The Apache Blue turquoise mine, is a small mine with lots of potential. The mine is located near Tonopah, Nevada in the Candelaria Mountain range. In recent years the mine has re-opened rendering Apache Blue turquoise with beautiful blue stones with eye popping color.
This high quality Apache Blue turquoise is very rare and hard to find even in this mine, but it’s what every turquoise miner is searching for. This turquoise is truly some of the nicest from Nevada.
The Bisbee mine, “the Lavender Pit”, near Bisbee, Arizona, is one of the more famous of the American mines because Bisbee turquoise (also known as “Bisbee Blue” registered name) was one of the first put onto the market. The turquoise mine is part of the Bisbee copper mine (The Copper Queen), the main operation of the site.
Bisbee turquoise has developed a reputation as a hard, finely webbed or dendrite, high blue stone, known for its “chocolate brown” matrix. Bisbee turquoise also comes in a beautiful dark green color. Because most of this turquoise has already been mined and what is left is in limbo due to circumstances with the copper mining in the open pit, it is one of the most highly collected stones.
Most jewelry being made with this stone today is being made via the orders of the current owners of the mine. The rest, such as ours which is all hand cut and mounted by Durango Silver Co., is found through old “stashes” or collections that have been obtained.
Named for producing some of the hardest turquoise, the Blue Diamond mine is located outside of Austin, Nevada and was first mined in 1930. The mine is considered a “hat mine”, of which there are very few. A hat mine is a small deposit of turquoise that “you can cover with your hat”.
The stones that this mine produces, which are usually large pieces in plate form, look a great deal like Stormy Mountain Turquoise because of its black smoky matrix. This stone features dark stormy matrix surrounded by a brilliant blue. The characteristic black chert is present.
Long time miners have been noted to have said the Blue Diamond mine yielded some of the best turquoise in Nevada.
Today, Blue Diamond turquoise is very rare and seldom seen. The mining operations have been closed for many years.
Mother Nature is Amazing! When you look at Boulder Turquoise, you can see the veins running through the host rock. The Boulder Turquoise Mine is located in northeast Nevada. It was discovered by a Shoshone sheep herder. Production is small due to the remote location and winter weather.
Boulder Turquoise is identified by the style of distinctive turquoise veins that run through boulder stones. The reason Boulder Turquoise is sometimes called Ribbon Turquoise is because the the turquoise is a “ribbon” that arcs through rich brown boulder stones.
The uniqueness of the Turquoise patterns that map through beautiful and varied brown boulder stones really gives Boulder Turquoise jewelry its own distinctive flair.
Boulder Turquoise is valued for both its beauty and rarity. Every stone is unique.
Candelaria Turquoise comes from the large Candelaria silver and gold mine in Nevada, which is not too far from Tonopah.
It is currently closed, with no mining activity and is, therefore, considered rare and collectible.
The turquoise in this area was usually found in thin veins and is known for its beautiful, almost electric blue, sometimes with light matrix.
This mine produces some of the most unusual and beautiful stone patterns. No two stones are ever alike.
Dry Creek Turquoise comes from a small turquoise mine outside of Austin, Nevada. It is a creamy pale blue coloring and golden to cocoa brown matrix.
Dry Creek turquoise is not treated or color enhanced and is revered for its light whitish blue turquoise color. Most turquoise this light of a blue is chaulk and is too soft to cut. That is one of the reasons that Dry Creek Turquoise is so valuable.
Turquoise gets it color from the heavy metals in the ground where it forms. The blue turquoise forms when there is a higher concentration of copper, which is the case with most Arizona turquoises. Green turquoise forms where there is a higher concentration of iron. This is the case with most Nevada turquoise. Dry Creek forms where there are few heavy metals present, which is a rare occurrence and the reason for the light whitish blue color.
To date, no other vein of this turquoise has been discovered anywhere else and when this current vein runs out, that will be the last of it. Because this Dry Creek Turquoise is as rare as the sacred buffalo, many Native Americans refer to this turquoise as “Sacred Buffalo”.
Easter Blue is an old Nevada Blue Turquoise mine. This mine is located in the Royston Area/ Bunker Hill.
This mine is a major producer of Nevada Turquoise. Easter Blue produces a fine quality stone and beautiful matrix. The Easter Blue mine is owned and operated by Danny and Dean Otteson.
Fox is one of Nevada’s most productive turquoise mines. In the 1940s, Dowell Ward purchased the old Cortez claims and developed them using the names Fox, White Horse, Green Tree and Smith to differentiate among the colors produced in the area and to create a larger perceived share of the turquoise market.
