Did you know Turquoise is a mineral?
Turquoise is a beautiful gemstone of blue or green color. One can only marvel at its beauty especially when it is closely examined under the ore microscope. The word turquoise is a French word which means stone of Turkey in reference to the location where it was first mined as well as its trade route to Europe. Turquoise has been known to be mined as early as 6000 BC. It has a long history as a precious adornment and considered as one of the most valuable non-transparent minerals. It was known to be very important for the first peoples of North and South American. Turquoise was mined by prehistoric Native Americans for ornamental use. To this day, the Zuni Indians are famous for their turquoise jewelry.
Chemically, turquoise is referred to as copper hydroxi phosphate. Sometimes it is known as Callaite. Under the ore microscope, this mineral from the phosphate class varies in color from blue to green. As noted from a variety of samples, the greener the turquoise, the more iron it contains which means that it has been subjected to more moisture. Since it is a Hydrated Copper Aluminum Phosphate mineral, turquoise is made up of aluminum, copper, phosphorus, hydrogen and oxygen. It is a classic example of a typical phosphate as it is often strongly colored and average in hardness. It is formed when copper transported in water interacts with phosphorous and aluminum-bearing rocks.
Turquoise is associated with aluminum rich volcanic rocks. The majority of turquoise is found in areas with volcanic or thermal history. Mostly turquoise forms in places where magmatic solutions have intruded into fractures or pores. Intense heat as well as chemical changes takes place between the protolith and the new rock. Chemical weathering involving water solutions and air occur over a long period of time which permits the mineral to form.
The beauty of turquoise can be best appreciated with the use of the ore microscope. Large quantities of turquoise with blue and blue green hue can be found at Mount Ali Mirsai in Iran. Turquoise is also abundant in Arizona, Mew Mexico, Nevada in the US, as well as in Afghanistan, Australia, Iran and Middle East.
Turquoise that is hard, opaque and with an innate sheen can be cut, shaped and polished straight from mining without any stabilizers. Sometimes other turquoise requires resin additives to improve the color. There are instances when iron pyrites and bits of quartz form marks and dark lines in turquoise specimens. Turquoise of superior quality can be sold by the piece.
In the science of gemology turquoise is valuable. However it is a nonrenewable ore source. It is feared that mass-market mining of turquoise as a gemstone will have a significant impact. The resource of turquoise will be depleted as the demand for it increases. At the rate turquoise is being mined today, it will not take long before the ore resources will be gone. Fake turquoise jewelry may not be pleasing to the eye but if mining industry continues at its pace, this fake turquoise may someday remind us of the valuable mineral. Now is the time to start regulating the turquoise mining industry. Continue research on this page
