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Post by Donnie's Rocky Treasures on Feb 2, 2015 15:47:41 GMT -5
Very nice rings!!!!
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Post by toiv0 on Feb 2, 2015 16:34:36 GMT -5
In my experience and the description of the mine owner, it is Variscite, but the term "Variquoise" is often used to describe it as it so close element wise to Turquoise. The Prince mine is in very close proximity to the Damele mine and the New Lander and I'm also betting there is a lot of the Prince material being sold as the more valuable Lander/new lander material. The Lander mine was Turquoise, but the New Lander across the valley is considered Variscite and/or Chalcosiderite. It all gets pretty iffy and mis identification and mis representaion is rampant in both Turquoise and Variscite. It is my understanding from those who mine it, that Variscite contains only trace amounts, to no Copper, whereas Copper is present in all Turquoise. One would have to perform a test of the powdered material using Hydrochloric acid, then expose a drop of that to flame to determine if Copper is present by the color of the flame This makes sense when you consider that the Kingman and Sleeping Beauty are open pit Copper mines and these days, the Turquoise is basically a byproduct of Copper mining I haven't heard back from the mine owner yet but I know I made one mistake as the mine I believe it came from is in barstow CA instead of san bernadino. Here is what I found on the mine. It is the historical Gove Turquoise Mine which has also been known as the "California Gem", "Mojave Blue Gem" and "Cottonwood Station". It's located outside of Barstow, California and is one of the western most turquoise mines in the US. In 1908 it was being operated by the California Gem Company of Los Angeles with Charles A Gove as manager. The store front for the company was located at 322 South Spring Street. In 1908 the mine was visted by USGS geologist DB Sterret who wrote the report which appears in the 1909 Mineral Resources of the US (part 2). The mine saw a lot of excavation work in the 1970's turquoise boom and pictures of the mine can be found in M.G. Broman's "Blue Gold, The Turquoise Story" (1976) on pages 34 & 36. It is also included in the Joseph E Pogue's "Turquois" (1915) book reprint by Rex Arrowsmith, in fact it's Figure #1 on the inside of the front cover.
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Post by gingerkid on Feb 3, 2015 19:51:50 GMT -5
Thanks, radio. Thanks, toiv0, hope to see more of your work on the forum. Think it may be a good idea for me to learn more about turquoise. Probably drove phil bonkers asking him questions about the gem.
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Post by phil on Feb 4, 2015 1:05:51 GMT -5
Jan, nah, it keeps me thinking... There is a California Gem turquoise mine in California, I believe the owners are named Rob and Philip (last names omitted on purpose). Here's a photo of a cab I made from some of it a few years back, and got directly from Rob, one of the mine partners. They only operate it sporadically in the spring and fall when the temps aren't too bad, and last I heard, typically only get about a pound a year from it. Hope this helps. Phil
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Post by snowmom on Feb 4, 2015 6:49:37 GMT -5
the rings are just beautiful regardless of the name of the material.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2015 7:32:13 GMT -5
I'm with snowmom on that one.i don't think it matters at all where it comes from,the silver work is impeccable.well done. Dave
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Post by connrock on Feb 4, 2015 8:42:04 GMT -5
Beautiful rings and a great job making them both! connrock
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Post by toiv0 on Feb 4, 2015 8:52:39 GMT -5
Mr Radio, I am sending you by PM the email of the person I got the material from. You can ask him anything you want. He is one of the previous owners of the California gem. The mine is under new owners and its called Majave Blue.
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Post by phil on Feb 4, 2015 16:13:31 GMT -5
I stand corrected...... I just checked and found this from the person I thought still owned it.
"The large Mojave Blue Gem cab is in fact from the same mine that we used to call the Calif. Gem or the Gove mine located near here in Barstow Calif. Before we sold the claim it was renamed the MBG and is now owned and operated by (deleted)."
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Robert M. Stapp cdt
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Post by Robert M. Stapp cdt on Feb 4, 2015 16:53:41 GMT -5
Hello, I hope I am able to shed some light on this "Calif. Gem Mine" in toivO, Billy's ring. This stone was mined by myself several years ago and sold directly to Billy. The Calif Gem mine now known as the "Mojave Blue Gem" mine is not located in San Bernardino Calif, but in San Bernardino Co.and is located a few miles outside of Barstow Ca. I was a partner in the ownership of this claim for over 8 years and worked it several times a year during that time. The mine produced a wide range of differing grades and colors of turquoise and some rare variscite which I believe the cab is in the ring in question. We never got the material lab tested to verify that is was variscite or turquoise but it all came from the same mine and in close proximity to each other. It was not unusual to find blue and green turquoise within feet of fine nuggets of this light webbed green variscite material. The was no Calif. Gem mine in NV. but the Calif. Gem mining Company did own and work a few claims in Nevada several decades ago like the Smith Black Matrix and others. The Calif. Gem also know long ago as the Gove mine was first worked under claim in 1909, I even have old photos of the mine from that era. The mine was worked extensively and with heavy equipment in the 70's when owned by a gentleman by the name of Victor Schmitt who is still alive today and lives not far from me. The mine has quite a history and has produced some very nice high grade natural turquoise that because of it's rarity is highly valued today. I am currently working with the new claim owner to step up production and hopefully produce some more great turquoise. The Prince mine in Nevada does produce some nice light green variscite not unlike the stone you see from the Calif. Gem / Mojave Blue Gem but it is completly different and located at least 350 miles N. of the Calif. Gem mine. So "Radio" I hope this helps you understand the provenance of this stone.
