In sharing ideas about these subjects I will, because of space limitations, provide short but meaty encapsulations. I will draw abundantly from resources on the web. To complement my input, I will usually provide links to the subject for your further exploration. In a lighter vein, I plan to frequently include the rich lore of mining and of mining men, of prospectors, and of Lost Gold and Silver Mines and of the historic mines, particularly in the Southwest and Mexico.

To begin, what is a mineral? Drawing from the site, Webmineral, I find a number of definitions cited from scientific literature.  To synthesize: “a mineral is a naturally occurring homogeneous solid with regularly ordered crystalline structure and a definite chemical composition. They can be distinguished from one another because of these definite characteristics”. Knowledge of these ideas are powerful tools in identifying a mineral specimen. The mineral’s chemical composition leads directly to its color, internal atomic arrangement, and crystal form. For example, the beautiful Rhocochrosite crystal from the Sweet Home Mine in Colorado, shown above, is manganese carbonate, having the chemical formula MnCaCO₃. Its deep red color is due to its manganese content and its rhombohedral form comes from the internal arrangement of atoms.

Because of the importance of chemical and crystallographic relationships in defining a mineral, I’m providing a link to an introductory course to minerology and crystallography offered by the Open University, a long known and excellent United Kingdom source of quality courses offered, at no cost, to world-wide users. I encourage you to open the link and scan the topics offered, as well as the internal links to tools for accessing a comprehensive body of reference material.

I hope you will share your questions and comments with me, submitting them to our “Ask An Expert” feature.

In my next post, I’ll share with you ideas offered by the most senior of collectors on how to build your own collection. Those ideas will include: collecting one mineral species; collecting many; collecting from one locality; collecting worldwide; where to find bargains and much more.

Until then, have fun learning about minerals and collecting.

Thanksgiving Day 2017, my son Greg and I traveled to the old copper mining town of Bisbee for a two day exploration of the Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum, observing the, now non-operational, Lavender Open Pit Copper Mine, and soaking up the ambiance of this charming town perched on the low hills of the Mule Mountains. [Ref 1]

Mines 

We found that mining activity in Bisbee began with the staking of mining claims in 1877. It evolved from underground mining at the Copper Queen Mine to operation of the Lavender Pit and its cessation of operation.

The Copper Queen Mine – The Copper Queen was mined over an approximately 100 year period. Beginning with the staking of its claim in 1877 and ending in 1974. [Ref 2] During its operation, the Copper Queen Mine produced over eight billion tons of copper, gold production of almost three million ounces and over seven and a half million ounces of silver. [Ref 3] It has also yielded spectacular specimens of copper minerals.

The Lavender Pit – The Lavender Pit was named in honor of Harrison M. Lavender, Vice President and General Manager of the Phelps Dodge Corporation. [Ref 5] He conceived and carried out the open pit plan for continuing the mining activity at the site of the, former high-grade, Sacramento Hill Mine. The open pit mine opened in 1950 and continued until 1974. During this period the mine yielded about 600,000 tons of copper with ancillary production of gold and silver from ore averaging 0.7% copper. During operation about 250 million tons of waste were striped. Mining advanced by dynamiting 50-foot high ledges. Each blast resulted in the removal of about 75,000 tons of rock. Use of the1.2 tons of blasting material was strongly leveraged. 

The gem mineral turquoise formed as a secondary mineral through the chemical reaction from the primary copper sulfide and oxide ores. It occurred as stringers up to a few inches wide and small nuggets, were dispersed randomly throughout the ore body, and was recovered as a product of the mining activity by company personnel. [Ref 6] The typically deep blue in color, with red-brown veins or a chocolate brown matrix, is called Bisbee Blue in the trade. This is in recognition of its often deep blue color. [Ref 6]

The Bisbee Historical and Mining Museum – The Museum offers exhibits that trace the initial settlement of Bisbee upon the finding of copper and staking of mining claims in 1988, through the closing of mining activity in 1970. [Ref 7] The Museum also houses a world-class collection of copper minerals gathered early in the mining history of Bisbee and features, what must be called awesome, specimens. [Ref 8]

 References:

Ref 1 http://skywalker.cochise.edu/wellerr/geology-SEAZ/mules/Mules-list.htm

Ref 2 https://arizonadailyindependent.com/2015/06/04/history-of-the-warren-bisbee-mining-district/

Ref 3 http://skywalker.cochise.edu/wellerr/students/copper-mine/bisbee.htm

Ref 4 http://geology.byu.edu/Displays/minerals/malachite-after-azurite-37

Ref 5 http://clui.org/ludb/site/lavender-pit

Ref 6 http://www.turquoisemines.com/bisbee-turquoise-mine/

Ref 7 https://bisbeemuseum.org/bm-museum.aspx

Ref 8 http://www.my heraldreview.com/news/bisbee-mining-historical-museum-receives-mineral-donation/article_61b65698-6e44-11e5-b916-0fcc3f025977.html

Perhaps the lost mine tale that most of us are aware of, is that of the Lost Dutchman Mine [Ref 2]. One, of 62, hand drawn maps of its supposed location, made available in Reference 3, is shown in Figure 1 and orients it with respect to the prominent geological landmark, Weavers Needle, shown in Figure 2.

Two roots for the of name of the lost El Naranjal Mine have been attributed to its location near a grove of trees with oranges (naranjas) or to the orange color of the gold in its ore [Ref 3]. It is supposedly located at the bottom of canyon (Barranca) beside a river and near an abandoned hacienda.

