#rockingit
One of the finest specimens of Holley Blue Agate that I have ever come across! This is an extremely rare, 2.6 pound museum quality piece of rock.
Just got in some exceptionally nice looking Pixie Turquoise. This material is very rare and getting difficult to obtain. This material has not been dug for several decades and is not likely to ever be in production again due to gold mining activity in the vicinity. This is the stabilization process, we use a vacuum to suck the resin into the stone effectively making the material stable enough to work and to take a polish. Typically, turquoise is very soft and crumbly and will not take a shine in its raw state. By introducing resin into the stone, it allows for stable working opportunity and it helps to achieve a good shine when polished.
And here is the finished results after stabilization and polishing.
As a Rockhound, one must learn to trust your inner feelings when finding and identifying a piece of unusual material! Here is a classic example that we recently found on our last trip out, the first photo is what the rock looks like on the outside (it was actually dry and dirt covered when I found it), it looked like a big hunk of Basalt with little specks of agate strewn across the surface. Weighing in at around 10 pounds, this was a tough decision, put it in my pack and continue hiking around looking for better materials or pass it up because it really was not promising to look at. I trusted my gut and stuffed it in the pack, I carried this extra 10 pounds around for the rest of the day since I was nowhere near my truck to unload it.
After a great adventure in the Central Oregon high desert, we made it back with a bounty of new materials to work with including a big hunk of curious Basalt, low and behold, after the first cut on the saw, I was utterly astonished at what I had found, it turns out to be an incredible piece of colorful, dendritic moss agate that looks nothing like what we expected to see once it had been opened up!
So this is why you study hard, learn as much as you possibly can and have faith in your instincts when the natural world reaches out and gives you a great big hug. Mother Nature has a lot of hidden treasures just waiting to be discovered, get out there and see it for yourself!
Cheers, Tut
This is one of the finest specimens of Morrisonite Jasper ever mined! A very rare material, Morrisonite is no longer being mined and material of this quality has not been dug since the late 70’s.
From time to time I am just astonished at what I find when cutting rock! This is a red and orange moss Agate with a layer of bright orange Opal inside. This is old stock material from an old rockhound estate near Idaho/Oregon border.