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Post by radio on Feb 4, 2015 19:12:02 GMT -5
Hello, I hope I am able to shed some light on this "Calif. Gem Mine" in toivO, Billy's ring. This stone was mined by myself several years ago and sold directly to Billy. The Calif Gem mine now known as the "Mojave Blue Gem" mine is not located in San Bernardino Calif, but in San Bernardino Co.and is located a few miles outside of Barstow Ca. I was a partner in the ownership of this claim for over 8 years and worked it several times a year during that time. The mine produced a wide range of differing grades and colors of turquoise and some rare variscite which I believe the cab is in the ring in question. We never got the material lab tested to verify that is was variscite or turquoise but it all came from the same mine and in close proximity to each other. It was not unusual to find blue and green turquoise within feet of fine nuggets of this light webbed green variscite material. The was no Calif. Gem mine in NV. but the Calif. Gem mining Company did own and work a few claims in Nevada several decades ago like the Smith Black Matrix and others. The Calif. Gem also know long ago as the Gove mine was first worked under claim in 1909, I even have old photos of the mine from that era. The mine was worked extensively and with heavy equipment in the 70's when owned by a gentleman by the name of Victor Schmitt who is still alive today and lives not far from me. The mine has quite a history and has produced some very nice high grade natural turquoise that because of it's rarity is highly valued today. I am currently working with the new claim owner to step up production and hopefully produce some more great turquoise. The Prince mine in Nevada does produce some nice light green variscite not unlike the stone you see from the Calif. Gem / Mojave Blue Gem but it is completly different and located at least 350 miles N. of the Calif. Gem mine. So "Radio" I hope this helps you understand the provenance of this stone. Thanks for the info. I would be interested in purchasing some of the Variscite rough if it is as solid as the Prince material. feel free to PM me with availability and prices Thanks Radio
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turquoistar
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Post by turquoistar on Feb 5, 2015 13:37:52 GMT -5
Hello again. Radio, I unfortunately do not have any of that material for sale. HG rough from the MBG or Calif. Gem is very rare and the occurance of variscite material was even more scarce. We hope to have some new rough and cut stone available later this year. Thanks for asking. Rob S.
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Tom
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Post by Tom on Feb 17, 2015 23:38:51 GMT -5
Cool rings, waiting for the verdict on the bottom one. Sorry cant be any help.
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Tom
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Post by Tom on Feb 17, 2015 23:57:47 GMT -5
Never mind I need to learn to read, got the verdict:). Gorgeous material
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on Feb 18, 2015 1:34:57 GMT -5
Whatever the source and provenance it's webbed variscite/chalcosiderite IMO (complicated testing is required to tell the difference.) Unless there's a problem with the photography as Shotgunner notes, the green hue with no blue indicates lack of copper, which eliminates turquoise as an ID. Turquoise and variscite/chalcosiderite often occur near one another in mineralized zones and when copper is depleted aluminum takes over. The variscites in this image are mainly from Lander County, NV and were mined near the Lander Blue site. I bought the rough directly from the miner so I know its history. The stones with fine webbing and the one with dark matrix are Lander variscite. The ones on the left center with lots of black are Snowville, UT material. I love this stuff and think it's much more attractive for jewelry than much of the turquoise currently available.
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Post by toiv0 on Feb 18, 2015 9:06:37 GMT -5
Yes, you're right. When I got the material from Rob he didn't specify it as varascite. I just got it as Calif. Gem, I guess we all know what happens when we assume. That is me in this case. Thanks to every one who liked my work though.
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Post by orrum on Feb 18, 2015 9:33:14 GMT -5
I like purty blue n green rocks..... gimme gimme gimme now!!! ? LOL
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Tom
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My dad Tom suddenly passed away yesterday, Just wanted his "rock" family to know.
Member since January 2013
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Post by Tom on Feb 18, 2015 12:54:07 GMT -5
Well toiv0 its kind of a win win, you have beautiful rings and the more RARE Varisite Woot!!!
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