Mother's Day at The Blanchard Mine

Going collecting on Mother's Day weekend is a risky thing to do, but if you want to be a rock hound, you have to take some calculated risks. According to my calculations, the chance to collect at this world famous locality outweighed the months of atonement I might have to do to make up for being gone on Mom's special day. The Blanchard Mine is right on the edge of the White Sands missile range, not far from where the first atomic bomb was detonated. It is also not far from Roswell, as the UFO flies. However, the threat of radioactivity and alien abduction rated pretty low on the risk factor scale, compared to the danger of irritating Mom!

Darrel Dodd stopped by my house to pick me up at 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 10, and found my driveway loaded with my collecting gear, tent, and ice chest. I had plenty of everything, but I was short on ice and batteries, so we had to make a stop at the store on our way out of town.

The road we took from Phoenix runs up the Mogollon Rim, though Payson and Springerville, across the New Mexico Border to Magdelena and Socorro, then south and east to Bingham. It is too bad it was dark as pitch, that is some pretty country. The big drought in the west has allowed the beetles to mess up some of the pine trees, and the big fires have done some damage too, but Mother Nature is fixing it up. She would do a lot better if we got some rain! There is another route that travels the bigger highways to the south, but either one takes a solid eight hours of driving time, so we chose the shorter, slower road.

We arrived at the Bingham Rock Shop at about 5:00 a.m., and I threw my sleeping bag out on the ground beside the truck and let my leaden eyelids drop for a few hours of much needed rest. The wind blew and the birds sang, but those three hours of sleep felt mighty fine to me. Darrel says he didn't know where I went, but I guess he didn't look very hard.

About 8:30, the next-bravest members of the Arizona Mineral and Mining Museum Foundation started pulling in, and began wandering around the yard looking at the minerals that were laying around on the tables and on the ground. There was a lot to see, but few minutes before 9:00 the woman who ran the rock shop called us inside. Soon we were being read the disclaimer and signing the waiver of liability and lining up for a head count.

Allison, the rock shop lady, said we better not get there so early tomorrow, as she didn't intend to get up that early on Mother's Day! Darrell and I signed up for both days, since we were spending the night up on the claims in our tents.

We were instructed not to enter any underground areas, but told that we could collect any material we found on the top of the ground. With the formalities completed, the Foundationers headed to the Blanchard Mine for a day of surface collecting.

The Foundation's Webmaster and Secretary, Harvey Jong, had collected at the Blanchard Mine a few months earlier with the claim holder, Ray DeMark, so he knew his way around. As we walked up the rugged road to the claims, he told us what we could expect to find in the different areas of the mine. Since we hoped to be collecting underground on Sunday, I decided to concentrate on finding the lovely blue fluorite in vugs in the large barite boulders near the old mining structures. The walk up the hill was a bit strenuous at first, but we began finding interesting minerals all over the place, and soon forgot the effort and just enjoyed the thrill of discovery.

I took a big boulder apart with my two-pound hammer, and perfect cubes of fluorite began to see the light of day. Lavone Archer and her sidekick Jana came over to see what I was doing, and I showed them some nice little crystal groups that were popping out of the big rock. There were plenty to share, so we all got some pretty specimens from that boulder. I am sure Jana and Lavone found nicer crystals on their own in the coming hours. I gave Jana a few pointers on busting big rocks without busting your skin, (all learned the hard way by yours truly) and Lavone helped me wrap some of the choicest specimens for the long ride home. I left two specimens in Large Format (each weighing about 10 pounds).

A relative of our Horny Toad member that we recruited on the Fat Jack trip stopped by for a chat. She was pretty plain compared to her turquoise cousin from the Bradshaw Mountains of Arizona, but she assured me that her big brother, who lived down in the flat desert at the foot of the claims, was a gaudy and spikey representative of the species. I told her I would look him up later.

Ray Grant, our Chairman, drove his SUV up the hill to help the Foundationers get their treasures back down to the base camp without having to carry them. He passed me as I carried down those two large yard rocks covered with blue cubes that were too beautiful to put in the collecting bag with the other rocks, and too big to wrap up in Mineral Wrap.

(Note: Some people call mineral wrap "Multi use paper" and some call it "Packing Material", but in the grocery store it is found in the toilet paper isle.)

Anyway, after I dropped my burden at the camp, I hiked back up the hill and carried my heavy collecting bag full of smaller specimens over to Ray's rig, and he drove it back down the hill for me, saving me a lot of energy. Thank you, Ray!

Stan Celestian and Karen Glennon had each found a profitable boulder to reduce to mineral specimens, and seemed to be enjoying the work that made many old time convicts on the chain gang sing the blues. Blue cubes of Fluorite were what we were singing about!

