Berning Turquoise Mine (Eureka County, Nevada): Field Guide to the Number 8's Neighbor
Part of the Turquoise Mines field guides and The Southwest Jewelry Guide.
Mike Ryan II and Philip Chambless’s 2020 history records the August Berning mine in Eureka County, Nevada, a short way downhill from the Number 8. Every statement below is quoted or paraphrased from their book, with page numbers, so you can check each one. Their book was published in 2020; anything described as current describes 2020. Where our other books disagree, the Field Notes say so.
Where it is, and who located it
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 84), August Berning, a German-born Carlin resident who was by all appearances a part-time turquoise miner, is remembered for the August Berning Mine in Eureka County, only 1,000 feet west of and below what became known as the Number 8. [1]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 84), Morrissey dated Berning's location to 1927, while the records they found show A. H. Berning, A. R. Berg and Beula Haddow locating a claim spelled Tourquoise Number 1 on June 10, 1928. [1]
Ted Johnson’s lease
Ted Johnson recalled, in an interview published by Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 84), that in 1929 he drove to Carlin to find Berning and asked for a lease before he had even seen the mine, and Berning agreed. [1]
Ted Johnson recalled, in the same interview published by Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 85), that the Berning lease averaged about fifteen pounds a day for three men, against a pound a day at Crow Springs, with pieces over four inches square, and that they mined it for three months that fall. [1]
The Carlin Black Matrix question
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 84), this may be the mine later worked by Lee Hand and Bustamente and marketed as Carlin Black Matrix. [1]
A 1937 list of Nevada turquoise properties reproduced by Ryan & Chambless (2020) recorded:
“Black Matrix Mine in Lynn Creek district, Eureka County, owned by American Gem Company and L. A. Springer.”
— Ryan & Chambless (2020), p. 88 [1]
Field Notes by Mateo James
Branson (1975, p. 43) describes a mine “sometimes called the Carlin Black Matrix Mine” in Elko County, and Lowry (2010, p. 225) lists Carlin Black Matrix as a marketing name of the Elko County mine he calls Stormy Mountain. Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 84) suggest, with a “may,” that the stone later sold as Carlin Black Matrix came from the Berning, in Eureka County. These books don’t settle which mine the name belongs to, so I have given both.
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How this page is sourced. We strive for accuracy: every factual statement above is quoted from or credited to the printed works listed below, with page numbers, and this page is continuously updated with new information as we read more of our library. See something we should correct? Contact us.
Sources
- Ryan, Mike, II, and Philip Chambless. Turquoise in America, Part Two: 1910–1990. Callais Press, 2020. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2020.
- Branson, Oscar T. Turquoise: The Gem of the Centuries. Santa Fe: Treasure Chest Publications, 1975. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1975.
- Lowry, Joe Dan, and Joe P. Lowry. Turquoise: The World Story of a Fascinating Gemstone. Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith, 2010. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2010.