Geochemistry of critical minerals in mine wastes at Hillsboro and Steeple Rock districts, New Mexico.

There are tens of thousands of inactive or abandoned mine features in 274 mining districts in New Mexico (NM) (including coal, uranium, metals, and industrial minerals districts) with about 15,000 abandoned legacy mine features varying from shallow prospect pits to deep mine shafts in the state. There is a need to classify these wastes or “abandoned deposits” to understand their composition, properly estimates the quantity and evaluate the potential economic value. Since most of the earlier operations and exploitation was focused on heavy metals, it would be good to now turn our attention to examine these wastes for potential critical minerals. Hence this project seeks to 1) characterize and estimate the critical mineral endowment of mine wastes in three mining districts in New Mexico (Copper Flat at Hillsboro, Black Hawk in Burro Mountains, and Carlisle-Center mines in Steeple Rock district) and 2) “beta-test” USGS procedures and provide feedback. Potential critical minerals at these deposits include As, Bi, Te, Zn, , Co, Ni, Mg, Mn, and fluorite.