Crow Springs, also known as AnnJax or Bluebird, is located near Tonopah, Nevada and 27 miles, as the crow flies, from the Royston turquoise mine. For 12 years, this rare stone was not been available. 3 years ago, Dennis and Lucy Cordova took it over and began mining it again. The Smith family previously owned the mine. This family 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, made from inventing the mercury-vapor lamp and the first fluorescent lighting, filed 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. Crow Springs turquoise occurs in seams cutting the host rock at all angles. Seams, or veins, range from paper-thin to nearly half an inch thick. 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. The current owners of the Crow Springs mine, Dennis and Lucy Cordova are also co-owners of the Pilot Mountain mine. They have been mining for 3 years and cutting the precious stone for over 35 years.
