Gold Prospecting, Treasure Hunting, Mining, Relic Hunting, and Metal Detecting in New Mexico

Land of Enchantment

GOLD

Gold was first discovered in 1828 in the Ortiz Mountains, south of Santa Fe. Even today, it is still actively mined throughout the state. This state offers lots of opportunities for panning and nugget shooting.

Placer Deposits

A placer deposit is a concentration of a natural material that has accumulated in unconsolidated sediments of a stream bed, beach, or residual deposit. Gold derived by weathering or other process from lode deposits is likely to accumulate in placer deposits because of its weight and resistance to corrosion. In addition, its characteristically sun-yellow color makes it easily and quickly recognizable even in very small quantities.

The gold pan or miner's pan is a shallow sheet-iron vessel with sloping sides and flat bottom used to wash gold-bearing gravel or other material containing heavy minerals. The process of washing material in a pan, referred to as "panning," is the simplest, most commonly used, and least expensive method for a prospector to separate gold from the silt, sand, and gravel of the stream deposits. It is a tedious, back-breaking job and only with practice does one become proficient in the operation. Thankfully, technology finally caught up with our gold fever and brought us metal detectors!

Here's some good spots to go where placer gold has been found. As always, please respect other's claims and private property. Much of New Mexico's land is governed by the BLM or National Forest Service. Contact the responsible authority for more information including maps and regulations.

Colfax County - Moreno, Willow, and Ute Creeks along the west slopes of the Cimmaron Range
Grant County - Numerous creeks and gulches around Pinos Altos, NE of Silver City
Hildalgo County - Area gravel slopes and gulches on the western side of the Little Hatchet Mountains, SW of Hatchita
Lincoln County - Area arroyos between Ancho and Jicarilla, Baxter Mountains (NE of Carrizozo), and other washes near Nogal
Otero County - Washes and slope gravels draining area containing lode mines at Oro Grande
Rio Arriba County - Vallecitos Creek and its tributary, Placer Creek, near Hopewell Lake
Sandoval County - Area gravels near Placitas
San Miguel County - Willow Creek mining district east of Terrero
Santa Fe County - All arroyos along the norther, western, and southern slopes of the San Pedros, including Tuerto Creek and Lazaros Gulch in the Golden Area. Area arroyos in the Ortiz mountains, between the San Pedros and Cerrillos Hills, near Cerrillos.
Sierra County - Area washes along the Animas Hills in the Hillsboro area and arroyos along the eastern side of the Caballo Reservoir.
Taos County - Regional bars and benches along the the Rio Grande and Red Rivers

GEMS

Varieties of agate, jasper, chert, or petrified wood are found in 15 of New Mexico's 32 counties. An area of about 100 hectares near Deming, New Mexico Rockhound State Park, is set aside for the non-commercial collecting of agate, jasper, and petrified wood.

The only facet-quality dolomite in the United States is colorless material recovered from a deposit in New Mexico. Gem-quality fluorite is produced from deposits in Bernalillo, Catron, Dona Ana, Grant, Hidalgo, Lincoln, Luna, Rio Arriba, Socorro, Sierra, and Taos Counties. Facet-quality linardite is recovered in Socorro County. The finest, facet-quality moonstone in the United States comes from a deposit in Grant County.

The quality of the adularia moonstone from Catron County is comparable to the best material from India and Sri Lanka. The best of the New Mexico material is water clear, nearly colorless, with only a hint of a soft-tan or brown tone, and has a wonderful blue or silver sheen. Unfortunately, only about 10% of the moonstone has the more desirable blue adularescence. The deposit has produced eye-clean, blue sheen, faceted stones as large as 5 carats, silver sheen faceted stones of almost 10 carats, and good-grade cabochons of 15 to 20 carats. The deposit is not currently being worked, but the author knows of material that is available from work done in the late 1960's.

Small to medium-sized pieces of light brown bytownite from Arizona and New Mexico can be faceted into 0.5- to 2-carat, eye-clean stones.

Gem-quality peridot can be found in deposits at three different locations in New Mexico. The deposits are in the Buell Park area in McKinley County in the northwestern part of the State and in Kilbourne Hole and Potrillo Mar depression, both near the Mexican border in the southeastern part of the State. The color of the material is brown, greenish-brown, yellowish-green, and the desirable peridot green. Some people believe the material from the Kilbourne Hole area is superior to the material from the famous Arizona location on the San Carlos Reservation. Currently, there is no commercial production of material from any of the deposits in New Mexico, but "rockhounds" and other mineral collectors gather materials from these locations for their own use.

Until the 1920's, New Mexico was the United States largest producer of turquoise. However, since then Arizona and Nevada has surpassed it in terms of both annual and total production.

Production of turquoise from deposits in the Cerrillos Hills, Santa Fe County; the Burro Mountains and Little Hachita Mountains, Grant County; the Jarilla Hills, Otero County; and the Guadelupe Mountains, Eddy County; can be traced to prehistoric Indians. Several different mines operate or have operated at each of the New Mexico locations mentioned, producing seam and nugget turquoise. Many of the more famous and higher-quality deposits are economically depleted. Turquoise from these deposits was as good as that from any deposit in the world and were the first to displace true Persian turquoise in the U.S. market. Color varied from light to dark green, greenish-blue, bluish-green, paler blue shades, and fine sky-blue. Much of the material was spiderwebbed with thin veinlets of limonite.

Currently, with the exception of byproduct material from copper mines, production of turquoise from deposits in New Mexico, for all practical purposes, has stopped. Turquoise still can be found in New Mexico, but production in any significant quantity is a question of economics and the determination of the individuals involved.

RELICS, COINS, & JEWELRY

New Mexico has a rich history of early settlements and even Civil War battlefields - the perfect combination for an energetic relic hunter! Here's a few more ideas to get you started:

Schools and College Campuses
Parks / Playgrounds / Picnic Areas
Foundations, Wells, and Cellar Holes of Old Churches or Houses
Downtown Construction Sites
Swimming Holes, Beaches, and Natural Springs
Camp Grounds, Boy Scout Camps, WPA Camps, and Mining Camps
Sports Facilities
Ghost Towns
Rodeo Arenas, Riding Stables, and Race Tracks
Old Fair and Carnival Locations
Old Town Dumpsites

LOST TREASURE

As in other areas of the US, there are several tales of lost treasure in New Mexico concerning caches buried for safety. In many of these stories, people either died or forgot where they buried the stash. Contributing factors include:

1. Federal laws making possession of gold illegal in the early 1900s

2. Distrust of banks during the Great Depression.

Stagecoach treasure hidden in Doubtful Canyon near Steins Peak, Hidalgo County, is unlocated.
Lost treasure of Fort Bayard, Grant County, remains unfound.
$100,000 in missing cash from train robbery(ies) believed hidden near the Lava Beds southeast of Grants, Valencia County, is still hidden.
$40,000 in gold coins from a wagon train, hidden about 25 miles east of Springer, Colfax County, may still exist.
In addition to coin stories, there are many tales of lost silver and gold mines in this state, with one particularly interesting account telling of a hill near Pinos Altos being made of nearly pure gold.

These excerpts are a sampling from American Coin Treasures and Hoards