MINERAL PARK, ARIZONA

erched at 4,200 feet on the western slope of the Cerbat Mountains northwest of Kingman, Arizona, Mineral Park has an unusual—and unusually long—mining history. Like most mining towns it went through periods of boom and bust, but unlike most its mineral resources have been coveted by humans for some 2,000 years. Known for significant yields of copper, molybdenum and silver, the namesake mine is also one of the world’s largest producers of turquoise. The local Kingman turquoise has a distinctive matrix and veining, and archaeologists have unearthed trade specimens of it dating from 57 bc in northwest New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon and others dating from ad 200 in the region of present-day Mexico City.