Turquoise Mines of the Southwest

TURQUOISE MINES OF THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST

AJAX MINE: Small mine located in south central Nevada in the royston area. Relatively new. Yields stones from light blue with darker blue veins to a predominate dark green with light blue areas.

BISBEE MINE: Near Bisbee, Arizona. Bisbee turquoise was on the of the first put onto the market. The turquoise mine is part of the Bisbee copper mine, the main operation of the site. Yields a high blue stone with lots of black matrix. Most of this turquoise has already been mined and it is one of the most highly collectible stones.

BLUE DIAMOND MINE: Located south of Austin, Nevada. Produces very hard, light to deep blue turquoise with a swirl pattern of light and dark blues. Brown to black matrix. The mine is located at a very high altitude and cannot be mined in the winter months due to extreme cold and snow.

BLUE GEM MINE: Near Battle Mountain, Nevada. Produced a great variety of turquoise from intense blues to deep green combinations with a hard, irregularly distrubuted matrix. The Battle Mountain Blue Gem mine began production in 1934 and is now closed. Greatly desired by collectors.

BLUE RIDGE MINE: Located in northern Nevada on the Blue Ridge in Crescent Valley. Discovered and developed by Orvil Jack. Mr Jack is now deceased but his daughter continues to manage the mine. The color is a rare yellow-green color caused by the zinc content. Very collectible as there is only a very small amount being produced. The turquoise is called Orvil Jack turquoise.

CANDELARIA MINE: This is a small Nevada mine which produces very little and is only occasionally worked. This hard stone turquoise has a high blue color with intermittent brown or black non-webbed matrix. Collectible due to its rarity.

CARICO LAKE MINE: Named after its location on a dired up lake bed in Lander County, Nevada. Its green color is due to its zinc content. Hihgly nique and collectible. Carico Lake turquoise is also found in a dark bluegreen color with black, spider web matrix. Occasionally, the mining company leases the turquoise producing part of the mine to individual miners who are permitted to work that part of the mine.

CARLIN MINE: Located in the very rough mountainous country north of Carlin, Nevada. produced very hard stones of a distinctive blue-green color in a very hard black chert matrix. Some of the turquoise mined was of such an intense blue color, it was hard to believe it was real. Not operated for many years. Very collectible.

CASTLE DOME MINE: Located in Nevada. Turquoise from this mine is a by-product of a large copper-mining operation. Formerly, the miners picked up what turquoise they encountered and sold it. Now, the turquoise is recovered by a person who pays the copper company for the turquoise. Only a very small quantity is of high quality. The rest, probably 90%, is used for treating.

CERRILLOS MINE: Located ten miles south of Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Cerrillos Mine is the oldest mine of any kind in North America. It has the only turquoise that formed at the base of a volcano. It was the site of the largest prehistoric mining activity on the continent because of the huge turquoise deposit that was partially exposed at the surface. Many pieces of Cerrillos turquoise have been unearthed in the prehistoric ruins of Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon. The Pueblo peoples continued to extract turquoise from this mine until the 1870s during the silver mining boom. The Tiffany Company of New York bought up the mine area and extracted $2,000,000 worth of turquoise between 1892 and 1899. Because of its volcanic origins, a variety of colors developed from the minerals in the various volcanic hot stones. Seventy-five colors have been identified. Cerrillos is a very hard stone and takes a brilliant polish.

CRIPPLE CREEK MINES: Teller County, Colorado has a number of small gold mines with turquoise found as the by-product of gold mining. Colors are greenish and light to dark blue with brown matrix.

CROW SPRINGS MINE: Also known as Anjax or Bluebird. Located near Tonopah, Nevada. Discovered about 1909 and worked at intervals ever since. Not a large producer. The stone colors range from pale to dark in both green and blue. Some have an interesting coppery looking matrix.

DAMELE MINE: Also known as Damali. Located in east central Nevada near the Carico Lake mine. Damele turquoise is distinctive because of the zinc content that turns the stone yellow-green and increases its hardness. The matrix is webbed dark brown to black. Availability is limited due to the small size of the mine. Because of its rare color, Damele is a collectible turquoise.

DARLING DARLENE MINE: Located in Nevada. Discovered in 1972 by Joe Barredo and named for his daughter. The turquoise occurs in seams and nuggets in colors from light to deep blue and a deep blue green. It is a small two-man operation and can be worked only in the summer months, so production is very limited.

DRY CREEK MINE: Also known as the Godber and Burnham Mine. Located in northeast Nevada. Produces unusual white to light blue turquoise that is very hard due to more aluminum in its chemistry. The matrix is light golden or brown-gray to gray-black.

EASTER BLUE MINE: Located northwest of Tonopah, Nevada. Discovered in 1907. Not a large producer. The first turquoise found here was an easter egg blue color. The turquoise produced recently is similar to that found in the nearby Royston Mine. Some of the stones show a very attractive large mottled spider web with light blue centers in the webbing. Many stones are deep blue-green, usually with a light to dark brown matrix.

ENCHANTMENT MINE: Located near the town of Ruidosa in the Sacramento Mountains of southeastern New Mexico. Discovered by a goldminer in 1996 and named the Lost Mine of Enchantment. First new mine discovered in New mexico since the 1500s. The stones are very high quality and range in color from deep green with tan or golden brown matrix to a deep, rich blue. The green is influenced by the iron content in the stone and the blue by the copper content.

FOX MINE: Located near Cortez, Nevada. Discovered about 1910-1912. Active since 1915 as one of the greatest turquoise producers of Nevada. It has been operated for many years by Mr. Dowell Ward. Turquoise from The White Horse Mine nearby is sometimes sold as Fox. Medium blue to deep blue stones with golden brown to black matrix. Still in production today.

