No wonder it earned its spot as the official state gemstone. Nevada is an actual rockhounders paradise; so much in fact, that pros estimate there are more than sites just waiting for you. The reason? Major geological activity happened, making way for massive deposits of silver, gold, opalized wood, onyx, agate, geodes, jasper, and a whole lotta fossils. It helped make Nevada the lucrative mining area it is today. Be respectful. The good news is this: everything spelled out below does in fact sit on BLM Recreation Areas, or are privately owned and you pay a fee, go in, and dig.
A rock hammer is light and small, and can stay in the trunk, for good. The garden rake tends to come in the most handy at Garnet Hill and Royal Peacock.
Some of these finds, especially Black Fire Opal, are kinda like searching for clear glass. If you have a way of making it wet, it will be easier to spot in a sea of dirt. A turquoise mine in Nevada—The Royston Mine, just outside Tonopah—was the very place that inspired the color. The mine was open to the public for a while, closed intermittently, and is now back in action.
If you like the deeper, Lake Mead -hued shades with dark webbing, well then get after it. Psyched at the thought of mining your own bauble?
You can score anything from wild horse, to aquamarine, to those beautiful greener hues… with some gems set in rings, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, or even just raw and unset, too. Aside from amazing views of the Joshua Trees, and Yucca plants in the valley below, this area is loaaaaded with thousands of pieces of shale that contain six types of trilobites.
Like most of Nevada, this area was covered in water too, and these little prehistoric bug crustacean creatures look pretty similar to a horseshoe crab. Not our strong suit, but plan on devoting about an hour or so here… with lots of unsuccessful attempts before you find your prize. They kept digging up gobs of this slimy bluish clay-like muck, exasperated that it was getting in the way of their work.
There was just such an obnoxious amount of it that they hardly knew what to do with it all, which came with a handful of colorful stories about prospectors using this mysterious blue clay to pave roads, fill in potholes, and even mortar their home foundations. Who knows the truth to that, but I for one, WANT to believe that… actual streets of silver at the silver mining mecca. The funny thing is, they finally got around to get this gunk assayed, and figured out it was high grade silver… far more profitable than the gold they were after to begin with.
This property has produced considerable quantities of variscite and is considered one of the worlds largest producers of that material. Initially, much of the material was marketed as " Apache Turquoise" but the name was retracted once a correct mineral identification was made. Several tons of high quality material have been produced. The deposits are located on both sides of Highway 95 about 5 miles north of the old town site of Basalt.
None of the prospects are particularly large, and most of the work was done by bulldozer in the s. Most of the material occurs in cracks and seams and most is very thin, but there is some fine material in both good blue as well as attractive green colors.
Virtually no nugget type turquoise is produced. Each dozer trench or other excavation produces a somewhat different type or color of material.
Though some good quality blue turquoise has been mined, no large quantities have been produced. The turquoise deposits are located south and a little west of the main silver mining area. It was discovered in and was developed by underground workings over feet deep with an open pit on the surface.
It was the deepest turquoise mine in the state as most other underground mines for turquoise were fairly shallow. High quality blue to blue green turquoise occurred in veins up to one inch thick that were associated with quartz pyrite veins. Some of the material is partly translucent and has a "glassy" type of appearance.
Total out put from the mine has been estimated at more than one million dollars in rough turquoise, making it one of Nevada 's larger producers. The Battle Mountain area has produced a considerable amount of gold and other metals, and the Blue gem property originally called the Contention Mine became incorporated into those operations. In the s, the location of the mine site was excavated out as a part of a large open pit gold-copper mine. Turquoise was not saved during this operation, and much good material was either processed as ore or went out onto the mine dump, was buried and lost forever.
The surface site of the mine is now an open pit hole in the ground and is still owned by a well known gold mining company. The Turquoise King and Myron Clark mines are located in the same general area, both have produced some fine quality turquoise. All of the property in the area is controlled by gold mining companies, and no future production is expected. The Sacred Buffalo turquoise mine which produces light blue colored spiderweb material is also located in the Battle Mountain area.
