Montezuma Turquoise: Field Guide to a Small Nevada Mine Near Mina
Part of the Turquoise Mines field guides and The Southwest Jewelry Guide.
Oscar Branson’s 1975 book placed the Montezuma mine in Mineral County, south of Mina, Nevada. Every statement below is quoted or paraphrased from that book, with page numbers, so you can check each one. Branson wrote in 1975; anything he describes as current describes 1975, not today.
What Branson recorded
Branson (1975) placed it:
“The Montezuma Mine is in Mineral county, south of Mina, Nevada.”
— Branson (1975), p. 37 [1]
According to Branson (1975, p. 37), the output was mostly low grade but included very fine high grade, some like Royal Blue, and hard blue-green spider web with brown to black matrix. [1]
According to Branson (1975, p. 37), the red tint in the matrix of one illustrated necklace came from the iron oxide used to polish the stones, not from the stone itself. [1]
See all the turquoise mines we profile, including the other Nevada mines.
How this page is sourced. We strive for accuracy: every factual statement above is quoted from or credited to the printed work 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.
From the Library: Lowry, Turquoise: The World Story of a Fascinating Gemstone (2010)
2010 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2010, not today.
Lowry (2010) records the early operators:
“Also known as Troy Springs, this area was worked in 1905 by William Miller, who then sold it to the German-American Turquoise Company; later, the Western Gem Company worked this area.”
— Lowry (2010), p. 236 [2]
According to Lowry (2010, p. 236), the deposits lie about fourteen miles southeast of Mina at the southern end of the Pilot Mountains, and several deposits in the area are sold under the general name Pilot Mountain. [2]
From the Library: Schiffer, Turquoise Jewelry (2008)
2008 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2008, not today.
According to Schiffer (2008, p. 12), the Montezuma mine yielded some hard, blue-green spider web stone, but the majority of its turquoise was soft. [3]
From the Library: Ryan & Chambless, Turquoise in America Part Two: 1910–1990 (2020)
2020 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2020, not today.
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 64), the Pilot Mountain claims lie about seven miles northwest of Crow Springs, in Mineral County on the Esmeralda line, and the two mines found there in this period were the Montezuma (or Troy Springs) and the Moqui-Aztec. [4]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 64), Morrissey recorded that William Miller located the Montezuma in 1905; Miller had worked with Petry at the Royal Blue and quickly sold the Montezuma to the German American Turquoise Company of Los Angeles. [4]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 64), a November 20, 1909 Tonopah Bonanza article reported that the town of Mina was becoming a center of the gem industry, and that A. Moltzen, mine manager for the German-American Turquoise Company, reported a quantity of superior-grade turquoise from its mine a few miles southeast of town. [4]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 65), by 1909 the government reports of D. B. Sterrett listed the Montezuma as taken up by the Western Gem Company of Los Angeles. [4]
According to Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 88), a 1937 list of Nevada turquoise properties recorded the Montezuma Mine in the Pilot Mountains of Mineral County, with turquoise in veinlets and nodules in altered trachyte. [4]
From the Library: Morrissey, Turquoise Deposits of Nevada (1968)
1968 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1968, not today.
Morrissey's 1968 report for the Nevada Bureau of Mines compared the best Montezuma gems with the Royal Blue:
“The best cut gems from this mine resemble some of those from the Royal Blue mine in Nye County in marking and color. Strong contrasts in brown and blue with mottled patterns were obtained and yielded beautiful gems.”
— Morrissey (1968), p. 23 [5]
According to Morrissey (1968, p. 23), the best-colored and hardest stones generally came from the hard, iron-stained parts of the intrusive rock, and the softer pale-blue stones from its light-colored, soft parts. [5]
According to Morrissey (1968, p. 23), the bulk of the ore was low grade, producing gems that retailed at about 50 cents a karat, the price of the time. [5]
Sources
- Branson, Oscar T. Turquoise: The Gem of the Centuries. Santa Fe: Treasure Chest Publications, 1975. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions in 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.
- Schiffer, Nancy N. Turquoise Jewelry. Revised 4th ed. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2008. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2008.
- 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.
- Morrissey, Frank R. Turquoise Deposits of Nevada. Nevada Bureau of Mines Report 17. Reno: Mackay School of Mines, University of Nevada, 1968. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1968.