White Angel Claim - NMMC #193694
Cerrillos 'White Angel' Mine
This is our new mine claim. We get beautiful white Variscite that we cut into cabochons. We sell the Variscite in our shop as rough or set in silver. Variscite is a rare gem for the Cerrillos mining district.
On a recent rainy day we checked out this deep old mine on the north side of our claim and noticed light green Variscite on the west wall. The vein was going straight down, 30 ft into the mine. We both looked at each other and said "Eureka", realizing there were hundreds of pounds to be retrieved.
We quickly came home and made a 35' rope ladder and a wood platform to lower into the mine with 50' ropes. In this photo we have it lowered 8' into the mine and are chipping the Variscite off the wall to the south. We anticipated many buckets of this rare gem which we call Cerrillos White Angel.
Here is Andy Brown using a 30 lb chipping hammer to cut and relieve on the side of the vein. The chipping hammer cuts through the rock quite quickly.
Todd is working the Variscite vein to the south with a hammer and chisel. The vein is often an inch or two thick. It comes out a beautiful white & opaque green color. Every 3' by 4' yields a full bucket of rough.
Here we are retrieving the Variscite off the wall as one big sheet.
We have gathered many buckets of rough so far and the vein continues to go down into the earth.
Samples of the Variscite - rough, cut & polished.
We have gathered great quality rough stone and cut cabochons for jewelry. We have cabochons set in silver in our shop from the White Angel mine.
Email us if you are interested in our rough or cut Cerrillos White Angel.