The Blue Diamond Mine was extensively worked in the s, and continues to be worked on a small scale by its owners each year, and produces some very high quality turquoise of deep blue color. It is known for material with angular and blotchy black matrix contrasted against a hard, deep blue colored turquoise. It is marked by a series of small bulldozer cuts which were excavated in the s. It has produced some turquoise of good blue color. However, since , the Carico Lake area has become the most important turquoise mining district in Nevada.
By far the largest producer of these mines has been the Aurora. Active exploration for gold deposits continues in the area. The original Aurora Claim was staked in , by August Stenich, but no significant amount of turquoise was mined at that time. However, in the mid s when prices were high, large scale mining was initiated, and huge quantities of turquoise and faustite were produced from the Aurora mine.
This mine is the source of the material most commonly considered as " Carico Lake turquoise". Its clear, bright spring to mint green color is due to its elevated zinc content and is both beautiful and collectible. Aurora mine turquoise is also found in a dark blue to green colors with a black, spider web matrix, as well as a range of pastel blue to green-blue colors. Most of the blue material is in the light to medium color range.
Turquoise from this location has also been marketed under the names "Stone Cabin" and "Aurora". The majority of the material from the mine is found as nuggets, which occur in breccia fault zones as well as along bedding planes in the sedimentary host rock. The mine is also known for fossilized clams which have been replaced with turquoise. The Aurora is probably the largest mine in the US excavated primarily for turquoise.
It is also the most productive turquoise mine in Nevada , with a staggering estimated past production of nearly tons of turquoise. The surrounding region has been explored for gold, but none has been produced. In spite of strong demand, production during the last 20 years has been small and sporadic, though the property has now been re-opened by new owners and is currently once again producing turquoise. Turquoise is found in a series of breccia fault zones.
It has produced beautiful some gem quality blue stones some including some with a red spider web matrix, as well as some with a very tight spiderweb pattern similar to the material produced at the Lander Blue. Although it is located at Carico, it is not known for producing the bright green shades of turquoise most commonly considered as " Carico Lake " turquoise. It produces a wide number of grades of turquoise in deep blue to greens, but a large portion of the production is a light blue colored material, in both clear and spider web forms.
Nevada Blue: Is a smaller mine in the Shoeshone range high on the ridge to the west of the Aurora. It produces some nice deep blue material including some with a nice spider web pattern. It is still worked periodically by its owner, but access is very poor for most of the year because of the high elevation.
A number of other smaller turquoise mines beyond those noted above have also operated in the district, including some on the west side of the Shoeshone Range. The unusual beauty and limited amounts of Carico Lake turquoise available combine to make Carico Lake turquoise very desirable. It was extensively worked by the native Americans of the area long before the arrival of European emigrants.
It is estimated that the site was worked for centuries by Native Americans, and was home to an extensive turquoise mining and stone processing community. When the site was first found, the stone chisels, hammers and wedges of the original miners were still left at the mine site, together with the remains of the mining village of the peoples who worked the deposit.
It was worked extensively and was very productive of high quality blue turquoise in the decades after Mr. Simmons first "re-discovered" the deposit in , however, it has not been productive for many years. Two other smaller mines, the Morgan and Smithson-Phillips are close by. The Sullivan or Yellow Diamond mine is located near the town of Boulder. The area first attracted the attention of the local miners because of the nearby veins of high grade silver ore. The District is located in Esmeralda County, Nevada.
A very large open pit silver mine was excavated here in the s and early s, and although a considerable quantity of fine turquoise was put into the mine dump, some fine material was recovered by workers from the walls of the pit. The owner still occasionally works it on a small scale. The mine is best known for bright yellow-green material, but also yields stones from light blue with darker blue veins to a predominate dark green with light blue areas.
This latter coloration is considered quite unusual for turquoise. The site is about a mile southwest of the Dry Creek Godber mine. Damale turquoise is distinctive because of the unusual colors the gems in a yellow-green to bright mint green with excellent hardness. The Damele deposit produces very little material of the standard blue colors most people commonly associate with turquoise.
