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October 1, 2014 www.DesertMessenger.com 15 MOUNTAIN QUAIL C AFE Open 7am - 7pm 7 DAYS/ WEEK 928-927-8890 Open Year Round! 490 N. Moon Mt. Ave., Quartzsite (corner of Moon Mt. & Quail Trail) B-10, Main St. Moon Mountain X Quail Trail N Hwy. 95, N. Central • DAILY SPECIALS • Thurs. SPAGHETTI & MEATBALLS • Friday FISH Special • Sat. PRIME RIB Enjoy our Famous Bread Pudding ! Home Style Cooking! SEE BLUE STONES PAGE 16 We knew we could get you to read this ad! For effective advertising, contact Desert Messenger today! Call Rain at 928-916-4235 or visit www.DesertMessenger.com NOW OPEN! OPEN DAILY 6am - 8pm 7 Days/Week Year-Round Western American Food Mexican Food Coming Soon! Seats 153 • Banquet Room • Large Groups Room Service Available in our 10-Room Motel 904 W. Main St., Quartzsite 175 E. Main St. 928-927-5585 www.sillyalspizza.com WELCOME BACK TO SILLY AL'S! SILLY AL'S PIZZA Famous Gourmet Pizza KARAOKE DJ • Wed - Fri 7pm Kevin James Serving Quartsite at Same Location for over 20 years! LIVE MUSIC • Sat. 7pm Ern Cunningham Fri Oct 31 • 7pm cash prizes for best costumes Halloween party QUARTZSITE BAKERY OPEN MONDAY, NOV. 3 RD "Get Your Buns in Here!" 415 E. Main Street Coffee & Fresh Baked Donuts, Burger Buns, Cakes, Pies, Maple Bars, Bearclaws, Apple Fritters, Homemade Breads, Rolls, & more! Monday - Saturday - 6 a.m. - 5 p.m. 928-927-5794 Arizona is famous for its Turquoise. Sleeping Beau- ty, Kingman, and the famous Bisbee Blue are some of the more familiar names. Another beautiful min- eral found here is Chrysacolla, which is often mis- taken for Turquoise because of its color. While both Turquoise and Chrysacolla, having similar hardness of 2.2 to 2.8 on the Moh's scale, are associated with copper and are by-products of copper mining, the similarities stop there. In technical terms, Chrysacolla is a hydrous copper silicate which occurs in the oxidation zones of copper deposits. Basically, that means it is ore containing copper and silica that has been altered to the min- eral Chrysacolla through contact with air and water. Chrysacolla is a rather common mineral here in our copper-rich region of Arizona and is found in asso- ciation with Azurite, Malachite, and Cuprite. It is a surface mineral, which makes it an important indi- cator of copper deposits. Turquoise, on the other hand, is a hydrated cop- per aluminum phosphate. It is a secondary mineral caused by alteration in arid environments of alumi- num bearing rocks rich in Apatite, Chalcopyrite, and Chalcedony. Sulfi des are also present in Turquoise deposits here in Arizona. In other words, while Tur- quoise is associated with copper deposits, it also needs the presence of aluminum and phosphate in By Jenn Jedidiah Free for RocksInMyHead™ order to form. Because of this special recipe, Tur- quoise is not as common as Chrysacolla. Turquoise is typically formed as fi s- sure fi llings underground at a depth of about 60 feet, where it is found as veins or nuggets in the surrounding rock. Vein Turquoise forms as a solution fi lling cracks, called fi ssures, in the host rock. Most vein Turquoise is clear, or free of matrix, however, some vein Tur- quoise does contain matrix. Nugget Turquoise is formed as the Turquoise collects in small pockets and holes within clay-fi lled fi ssures. Commonly, nuggets will have a thin, evenly-spaced "spider-web" type ma- trix, though occasionally nuggets will be clear of ma- trix. The color of the matrix is determined by the host ADVENTURES WITH ROCKS rock in which the Turquoise formed. Matrix can be reddish or rust-colored, brown, black, golden colored, or even silvery-gray- for example, brown or reddish matrix is the result of iron oxides in the rock. The colors of the Turquoise itself also vary greatly and are determined in part by minerals present in the host rock, and can often vary even within the same mine. Excess amounts of copper produce the blue color, while iron produces a Turquoise more in the green range. An excess of aluminum tips the scales toward a green to greenish-white color, and zinc yields a yellow-green. Most Turquoise mined in Ari- zona is in the blue range because of the abundance of copper here. Nevada produces many fi ne examples of green and yellow-green Turquoise. Singing the blues - the Blue gemstones of Arizona