Red Bed Mineral Collecting/Copper Minerals and Fossilized wood abound at the Nacimiento Mine

摘要

New Mexico has a wide variety of rock types and geologic settings. So it is not surprising to find it also has an assortment of interesting places to collect minerals. One unique place is 80 miles northwest of Albuquerque. Hidden near the small village of Cuba is an abandoned open-pit copper mine. Although the Nacimiento Mine is small compared to other southwestern copper pits, it is large in unusual mineral and fossil combinations. It is common to find petrified wood in the exposed Late Permian- and Mesozoic-era rock layers throughout the northern half of the state of New Mexico. During these ancient times, "red bed" copper deposits were occasionally formed, and several of these mineralized localities are scattered around the state. Red beds obviously get their name from the color of the exposed rock. What makes these deposits unique is that organic remains trapped in the sediments later attracted, and were replaced by, copper minerals.