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Blue Gem Turquoise was actually
more than one mine. There have been several Blue Gem claims
throughout history. There was the Tonopah Blue Gem or "Royal
Blue" Tiffany Claims, The Mina Blue Gem Claims, and the
most famous being the Battle Mtn. Blue Gem mine.
Nevada Blue Gem
This is our newest mine, it is located
in Mineral County!! It is producing some really awesome stone
so far that looks just like the old Battle Mountain Blue Gem.
It comes in a light blue to a deep blue, with a rare green
tone stone. It seems to be mostly matrix free rock. When matrix
is present it isa light yellow/gold or a white webbing. It
contains an occasions trace amount of pyrite.
Tonopah Blue Gem Turquoise
Royston is a district in Nevada consisting of three turquoise
mines: Bunker Hill, Oscar Wehrend, and the main producer,
Royal Blue. Royal Blue was owned and operated for number of
years by the Tiffany Company. The Royal Blue claims produced
some of the most beautiful turquoise to ever hit the market.
The mostly produced blue. Blue with golden yellow//brown web,
water web and clear blue which was the most desireable at
that time. Royston is now known for its beautiful colors ranging
from deep green to rich, light blues set off by a heavy brown
matrix. The Royston district is still producing some turquoise
of high quality. It ranges from a 5-6 in hardness for the
highgrade. This is one the best selling stones for our line
of jewelry. This Turquoise is being mine by the Ottesons.
RoystonTurquoise.com
Historic Battle Mtn. Blue
Gem Turquoise
The Blue Gem Mine was located in the Copper Basin area
southwest of Battle Mountain, Nevada, USA. Production of the
mine started about 1934 and continued until the 1970's. Blue
Gem Turquoise is still some of the finest turquoise ever found,
and unlike most turquoise mines, (in which the majority mined
is chalky and only usable if stablized) most of the turquoise
found there was of gem-quality. There is a distinctive aqua
color that some people associate with Blue Gem turquoise,
although it produced a great variety of colors, especially
when intense blue was combined with deep green in one stone
(see picture below).
The mine no longer exists due to the extensive copper
(and gold) mining operations of the Copper Canyon Mining Company
(all of the copper was extracted by 1968). Doc Wilson, owner
of the Lone Mountain Mine, owned the Blue Gem Mine from 1938-1981
when he leased it to Lee Hand. Lee Hand owned and operated
the mine until 1970 when he sold his interest to the Elquist
family of Battle Mountain. Lee Hand knew the Patania Family
in Arizona and C.G.Wallace in Zuni and regularly supplied
those traders with turquoise for Navajo and Zuni carvings
and jewelry. While the Blue Gem mine was very prolific at
one time, today it is considered extremely rare, valuable
and collectible turquoise. Most of the "finished"
Blue Gem turquoise today is in private collections and museums,
rarely offered for sale. (The cabochons below were acquired
from Jim Elquist about seven years ago. The stones in the
bracelets below were acquired from Frand Patania Jr. in 2002.)
The mine was located deep underground, accessed by tunnels
as deep as 800 feet. This is of interest because the Blue
Gem Mine and the Bisbee Mine in Arizona are the only two mines
(that we know of) that turquoise was found that deep in the
earth. Pyrite-bearing quartz veins are closely associated
with this turquoise although pyrite in Blue Gem is still unusual
to see. Very little large material ever came out of Blue Gem,
the majority found was small 1mm "bleeder" veins
and tiny nuggets which was perfect for Zuni inlay and fine
needlepoint, petit-point and snake-eyes jewelry.
There's just something about Blue Gem. It is a treasure:
a rare, valuable and historic American turquoise. When we
think of Blue Gem Turquoise, we think of translucence, depth,
watery, what we mean by "non-opaque, silicated"
jewels. This turquoise is hard and won't change color, takes
a high polish and will be beautiful one hundred years from
now. The character and beauty of these stones are impossible
to fully capture in images, since this turquoise has a unique
character that's hard to describe. It is like pools of glassy
water captured in solid form. We believe this may be some
of the greatest turquoise ever mined.
Pieces of this story quoted from Sky Stone Trading Co.
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