Portales adit, Blanchard Mine, Bingham, Hansonburg District, Socorro County, New Mexico, USA

Looking down at the pinacoids of groups of spangolite xls. FOV is ~5mm. JBS specimen and photo.

© 2004 Jason B. Smith

Overall size: 90 x 40 x 25 mm Photo and collection Antonio Borrelli

© Antonio Borrelli

A 3/4 inch crystal of galena is almost completely altered to anglesite with a thin "stringer" of malachite running through it. It is surrounded by a spray of linarite and is on a matrix of baryte with tiny quartz crystals sprinkled about. This one was collected by myself in the early 1960's.

© Charles Creekmur

Deep blue fluorite cubes up to 1cm on the side on a quartz matrix associated with partially dissolved and etched galena. Specimen size: 12cmx10cm Philip Mostmans specimen & photo 2008

© Philip Mostmans

11 x 8 x 6cm. Intense blue cubes from the famouse find in 1991. Material and foto martin Gruell.

© Martin Gruell

Acicular sprays of green bronchantite on a quartz and barite matrix, with dark blue, micro crystals of the rare chloro-sulfate, spangolite 5 x 5.9 cm. Michael Shaw Collection.

Tiny blue crystals of spangolite to 0.05 cm in size are scattered throughout this 8.8 x 6.4 x 2.3 cm matrix with fibrous green crystalline malachite. Ex Lane Johnson collection.

© Dan & Diana Weinrich Minerals

13.0 x 12.3 x 8.8 cm. A showy and excellent cabinet specimen of nicely dispersed, intergrown, translucent, "Blanchard-blue" fluorite cubes on a quartz matrix from the famous Blanchard Mine of New Mexico. The cubes have nice purple edges. The photo highlights the translucency and color saturations, including the purple edges. The iron-stained ...

© Rob Lavinsky & irocks.com

Tiny blue crystals of spangolite to 0.05 cm in size are scattered throughout this 8.8 x 6.4 x 2.3 cm matrix with fibrous green crystalline malachite. Ex Lane Johnson collection.

© Dan & Diana Weinrich Minerals

Fluorite with Quartz from the Blanchard Mine, Socorro Co., NM, U.S. Specimen measures approximately 7.3 x 6.4 cm, with Fluorite crystals measuring up to 2.5 cm.

© Peter Hargis

11.0 cm. Bright “Bingham blue” fluorite crystals set against a nice creamy white matrix from the collection of David J. Eicher. Dave Douglass specimen.

© David J. Eicher

Sparkling gem red sphalerite crystals to about 1mm on matrix. Self collected.

© Paul Cyr

Tiny blue crystals of spangolite to 0.05 cm in size are scattered throughout this 8.8 x 6.4 x 2.3 cm matrix with fibrous green crystalline malachite. Ex Lane Johnson collection.

© Dan & Diana Weinrich Minerals

Spangolite crystals group,(1.2 mm) on support. Canon 550D on Auto Bellows, lens Canon Macro Photo 20 mm. Helicon Focus stack. sw. Collection and photo A. Zordan.

© Antonio Zordan

Fluorite from Portales Tunnel, Blanchard, NM Crystal is 1.1 cm on a side

© Robert Simonoff, 2012

21.0 x 8.7 x 8.0 cm. Beautiful, classic, color-zoned "Blanchard blue" fluorite cubes, to 1.2 cm, are richly and dramatically layered on the large sculptural vuggy very hard silicified limestone matrix. Scattered white pseudomorphs of cerussite or anglesite after cubic galena crystals are super and typical accessories to this very fine and classic ...

© Rob Lavinsky & MineralAuctions.com

Blanchard Fluorite

Blue-green caledonite with blue linarite from Ray Demark

21.0 x 8.7 x 8.0 cm. Beautiful, classic, color-zoned "Blanchard blue" fluorite cubes, to 1.2 cm, are richly and dramatically layered on the large sculptural vuggy very hard silicified limestone matrix. Scattered white pseudomorphs of cerussite or anglesite after cubic galena crystals are super and typical accessories to this very fine and classic ...

© Rob Lavinsky & MineralAuctions.com

Blanchard Fluorite

21.0 x 8.7 x 8.0 cm. Beautiful, classic, color-zoned "Blanchard blue" fluorite cubes, to 1.2 cm, are richly and dramatically layered on the large sculptural vuggy very hard silicified limestone matrix. Scattered white pseudomorphs of cerussite or anglesite after cubic galena crystals are super and typical accessories to this very fine and classic ...

© Rob Lavinsky & MineralAuctions.com

21.0 x 8.7 x 8.0 cm. Beautiful, classic, color-zoned "Blanchard blue" fluorite cubes, to 1.2 cm, are richly and dramatically layered on the large sculptural vuggy very hard silicified limestone matrix. Scattered white pseudomorphs of cerussite or anglesite after cubic galena crystals are super and typical accessories to this very fine and classic ...

© Rob Lavinsky & MineralAuctions.com

Fluorite on Quartz Specimen was found in the Portales Adit, Blanchard Mine, Bingham, Hansonburg District, Socorro County, New Mexico, USA. Many well isolated crystals of Fluorite. Currently in the Cliff Vermont collection. Photograph by Cliff Vermont.

Large plate of silicified limestone richly covered with vivid "Blanchard blue" fluorite cubes to nearly 1 cm. There are a lot of nicks and cleaves, but it makes for a showy, colorful display specimen. Don Windeler collection, gift from Rick Kennedy. This was collected underground in June 2008 on a Bay Area Mineralogists trip to New Mexico. ...

© DSW 2019

A view of the huge ore bin at the Portales. Road leading up to the mine is blocked with a rock pile.

© Charles Creekmur

June 2011 photo of the Portales Mine adits

© Charles Creekmur

One more shot of the huge jaw crusher at the Portales mine.

© Charles Creekmur

June 2011 photo of the ore bin at the Portales.

© Charles Creekmur

This is where the trucks were filled under the ore bin at the Portales Glory Hole to be trucked down the hill to the mill.

© Charles Creekmur

More of the crusher

© Charles Creekmur

Close up view of the crusher.

© Charles Creekmur

The jaw crusher that "feeds" the rock to the ore bin to be trucked down the hill to the mill.

© Charles Creekmur

Another shot of the ore loading area.

© Charles Creekmur

Another view of the jaw crusher manufactured by the Carterville Foundry and Iron Works in Webb City, Missouri. They made a lot of the equipment used in the Tri-State Pb/Zn mines.

© Charles Creekmur