Turquoise Crystal Localities

   Turquoise is an ancient and popular gemstone. Even more prized than its sky-blue masses are its beautiful microscopic triclinic crystals, which, while still difficult to acquire, are not nearly as rare as once thought.

   In 1964, in his cornerstone work Mineralogy, John Sinkankas wrote that turquoise crystals are "extremely rare" and "Acute pyramidal micro crystals occur only at the Virginia locality." in 1981 Richard Braithwaite increased the list to a total of six localities, and in 1995 Weiner and Hochleitner published a list of about seven localities. Since then, the number of known crystal-producing localities has increased to at least twenty-seven.

This is simply a list of localities which have produced turquoise crystals. A brief description of the specimens found and a reference or two are provided where possible, but geological, crystallographical, and chemical information is available elsewhere. For those interested in information beyond the scope of this brief listing, sources particularly worth consulting are "Steckbrief Turkis" by Dr. Karl-Ludwig Weiner and Dr. Rupert Hochleitner, in Lapis Volume 20 #1, and "Turquoise Crystals from Britain and a review of related species" by Richard Braithwaite in The Mineralogical Record, Volume 12 #6. This list has been compiled mostly from these two articles, as well as other information published in The Mineralogical Record, and a couple of other sources. "X-Ray Study of Chalcosiderite and Turquoise" by A.R. Graham, published in Contributions to Canadian Mineralogy, No.52, 1947, offers extensive technical data.  Thanks to all that helped with information, especially Henry Barwood, Henri Dillen, Jolyon Ralph, and Juliet C. Reed. If I have missed any localities, please let me know.

Africa

Aggeneys district, 100 km NW of Springbok, Northern Cape Province, South Africa: Micro crystals from gossans, see Minerals of South Africa by Cairncross and Dixon, p.250.

Kouroudiako, Faleme River, East Senegal: Sky-blue botryoidal crusts of minute crystals, with glassy senegalite crystals. Type locality for senegalite. See Lapis V20 #1 p11.

Katonto, Katanga, Zaire: "...dense violet-gray quartzite with open seams showing thin coatings of microcrystals of turquoise in radial tufts..." -Thomas Moore, in "What's New in Minerals", MR V26 #3 p225.

Australia

Iron Monarch Mine, South Australia, Australia: Aggregates of micro xls. See Lapis V20 #1 p11.

Iron Knob Mine, South Australia: Per. com. Matthew Webb

Lake Boga, Victoria, Australia: Aggregates of micro xls. See Lapis V20 #1 p11.

Mt. Oxide Mine, Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia: "Crystals of turquoise to 1mm in size, lustrous and transparent to translucent...in association with 1 to 2-mm libethenite xls... "-Wendell Wilson, in "What's New in Minerals", MR V18 #6 p431.

Kintore Opencut, Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia: "Turquoise occurs very sparingly as cavernous masses of intergrown spheres up to 0.6mm in diameter, each sphere being an aggregate of bluish green crystals. It may also occur as isolated, pale greenish hemispheres overgrown by pharmacosiderite. Analysis shows it is an iron-bearing turquoise." -W. Birch, and A. van der Heyden, in "Minerals from the Kintore Opencut, Broken Hill, New South Wales", MR V19 #6 p433.

Narooma Mine, New South Wales, Australia: "...tiny flat rhomb-shaped blue turquoise crystals, the largest 0.18 mm long, clustered on massive turquoise..." -R. Braithwaite, MR V12 #6 p353.

Europe

Ottre, near Vielsalm, Ardennes, Luxemburg Province, Belgium: "...1-2mm crystals have been found in manganiferous quartz veins." -R. Braithwaite, MR V12 #6 p349, and Lapis, V20 #1 p9,10. Henri Dillen (per.com.) elaborates that there are more than one turquoise crystal locality in the vicinity; nearby Cahay produced a fantastic specimen, "...an amethystine quartz scepter crystal of about 2cm, in part covered by turquoise crystals."

Montebras, Creuse, France: "La turquoise de Montebras" by Broussard C. , in Le Cahier de Micromonteurs (1) p. 18, 1989. Per. com. Philippe Saget.

