Damele (Damale) Turquoise Mine, Austin Area, Nevada: Field Guide
Damele/Damale stone — A Stone Study
← Part of the T.Skies Turquoise Stone Study: turquoise mines
Real Damele/Damale stone, photographed in the T.Skies studio. Mint and sea-green stones with black, dark gray and golden-brown matrix. Tap any stone to see it up close.
Mint-green Damale cabochons with heavy black and dark gray matrix and golden-brown veins
Pale mint to sea-green Damale stones with black and golden-brown matrix lines
Mint-green Damale cabochons with brown and black matrix in webs and patches
Real Damele/Damale stone, photographed in the T.Skies studio. Shown for reference. © Turquoise Skies Inc.
Part of the Turquoise Mines field guides and The Southwest Jewelry Guide.
The Damele is one of the smaller mines in the turquoise country around Austin, Nevada, and our books say little about it. What they do say is specific. Every statement below is quoted or paraphrased from three printed works, with page numbers, so you can check each one. Bassman's captions spell the name Damale; the others spell it Damele. The books date from 1995, 1997 and 2020, and anything they describe as current describes those years. Where they disagree, the Field Notes say so.
Where it is
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 114), Godber Burnham is the best-known turquoise from the Austin area, but there are other notable mines, such as the Paiute and Damele claims next to it. They add that many mines in the area sit in mountains above 8,000 feet, where the altitude limits access and the mining window. [1]
The glossary of mines in Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 344) lists the “Damele Mine, Lander, NV – Austin area.” Its mark there (#) means the mine appears in neither Pogue’s survey nor the Morrissey report: the authors use it for mines “located post 70s and/or not included” in those works (p. 341). [1]
Jacka (1995, p. 82) places the Damele and Paiute mines “in central Nevada,” with Tony Cotner involved in running both. [2]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 83), Peter L. Damele and his son Peter J. bought the Dry Creek ranch in 1942, near the Godber Burnham turquoise mine. They do not say that the mine is named for the family. [1]
The stone
Tony Cotner, who helped run the mine, told Jacka in 1995:
“We are getting bright yellow-green turquoise from the Damele. That's the only place in the country you find that.”
— Jacka (1995), p. 82 [2]
The glossary in Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 344) lists three minerals for the Damele: turquoise, variscite and chalcosiderite. [1]
In the jewelry
Bassman (1997, p. 29) shows a pair of earrings with “Textured stampwork with dangle of Damale turquoise made by Chester Kahn.” [3]
Bassman (1997, p. 39) shows a ring of “Stampwork and twisted wire with a Damale turquoise stone, made by M. Begay.” [3]
Field Notes by Mateo James
Our books don’t agree on what the Damele produces. Tony Cotner, quoted by Jacka (1995, p. 82), and Bassman’s captions (1997, pp. 29, 39) call it turquoise. The glossary in Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 344) lists turquoise, variscite and chalcosiderite for the same mine, without saying which is which. A yellow-green stone from here may be any of the three, and neither a photograph nor its color will settle it. Before you buy, ask how the seller identified the stone. Cotner’s “only place in the country” is his own claim as a man working the mine in 1995, and none of our other books repeats it. In the same passage he says Paiute is “in the other half of the mountain that houses the Burnham Mine”; that sentence is about the Paiute, so I haven’t attached it to the Damele.
See all the turquoise mines we profile, across the Southwest and beyond.
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.
- Jacka, Lois Essary. Navajo Jewelry: A Legacy of Silver and Stone. Photographs by Jerry Jacka. Flagstaff: Northland Publishing, 1995. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1995.
- Bassman, Theda. The Beauty of Navajo Jewelry. Photography by Gene Balzer. Walnut, California: Kiva Publishing, 1997. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1997.