Page 2 Advertisements Column 2

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 1, Issue 143, 24 August 1880, Page 2

A Turquoise Mine.— For the first time j in two hundred years the old turquoise mine in Chalchuti Mountain, New Mexico, has been re-opened. In 1680 work was suspended on the mine, the cause being the caving in of one of the shafts, and the subsequent death of some 100 Indians, who were hard at work below. An attempt made by the Spanish to force' the Indians to begin again and re-open the shaft led to a rebellion, and probably was one of the causes which forced the Indians to an uprising, and the subsequent exclusion of their rulers from the country. The extent to which these mines have been worked may be conjectured by the vast amount of debris lying around the old shaft, covering no less than fifteen acres of ground. The mine is the only turquoise mine on the continent, and, as the gem has always a market value, it will ere long, be one of the recognised sources of wealth of New Mexico. i