BLACK RANGE PRIMITIVE AREA, NEW MEXICO.

A study of the Black Range Primitive Area, New Mexico indicated that the area had little promise for the occurrence of mineral resources. A few miles north of the area, a unit of rhyolite in the otherwise barren volcanic rocks of the Mogollon-Datil volcanic field contains local concentrations of the tin mineral cassiterite, and streams draining outcrop areas of this rhyolite within the primitive area may contain very small cassiterite placer deposits. None were observed in this study and no resource potential was identified. Paleozoic sedimentary rocks and Precambrian granitic and metamorphic rocks exposed just east and south of the primitive area contain small polymetallic deposits with varying amounts of silver, lead, zinc, copper, and gold. These same rocks lie beneath the volcanic cover within the primitive area and are likely to contain similar deposits, but no resource potential was identified.