First off- Hi there!! My name is Hana. I'm a stone-cutter Phil has kindly allowed to show work in his shop. I've been cutting for a year now (though I've been a rockhound forever) and love a whole different set of minerals than Phil- so we thought this would be a good thing, bring some more variety to the shop! All the same policies are in place (as you can see) for these items. Enjoy!!

Sonora Sunrise (aka Sonora Sunset, Sonoran Sunrise/Sunset) is one of my favorites. All the different color and pattern combinations drive me crazy (in a good way!). The material is from the Milpillas Mine in Sonora, Mexico- hence it's name (although the colors are also descriptive of actual Sonoran Sunsets, too). The mine is a copper mine, so the amount of SS that comes out of it is very small relatively. The SS that came out of the mine were largely emptied between 2006 (when the mine opened) and 2011, so there is really only that much SS as has currently been removed. Interesting fact: most copper mines are owned by companies that see the Azurites, Chrysocollas, and Turquoise stones that come from the mines as annoying by-products and often don't allow them to be collected or removed at all.

I hand cut and polished this stone, and enjoyed seeing the way the bright turquoise made its presence known among an incredible dark shade of somehow still brilliant red. In short: I dig it! And I hope you will, too.

The stone you are buying is always the stone pictured. Please see my shop policies for more information, or feel free to contact me with your questions and feedback.

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful day!