Crow Springs, also known as Ann Jax or Bluebird, is located near Tonopah, Nevada and 27 miles, as the crow flies, from the Royston turquoise mine. The current owners of Crow Springs, Dennis and Lucy Cordova, are also co-owners of the Pilot Mountain mine. The Smith family previously owned the mine and had been mining turquoise in Nevada since the 1870's. In 1909, William Petry discovered a deposit one mile southwest of the Crow Springs claim. In 1939, Ann Cooper Hewitt, heiress to the Cooper Hewitt fortune, filed a claim to the mine and built a home there, which she called AnnJax. She did little work on the property and subsequently abandoned it. Crow Springs is known for its characteristic light green color contrasted with a bright red matrix which is made up of the host rock, rhyolite. The mine consists of several open pits. The largest pit measures about 50 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 15 feet deep. Materials that would yield gems of large size are scarce though the best stones have good color and are very hard. The mine includes a tunnel that digs 175 feet into the mountain; inside of which Dennis Cordova discovered a bountiful deposit of commercial grade gold and silver. |
Crow Springs NATURAL TURQUESA
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