HISTORY OF PLACER MINING IN NEW MEXICO
Placer mining began in 1828, when the rich placer deposits of the Ortiz Mountains, Santa Fe County, were discovered.
The Pueblo Indians mined and used turquoise for ornaments, and there is some evidence to suggest that they used gold.
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, who stayed with the Pueblo Indians on his journey from Florida to Mexico, spread stories of gold and silver possessed by these Indians.
Coronado left Mexico in 1540 with a large expedition to find and exploit the source of this supposed vast wealth. He found no great riches, and, after exploring the land, returned to Mexico in 1542. The Spanish returned to the territory in the late 1500’s, established missions, and may have done some mining, for after the Pueblo revolt in 1680 the Indians stipulated that the Spaniards were not to engage in mining but were to confine their activities to agriculture. Placers were reportedly worked along the Rio Grande (Taos County) in the 1600’s .The realdevelopment of mineral resources began in 1800 after an Indian disclosed the location of the rich Santa Rita copper deposits to a Spanish officer.
PLACES-RIVERS-MINES-
1 ELIZABETHTOWN DISTRICT. Location: Moreno River Valley, west flank of Baldy Mountain .Extent: Placers are found on the slopes of Baldy Mountain, in gulches tribu- tary to the Moreno River from the east, and in the gravels of the Moreno River.
2 MOUNT BALDY PLACERS .Location: West, south, and east flanks of Baldy Mountain . Extent: The placers are found in the gravels of Willow, Ute, and South Ponil Creeks. Willow Creek drains the southwest flank of Baldy Mountain; the upper part of the stream flows through a narrow valley, the lower part over a large alluvial fan built up by debris eroded from the mountains by the creek.
3 CIMARRONCITO DISTRICT .Location: South flank of Black Mountain in the Cimarron Range, south of the Cimarron River. Extent: Placers were reported on Urraca Creek and tributaries .
4 WHITE SIGNAL DISTRICT .Location: South flank of the Big Burro Mountains .Extent: Placers in the White Signal district are found in two areas: (1) along Gold Gulch and Thompson’s Canyon and in a small tributary to Gold Gulch .
5 PINOS ALTOS DISTRICT . Location: Pinos Altos Mountains.Extent: The placers in the Pinos Altos district are found in the vicinity of the sulfide-gold-silver veins in the district, and the gold is commonly con- centrated in the gulches below the oxidized vein outcrops. The richest placers were found in Bear Creek.
6 BAYARD AREA . Location: Southeast of the Pinos Altos Mountains . Extent: Placers are found in almost every arroyo that drains the mineralized area in the vicinity of Bayard.
7 SYLVANITE SUBDISTRICT . Location: West flank of the south half of the Little Hatchet Mountains .Extent: Placers are found in shallow draws and gulches in gravel remnantson monzonite bedrock between Cottonwood Spring and Livermore Spring .
8 JICARILLA DISTRICT . Location: Jicarilla Mountains. Extent: Placers are found in gulches in the vicinity of the village of Jicarilla. Most of the placers are concentrated in Ancho, Warner, Spring, and Rico Gulches.
9 WHITE OAKS DISTRICT . Location: In the vicinity of Baxter and Lone Mountains on the west flankof the Jicarilla Range. Extent: Small placers occur in Baxter Gulch and White Oaks Gulch .
10 NOGAL DISTRICT. Location: Eastern side of the Sierra Blanca Mountains, southwest’of Nogal.Extent: Placers are found in Dry Gulch, which drains northeast from theSierra Blanca towards Nogal.
11 MORA RIVER PLACERS (RIO LA CASA DISTRICT). Location: Mora River Valley, in the western part of Mora County. Extent: Small amounts of placer gold have been found in the mountaingulches and in old terraces along the Mora River, near the village ofCleveland.
12 OROGRANDE (JARILLA) DISTRICT . Location: Jarilla Mountains in the Tularosa Valley southeast of the White Sands National Monument. Extent: Placer mining was concentrated in the gravels in the NW (Orogfande North quadrangle), at the south flank of Jarilla Mountains.
13 HOPEWELL DISTRICT . Location: Tusas Mountains, in the valley between Jawbone and Burned Mountains southwest of Hopewell Lake.Extent: Placers in the Hopewell district occur in gravels along Placer Creek from Hopewell Lake .
14 EL RITO REGION . Location: Southwest of Valle Grande Peak in the Chama BasiN .
15 RIO CHAMA PLACER (ABIQUIU DISTRICT) .Location: In the valley of the Rio Chama, a few miles upstream from Abi- quiu. Extent: Gold reportedly occurs in the river sands and gravels along the RioChama a few miles above Abiquiu .
16 PLACITAS TEJON REGION . Location: North end of the Sandia Mountains . Extent: Placers are found in the area around the towns of Placitas andTejon, at the north end of the Sandia Mountains in the vicinity of Las Huertas Greek and Tejon Canyon.
17 TIJERAS CANYON REGION .Location: Central part of the Sandia Mountains.
18 HELL CANYON REGION . Location: Southern part of the Sandia Mountains, . (onthe Isleta Pueblo Grant).
19 WILLOW CREEK DISTRICT . Location: East side of the Pecos River in the Sangre de Cristo Range .
20 VILLANUEVA AREA . Location: Northeast side of the Pecos River between Villanueva and Sena .
21 LAS VEGAS AREA . Location: Within the city of Las Vegas . Extent: In 1883, placer gold was discovered during building excavation for the courthouse within the city of Las Vegas. A brief excitement fol- lowed, during which many placer claims were staked around the town within a radius of 2 miles.
22 OLD PLACERS DISTRICT (DOLORES, ORTIZ) . Location: Ortiz Mountains .
23 NEW PLACERS DISTRICT (SAN PEDRO). Location: San Pedro Mountains .
24 SANTA FE DISTRICT . Location: Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Extent: Placer gold has been reported to occur in the upper reaches of theSanta Fe River.
25 HILLSBORO DISTRICT (LAS ANIMAS PLACERS). Location: Animas Hills, in the eastern foothills of the Black Range.
26 PITTSBURG DISTRICT (SHANDON, SIERRA CABALLO). Location: West flank of the Caballo Mountains adjacent to the Gaballo Reservoir.Extent: Placers are found in the alluvial fan near the base of the escarp- ment of the Caballo Mountains, in a small area in Trujillo Gulch and the area drained by its tributaries, and in Apache Canyon and Union Gulch .
27 CHLORIDE DISTRICT (UPPER CUCHILLO NEGRO PLACERS).Location: East flank of Lookout Mountain in the Black Range, along the upper part of the Cuchillo Negro.
28 ROSEDALE DISTRICT.Location: East flank of the San Mateo Mountains,.
29 RIO GRANDE AREA.Location: Valley of the Rio Grande from Embudo north to Red River and Gabresto Creek.Extent: The placer deposits occur in the riverbed, flood plain, and terrace gravels along the Rio Grande, from the county line north to the mouth of the Red River.
30 RED RIVER DISTRICT Location: Area around the town of Red River in the Sangre de Cristo Range.
31 FOLSOM AREA Location: Cimarron River Valley, northeast of Folsom.
news taken from this link .
https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/1348/report.pdf
