Carico Lake Turquoise in Terry Martinez BraceletThe Carico Lake mine is in Lander County, Nevada. The name comes from its location a few miles west of the dried up Carico Lake bed. Turquoise coming from the mine ranges from light green to a medium blue with a matrix of mostly limonite. Turquoise from this district has earlier been sold as Aurora and Stone Cabin turquoise. These mines had been run by August Stenich and later by J.W. Edgar, both legends in Nevada turquoise mining. Although today the Carico Lake mine is one of the larger producing mines in Nevada, high-grade turquoise from this mine is still fairly uncommon.
Carico Lake is now famous for its bright greens known as "faustite." This material with its high zinc content is a bright apple green color sometimes with golden webbing and has been highly valued because of its beauty when set in gold. Carico Lake turquoise has also become known for its rare and beautiful "fossil" turquoise clams. Clam fossils in the dried up lakebed were dissolved away and the cavities left were filled with turquoise deposits in the shape of the clams, leaving what has been called Carico Lake "fossil" calms.