What a gorgeous color this material is, almost unique to this locality, and easily recognized by knowledgeable rock hounds. Years back, when I was first starting to get serious about collecting, I found a pile of this material with linarite and brochantite on barite in a wash near Castle Hot Springs, west of Phoenix. Though I didn't know where it had come from at the time, and spent a considerable amount of time and effort trying and failing to find the outcropping, I carried a bunch of it home. Eventually I saw similar material at various rock shows, and realized that it was not from Arizona! Some rockhound had dumped it there to make room for some new rocks, I guess. I still have a piece from that early expedition, and have myself engaged in such pranks, just to confuse Rockhounds of the future.

Walt Johnson had found a spot where Purple fluorite was common, though the crystals were more weathered and fractured. I spent a little time busting some of it loose from the matrix so I would have a variety of materials to show off from this prolific locality.

Bob found some lovely translucent green selenite in a vug, and it practically glowed when the sun shone through it. I think that it is colored by the brochantite that is common at this locality.

Lots of people had brought the new little walkie talkies that are so inexpensive today, and we set them all to channel 13 so we could keep in touch. This is the first trip I have ever been on where we found a good use for walkie talkies, but I think they will become much more valuable as we all learn how to use them. The range and reliability has much improved in the last few years, and they are so tiny it is easy to hike with them on your belt. The call alert that they can send is very useful, alerting the prospective recipient that you wish to talk to him. They could be a life saver some day!

By about 1:30 in the afternoon most of us were worn out from tramping up and down that big hill, and ready for some refreshment and conversation. Everyone wanted to be well rested for the underground collecting adventures scheduled for the next day. Ray DeMark had promised to meet us at the claims at 9:00 Sunday morning, so most of the collectors wanted to get back to Socorro and the warm showers in their hotel rooms.

The wildflowers were blooming around our campsite in glorious color! There is a lot more to be seen and enjoyed on these expeditions than just mineral specimens. Mardy began boxing here fluorite and galena specimens for the egg carton mineral collections that would be sold at the Leaverite's tables at the Flagg Show, January 2, 3, & 4, 2004 , and the rest of us just relaxed and had some refreshment.

Darrel and I were planning on spending the night at the claim, and intended to go back up the mountain in the dark and prospect for the rare mineral Otavite with our short wave ultraviolet lights. Otavite is found here at the Blanchard Mine, as well as at Sterling Hill, New Jersey, Scotland, Wales, and Tsumeb! It glows a bright red under SW UV, and is just an ugly brown earthy material under normal light, so it is easiest to find it in the dark. Darrel took a siesta while I hiked around the area, thinking on the lives of those hardy souls who discovered this deposit so many years ago.

About a half-hour before sunset, I called Darrel on the walkie-talkie and woke him. He drove the truck up the hill, which I really appreciated, in my exhausted and aching condition. We drove on to the top of the hill, and waited near the mouth of the Sunshine number 1 and 2 tunnels till the sun set, then shined our black lights around looking for a red glow. I wonder if the eerie glow of our ultra-violet lamps looked like aliens wandering over the darkened hillside to the folks living down in the valley? The Otavite is there to be found, but it is not common. I found about 8 good specimens, and a couple of larger rocks that had some spots and streaks of the mineral in them. How much ugly brown stuff do you need, anyway?

We bumped back down the rocky road in the dark, no doubt making the locals think we were either crazy or aliens. Back at camp, we had a quick dinner of canned chili and beans, and drug our weary aching carcasses into the sleeping bags. My poor overworked muscles had been stiffening, and I ached everywhere from my feet on up. We had hoped to sit around the campfire and watch for UFOs, but if they came, I am afraid we weren't very neighborly. A fire probably would have been a bad idea, anyway, in that wind! It blew so hard that night that the canvas of my tent touched my sleeping bag, but I didn't blow away or even pay much attention.

Sunday morning we were feeling much better. We broke camp and packed up all our gear and minerals, then had some breakfast and waited for our friends to arrive. The local miners who were working a claim on the hill stopped by on their way to dig and chatted with us a little while. They asked us if we had been collecting in the night, and we told them we had been creating the eerie glow on the mountaintop. They saw my guitar and invited us to play some music with them the next time we came to visit.

At 9:00 Ray DeMark arrived with the Foundation's intrepid collectors, and everyone gathered for a brief talk about the history and geology of this remarkable deposit.

Ray told us that miners arrived in the area in 1872, and staked claims for copper. The Western Mineral Products Company, who built a 50-ton dry mill on the claim, developed the Hansonburg mine as a lead mine in 1916. For the next 15 years or so the mine lay dormant, but in 1937-38 small shipments of lead-silver ore were made. Mr. F. L. Blanchard of Roswell, NM acquired the Hansonburg Lead mine in 1943, and leased it to the Portales Mining Company in 1947. By 1952, this group was hauling 150 tons of ore per day to the new mill that had been built in San Antonio, NM. Production continued until the mill burned down in 1954 and ended the ore-producing era of the Blanchard Mine.

