The Harding mine, Taos County, New Mexico

Abstract

INTRODUCTION The Harding mine, in the western part of the Picuris Range about 20 miles southwest of Taos (Fig. 1), has yielded substantial amounts of commercial beryl, lepidolite, spodumene, and tantalum-niobium minerals over a period of half a century. It also has become widely known as a source of handsome mineral specimens, as a provocative locality for scientific studies, and as an attraction for those who appreciate spectacular exposures of pegmatite. It lies four miles southeast of the Rio Grande Canyon at an altitude of 7400 ft (sec. 29, T. 23 N., R. 11 E.), and it is readily accessible from a nearby point on State Highway 75 about 6 miles east of Dixon. The mine property has been generously leased by the owner, Dr. Arthur Montgomery, to the University of New Mexico for preservation as one of the State's unusual natural assets. The University plans also to make this classic locality continually available for public inspection, study, and mineral collecting on a modest scale. Anyone with an interest in visiting the property should contact the Chairman, Department of Geology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131. A splendid collection of representative Harding minerals, donated by Dr. Montgomery, can be viewed in the University's Geology Museum.