Tinfos Jernverk's Kvartsbrudd, west shore of Heddals Lake, near Notodden, Norway: An abandoned quartzite quarry produced attractive globular aggregates to 1.5mm of crystals to 0.1mm, some showing an extremely unusual color change, appearing blue in sunlight and emerald green under fluorescent lighting. Associated with pseudomalachite, collected in 1997 by Ronald Werner. Per. com., Ronald Werner, for more info see his website.

Palazuelos de las Cuevas, Zamora, Spain: Minute pale single crystals, and beautiful blue spheres and botryoidal druses, with yellow-green wavellite crystals. Jordi Fabre of Barcelona had a flat or two of these in November '94.

Golpejas Mine, Golpejas, Salemanca, Spain: Found in the summer of 1995 and not yet published. Per. com., Miguel Calvo.

Hensbarrow China Clay Pit, Hensbarrow Moor, St Austell, Cornwall, England: "...in August 1965, the author found one small boulder of kaolinized granite containing several cavities lined with small, clear, discrete blue crystals, 0.1-0.25mm long..." -R. Braithwaite, MR V12 #6 p350. Also per. com., Jolyon Ralph

Goonbarrow China Clay Pit, St Austell, Cornwall, England: Minute xls, per. com., Cynthia Peat, Jolyon Ralph

Gunheath China Clay Pit, Bugle, Hensbarrow Moor, St Austell, Cornwall, England: "the major UK occurrence for xtline Turquoise"-per.com. Jolyon Ralph

Wheal Remfry China Clay Pit, St. Enoder, Cornwall, England: "...a specimen of altering granite..." with "A small cavity about 4mm across on one side...partly lined with pale blue micro-crystals of turquoise to 0.08 mm..." "The amount of material was just sufficient to permit identification by infrared spectroscopy and to preserve a little of the turquoise in the cavity. The specimen is the only one found so far." -R. Braithwaite, MR V12 #6 p350.

Wheal Phoenix, Linkinhorne, Cornwall, England: Superb specimens with spheres of crystals to 5mm were found in the1870's, and Braithwaite found more on the dumps in the 1960's. See MR V12 #6 p351, and P. Embrey and R. Symes in "Minerals of Cornwall and Devon", p 126.

South America

Itatiacu, Brazil: Crystals 1-3mm, similar to VA material but matrix is iron ore, see "What's new in Minerals" by Robinson and King, MR V20 #5 p394

Bishop Mine, near Lynch Station, Campbell County, Virginia: This is the source of the most famous, the most numerous, and probably the best specimens, with beautiful, unusually large xls in deep blue spheres to about 5mm. Druses to 3"x3" have been found, but the site is pretty much worked out now. See Sinkankas' Mineralogy, p 425, 426. Encyclopedia of Minerals, Second Edition, by Roberts, Campbell,and Rapp, has a super photo on plate 45, by Dan Behnke.

Silver Coin Mine, Valmy, Humboldt County, Nevada: Beautiful spheres of micro xls. See Lapis, V20 #1 p11,13. See Rocks & Minerals V.74 #6, p373 for a superb photo.

Snake Pit Mine, Hansonburg district, Socorro County, New Mexico: Crystals to 0.5 mm. See "World Review of Mineral Discoveries, 1993-1994", by G. Robinson, J. Scovil, V. King, and F. Cureton, MR V26 #5 p483.

Mex-Tex Mine, Hansonburg District, Socorro County, New Mexico: Crystals to 0.5mm. See "World Review of Mineral Discoveries, 1993-1994," by Robinson, Scovil, King, and Cureton, MR V26 #5 p.483.

Oxide Pit, Silver Bell Mine, Silver Bell district, Pima County, Arizona: "...transparent, tabular green crystals to 1 mm, that occur in subparallel aggregates; associated with torbernite and cacoxenite at the contact of an andesite dike..." -See "Mineralogy of Arizona", by Anthony, S. Williams, and R. Bideaux, p194.

Bachman Mine, near Hellertown, Pennsylvania: "small crystals associated with iron phosphates", per. com., Henry L. Barwood

General Trimble Mine, Chester County, Pennsylvania: mentioned in a letter to the editor from Gene Foord, Allen Heyl, and Joe Taggart in the Friends of Mineralogy, Pa. Chapter, Newsletter, Sept., 1984, vol. 12, no. 3, p. 4-7.  (Thanks to Juliet C. Reed for forwarding this info!)