jamijr
having dreams about rocks
Member since April 2021
Posts: 59
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Post by jamijr on Apr 6, 2021 9:04:59 GMT -5
I hope this is the right forum to ask this.
Besides our annual fishing (and rockhounding, obviously) trips to the Sierra Nevadas (Mono County, CA area) every year, my mom also likes short trips to Palm Springs, CA. Mostly we thrift shop there but I poked around Google to see if there's any good places for rocks. I came across a Pinterest post once (I haven't been able to find it again) of a photo claiming it was an abandoned turquoise mine near Palm Springs, but clicking on it didn't bring any info, blogs, or articles up.
I've tried searching Google for more info, but all I come up with is jewelry and metaphysical shops in Palm Springs. No info on any abandoned turquoise mines. I'm wonder if anyone has heard about it and if it's actually real. A lot of the places for rock hunting that Google claimed they were near Palm Springs turned out to be quite far away and just written about by someone who works for the Palm Springs newspaper.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Apr 6, 2021 9:59:36 GMT -5
Check the locality list on mindat.org here. You'll have to scroll all the way down the page. Abandoned mines are usually forgotten over time unless they were a huge producer.
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USMC15
Cave Dweller
I feel like I just came out of the tumbler ...
Member since March 2021
Posts: 273
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Post by USMC15 on Apr 6, 2021 10:08:13 GMT -5
Use the the Rockd App. Totally free. It will tell you everything you need to know about an area. Use that with the Gaia GPS (fees may apply with Gaia, new to that myself)you can find just about anything. You will need a computer for Gaia and download your maps to your phone. Sorry, I cannot be much more help than that.
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pizzano
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2018
Posts: 1,390
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Post by pizzano on Apr 6, 2021 10:31:32 GMT -5
I hope this is the right forum to ask this. Besides our annual fishing (and rockhounding, obviously) trips to the Sierra Nevadas (Mono County, CA area) every year, my mom also likes short trips to Palm Springs, CA. Mostly we thrift shop there but I poked around Google to see if there's any good places for rocks. I came across a Pinterest post once (I haven't been able to find it again) of a photo claiming it was an abandoned turquoise mine near Palm Springs, but clicking on it didn't bring any info, blogs, or articles up. I've tried searching Google for more info, but all I come up with is jewelry and metaphysical shops in Palm Springs. No info on any abandoned turquoise mines. I'm wonder if anyone has heard about it and if it's actually real. A lot of the places for rock hunting that Google claimed they were near Palm Springs turned out to be quite far away and just written about by someone who works for the Palm Springs newspaper. No....there are no abandon turquoise mines in Palm Springs CA..........anything resembling turquoise probably came from what was referred to as Turquoise Mountain near Halloran Springs near Baker CA....But what was found there later was not considered turquoise. It was named that due to the color of the geology.
What Pinterest had posted is typical of that web sites redundant search engine pin-up applications........they tag anything related without first screening and verifying facts. There are quite a few high end gem shops in the Palm Springs area that sell and exhibit Native American crafted jewelry, much of it containing turquoise that was collected in Arizona and Nevada.
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jamijr
having dreams about rocks
Member since April 2021
Posts: 59
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Post by jamijr on Apr 6, 2021 11:19:01 GMT -5
No....there are no abandon turquoise mines in Palm Springs CA..........anything resembling turquoise probably came from what was referred to as Turquoise Mountain near Halloran Springs near Baker CA....But what was found there later was not considered turquoise. It was named that due to the color of the geology.
What Pinterest had posted is typical of that web sites redundant search engine pin-up applications........they tag anything related without first screening and verifying facts. There are quite a few high end gem shops in the Palm Springs area that sell and exhibit Native American crafted jewelry, much of it containing turquoise that was collected in Arizona and Nevada. Thank you. That's what I was starting to think myself since I couldn't find any evidence other than that one Pinterest post.
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AzRockGeek
has rocks in the head
Member since September 2016
Posts: 634
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Post by AzRockGeek on Apr 6, 2021 12:54:34 GMT -5
There was a Craigslist post a few years back about some guy trying to sell a turquoise claim in that area. It was comical, the picture were so seeded with turquoise, it was laying around everywhere you looked.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,455
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Post by Sabre52 on Apr 6, 2021 13:46:57 GMT -5
Went through all three Sinkankas volumes my California minerals book and the mines list for Riverside Co and could not find any turquoise mines in the county Lapis and gemstone yes. There are also many copper prospects in the county. Since small amounts of turquoise are sometimes found in association with copper mineral prospects, I suspect one of those copper mines is what you are thinking of. If you google Riverside county, Ca mines, you can get a list that shows the copper prospects.
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quartzilla
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2020
Posts: 1,211
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Post by quartzilla on Apr 6, 2021 18:30:34 GMT -5
There are neat sphene/ titanite crystals that are pretty easy to find up the Pines To Palms Highway/ Highway 74 about 18 miles above Palm Desert but they are not gem material just cool crystal specimens.
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jamijr
having dreams about rocks
Member since April 2021
Posts: 59
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Post by jamijr on Apr 7, 2021 8:37:33 GMT -5
There was a Craigslist post a few years back about some guy trying to sell a turquoise claim in that area. It was comical, the picture were so seeded with turquoise, it was laying around everywhere you looked. Honestly, that's how this photo looked too. Or like someone had spray painted the rocks with turquoise spray paint. In fact, I found it again and it's actually linked to a Tweet but clicking didn't bring much info for me.
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