| Tavenier
Thundereggs Tavenier (State) Mine, Hermanas, Luna County, New Mexico |
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Even they're a quarter
mile apart, Tavenier Mine (also called "State Mine")
shares similar layered rhyolitc lava strata as the
Baker Egg Load Mine. The Tavenier Mine produced more
horizontally banded agates and darker colors than
those of the Baker Egg Load Mine indicting that the
Tavenier Mine had undergone wetter conditions than
that of Baker Egg. While most thundereggs are
generally colorless to bluish-gray, the colors of
some Tavenier thundereggs resemble the burning
embers (black, white and red/orange). The colored
one were specifically found in the "pink pits" as
referred by local rockhounders (the years of 2000s).
Since the decomposing stratum is full of duds and it
would take a lot of effort to extract a few good
thundereggs. The mine was opened by Mr. Tavenier in 1960s or earlier hoping to profit from selling the thundereggs he mined while charging fees for collecting on his mines. His hopes went down the deep mine shaft when the "Mexican Coconuts" became widely available at very cheap prices as well as the fact that I later learned that operating a mine on a State land provided to be too expensive so it was left abandoned. Yes, I had fun digging at those "pink pits" after picking up the tips from local rockhounders (and now-outdated books) but not anymore. The reason why I stopped digging there is that I eventually learned that it's located on an unmarked state land (not BLM) especially after learning about an illegal backhoe activity(year of 2010?) that occurred on that area. Then one certain rockhounder who provided me some information on where to dig got called out for his illegal activities and some people may know who I'm talking about (not Paul Calburn). It helps to be careful when picking up any tips from other people for some might ignore any form of regulations. Each state have different regulations concerning their trust lands like for example, you can get a low-cost rockhounding permit to search Utah's trust lands while Arizona won't allow any recreational activities on its trust lands. After having experienced that nasty surprise, it's best to check the BLM and state regulations so to avoid the said surprises and the technological improvements made to the internet made it much easier. Don't use any outdated books for reference (no mention of state land in "Hermanas section"!!!). The Bureau of Land Management website has an interactive map which you can use to check for BLM lands and national forests that allow recreational activities. As for New Mexico's trust lands, it's best to leave them alone unless you could afford the expensive mineral lease/mining permits. Given its long history of mining, it's possible to obtain the specimens from that area via local rock shops or old collections. The site is included in Section 640 granted a lease to Lori Coleman of Spanish Stirrup Shop in 2015. She attempted to mine Tavenier Mine in 2016 only to discover that the deposit is nearly mined out. Despite her best efforts, she had to close and reclaim it. Then in 2019, she set out to test-dig the section in a grid-pattern and discovered at several new deposits referred as Mineshaft, Blue Ridge and Rabbit Hole with Mineshaft deposit being the most productive of that section. The specimens from those deposits can be acquired from her Spanish Stirrup Rock Shop, Site Status: As of Jan 2022, it's still under Section 640 Lease so it's best to leave it alone. |
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