Carico Lake Turquoise
Nevada
Carico Lake Turquoise has an astonishing color palette. Ranging from highly unique electric greens to sky blue; from teal to mossy, earthy greens. And rarely, a nugget with both earth and sky color.
The highest grade Carico Lake Turquoise is gem-quality American turquoise. Hard enough to be cut naturally, the high zinc content paints the stone an astonishing lime-green color with a unique spider web matrix, creating a much sought after and collectible stone. Due to the harsh conditions and remote location of the mine, Carico has a very small yearly yield. The high-grade apple green stones make up less than 3% of the yearly yield, making it a rare form of turquoise.
Originally known as Stone Cabin, and then Aurora #8, Carico Lake Turquoise has a colorful history for a dried-up lake bed in a remote part of Lander County. Gus Stenich was one of the early miners to own the mine. Gus left the mine to JW Edgar, and after changing hands a few more times, the mine has come to rest with the owner of Sunwest Silver Company, Ernest Montoya. Sunwest Silver is home to one of the largest natural turquoise collections in North America.