SOCORRO, N.M. -- Geochemistry master's student Evan Owen posted the latest "Postcards from the Field" on the Bureau of Geology website. He offered a virtual tour of the Dictator Mine in Black Range west of Truth or Consequences.

The Bureau launch a new online feature, “Postcards from the Field,” in February 2021. The web series offers staff scientists and grad students the platform to share first-person narratives and photos from some of New Mexico’s most scenic locations.

Click here for the
“Postcards from the Field” webpage.

In the most recent “Postcard,” Evan Owen shares a breakdown of minerals that can be found in the dump materials at the Dictator Mine. The image at right is mineral specimens Owen collected from the dump.

Owen wrote:

“New Mexico offers a much wider variety of mineral collecting opportunities than my home state of Alabama. This is certainly the case with fluorescent minerals, a major focus of my mineral collection.

“One mine that offers attractive fluorescent material is the Dictator Mine, located near Winston in Sierra County. The Dictator Mine is a small, former producer of zinc, lead, copper, and silver.

“According to the 1934 NM Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources Bulletin 10, which details the ore deposits of Sierra County, the deposit was known to prospectors as early as 1880.”

Click here for Owen’s report.