The Bisbee Hunt for Turquoise of April, 2017 pictures below. Unfortunately, this is the last public Bisbee Hunt for Turquoise, due to an *unruly participant. Consequently, it is the end of the major yearly fundraiser for the Bisbee Mining Museum.

*This is our first hand account of what happened: A young (local) man had climbed the steep berm along the search field, which was strictly prohibited, announced, and enforced by the Freeport MacMoRan volunteers assisting that day.  A volunteer shouted at the young man to come down off the berm, to which the man replied, “I paid my $100.00 to be here and there is only a few minutes left in this session. What are you going to do, arrest me?”

Consequently, the young man ran across the steep berms and barricades himself in a port-a-john. From there, he was yelling to the volunteers, not to steal his turquoise! When he emerges, several volunteers escort him off the property, and meet at the entrance of the property with Bisbee Police. This young man’s selfish actions ends the Bisbee Dig indefinitely.

The Bisbee Mining Museum sells 100 tickets for 3 sessions of the Hunt for Turquoise. Turquoise enthusiasts can go on one dig or all three digs. In order to attend the first Friday turquoise hunt, you would have to buy a museum membership in addition to the $100.00 ticket. The Museum makes $10,000 from the ticket sales to this event: 100 tickets @ $100.00/ticket

As a result of finding one Bisbee turquoise nugget, it would pay for your ticket. Consequently, the problem was that it was very hard to find any turquoise in a sea of red rock. Above all, the turquoise could be concealed by a thin layer of dust, and that was all it took from finding it. Therefor, a water spray bottle proves to be somewhat handy. In conclusion, the experience, for a turquoise enthusiast, was priceless!

To learn more about Bisbee Turquoise history, click HERE

Early morning line, with eager participants waiting for the Blue Bisbee Turquoise Hunt shuttle vans. The anticipation and anxiety was enormous!                                                                                                                          

Hunting for Blue Bisbee Turquoise in the #7 Tailing Field. Most noteworthy, it is very difficult to find any blue turquoise in the field of jagged rocks and hard ground.                                                                                                    

One lucky payoff! Mike’s big find at the Bisbee Turquoise Dig, which he subsequently sold to a jewelry silversmith.                                                                                                                                                                                      

Chris with his Blue Bisbee Turquoise find…which I subsequently bought!                                                                      

I managed to find a few small pieces of Blue Bisbee Turquoise with a substantial amount of effort!

Heading to the #7 tailing fields at the Bisbee Mine a couple of years earlier.                                                                                  

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