Lone Mountain

The Lone Mountain mine, originally called the Blue Jay mine, is located near Tonopah, Nevada. The Lone Mountain Mine was first claimed by Lee Hand in 1920, ownership passed to Gene Wadell and most recently to the Smith family. It is one of the few active turquoise mines in the United States that is legally operating to the stringent codes enforced by the Bureau of Land Management. Since the Smiths took over the mine has been producing  thousands of pounds of turquoise ranging from pale green all the way up to blue green stones with black web matrix. The variety is incredible, allowing for many many different ‘looks’ and potential ‘grades.’  Lone Mountain turquoise was made famous in the 1970’s by legendary Native artists such as Charles Loloma who chased after the very highest grade material being produced. The Lone Mountain Spiderweb Turquoise which made the mine famous is a medium blue to a gray blue with black and mahogany brown fine spiderweb matrix. While most turquoise tends to be porous and thus susceptible to changing color over time (most likely blue to green), the Lone Mountain mine is known for producing very hard turquoise that is less likely to fade. This is an important attribute for jeweler’s looking to offer jewelry with stones that will retain a consistent aesthetic throughout their lifetime. Lone Mountain is considered a ‘classic’ American turquoise mine and thus, highly collectible.