Colorado Turquoise Mines

Example Pictures of Colorado Turquoise are not necessarily the highest of grade, rather a good example of a common look from a particular

Cripple Creek Colorado Turquoise Mine

The Cripple Creek mine in Teller County, Colorado is the site for a number of small gold mining claims. Cripple Creek Turquoise was originally found primarily as a by-product of gold mining, as were many of the Colorado Turquoise minining claims. There are several Turquoise claims in the Cripple Creek district such as the Elkhorn Claim, the Florence Turquoise Mine, the O'Haver Claim, the Roanoke Shaft, and the Hidden Treasure Turquoise Mine. One of the groups still mining the Turquoise claims are the Bad Boys of Cripple Creek. The areas that the Bad Boys are mining yield some greenish Turquoise, and some light to dark blue Turquoise with brown matrix. On a rare occassion, Turquoise is found in Cripple Creek that has natural Gold Ore in it. It has become a little more common to see Turquoise Jewelry with Cripple Creek Turquoise these days due to the Bad Boys efforts.

Leadville Turquoise Mine

Colorado does not have many Turquoise mines but the few that it has are good ones. One of the best Colorado Turquoise mining districts was the Leadville district. The Sugarloaf District located in Lake County includes several turquoise deposits that are generally sold using the name ofa Leadville. These include several claims such as the Josie May, the Turquoise Chief, and the Poor Boy. This area has been left unworked for a while now due to the strict mining and environmental laws in Colorado. The most famous Turquoise mine in the Leadville district is the Turquoise Chief Turquoise Mine also called the Josie May Turquoise Mine. The stones usually have a lot of individual character, and vibrant colors. We have not seen much of this material in many years, therefore consider it very rare and hard to come by. Many stories have swirled around that people find Turquoise here and there in Leadville, but not much. The high grade Leadville Turquoise is very nice in color, hardness and matrix pattern. A lot of the material though was of mid grade quality.

Manassa Colorado Turquoise Mine

Manassa Turquoise is mined out of Manassa, Colorado in south central Colorado. It is known for its blue-green to green color with a golden or brown, non-webbed matrix. The Manassa mine is still in production, and has been owned by the King family until 2010, thus the alternate name sometimes used for this Turquoise "Kings Manassa". The Manassa mine used to be call the Lickskillet Turquoise Mine in the old days. Bill King was the last of King family to own the Manassa Turquoise mine. Bill is the last person to be known for finding the classic and highgrade deep forest green and gold matrix The mine is now owned by the Cordova family of Manassa, Colorado. This stone is one of our favorite Turquoise varieties! Although, King's Manassa Turquoise is gorgeous in Turquoise Jewelry with Sterling Silver, the beautiful green color is VERY striking, excellent when used in gold.

Links: More Manassa Turquoise Information

Villa Grove Turquoise Mine in Colorado

Villa Grove Turquoise was some of the finest Turquoise to ever come out of America, and really some of the best Turquoise ever to be mined. The Villa Grove Mine in Colorado is currently covered by a small mountain lake created by a diverted creek, therefore is not being mine currently, nor will it ever be mined again in the future. The BLM wants the lake to stay intact now. The Mine was last owned by George Musik. Before Musik the mine was owned by Menless Winfield. The Turquoise is a vivid deep blue color and is one of the few Turquoise varieties we have seen with the highly coveted Bisbee Blue coloration or an absolutely stunning electric blue color. The difference between Villa Grove and Bisbee is the matrix coloration. Villa Grove has a gold or black matrix color rather then brownish red. Villa Grove can feature dendrites and fine spider web matrix. The high-grade Villa Grove Turquoise, in our opinion, is incomparable and definitely the most beautiful Turquoise we have ever seen including Bisbee, and Lander Blue! The blue in the high-grade is so blue that a few cabs will turn a whole wall blue! This stone is very rare these days, especially the high-grade. Turquoise Jewelry should thank Villa Grove for being around to make it greater!

Links: More Villa Grove Turquoise Information