New Mexico, the "Land of Enchantment", was admitted as a US state on January 6, 1912, and was so-named centuries earlier by the Spanish to denote "the lands north of the Rio Grande River".
New
Mexico marks the entry point of the legendary Spanish Trail
into what is today the modern United States of America. In
the period 1848 to 2000, New Mexico's mines produced over
3.2 million troy ounces of gold and 117 million ounces
of silver. There are some 163 mining districts throughout
the state, and ten of these have each produced more than 150,000
troy ounces of gold.
Gold is found in New Mexico in quartz veins intruding its many ranges of the Rocky Mountains, as well as a free metal or in a combined form in secondary placer deposits in their drainage areas.
New Mexico lore abounds in the discovery of gold nuggets, which is notable in view of the fact that free nuggets represent the least common occurrence of gold.
A
General History of New Mexico
