New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources

New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources From the very beginning the bureau has worked cooperatively with other state and federal agencies, including the U.S.

On March 14, 1927, the New Mexico State legislature approved an act establishing the New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, assigning it the responsibility for applied research into the geology and mineral resources of the state. Geological Survey, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Atomic Energy Commission, the Bureau of Land Management, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administra

tion (NASA). As a division of the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (New Mexico Tech), the bureau has a long tradition of working closely with undergraduate and graduate students from New Mexico Tech and other universities throughout the state, teaching and providing cooperative and financial support. In recent years the director has served as state geologist. We are head quartered on the campus of New Mexico Tech in Socorro, with satellite offices in Albuquerque and Carlsbad. In 2001 our name was changed to the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Natural Resources. The bureau is a service and research division of New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. It acts as the geologic survey of New Mexico with these main goals:

To conduct research and interact with state, local, and federal agencies and industry to facilitate prudent exploitation of the state's geologic resources. To distribute accurate information to scientists, decision makers, and the New Mexico public regarding the state's geologic infrastructure, mineral and energy resources, and geohydrology (including water quantity and quality). To provide timely information of potential geologic hazards, including earthquakes, volcanic events, soils- and subsidence-related problems, and flooding. To create accurate, up-to-date (digital and GIS-based) maps of the state's geology and resource potential. To act as a repository for cores, well cutting, and a wide variety of geological data. To provide convenient physical and internet access for New Mexicans to such resources. To provide public education and outreach through college teaching and advising, the Mineral Museum, and teacher- and student-training programs.

And here is a KOB interview with Dr. Urbi Basu about the Socorro County earthquake swarm.
06/18/2026

And here is a KOB interview with Dr. Urbi Basu about the Socorro County earthquake swarm.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported four earthquakes Wednesday in an area of New Mexico just south of the greater Albuquerque metro area.

06/18/2026

Dr. Urbi Basu, Manager of the NMT Seismological Observatory and Dr. Daniel Portner Assistant Professor of Geophysics at NMT discuss the causes for the recent Socorro County earthquake swarm in this KRQE interview.

06/18/2026
This week, the AAUW Tech Trek campers visited NMBGMR research faciliies and the New Mexico Mineral Museum. The tour incl...
06/17/2026

This week, the AAUW Tech Trek campers visited NMBGMR research faciliies and the New Mexico Mineral Museum. The tour included the Electron Microprobe, Argon, Economic Geology and Chemistry Labs. NMBGMR hydrologists also presented four activities that taught students about water and mapping. Thank you to everyone who made the tour and activities possible. Tech Trek campers, we hope you enjoyed your visit!

Ready to learn more about crystals? You're in luck. Here's the latest edition of Lite Geology, Crystals Part II! Thank y...
06/17/2026

Ready to learn more about crystals? You're in luck. Here's the latest edition of Lite Geology, Crystals Part II! Thank you to our writers, editors, production staff, and thank you for reading! Lite Geology 57 is available for free download at:
https://geoinfo.nmt.edu/publications/periodicals/litegeology .

A feast for the eyes. Lovely display, Kelsey. Thank you, Joan Massagué.
06/08/2026

A feast for the eyes. Lovely display, Kelsey. Thank you, Joan Massagué.

06/04/2026

Here's a video featuring a Kelly mine smithsonite from Socorro, New Mexico presented by Paul Powhat, Minerals Collection Manager at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

It was learning and sharing experience for the Economic Geology and the Aquifer Monitoring groups this week. Lead Resear...
06/03/2026

It was learning and sharing experience for the Economic Geology and the Aquifer Monitoring groups this week. Lead Research Scientist / Economic Geologist, Dr. Virginia McLemore and her staff and students kicked off a new USGS funded project studying porphyry copper deposits, using an innovative technology. The Aquifer Monitoring group, Monica Rakovan, Ethan Mamer, Cris Morton and Scott Christenson, provided lab and field training on water chemistry sampling. VectOres Science will be supplying the isotopic analyses. This project will not only answer some important research questions about copper deposits, but will also improve our understanding of New Mexico aquifers.

👀 What do you think when you see the Bureau's logo?As we look ahead to our centennial in 2027, we're asking our partners...
06/01/2026

👀 What do you think when you see the Bureau's logo?

As we look ahead to our centennial in 2027, we're asking our partners, stakeholders, and community members to help us think about the future of the Bureau's brand and identity.

Share your feedback through our short survey now through June 10th: https://forms.gle/1onpsZsvFR5kR3Bg7

Whether you have strong opinions or just a few quick thoughts, we'd love to hear them. Your feedback will help shape how the Bureau communicates its mission and presents itself to New Mexicans as we begin our next 100 years of service.

As we approach our centennial celebration in 2027, the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, (NMBGMR), has a timely opportunity to reassess and modernize its visual identity (logo, messaging, color palette, and proper usage). Our partnership with The Abbi Agency will develop a refreshe...

Postcard from the Field: Several million-year-old, alluvial fan deposits near Hillsboro—Dan Koning, Senior Research Scie...
05/29/2026

Postcard from the Field: Several million-year-old, alluvial fan deposits near Hillsboro
—Dan Koning, Senior Research Scientist

Becca Goughnour, Kyle Gallant, and myself (all from the New Mexico Bureau of Geology) are currently conducting geologic mapping in the Hillsboro area. This postcard shares photographs from this mapping effort that relate to a topic near and dear to my heart: the Santa Fe Group. The Santa Fe Group refers to siliciclastic-dominated sediment that fills basins of the Rio Grande rift. In the area we are working, the mapped Santa Fe Group lies below the Plio-Pleistocene Palomas Formation and is Miocene in age (spanning ~20 to 5 million years ago). It is relatively coarse because the study area lies at the foot of the Black Range (coinciding with the western margin of the Palomas Basin). Strata are moderately cemented, conglomeratic and tend to be in 10–50 cm-thick, tabular to lenticular beds, as shown in the exposure of Figure 1. Cross-stratification and deep channel forms are rare. These sedimentologic features, the location on the basin margin, and paleoflow data are consistent with deposition on an east-sloping alluvial fan. Alluvial fans arelarge, semi-circular landforms formed when stream water spreads out at the base of a mountain range after being confined within mountain canyons, dropping its sediment load in the process. Figure 2 shows the pinkish Santa Fe Group underlying a brown, even coarser deposit about 6-8 ft thick; this brown deposit corresponds to a Pleistocene terrace deposit, formed when the landscape was eroding rather than aggrading like it did earlier in Santa Fe Group time.

Address

801 Leroy Place
Socorro, NM
87801

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

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+15758355490

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