Pilot Mountain Turquoise: Field Guide to Nevada's Active Collector Mine

Pilot Mountain turquoise comes from deposits along the southern end of the Pilot Mountain Range, approximately thirty miles east of Mina in Mineral County, Nevada. The deposit was first mentioned in the late nineteenth century and has operated under several claim designations, including the Moqui-Aztec and S. Simmons claims. Documentation in primary sources is limited, and this page reflects that honestly.

Field Notes by Mateo James

Lowry's account (~lines 12701–12724) provides the key historical framing: "These deposits were first mentioned in the late 1800s and are located about thirty miles east of Mina along the southern end of the Pilot Mountain Range... The most well known areas were originally referred to as Moqui-Aztec and S. Simmons. These claims are currently active and are owned by multiple people."

That "multiple people" note is worth sitting with. Multiple-owner deposits with rotating claim holders tend to produce stone that enters the market under the mine's general name without consistent documentation of which specific claim produced which stone. For collectors, that's a caution flag on provenance precision — not on the stone itself.

The Moqui-Aztec name is evocative but should not be read as documentation of prehistoric or ancestral Puebloan mining specifically at this site. Lowry does not make that claim; the name appears to be a period marketing designation.

Collector's Handbook

What to look for: Primary sources do not provide a detailed color or matrix characterization for Pilot Mountain stone. Claims marketed specifically under this name should be assessed on the stone's visual merits and the vendor's documented source chain.

Recognition tells: Thin documentation in the primary literature means that confident authentication to this specific mine is difficult. The deposit is confirmed active (Lowry 2010) under multiple owners.

Honest mine-status hedge: Documented as active as of Lowry's 2010 account. The multi-owner structure and limited historical record make specific provenance claims harder to verify than for mines with single documented operators.

Related mine guides: Pages for Bisbee, Sleeping Beauty, Number Eight, Cerrillos, Royston, Kingman, Lander Blue, and Morenci mines are coming soon to this field guide.

References

Lowry, Joe Dan. Turquoise: The World Story of a Fascinating Gemstone (2010), ~lines 12701–12724. [Primary source — brief but definitive entry.]