16Apr Treasures from Tucson 2020 (part 2) - Nevada Rose Dumortierite
This year, during our annual trip to Tucson, Arizona (where we visit the numerous gem shows that take place there in January and February every year) we found a few hours to make our first foray to The Miners' Co-op Rock Show.
The event is a short drive out of town and in amongst the numerous tables and gazebos you can find some of the most experienced, knowledgeable and determined rockhounds in the whole city, offering some material you will not see anywhere else.
More importantly for us, this is where you can often speak directly to the people who actually dig the gemstones out of the ground and therefore have the best chance of finding something that is directly traceable to the source (not so easy in Tucson!).
Our best find at the Miners' Co-op 2020 was some amazing material called Nevada Rose Dumortierite. This beautiful, pink-purple gemstone is a rare variation of this mineral which typically comes in a blue colour.
Dumortierite comes in fairly big pieces and, with a hardness of 7 on the Mohs Scale, it is a fairly scratch-resistant material. That means it's ideal to be worn as an impressive pendant or even a ring without any cause for concern.
We bought a few pieces from artisanal miner Wayne Holland, who mined it in Nevada in 2019 and also cut it himself some into cabochons. You can find them on our website using this link:
https://www.nineteen48.com/search/products?keywords=dumortierite
We have some rough material too, so you can expect to see those on the website later in the year.
