Smokey Bear Quartz Claims, Lincoln County, New Mexico, USAi

Regional Level Types
Smokey Bear Quartz Claims	Claim
Lincoln County	County
New Mexico	State
USA	Country

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SIERRA BLANCA AND MINA TIRO ESTRELLA SMOKY QUARTZ

Information and mineral specimens from both localities often get mixed together, so I want to briefly address these common mix-ups. Both localities are within the boundary of the Lincoln National Forest, but Sierra Blanca is in the Sacramento Mountains while Mina Tiro Estrella is in the Capitan Mountains 30 miles to the ENE. To my knowledge only at Sierra Blanca has mineral collecting been forbidden by the Forest Service, and have smoky quartz crystals been confiscated from operations back in the 1980’s. I believe there has been a regulation of sorts against collecting here, but it is very rarely enforced. Mina Tiro Estrella has, for the majority of its existence, always been a valid claim and is still currently under claim although collecting is not permitted by the owner.

Concerning the specimens from each respective location, smoky quartz is commonly found from both places, but the similarities end there. Crystals from Mina Tiro Estrella are relatively small (singles to 7 cm, twins to 10 cm) and are generally twinned or of the tessin habit whereas the crystals from Sierra Blanca are all simple-prismatic and can get much larger (to 40 cm). Color of the Mina Tiro Estrella quartz is usually pale to medium smoky with very few dark crystals, while quartz from Sierra Blanca is usually medium to dark smoky with occasional pale crystals. Luster from both locales can be matte to brilliant, but striations on Mina Tiro Estrella specimens are much more pronounced. Japan law twins are found from Mina Tiro Estrella and not from Sierra Blanca. Very few accessory minerals are found along with the smoky quartz from Sierra Blanca, except for occasionally some white, colloform fluorite and very rarely mint-to-emerald green fluorite octahedrons. Major accessory minerals from Mina Tiro Estrella include white feldspar crystals (either albite or orthoclase), sharp, bladed crystals of black allanite, and small brownish-red titanite crystals.
[Philip Simmons 2013]

Note: "Smoky Bear" is a misnomer.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References