Resize Text: As the 100th anniversary of Arizona's statehood approaches (Valentine's Day, 14 February 2012) (fig. 2), almost everything Arizona is being celebrated, including its gemstones. Gemstones have been mined in Arizona for millennia, and “gem chrysocolla” was mined by the ton in the early 1900s, just prior to statehood. Since 1912, Arizona has become the largest copper producer in the United States, and for a great number of years has been justifiably famous as one of the most prolific producers of copper-bearing and other gemstone materials (fig. 4).
Wolfgang Mueller is a retired geologist who has done some serious field collecting of minerals and whose specialization in ore mineralogy has led him into the lapidary field.
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