Bonney Mine Research Brief: High-Grade Veins in the Burro Mountains

Location & Landscape Clues

The Bonney Mine sits within the Burro Mountains, a range that in December 1915 was the focus of a major copper camp being built by the Phelps Dodge Company, with Lordsburg serving as the southern entrepôt ^[1][2]. The newspaper map accompanying the 1915 article shows a “Geological Cross Section of Burro Mountains,” suggesting the Bonney veins are part of a mineralized zone that attracted corporate attention during the Tyrone boom ^[1][2].

Ore Values & Vein Character

The Bonney Mine’s ore averaged $20 per ton, with values reaching $80 and $100 per ton in many places along its veins ^[1][2]. The average composition broke down to approximately $4.50 per ton in gold, $4.00 per ton in silver, and $12.50 per ton in copper ^[1][2]. The December 21, 1915, article in the *Western Liberal* (Lordsburg) describes the Bonney as “the richest in the local districts,” a claim that would have been based on assays and production data available to the newspaper’s mining editor ^[1][2].

Ownership & Corporate Context

By late 1915, the Bonney Mine was owned by the Phelps Dodge Company, the same corporation building the big copper camp at Tyrone ^[1][2].

Search Strategy for Field Researchers

Legal & Ethical Reminder