In 1958 the Sunshine Mining Company began exploratory work, drilling, drifting, crosscutting and raising all over the claim. This company never shipped any ore for their substantial investment, but later-day Rockhounds were to benefit greatly for the easy access to the specimens they provided. Mr. Blanchard had passed away, and his widow remained alone on the claims in a small cabin without electricity or running water. She allowed collectors on her property, but required them to surrender the choicest specimens they found before they left! Ray speculates that a few may have been squirreled away before her inspection. Mrs. Blanchard passed away in 1968, but her cabin still stands on the property.

After the informative talk, the Foundation Members all piled into the vehicles to go up the hill to the mines, but Darrell and I decided that the time had come to get back to Phoenix, to join the Mother's Day celebrations with our families.

On our way back out to the highway, we met our little horned toad friend's big brother, a spikey guy with beautifully patterned yellow markings. He generously sat still for a portrait, then we bid the Blanchard Mine adeiu, and traveled on.

As we passed through Magdalena, New Mexico in the daylight, Darrell thought out loud, "I wonder if there are any Rock Shops in this Town?" just as we approached the sign for Bill's Rock Shop! Of course we had to turn up that little street and pull in to the rock shop, which is behind a private home. The sign on the door said "We are open, just honk your horn and we will be right out", so that is what we did. All around the small rock shop were a lot of cool specimens and a friendly dog that greeted us while we examined the rocks.

Soon Helen, the owner came out to greet us. What a nice, neighborly lady! She offered us free collecting on the dumps of her near-by claims if we purchased five dollars or more in minerals. Inside the little shop we saw a lot of nice fluorite, linarite, brochantite, and barite specimens from the Blanchard, some very pretty specimens of azurite and malachite from the Lynchburg Mine, as well as Iron Pyrite and other iron minerals from the Nit claim.

I also bought several flats containing Blanchard minerals that I wasn't able to collect personally, copper in selenite specimens from the Twin Buttes mine in Arizona, vanadinite from the Apache Mine, near Globe AZ, Apatite from Canada, and even some tourmaline in lepidolite from California and Brazil! Helen has some very attractive, lustrous specimens of smithsonite from the Kelly Mine that would brighten up any collection!

We didn't have time to collect at Helen's claims, darn it, but on our way out to the truck to try to find room to stash my new flats of minerals, she gave us a specimen of rhodochrosite (from Colorado, I think) and a nice hexoctahedral fluorite specimen from the Lynchburg mine. I was glad we stopped in, and I am going to get back that way some time soon and take her up on her collecting offer. If you get a chance, stop in and see her at:

Helen

Bill's Rock Shop and Mine

PO box 104 Magdalena, NM 87825

505-854-2236

The final leg of our journey was pleasant but uneventful, and we got back to Phoenix in time to give our Moms a happy Mother's Day greeting. My mom liked the big fluorite specimen I brought her, and so I think I am off the hook.

All in all, it was another delightful expedition with the Arizona Mineral and Mining Museum Foundation, safe, friendly and successful. I can't wait to see what my friends found underground! It will be available for sale at the Museum Family Day and Mineral Sale, October 18, 2003. Here are some images of my best specimens I collected on this trip.

Thanks to Ray DeMark for being so generous with his time, knowledge and specimens. Much of the factual information presented here Ray provided in his lecture at the claims and his presentation at the symposium. We are grateful that he shared the story of the Blanchard Mine with us at the Eleventh Annual Minerals of Arizona Symposium, and delighted to have been invited on this memorable and successful collecting expedition. Thanks to his generosity, I have been able to give beautiful specimens to a lot of friends, co-workers and acquaintences, hopefully whetting their appetite for more mineral collecting activities!

I would also like to recognize Ray Grant for his leadership and gentle drive to preserve and improve the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum Foundation, and to keep us directed toward our goals in the best tradition of Arizona's "Mr. Rockhound", A.L. Flagg.

CONCLUSION:

I am beginning to see the future of the mineral-collecting hobby in a much more positive light. Many field collectors point out that opportunities for individual collectors with limited time and resources seem to be diminishing. However, the possibilities increase dramatically when the collector is affiliated with a respected and well-organized group. I believe that a mineral hobby group should have a responsible objective like supporting education or a museum, something greater than just augmenting the members' collections. That sort of altruism builds community support and respect, and that respect opens doors that were once slammed shut in a collector's face. Small miners, other museums in the surrounding area, large mining companies, and powerful people in State and Local Government all seem to have heard of the Foundation and it's goals. With their help, we are able to accomplish much that we can look at with pride.

Time spent improving your community while indulging your love of nature is time well spent.