The area produces a huge amount of good quality blue, green or blue-green stone with a distinctive matrix. Most of this turquoise that we have cut has been a light to medium blue with a dark color of green or blue spiderweb.
The Kingman mine in northwestern Arizona was one of the largest turquoise mines in North America. The terms “KIngman” or “high blue” refer to the blue color usually displayed in this stone.
It has become a color standard in the industry. The mine became famous for its rounded, bright blue nuggets with black matrix. Few turquoise mines produced nuggets, especially of this quality.
Old natural Kingman Turquoise is rare. The Colbaugh’s own this mine and the turquoise Mountain mine, their company name is Colbough Processing. The have recently gone back into the section of the Kingman mine and are digging and bringing our some new Natural KIngman Turquoise.
The Kingman mine in northwestern Arizona was one of the largest turquoise mines in North America. The terms “KIngman” or “high blue” refer to the blue color usually displayed in this stone.
It has become a color standard in the industry. The mine became famous for its rounded, bright blue nuggets with a spider web black matrix.
In the Cerbat Mountains, 14 miles northwest of the city of Kingman, Arizona, the Mineral Park Mine was first mined by Indians centuries before the white man came to the area. It is one of three prehistoric mining localities in the state of Arizona The Kingman Turquoise mines have been owned and operated by the Colbaugh family since the early 1900s.
The Kings Manaas Turquoise mine is one of the oldest in Colorado sand one of the better known. Discovered by Southwestern Indians, turquoise was used by the Indians for personal adornment in religious ceremonies and in many of their rituals.
The mine is located in Manassa, Colorado. The site was originally mined by ancestral Pueblo people and was rediscovered in 1890 by gold prospector King.
The King’s mine produces some of the best blue green turquoise on the market today. The King’s Manassa Turquoise is best known for its rich, brilliant green and gold matrix.
The mine was closed for a number of years and had not been worked. Recently, the mine changed hands again and they have begun to work the claim.
The King’a Manassa mine is now producing what geologists and collectors have stated, is the Rolls Royce of turquoise.
Number 8 Turquoise has character in it’s appearance and can easily be identified. Few gemstones have such variety in appearance as to have individual character and personality as the Number 8 Turquoise. With its golden brown to black distinctive spider web matrix and unique bright powder blue and green background. It has been valued for its beauty and reputed spiritual and life giving qualities.
The Number 8 Turquoise mine in Eureka County, which is north of Carlin, Nevada was discovered in 1925 and first mined in 1929.
The mine was closed as a result of the discovery of gold in 1976 when the Newton Gold Company claimed the area. In its prime, the Number 8 mine produced some of the largest nuggets of turquoise ever found. Cleaned and polished, it weighed 150 pounds.
The turquoise is a collectors item, as this is some of the last Number 8 Turquoise to be had and will be a great addition to our collection.
The Pilot Mountain mine is located in western Nevada, east of the town of Mina. As with most turquoise mines, this mine opened as a copper claim. Pilot Mountain turquoise was first mined in 1930 as a tunnel mine then it became an open pit. While Pilot Mountain is considered an active mine, it is a very small operation.
Pilot Mountain turquoise forms in hard veins with color ranging from bright blue to dark blue with a greenish cast. Dark brown limonite mottled patterns are associated with this material. Most Pilot Mountain turquoise is called “grass roots”, meaning the best deposits are found within ten feet of the surface.
The Roystone district is one of Nevada’s better known turquoise production areas. The Roystone Turquoise mine is located near Tonopah Nevada. The mine was discovered as early as 1902 and are the oldest patented mines in Nevada.
Roystone turquoise is known for its beautiful deep green rich light blue colors. These unique color ranges ae what makes the stone so special. Roystone stones are often two tone displaying both dark and light green and sometimes blue. Roystone has a heavy matrix ranging from brown to gold in color.
This matrix makes for beautiful combinations with the color variations of the Royston Turquoise stone.
Sierra Nevada Turquoise is one of our newest stones we carry.
It comes from a new claim in the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Tonopah, Nevada close to Roystone and Candelaria mines.
This is visually exquisite stone with colors ranging from a clear light blue to a deep, vibrant green.
The matrix includes brown, gold and black. The variety of possible color and atrix mixes is stunning.
Sleeping Beauty turquoise can be found in the southwestern part of the United States in Arizona. The highly sought after stone has made a tremendous impact on the history of turquoise over the years.
The stone got its name because the mountain where it is mined resembles a sleeping woman laying on her back with her arms crossed.
