EASTER BLUE
The
Easter Blue mine is located northwest of Tonopah,
Nevada a few miles from the Royston district.
Turquoise from this claim has also been called
Blue Mountain and Blue Gem. Compared to some
of the other deposits in Nevada, the Easter
Blue was never considered a large producer and
changed hands a number of times. The deposit
was discovered in 1907 by Lew Cirac who then
sold it to Lee Hand in 1915. Hand leased the
Easter Blue to W.R. Gilbert who produced about
100 pounds of fine turquoise from the surface.
A few owners later the mine produced 300 pound
a month for nearly four years. The mine was
later sold to Peter King, of Manassa, Colorado
and was operated once again as the Easter Blue.
The turquoise occurs as thin veinlets though
some nodules were found. The first material
found was a fine blue color, later the mine
produced a blue green turquoise with a light
to dark brown matrix.
back to top
FOX
The Fox mine, once known as the Cortez, has
been one of the largest producing mines in Nevada
for almost a century. An official notice of
location on the property under the name of "Fox
Lode Mining Claim" was filed in 1914 by
Charles Schmidtlein and Johnnie Francis. It
had been mined in prehistoric times and had
been known for years to the Indians of the area
before the filed claim. The Fox mine is located
in Lander County near Crescent Valley, Nevada.
After going through numerous owners the mine
was purchased in the 1940’s by Dowell
Ward who continued the Fox’s development
into Nevada’s most productive mine.
The Fox mine is said to have produced more turquoise
than all other mines in Nevada put together.
With at least 500,000 pounds mined by 1968 and
for years producing more than 2,000 pounds per
month. The mining operation continued to produce
turquoise in quantity after 1968 and is still
producing today. Fox turquoise is quite hard
and runs from shades of green to an aqua blue
color. It is found as both nuggets and vein
material.
|