HACHITA MINES: Located near hachita, New Mexico. A group of very old mines comprising the Cameo, Azure, Galilee and Aztec Mines. Turquoise was mined here in prehistoric times. the color of the stones is predominantly green. The matrix is light to dark brown with very little black.

KINGMAN MINE: Located in northwestern Arizona. Was one of the largest mines in North America. Produced bright blue nuggets with black matrix.

LANDER BLUE MINE: Located between Battle Mountain and Tenabo, Nevada. Has produced some of the msot beautiful and unique-type turquoise seen today.   The color varies from a deep blue to a light blue spider web with a very black contrasting matrix. This is one of the few mines that produced almost nothing but spider web. Mined in only limited quantities, it has become some of the most valuable turquoise. No longer producing.

LEADVILLE MINE: Located near Leadville, Colorado. The production is small and mostly low grade. Most of the turquoise mined here is honey-combed with holes and cavities containing pieces of crumbly matrix making most of it suitable only for treating.

LONE MOUNTAIN MINE: Also known as the Blue Jay Mine. Located is Esmeralda County, Nevada. Ranges in color from clear blue to spider web. This turquoise is known for its ability to hold its color and not fade.

MANASSA MINE: Also known as Kings Mine. Located in south central Colorado. Produced stones of blue-green to green with gold brown non-webbed matrix. Owned by the King family and still producing.

MCGINNIS MINE: Also known as Gem Mine. Located about 10 miles from Austin, Nevada. Discovered in `1930. Not a large producer and most of the turquoise only fair quality.

MONTEZUMA MINE: Located south of Mina, Nevada. Small mine with limited production. The bulk of turquoise produced is low grade, but it does produce very fine high grade. The high grade is a very royal blue color with brown to black matrix.

MORENCI MINE: Located in southeastern Arizona. Colors range from high blue to light blue with a matrix of irregular black pyrite that looks like silver when polished. Morenci turquoise was one of the first American turquoises to come on the market. Difficult to obtain now because the mine is depleted. Very collectible.

NO. 8 MINE: Located in Carlin, Nevada. First mined in 1929. No. 8 produced some of the largest nuggets of turquoise found. Color is a bright powder blue with matrix ranging from golden brown to black. Very collectible as the No. 8 mine has been depleted.

PAPOOSE MINE: Located north of Austin, Nevada. Has only been in operation a short time. Has produced some distinctive deep blue gems. Very dark brown to black matrix. Some of the turquoise is slightly honey-combed, leaving holes and pits in the stones which necessitates the use of a plastic filler. Production is limited as this mine cannot be worked in the winter months due to harsh conditions.

PILOT MOUNTAIN MINE: Located in northern Nevada. it is still producing and is worked by one family. The stone is deep blue-green and can show light blue to dark green colors on the same stone. The matrix is black to golden brown. This turquoise is a very hard stone which takes a good polish. The graduation of color is unusual and makes this a very collectible turquoise.

RED MOUNTAIN MINE: Located near Cortez, Nevada. Produces a very hard compact spider web with small to large veining. The matrix is red with a black outlining. The notable characteristic of this stone is the rust-colored veins appearing in the matrix.

ROYSTON MINES: Royston is a district in Nevada consisting of three turquoise mines: Bunker HiIl, Oscar Wehrend and Royal Blue. This district is known for its colors ranging from deep green to light blues set off by a heavy brown matrix. Still producing some turquoise, but in limited amounts. This turquoise is a relatively soft turquoise.

SANTA RITA MINE: Located east of Silver City, New Mexico. This turquoise is the by-product of a large copper mine. Color ranges ftrom pale blue to very deep blue. There is very little on the market.

SLEEPING BEAUTY MINE: Located near Globe, Arizona. Noted for its solid, light blue color with no matrix. Favorite of the Zuni Pueblo silversmiths for use in petit point and inlay jewelry. One of the largest in North America and still producing.

SMOKEY VALLEY MINE: Located near Tonopah, Nevada. Relatively new mine. Stone is light to medium blue.

STORMY MOUNTAIN MINE: Located near Tenabo, Nevada. Produces a hard dark blue turquoise flexed with hard black chert matrix. Colors also range into light blues and greens.

TIMBERLINE MINE: Located in Nevada. New, small mine producing vein and nugget turquoise. Light to deep blue and most of the nuggets are spider web. An unusual blue-green color seems to be characteristic of the turquoise of this mine.

TURQUOISE MOUNTAIN MINE: Turquoise Mountain and Birdseye turquoise come from the same mine in northwestern Arizona near the Kingman Mine. The color ranges from light to high blue with webbed and non-webbed matrix. The Birdseye turquoise shows areas of light blue circled with dark blue matrix. The mine closed in the 1980s.

TYRONE MINE: Located southwest of Silver City, New Mexico. Currently owned by Phelps Dodge. Turquoise has not been retrieved from this mine since the 1980s when Phelps Dodge changed its method of copper ore processing to crushing and acid wash. That method destroys any turquoise in the copper ore. Its color is medium brilliant blue. Any Tyrone turquoise in new jewelry is from private stashes. Collectible for its beauty and rarity.

VALLEY BLUE MINE: Located between Austin and Battle Mountain, Neada. Some of the stones are a beautiful medium to deep blue, but most are light blue, somewhat translucent with a a dark reddish-black mottled matrix and some spider web.

VILLA GROVE MINE: Located near La Jara, Colorado. An old mine that was discovered in 1901 and produced a high percentage of excellent hard blue turquoise. The best is a deep sky-blue to pale blue with brown to black matrix, some with spider webbing. Presently not being worked.

ZUNI MINE: Located near the Blue Diamond Mine south of Austin, Nevada. This is a new mine that has produced stones of deep blue-green. Presently not being mined.

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