AzNuggetBob 1,552 Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 On 10/22/2017 at 9:14 PM, clay said: Nice Finds!. The green ones are common copper minerals. The solid blue ones might be turquoise. Are they heavy and glossy or is the stone light and sort of porous (tongue test)? Value wise? Maybe $30 tops for the blue ones to a jeweler if they are good solid Turquoise and they can claim they are from Turquoise mountain area. The Herget (Turquoise Mountain) mine is active again and Anglo American is heavily claimed up there even on the Side Hill area. It looks like parts of the old dumps to the north that aren't private land are still open for prospecting. Your material looks like it came from that area. Sometimes you can find rather large intact Azurite clusters on those dumps that have collector value. There is probably more money to be made in good copper mineral specimens in that area than quality Turquoise values. Keep hunting I've found some nice minerals there. Just messin with ya Clay about the rock licking and I agree with you. soft turquoise is very absorbent (tongue test).It will literally stick to your tongue.The deep blue is the most (desirable) generaly lighter greens are often softer oxidized copper sulfides. but hardness (silicon replacement)is what is most important with turquoise. Stabilized (epoxy filled) or plasticized is hard to detect in person much less in a photo. that is why I like the tooth tap test. Its simple, take a hard rock like flint,quartz or piece of glazed porcelain or even glass and tap it up against a front tooth and then take a piece epoxy or hard plastic and do the same. you will feel/hear the difference. its a simple test you carry with you, and you wont get ripped off buying junk jewelry at a swap meet/rock show/jewelry shop etc. you dont need hardness scribes. Its a neet old trick I've used for years. not only that it will blow the shop owner away when you do it without scratching his jewelry. AzNuggetBob 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
4meter 200 Posted November 22, 2017 Share Posted November 22, 2017 Desertpilot: What a coincidence; I am going out to old Cortland this weekend to have a look at an exposure of the Pinal Schist and the over thrust faults of the area. The magazine article you posted above will make the trip more interesting. Thanks! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
grubstake 659 Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 It comes in pink too. Grubstake Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.