The Bisbee mine, near Bisbee, Arizona, is one of the more famous American mines because Bisbee was one of the very first to put American turquoise on the commercial market under the registered name “Bisbee Blue.”  The turquoise mine is an off-shoot of the Bisbee Copper Mine (The Copper Queen), the main operation of the site.  When the Phelps Dodge Mining Co. started open pit mining operations at the location now known as the 'Lavender Pit, the vast majority of Bisbee turquoise surfaced and revealed itself.
Bisbee turquoise has developed a reputation as a hard, finely webbed, strikingly brilliant blue stone of a high quality, often with red-brown spiderwebbing, dendrites or hard chocolate brown colored matrix distinctive to the area near Bisbee. The unusual matrix forms wisps or veils throughout the stone, often called "Smoky Bisbee." The highest grade of Bisbee is found at less then 100 feet, however, at Lavender Pit, good Bisbee was discovered at 2,000 feet. Bisbee is one of the most expensive turquoises because of its rarity, high density and extremely good character.
In 2005, Phelps Dodge Mining Company declared Bisbee Copper Queen Mines depleted and burried the mine under 50 feet of dirt, so these stones are highly collectable.
Bisbee turquoise can be found in many different shades of color and quality, from soft, low quality pale blue to the quality hard brilliant blue turquoise and most every shade of blue in between. Green turquoise is also found in Bisbee, but gem-quality green is rare.  Large amounts of a "red glantz" conglomerate rock bed needed to be removed before the deeper located copper ore could be reached. This conglomerate "waste" rock was the host for most of the turquoise, both in vein and nugget form. The unusual matrix forms wisps or veils throughout the stone, that’s called "Smoky Bisbee." The highest grade of Bisbee is found at less then 100 feet, however, at Lavender Pit, but good Bisbee was discovered at even 2,000 feet.
During the time that the largest quantities of turquoise were being extracted from the mine, the company made no organized effort to recover it. It simply got loaded into large dump trucks and hauled off to the "dumps". During this time (primarily through the late-50s into the late-60s), almost all recovered turquoise was picked up by company employees, taking it home in their lunch boxes, etc. Though this activity was prohibited, it was rarely enforced. For several years (mostly the early to late 70s), these individuals locally know as "dumpers", were the only source for this fine turquoise. Also, during this time, Phelps Dodge leased out the dumps to an individual to mine the dumps for turquoise.
Phelps Dodge Mining Company has declared Bisbee depleted and has buried the mine under 50 feet of dirt. Bisbee is one of the most expensive and highly collected turquoises because of its rarity, high density and exquisite character. Most jewelry being made with Bisbee is from long-time collectors of the stone, miners, old stashes and collections that are getting harder and harder to find every year.

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