First of all, thank you for visiting Thunderbird Turquoise!
Consequently, American Turquoise is becoming increasingly rare. As a result, at Thunderbird Turquoise, we sell American Turquoise at our brick and mortar store in Tucson, Arizona. Below is a list of when some of the last famous Arizona Turquoise mines that are no longer in operation. In most cases, the turquoise supply plays out, but in the case of Sleeping Beauty Turquoise, the turquoise rights are no longer available through the mine owners.
Bisbee Turquoise is last available in 1975. Phelps Dodge leases out the turquoise dumps to Bob Matthews in the early 1970’s. Matthews was the only legal miner of the Bisbee turquoise in history and is the major source for the turquoise at the time. Phelps Dodge ends it’s mining operations in 1975.
Sleeping Beauty Turquoise has not recently available since August of 2012, when the Sleeping Beauty mine closes it’s turquoise production. The new mine owners, Freeport McMoran decide to focus solely on copper mining. It is at this point in time that copper ore, along with turquoise, is fed into the crusher. A main ingredient in turquoise is copper.
Morenci Turquoise is last mined in 1984. Consequently, from 1956 to 1984 the Turquoise rights are granted to William “Lucky” Brown. Consequently, Mr. Brown retires in 1982 and his sons continue to mine the Morenci Turquoise until the lease ends. In recently speaking to the Supervisor of Mining of Morenci, there are no recent discoveries of turquoise at the Morenci mine.
Thunderbird Turquoise is still being “tweeked”. Please visit TUCSON TURQUOISE.COM!
