Project Summary
USBM exploration program of 74 wagon-drill holes (2,358 linear feet) outlined a tabular fluorite ore body with minable thicknesses of 2 to 20 feet and grab sample grades of 46.81-54.29% CaF₂; the USBM concluded the deposit contained “substantial inferred ore reserves.” Approximately 7,300 tons historically produced including shipments graded 59% & 65% CaF₂. USBM flotation testing produced acid-grade concentrate of 98.6% CaF₂. In addition to fluorspar, the Red Shaft area returned up to 16.2 oz/ton silver.
The Huckleberry Spar project is located in Catron County, New Mexico, approximately 4.5 miles east of Glenwood on the north side of Little Whitewater Creek canyon at an elevation of 6,355 feet. Accessed via dirt road from Glenwood, 65 miles northwest of Silver City via U.S. Highway 260.
The Red Shaft area is approximately four miles south of the Huckleberry Spar mine.
$40,000 + 2% NSROwner financing and payment plans available on request.
Geology
The project targets a tabular fluorite body hosted in Tertiary volcanics within a faulted and brecciated zone beneath a prominent flat-dipping fault. The fluorite has filled openings and replaced intensely broken country rock. The ore body dips irregularly at approximately 25 degrees southeast and is broken by rolls and steeper faults.
The ore deposit is irregular in shape and thickness, with minable ore ranging in vertical thickness from 2 to 20 feet. In places ore occurred at two horizons separated by lean or barren rock. USBM grab sampling of a truckload of ore returned 54.29% CaF₂ and a 20-ton stockpile sample returned 46.81% CaF₂. Average mine-run ore contained 25 to 55 percent fluorite, with screened and hand-sorted product averaging approximately 60 percent CaF₂ routinely shipped.
History
The property was prospected for gold in the 1880s and 1890s. Fluorite was first mined about 1926. In 1934, Michael and James Huckleberry shipped 300 to 400 tons from an open pit. About 1939, Correy and Forbis commenced underground mining and are believed to have shipped some 4,000 tons.
In 1941, D. F. McCabe shipped approximately 800 tons over a 7-month lease period, averaging 65 percent CaF₂. The Glenwood Mining & Milling Co. subsequently shipped 2,092 tons averaging 59.2 percent CaF₂ to the Metals Reserve mill at Gila between February and December 1944. At the time of the USBM project, sorted ore production was 12 to 20 tons per day at 60 to 70 percent fluorite.
In 1944, the USBM conducted a formal exploratory project, concluding the deposit contained “substantial inferred ore reserves” and recommending further development. Results are documented in Report of Investigations 4053 (Sur, 1947). The Red Shaft and Liberty Bell areas were later investigated by the USGS, published in Bulletin 1451.
Prospects
Huckleberry Spar Mine: The principal prospect, developed through two adits at different levels, open stoping, and open-pit workings. The USBM conducted a comprehensive exploration from May to October 1944, drilling 74 vertical wagon-drill holes totaling 2,358 linear feet, sinking six test pits totaling 86 feet, and driving 249 feet of underground exploratory crosscuts, winzes and raises. The USBM concluded the deposit contained “substantial inferred ore reserves.” Infrastructure includes a 432-foot inclined tramway, a 200-ton ore bin, and underground workings on two levels. USBM metallurgical testing produced acid-grade concentrate of 98.6% CaF₂ via flotation and 87.4% CaF₂ via jigging with 95.3% total CaF₂ recovery.
Red Shaft - Liberty Bell Prospect: Located approximately two-miles south of Huckleberry Spar. A 400-foot shaft was reportedly sunk to locate the source of rich float, situated on the projected trace of a range-front fault. Approximately 1,000 feet east, on the Liberty Bell No. 1 claim, USGS Sample 69 across two intersecting quartz veins returned 0.02 oz gold, 16.2 oz silver per ton, and 52.6 percent fluorite. A nearby fluorspar showing within a 10- to 20-foot-thick rhyolitic dike returned 24.2 to 30.2 percent fluorite across a 125-foot exposure.