Open-file Report 232 - New Mexico Bureau of Geology & Mineral ...

MINING HISTORY
(by K. B. Brown and V. T. McLemore)
Mining in San Juan County began in prehistoric A times,
large number of minerals have been discovered a site at in Chaco
Canyon, which was occupied from about 750 to 1150 A.D. Although
many were obviously imported (notably copper and lead minorals),
local stones include aragonite and calcite (as crystals, tufa,
chalk, and limestone), gilsonite and jet (asphaltum and lignite),
goethite and limonite (ochre), kaolinite, pyrite, sulfur, and
quartz (chalcedony, flint, jasper, agate, petrified wood, and
rock crystal). These were utilized for ornamental objects,
jewelry, pigment, and tools (knives, scrapers, projectile points,
etc.; Northrop, 1959).
Records of more recent mining began 1912, in when th?-
Kirtland limestone was used as lime for local consumption. Coal
probably has been produced since the railroad begiming days, in
the 1880's. The first oil and gas wells were completed 1921. in
Other commodities have been produced since (Table 2).
The area has never a been producer of precious or base
metals; but vanadium, known in the Carrizo Mountains 13) (Fig.
since-the early 1920's, was first mined during World 11. War It
had been recovered a as byproduct of uranium production from
1950 to the early 1980,s.
Commercial uranium production began 1948; in however, a
minor amount of uranium was produced from vanadium tailinys pr
to 1948, as a source of uranium for the atomic weapons developed
during World War I1 (Chenoweth, 1985).
Sand and gravel, crushed stone, and pumice have been
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