Mineralogically, most of the material produced here is likely Variscite, Chalcosiderite or possibly Faustite. The mine consists of a single medium sized open pit excavation.
The adjoining Paiute turquoise deposit shares the same hill with the Godber mine, produces material of a standard good blue color. The Damale material is mostly in nugget form, with a webbing consisting of a dark brown to black matrix.
Its availability is limited because the mine is fairly small and considerable laying back of the steep pit walls will be required for further production. The mine is worked only sporadically by the owner on a small scale. Due to its rare, bright and attractive colors, Damale is considered a collectible gemstone. It was discovered by Joe Barredo in and named for his daughter.
It produced turquoise in both vein and nugget form in shades of both blues and greens. It is no longer being worked, and is unlikely to be producing any turquoise in the near future, as the property is now held by a gold mining company. It is noted for high quality deep blue turquoise, often with a dark colored spider web type matrix. Considerable confusion has been caused with another mine with the same name of "Dry Creek" near Battle Mountain that produces a very pale blue turquoise material.
The matrix of this Dry Creek Turquoise is typically light golden or brown-gray to gray-black. This turquoise is beautiful alone in a piece of jewelry and is especially striking when juxtaposed with other colors of turquoise in a single creation. The owners of this mine continue to work it and produce fine quality turquoise on a small scale.
The owners sell some finished jewelry from the Dry Creek mine at their web site. The Windy Ridge mine is located close by. The Piaute and Damele turquoise mines adjoin on the southwest. It was reported by Nevada Bureau of Mines Geologists. There has been only a little production from these deposits. It was discovered in and has been owned and worked by a number of different operators.
Much of the original work was done by Lee Hand, a well known old time Nevada Turquoise miner. Production here has come from both surface pits and underground workings, and the turquoise occurs as both nuggets and veins.
Total production is estimated at nearly 8 tons of turquoise of all grades. Most of the material from the mine is a good blue color, hard and of good quality. Blue colors are predominant over green at this location. A few additional deposits, including the Smokey Valley Mine , which was worked in the s by Menless Winfield, lie nearby in the same mountain range. It has also been known as the White Horse mine.
Native Americans worked this deposit extensively, and it is said a century ago that nearly every one in the area had at least a little of the turquoise from this location. One of the local Native Americans showed it to Charles Schmidtlein, who first developed it into a mine in The mine has been extensively worked by open pit mining, and it is estimated that the Fox Mine has produced about tons of rough turquoise, making it the second most productive mine in Nevada.
It was extensively worked by bulldozer in the s, but has not been in major production since the end of the boom period around Though the mine produces some excellent turquoise of large size that is usable without further treatment, much of the rough that is produced here requires stabilization for jewelry use.
Gold mining companies are currently mining and extracting gold on a large scale at Cortez, and exploring around the Fox mine site for additional gold deposits. The green Pixie material was mined for only 18 months during and Gold mining companies forming the Cortez Joint Venture now hold the Pixie claim group.
The was originally worked by the native Americans of the area and produces small sized nuggets of very hard deep blue turquoise. A small amount of dozer work was done at the site during the period of high turquoise prices in the s and s. The nuggets tend to be coated white and are hard to see unless broken and the deep blue interior exposed.
Only nuggets are produced, and they occur along the bedding planes of the host shale rock. The deposits here were discovered by a local Native American Shepherd in the early s. The deposits are located high on a mountain side and are inaccessible during the winter months.
It produces some very fine quality spider web turquoise with good blue color. It is considered by many as one of the "classic" western turquoise locations, and has been featured in a number of publications. Kids dig free! Special private and group tours are available by appointment only with 2 weeks advance notice.
Main Street , Tonopah, NV. Visit Website. The Otteson Family After relocating their family to the Tonopah area in , the Otteson family has been mining some of the most sought-after turquoise in the world.
A day rockhounding the Royston Turquoise Mine means being prepared for the high desert Nevada elements. Hours: Tours are held Wednesday through Saturday from April through November, and excludes holiday weekends. This Location:.
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