both very similar - about 20 cm long matrixof quartz, lepidolite and cleavelanditewith morganite crystal andmulti-color tourmalines with pink, greenand blue zones. All these pockets werefound in the small area of the old supportingpillar. A short time after the carefulextraction of the content of allpockets and cleaning the area the minewas again closed and remains closed tothis day (2012).10 cm tall tourmaline on quartz collected as one of t..

　　One of the few big and aestheticspecimens was kept hidden for manyyears and introduced by Edward Swobodato the public for the first time onlyin 2012. This specimen is over 28 cm longand is built of big quartz crystals andtwo “blue-caps” sticking up from them;illustrated here on page 8. Rumor has itthat this piece was purchased by MarionStuart, an extremely wealthy collector atthat time, during a mine party, to be donatedto the LA ..

　　There were 55 years of almost noactivity in the Tourmaline Queen Minefrom 1914 to 1969. During this periodsome minor research and mining wasdone but without great luck. In 1955president Dwight D. Eisenhower grantedthe mine patent to Margaret Moore andMildred Wear – daughters of FrankSalmons. In the ‘50s and ‘60s many high-graders visited the mine trying to locatesome of the pockets. They did a lot ofdamage digging in the sec..

　　Quartz was very common in thepockets and was frequently well formed.　Usually it was colorless, milky or lightcitrine. The size of some crystals associatedwith tourmalinesreached over 20cm. The majority of the most famousspecimens from the mine are a combinationof quartz crystals and tourmalines.Mine portal in 1972. J. Scripps photo.Resting at the front of the mine in 1972. J. Scripps photo.　　Tourmaline was the main goal ofmining in the beg..

INTRODUCTION　　The Tourmaline Queen Mine is oneof the most famous localities among mineralcollectors. For over 100 years themine has produced hundreds of kilogramsof gem tourmaline crystals and ahuge amount of specimens. Among manypockets the “blue-cap” find made themine so famous. Some collectors believeit is the most important find ever.Valley fog and the Tourmaline Queen Mine on Queen Mountain, as seen from the Oceanview Mine. M. ..

　　The second most commonly observedmorphology is dramatic, mirrorlustrous,golden gem baryte with sharp,arrowhead-type serrations on the sideedges. These thin, diamond shaped crystalsrepeatedly expand out and then contractback with up to seven repetitionsper crystal, with individuals up to 2 cmwide and 5 cm long.Orpiment on matrix; 12 cm wide. Collector’s Edge specimen. J. Scovil photo.Orpiment from Cut 62; 5.4 cm high. Collector’sEd..

SPECIMEN PREPARATIONExperiments commenced at the Collector’sEdge laboratories in Golden, Col-orado, in May 1999 to determine the bestmethods for specimen preparation. Aftermany tests, it became clear that heavycoatings could not be removed withoutdamaging the luster of the crystals. Furthermore ,specimens with any degree ofnatural etching could not be improved.Orpiment from Cut 62; 9.5 cm wide. Collector’s Edge specimen. J. Scovil pho..

　　A second orpiment zone was encounteredin Cut 20 of the North Mega pitduring the fall of 2000, and a Collector’sedge team made over a dozen visits tothe mine, successfully collecting furtherhigh quality specimens during that time.　　A year later, in the fall of 2001, a final or-piment zone was intersected, again inCut 20, comprising a rich block roughly 3by 4 by 4 m that, fortunately, had beenwell protected from blasting. All togetherso..

Graham Sutton of Collector’s Edge extracting　orpiment pocket in Cut 62. Collector’s　Edge photo.　　By April 1999, news of the discoveryhad spread and there was growing ex-citement in the mineral community, andfinding a way of preserving as much ofthe specimen quality material as possiblebecame the first priority. Collector’sEdge presented a proposal to Newmont,suggesting how the two companies mightwork together in a manner tha..

Orpiment collecting operation using heavy equipment. Collector’s Edge photo.　　The Twin Creeks mine lies at the intersectionof the renowned Getchelltrend and the lesser-known Valmy trend,along which lie a number of other Carlin-type gold deposits. At Twin Creeks theorpiment bodies occur in rocks of theComus Formation, a thick sequence ofcarbonates, siltstones, basaltic rocksand tuffs of Ordovician age which containmost of the sulfide gold ..