Tyrone Turquoise (New Mexico) 3-6mm Rice Shaped Beads, 16 inch strand

The Tyrone mining district, the second largest porphyry copper deposit in New Mexico, is located 10 miles southwest of Silver City in the Burro Mountains of southwestern New Mexico.  The area was home to deep blue turquoise and pale green turquoise. The mine was lost for an extended period of time until John Coleman found remnants of mining equipment while hunting. It is said that WJ Foley and Nicholas Ransome were told about the mine by Native traders. An expedition to find the mines resulted in the discovery of ancient excavations. In 1909 the Phelps Dodge Corporation acquired mining claims to construct a large scale underground copper mine. The mine was completed in 1916 and was in use until 1921. The mine was reopened as an open pit in 1967 and closed again in 1992. The mine hasn’t produced any turquoise since the 80s, when the Phelps Dodge Corporation switched their method of copper mining. The new method crushes and acid washes the stone which destroys the turquoise. That makes the turquoise from this area extremely rare!