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 has not been available
until 3 years ago, when 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.