Geology and mineralization of the El Cuervo Butte barite-fluorite-galena deposit in southern Santa Fe County, New Mexico
— Robert M. North and Virginia T. McLemore

El Cuervo (Crow) Butte is in the Estancia basin, about 20 km northeast of Moriarty in southern Santa Fe County (Fig. 1). Barite-fluorite-galena veins occur along a north—northeast-trending fault in the Yeso Formation (Permian) and the Glorieta Sandstone Member of the San Andres Formation (Permian). The deposit occurs on state-trust mineral land and is essentially undeveloped. Although there is no reported production, shallow prospect pits and trenches expose the mineralization periodically along the fault. Mineralization is similar in composition and mode of emplacement to other sedimentary hydrothermal barite deposits in New Mexico. Fluid-inclusion studies suggest an origin similar to deposits in the Hansonburg district in Socorro County which are in part analogous to Mississippi Valley-type deposits (Roedder et al.,
1968).

The El Cuervo Butte area was previously mapped as part of a regional reconnaissance study by Read et al. (1944). Williams et al. (1964) briefly described the barite mineralization at El Cuervo Butte based on a preliminary field investigation by the U.S. Bureau of Mines in 1958. McLemore and Barker (1985) briefly described the deposit as part of a study of barite deposits in north-central New Mexico. The mineralogy of the El Cuervo Butte deposit was described by North and McLemore (1985).