Pilot Mountain turquoise is made up of a group of mines at the southern end of the Pilot Mountains in Mineral County, Nevada a short distance outside of Tonopah. The two most well known mines being the Moqui-Aztec or S. Simmons and the Montezuma or Troy Springs mine. The Montezuma is still being worked two or three times a year and produces a hard thin veined turquoise, Pilot Mountain turquoise, with colors ranging from a bright blue to dark blue, along with a dark blue with a greenish cast. Light to dark brown limonite mottled patterns are associated with this material. William Miller of Tonopah discovered the Montezuma in 1905.
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