in place. Coal seam fires can spread extensively
underground. Temperatures can reach 1000°F, baking sur-
rounding rocks. The sketch by Hoffman (1996) illustrates
the process of forming these deposits. Natural clinker
deposits are quarried and used to make roads, bricks, and
other industrial uses.
In New Mexico, natural clinker deposits along with the
adjacent coal beds are being sampled as part of the project
to determine if these deposits could have elevated concen-
trations of REE or other critical minerals. The bright red
color of the clinker deposits (Figure 4) is in sharp contrast
to the normal gray, tan, and black colors in the Cretaceous
beds in the San Juan Basin and are excellent exploration
indicators of nearby coal seams because they are resistant
to erosion.
Figure 2. Stratigraphy of the San Juan Basin, New Mexico. Note the stratigraphic units that have gas, petroleum, coal, and
uranium potential. Many of these same stratigraphic units have the potential for critical minerals and REE (from Brister and
Hoffman, 2002)
one pit and a mill near Cuba. The mining operations,
processing site, and transportation facility of U-Mate
International, Inc. are located in the Gallup area. The Eagle
Mesa mine is near Cuba and the Morningstar mine is in
San Juan County. The Jaramillo humate mine in McKinley
County is under development by Anasazi Stone LLC.
Both El Segundo and Navajo mine produce some humate.
Humate mining began in New Mexico in the 1970s, and
production amounts to more than 900,000 metric tons of
humate. Humate is used as a soil conditioner, medicinal
uses, dispersant and viscosity control in oil-well drilling
muds, stabilizer for ion-exchange resins in water treatment,
and a source of water-soluble brown stain for wood fin-
ishing. Approximately 12.1 billion short tons of humate
resources are within the San Juan Basin.
Bright red clinker deposits (also known as natural sco-
ria and red dog deposits) are associated with some coal beds
in the San Juan Basin coal fields. These clinker deposits are
believed to originally be coal beds and adjacent strata that
caught fire and/or burned in place. The fire was caused by
forest or grass fires, lightning strikes, or even natural com-
bustion. In some areas in the western U.S., evidence sug-
gests that prehistoric humans may have ignited some of the
coal beds in place. Coal seam fires can spread extensively
underground. Temperatures can reach 1000°F, baking sur-
rounding rocks. The sketch by Hoffman (1996) illustrates
the process of forming these deposits. Natural clinker
deposits are quarried and used to make roads, bricks, and
other industrial uses.
In New Mexico, natural clinker deposits along with the
adjacent coal beds are being sampled as part of the project
to determine if these deposits could have elevated concen-
trations of REE or other critical minerals. The bright red
color of the clinker deposits (Figure 4) is in sharp contrast
to the normal gray, tan, and black colors in the Cretaceous
beds in the San Juan Basin and are excellent exploration
indicators of nearby coal seams because they are resistant
to erosion.
Figure 2. Stratigraphy of the San Juan Basin, New Mexico. Note the stratigraphic units that have gas, petroleum, coal, and
uranium potential. Many of these same stratigraphic units have the potential for critical minerals and REE (from Brister and
Hoffman, 2002)