Mined for only a short span of time in the 60’s and 70’s, the classic Blue Diamond Turquoise stone was a very small deposit – considered a ‘hat’ mine – because you could cover the findings with your hat. It is located between Tonopah and Austen, Nevada.

Named for producing some of the hardest turquoise ever found, the Blue Diamond was first mined in the 1930s.  

The stone was mostly recovered in slabs, and are recognized by darker blue colors and strong black matrix, sometimes as smoky swirls, and usually with triangular shaped black chert.

Blue Diamond Turquoise

Known for its rare deep blue turquoise, this mine produces a ton of different shades of greens and blues in all matrix patterns. The  classic looks of Blue Diamond Turquoise is dark blue with smoky black matrix. The blue a lot of times is a swirling of two dark blues, simply stunning! This is a classic American Turquoise Look.

The stones that this mine produces, which are usually large pieces in plate form, look a great deal like Stormy Mountain Turquoise because of its black smoky matrix surrounded by a brilliant blue.  The characteristic black chert is usually present. 

Long time area miners have been noted to have said the Blue Diamond mine yielded some of the best turquoise in Nevada.

You don’t see much of this great stuff around anymore, even though the mine has been bought and sold many times over, it remains mostly unworked. There have been several different diggings. 

This turquoise mine was closed in the 1980s and buried for many years under thousands of tons of rocks. After many years of being closed, today Blue Diamond turquoise is once again being actively mined in limited quantities by the current owner.