At least 60 varieties of minerals can be found in Mèxico, an estimated 1/5 to 1/3 of all silver that has been mined world wide has come from Mexico. Here is just a sampling of some of the outstanding minerals here in Mèxico: danburite, opal, grossular, rhodochrosite, topaz, adamite (the world's best), fluorite, amethyst, rosasite, smithsonite, goethite, turquoise, calcite, onyx, hematite, pyrite, agate, obsidian, malachite, chrysocolla, to name a few.

Mapimi, Durango - has produces the very best specimens of fluorescent adamite as well as nice specimens of hemimorphite and wulfenite. Adamite is found at other localities around the world but few specimens can compete with the best specimens of Mapimi. The Ojuela Mine is the primary source of Mapimi specimens.

Santa Eulalia, Chihuahua - produces beautiful specimens of creedite, calcite, hemimorphite, smithsonite, rhodochrosite and much more. The Potosi Mine in Santa Eulalia is one of the more productive mines in the area in terms of collector specimens.

Naica, Chihuahua - this Northern Mèxico state provides complex crystals of fluorite, sparkling calcite, brassy pyrite and silver colored galena. Naica fluorites are quickly becoming highly prized specimens, they are perhaps the finest examples of cube/octahedron/dodecahedron combination and the rarer cube/tetrahexahedron fluorite available anywhere.

The state of Sonora on the border with the United States just south of Arizona, is also well know for producing many nice mineral specimens. Copper, copper compounds, silver and silver sulfides are abundant here. Tellurates from the mines of Moctezuma are quite unusual, having provided at least seventeen new tellurate minerals to science as well as specimens of many other tellurium minerals.

Charcas, San Luis Potosi - is world reknown for it's Danburite the large clear crystals are easily found on the mineral markets. Topaz is also found here and can be quite nice. A variety of grossular known as "Raspberry Garnet" is found in Coahuila and another garnet gem found in Mexico is andradite which forms iridescent green gemstones. Another green gem is olivine and it is mined in the Chavira peridot-olivine mines in Chihuahua.

Tequisquiapan, Quèretaro and Magdalena, Jalisco offer outstanding opal of many different varieties cultivated in pockets in volcanic rocks such as rhyolites and basalts. The states of Aguascalientes and San Luis Potosi are known for their fire agate, with Calvillo in Aguascalientes producing much sought after multicolored fire agates. Colorful rainbow obsidian and other varieties of obsidian are very abundant throughout Mèxico. Amber found in Chiapas and is similar to the Dominican Republic amber. Both are about the same age (roughly 20 - 30 million years old).

The amethyst localities of Vera Cruz and Guerrero produce some of the most unique amethyst specimens. The Vera Cruz amethysts are often doubly terminated, prismatic, attached to matrix or free floating and clear with a pale lavender color. The Guerrero amethyst is much darker in color, prismatic, phantomed, tapering and majestic. Guerrero amethyst is perhaps the most expensive amethyst in the world by weight.

G E M S T O N E   &   M I N E R A L   I N F O R M A T I O N

Mexico Gemstone News - For New Products and News Relating to the Stone & Mineral Industry here in Mexico.  Or Subscribe to our mailing list.

Glossary Of Mexico Mining Terms - a PDF reprint from the book 'Encyclopedia Of Mexican Mining Law' by Richard E. Chism, Ph. D, printed in 1900 (3mb). Most of these Spanish terms a still used today by Mexican miners (mineros) today.

Information About Purchasing Fire Opal Rough
Good tips on purchasing rough opal material on the internet. (important info you should know before purchasing lots of raw opal stone)

Fire Agate Info - AgataDeFuego.com - The science, the mystery and the luck, behind what you can possibly find when purchasing rough fire agate either at the mines in Calvillo, Aguascalientes or on the internet.

2005 México Mineral Postal Stamp Sheet - Dedicated to some of the more popular minerals of Mexico, from Sepomex - México's postal srvice.

Mindat.org - Mineral database and mineralogical reference website, the site contains worldwide data on minerals, mineral localities and other mineralogical information.

Natural History Museum (uk) - A complete recorded meteorite database of 29,285 meteors that have hit the Earth, last updated in 2002.

Rock & Gem - Show dates for all the major Rock & Minerals shows across the United States.

The Fluorescent Mineral Society - An international organization of professional mineralogists, gemologists, and collectors who study and collect fluorescent minerals.

MineInfo.com - Current information on mining in Mèxico and daily news from Mèxico's Mining Industry. (Versiòn en Español)

Glossary of Gemstone and Moneral Terms - A general explanation of Minerology and Laídary terminology (a work in progress).

Mat's Minerals - Excellent mining info for Durango and San Luis Potosi in México. Also a nice collection of mineral specimens he has collected over the years. Cerro del Mercado mina in Durango , the Navidad, Patoni and the abandoned El Realito mine in Durango, and the Charcas mine , San Luis Potosi - home of Danburite crystals.

estamos en

PlanetaMexico

Colima

 

G E M  &   M I N E R A L   P H O T O   G A L L E R I E S

TheImage.com - Unique gemstone and Minerals Gallery, alot of photos and good "how to" information as well.

Smithsonian Institute - Some excellent photos from the National Museum of Natural History collection of rocks and meteorites.

Tozour Family's Fluorescent Rocks - A beautiful collection of fluorescent mineral photography, over 50 pages of images.

Minéraux Fluorescents - A photo gallery of rare fluorescent minerals, the website is in both French and English.

D A I L Y   S I L V E R   &   G O L D   P R I C E S

GEMSTONE AND MINERAL INFO
              (IN DOWNLOADABLE PDF FORMAT)

Fire Opal Info
Queretaro Opal Mines  (coming soon)
Fire Agate Info
Calvillo Fire Agate Mines  (coming soon)
Obsidian Info
Mexico's Meteorites

GEM STONE NEWS ARTICLES

Chiapas Amber Frog - 25 million year old frog found embedded in fossil amber in Chiapas, Mexico. (CNN)

Kansas Meteorite - Largest meteor found in the US by meteorite hunter. (Wichita Eagle)

LAPIDARY JOURNAL REPRINTS

El Tortolito - An Account Of Present Day Opal Mining Conditions In Mexico (July 1968)
The Opal Of Queretaro - (July 1979)
Fire Agate - A Potent Geological Delight (August 1977)

DOWNLOAD THE ADOBE READER HERE