The Kingman Mine is located at The Mineral Park Mines just outside of the of Kingman, Arizona. The Kingman Mine is still in production. Commercial mining of the site began in the 1880s when S.A. Colbaugh discovered the ancient mine, in what was known as the "Aztec Mountains" back then. At the time Arizona wasn't even a state. Kingman Turquoise is still mined, processed, sorted, graded, and distributed by the Colbaugh Family. Navajo hammers dating back to 600 a.d. and materials used for polishing and finishing turquoise were also discovered at the Kingman Turquoise Mine, along with water skins and charcoal. Archeologists believe that Native Americans would heat the rocks up using charcoal and then douse the hot rock with water from the skins... resulting in the rocks fracturing and exposing the turquoise veins. Most Kingman Turquoise is very porous and requires processing for use in jewelry. Approximately three percent of the stones pulled from the Kingman Turquoise Mine are naturally hard enough to be used unprocessed. Kingman Turquoise sets an industry standard for blue matrix turquoise. The mine became famous for its nuggets, which few mines produce. Today, the Kingman turquoise is highly prized and sought after by collectors everywhere, and it's one of the more easily recognized American Turquoises.
