Laguna Claims

Mining

Laguna Agate

C:    Laguna Agate
      1. Location of Laguna Agate claims

This Mexican Highway Map shows the road from El Paso, Texas to Chihuahua City in northern Mexico. The Laguna Agate area is about 150 miles south of the U.S.-Mexican border.
The topographical map below shows the claim locations on record in 1997. The small town of Estacion Ojo Laguna can be seen to the west of the claims. The road to the town further north follows the west side of the railroad tracks. The blue squares represent one square kilometer. The agate producing areas cover about 4 miles from north to south.

Treasure Map!

Mexican Topographical Map "Ojo Laguna H13C36, Chihuahua"
Laguna Claim Names 1. Ojo De San Martin 2. El Puerto 3. Laguna 4. Santa Monica 5. La Alianza 6. El Hormiguero 7. La Morita Uno 8. Buena Fe 9. Diana 10. El Mesquite 11. El Mesquite 1 12. La Morita 13. Ojo Laguna

The town of Estacion Ojo Laguna is next to the railroad tracks on the east side of the Lake.
	Mountain range east of Ojo Laguna
The new highway was built on the west side of the lake, so to get to the town you must take the old highway to the railroad tracks and follow the tracks south.
	Somewhere in Ojo Laguna, dreaming of what treasures may be found in the mountains to the east.

	Laguna Agate is considered to be the most colorful banded agate in the world. It is found in a north-south trending mountain range almost due south of El Paso, Texas and east of Mexican Highway 45 in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico.
El Mesquite, the largest excavation area on the mountain

	Unlike many of the other Mexcian agate deposits which can be very small, the Laguna agate can be found in various sites on the mountain for a distance of 4 miles or more.
View from El Mesquite, looking south on the east side of the mountain range.

Most of these areas are in the top third elevation of the mountain. Many of the claims do not have roads to them and have been worked entirely by hand.
	La Alianza claim, known for agates with very fine banding and strong parallax.

As of 1997, there are 13 different claims on the mountain with many small excavations. A more complete description of this area and its agate can be found in Brad Cross' book "The Agates of Northern Mexico".
	Men working at the La Alianza claim in 1997. No mechanized equipment has ever been used on this claim and there is no road to this excavation.