MAGNETIC AND VLF-EM SURVEY OF THE BEARWALLOW MOUNTAIN QUADRNAGLE, CATRON COUNTY, NM: DOES MINERALIZATION EXIST WITHIN THE QUADRANGLE?

The Bearwallow Mountain quadrangle of southwestern New Mexico is located within the Eocene to Oligocene Mogollon-Datil volcanic field. The Mogollon-Datil volcanic field consists of three major pulses of volcanic activity from at least four calderas that produced a variety of andesites and alkaline basalts. Additionally, portions of the volcanic field has produced significant mineralization including the Mogollon Mining District which is approximately 2 km east of the Bearwallow quadrangle. The Mogollon Mining District was a major producer of silver, gold, and copper between 1904 and 1925 from hydrothermal veins along pre-existing faults that formed in an epithermal mineral system. All easy deposits have been mined, and exploration in the region is at a standstill, despite the continued interested in the district. In order to explore for additional mineralized faults, detailed geological mapping, and geophysical surveys (magnetics and VLF-EM) will be performed.

In this study, new ground magnetic and VLF-EM data will be collected along known faults in the Bearwallow Mountain quadrangle, east of the Mogollon Mining District. The data will be an found in analyzed via map transformations (reduction to the pole, wavelength filtering and derivative analysis). These data will be compared to surveys just completed within the Mogollon Mining District to determine the effectiveness of these geophysical methods.