Sleeping beauty turquoise is revered and highly sought after sue to its pure sky blue color which can also be found with dark black “spider webbing” matrix. It is still being collected from the Sleeping Beauty mine in Globe, Arizona where a small operation of workers mines, processes and ships the stones.
The famous Sleeping Beauty turquoise was actually discovered by accident. The mine was opened to pull copper and gold and it wasn’t until relatively recently that the first turquoise stones were discovered. Even in rough form, the stones are vibrant, even more blue than the bright Southwestern sky overhead.
Sonora Turquoise, like the White Water Turquoise, originates from the campitos mine located on the Campitos Mountain outside of Cananea, Sonora Mexico.
This mine has been in production since the 1980’s. Campitos turquoise, including the Sonora Turquoise is unique in many ways. The most impressive of which is the way it is mined. Most turquoise is mined from veins found in the surrounding stone. Turquoise from the Campitos mountain is often found in clay deposits as nuggets. Sonora Turquoise tends to gave a brilliant green color with a matrix of brown and traces of pyrite which add a special sparkle to the stones.
Turquoise Mountain and “Birdseye” turquoise come from the same mine in northwestern Arizona near the Kingman mine. The mine was closed in the 1980s.
Turquoise Mountain turquoise is light to high blue, with both webbed and non-webbed matrix. “Birdseye” describes stones from this mine that show areas of light blue circled with dark blue matrix, resembling the eye of a bird.
White Buffalo is a beautiful white stone with fine black spider web or kind of a blotchy matrix. Sometimes you will also see brownish black matrix as well.
White Buffalo is formed from the minerals Calcite and Iron. White Buffalo is only found in one mine is near Tonopah Nevada. It is mined by Danny and Dean Otteson, which classified White Buffalo as a turquoise as it is a similar hard stone as turquoise; the only difference being that it lacks copper. It is questioned at times by definition because turquoise contains copper aluminum phosphate, which is what gives turquoise its blue color. White Buffalo has no copper and no blue color. Otteson notes that, like turquoise, it lies in veins surrounded by black chert. “Until someone can prove differently, we’re going to call it white turquoise from the White Buffalo mine”, Otteson says.
This will continue to be debated for coming ages but, in the end, it is a beautifully bold stone that makes a statement in its black and white colors and so rare to be only found in one area in the world.
The Zuni’s are famous for a particular type of stonework called inlay. Stones are worked and then fit together, sometimes side by side, called stone-to-stone, or with solver channels in between, known as channel inlay.
Each piece is meticulously fabricated. The predominant colors and stones used in traditional Zuni inlay are turquoise, red coral, black onyx and white mother of pearl. Symbolically, the red represents Mother Earth and turquoise, Father Sky. The black and white of the other stones is a further representation of dualities. Other stones that may be used in Zuni jewelry are Gaspeite and orange to purple Spiney Oyster.
The pueblo of Zuni Native American Indians is located in western New Mexico (south of Gallup) near the Arizona border. Jewelry making is the major craft industry of the village. Like other Pueblo peoples, Zuni Indian artisans possess a true talent for lapidary work.
Charoite is a beautiful and interesting gemstone which was first introduced in the US around 1976. Its vivid colors range from lavender to deep chatoyant purple.
There is only one location it is found in the world. It is located in the Murnu Mountains near Yakutia, Russia.
What makes this stone intersting is its full range of character from solid color to zones of swirly mixtures of silky purple chatoyance and sprays of black.
Charoite is said to be “The stone of the Spirit”. Wearing Charoite is believed to enhance self-esteem, accelerate spiritual growth and to soothe emotion, giving security. Charoite changes loneliness to love and warms the heart, it shows you the way through your fears and finding peace.
The Spiney Oyster gemstone is a colorful shell that comes from the oyster species “Spondylus various”, as the name implies, Spiney Oysters are covered with menacing spines. Spiney Oyster shell are unique, beautiful, and also difficult to harvest.
Typically found along the coasts of North Carolina all the way down to the waters near Brazil, also in the Sea of Cortez, and off the coast of Baja Mexico and Baja California. The shells of the Spiney Oyster are rare finds and are especially treasured by Native American Indian artists for their beautiful red, pink, brown, yellow, orange, purple, and white colors. Many Zuni artist started creating with Spiney Oyster when coral was endangered and unable to be mined.
Orange spiney oyster can range in color from yellow to orange to red. This orange spiney oyster is the more common variety, it is found at mid to low ocean depths so snorkelers and scuba divers can easily get to it.
Purple Spiney oyster AKA “deep purple” spiney oyster is much harder to harvest because of the ocean depth in which it is found. This makes purple spiney oyster more rare and often harder to find.