Among many of the discussions about this mine, Treasurenet suggests that proof of the its existence lies in an old road sign naming the road to the mine in Sinaloa and in records found in Guadalajara, which were found by a British consul, describing production in the millions in the 17^thCentury [Ref 4]. In another posting,

TreasureNet, [Ref 5], suggests its location fits that of an 1800’s lost, and very rich gold mine, in the region of the lost Tayopa silver mine [Ref 6], and in another post [Ref 7] that its location lies in the state of Durango.

Ref 1. http://www.thegeozone.com/treasure/arizona/index.jsp

Ref 2.  http://treasure-hunting-information.com/?page_id=2641

Ref 3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naranjal_mine

Ref 4. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/tayopa/36414-el-naranjal.html

Ref 5. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/tayopa/273860-can-el-naranjal-possibly-found-tayopa-complex.html

Ref 6. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/tayopa/36414-el-naranjal.html

Ref 7. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/treasure-legends/487274-update-mine-el-naranjal.html

Thanksgiving Day 2017, my son Greg and I traveled to the old copper mining town of Bisbee for a two day exploration of the Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum, observing the, now non-operational, Lavender Open Pit Copper Mine, and soaking up the ambiance of this charming town perched on the low hills of the Mule Mountains. [Ref 1]

Mines 

We found that mining activity in Bisbee began with the staking of mining claims in 1877. It evolved from underground mining at the Copper Queen Mine to operation of the Lavender Pit and its cessation of operation.

The Copper Queen Mine – The Copper Queen was mined over an approximately 100 year period. Beginning with the staking of its claim in 1877 and ending in 1974. [Ref 2] During its operation, the Copper Queen Mine produced over eight billion tons of copper, gold production of almost three million ounces and over seven and a half million ounces of silver. [Ref 3] It has also yielded spectacular specimens of copper minerals.

The Lavender Pit – The Lavender Pit was named in honor of Harrison M. Lavender, Vice President and General Manager of the Phelps Dodge Corporation. [Ref 5] He conceived and carried out the open pit plan for continuing the mining activity at the site of the, former high-grade, Sacramento Hill Mine. The open pit mine opened in 1950 and continued until 1974. During this period the mine yielded about 600,000 tons of copper with ancillary production of gold and silver from ore averaging 0.7% copper. During operation about 250 million tons of waste were striped. Mining advanced by dynamiting 50-foot high ledges. Each blast resulted in the removal of about 75,000 tons of rock. Use of the1.2 tons of blasting material was strongly leveraged. 

The gem mineral turquoise formed as a secondary mineral through the chemical reaction from the primary copper sulfide and oxide ores. It occurred as stringers up to a few inches wide and small nuggets, were dispersed randomly throughout the ore body, and was recovered as a product of the mining activity by company personnel. [Ref 6] The typically deep blue in color, with red-brown veins or a chocolate brown matrix, is called Bisbee Blue in the trade. This is in recognition of its often deep blue color. [Ref 6]

The Bisbee Historical and Mining Museum – The Museum offers exhibits that trace the initial settlement of Bisbee upon the finding of copper and staking of mining claims in 1988, through the closing of mining activity in 1970. [Ref 7] The Museum also houses a world-class collection of copper minerals gathered early in the mining history of Bisbee and features, what must be called awesome, specimens. [Ref 8]

 References:

Ref 1 http://skywalker.cochise.edu/wellerr/geology-SEAZ/mules/Mules-list.htm

Ref 2 https://arizonadailyindependent.com/2015/06/04/history-of-the-warren-bisbee-mining-district/

Ref 3 http://skywalker.cochise.edu/wellerr/students/copper-mine/bisbee.htm

Ref 4 http://geology.byu.edu/Displays/minerals/malachite-after-azurite-37

Ref 5 http://clui.org/ludb/site/lavender-pit

Ref 6 http://www.turquoisemines.com/bisbee-turquoise-mine/

Ref 7 https://bisbeemuseum.org/bm-museum.aspx

Ref 8 http://www.my heraldreview.com/news/bisbee-mining-historical-museum-receives-mineral-donation/article_61b65698-6e44-11e5-b916-0fcc3f025977.html

In sharing ideas about these subjects I will, because of space limitations, provide short but meaty encapsulations. I will draw abundantly from resources on the web. To complement my input, I will usually provide links to the subject for your further exploration. In a lighter vein, I plan to frequently include the rich lore of mining and of mining men, of prospectors, and of Lost Gold and Silver Mines and of the historic mines, particularly in the Southwest and Mexico.

To begin, what is a mineral? Drawing from the site, Webmineral, I find a number of definitions cited from scientific literature.  To synthesize: “a mineral is a naturally occurring homogeneous solid with regularly ordered crystalline structure and a definite chemical composition. They can be distinguished from one another because of these definite characteristics”. Knowledge of these ideas are powerful tools in identifying a mineral specimen. The mineral’s chemical composition leads directly to its color, internal atomic arrangement, and crystal form. For example, the beautiful Rhocochrosite crystal from the Sweet Home Mine in Colorado, shown above, is manganese carbonate, having the chemical formula MnCaCO₃. Its deep red color is due to its manganese content and its rhombohedral form comes from the internal arrangement of atoms.

Because of the importance of chemical and crystallographic relationships in defining a mineral, I’m providing a link to an introductory course to minerology and crystallography offered by the Open University, a long known and excellent United Kingdom source of quality courses offered, at no cost, to world-wide users. I encourage you to open the link and scan the topics offered, as well as the internal links to tools for accessing a comprehensive body of reference material.

I hope you will share your questions and comments with me, submitting them to our “Ask An Expert” feature.

In my next post, I’ll share with you ideas offered by the most senior of collectors on how to build your own collection. Those ideas will include: collecting one mineral species; collecting many; collecting from one locality; collecting worldwide; where to find bargains and much more.

Until then, have fun learning about minerals and collecting.