CERRILLOS, N.M. -- Three armed men in ski masks who stole up to $500,000 in gold from a mine left few clues but apparently were well acquainted with the mine's elaborate security system, authorities said.

'We have some leads and some people we want to talk to do,' State Police Capt. Don Moberly said Thursday night. 'We do have some partial descriptions.'


Moberly said investigators recovered an automatic pistol that apparently was dropped by one of the bandits while the bullion, which was in the form of fine leaf, about 70 percent gold, was being transferred from one vehicle to another.

The weapon was being checked by scientists at the state crime laboratory, he said.

Jim Gourdie, manager of the Ortiz Mine some 25 miles south of Santa Fe, said he did not know how the robbers got through the mine's sophisticated security system in the theft early Thursday.

He said it was not known exactly how much bullion was taken.

'It was probably at least 100 ounces and no more than 1,000 ounces,' he said. 'That's about a week's production from the mine.'

The security system, which Gourdie refused to describe in detail, consists of heavy fencing and sound and optical sensing devices that make the entire mining operation look like a CIA installation.

Gourdie said the three tied up Pinkerton guard Charles Blanton, 59, and hauled away the gold in his pickup truck. The truck was found about two miles down a dirt road, where the bullion had been loaded into one or more other vehicles.

Blanton freed himself about 5:00 a.m., some 1 hours after the robbery, and alerted officials.

'They knew the operation well,' Gourdie said, 'not even asking the plant operator to open the door leading to the refining operation. They knew he couldn't get in there and set to work breaking it open.'

He said the plant television monitoring system produced film of the thieves breaking into the refining room. All wore hoods.

He would not say it was an inside operation, 'but maybe a former or current employee got a bit loose-tongued in a bar and somebody's ears perked up.'

'We've tried to keep a low profile around here,' Gourdie said. 'Not too many people even knew the gold mine existed.'

The Ortiz Mine is owned by Amcon Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Consolidated Gold Fields Inc., headquartered in London.