Tommy
Administrator
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,665
|
Post by Tommy on Dec 14, 2013 23:15:43 GMT -5
Another big'un - probably weighs around 15lbs. My first thought was Onyx but after I got it home and started looking at it with the optivisor, areas at the top and middle of the lace pattern are transparent - and all colors of the lace pattern are harder than steel. You can see my steel streaking in the white area of the second photo - I tried hard but couldn't scratch it in any area from top to bottom. Any ideas? I'm thinking it might need to be cut first...
|
|
Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
|
Post by Sabre52 on Dec 14, 2013 23:31:19 GMT -5
Might be Manhatten Mine Lace Agate from Calif. but the colors look a little off on my monitor. My examples have a bit more brown to the lace. If there is any purplish tint at all, it could be Sowbelly Agate from Colorado Both can have similar patterns but differ in color. Sowbelly has fugitive color so the purple fades with exposure to the sun so some examples appear pretty gray instead of amethystine in color....Mel
|
|
Tommy
Administrator
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,665
|
Post by Tommy on Dec 15, 2013 0:24:33 GMT -5
Thanks Mel! "fugitive color" awesome concept - I learn something every time you post It's too large for my 10" saw but I'll try to get a clean cut either at my local rock shop or brother's house and post some updated photos. That would be fun if it were MMLA - I grew up in the bay area and my bride also lived in Napa for the last 15 years - until I joined this board I had never even heard about agate from Napa area.
|
|
Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
|
Post by Sabre52 on Dec 15, 2013 10:08:17 GMT -5
Tommy, I was fortunate enough to get some MMLA from an old timer at the Bakersfield show years ago. Really does look like travertine Onyx until you try to scratch it. Some tends to be vuggy but if you get a solid piece, it is beautiful material. Sad that tons of it were buried in the mine fill never to be seen again....Mel
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2013 17:18:06 GMT -5
a drop of pool acid is diagnostic.
|
|
Tommy
Administrator
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,665
|
Post by Tommy on Dec 16, 2013 23:36:50 GMT -5
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2013 23:38:53 GMT -5
not travertine then.
You will turn it into magic. Your capable hands are transformational.
|
|
gemfeller
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2011
Posts: 3,796
Member is Online
|
Post by gemfeller on Dec 17, 2013 1:10:15 GMT -5
Agate.
Rick
|
|
Tommy
Administrator
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,665
|
Post by Tommy on Dec 17, 2013 9:34:34 GMT -5
I'm just wondering what kind of agate from where. I've been searching the web and through Lowell's agate index pages and I can't find anything that matches it from there. The top portions look a lot like some Prudent Man I have but the bottom sections are completely wrong starting with the pink band down.
|
|
Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
|
Post by Sabre52 on Dec 17, 2013 17:20:01 GMT -5
Wow Tommy, that sure looks like Manhatten Mine Lace Agate. It's fairly variable stuff but those brown lace lines are very common in MMLA. Here's a sawn chunk I have for comparison. I have some slabs around somewhere too that look even more like your example. Definitely not Sowbelly for sure.....Mel MMLA:
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2013 17:22:37 GMT -5
The ORDER of the lines in Mel's matched that of Tommy's specimen. ID solid as far as I am concerned. Similar agates elsewhere? Of course. With the same order of lines? No way.
|
|
Tommy
Administrator
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,665
|
Post by Tommy on Dec 17, 2013 22:29:18 GMT -5
Wow, very cool. I'm kind of speechless to be honest which is rare for me hahaha. I guess this makes up somewhat for the jade flavored serpentine heehee. Thank you guys :-)
|
|
Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
|
Post by Sabre52 on Dec 17, 2013 23:54:34 GMT -5
Tommy, You've made a rare catch there. The entire Manhatten Mine was swallowed up by Homestake's Mc Glaughin gold mine open pit and all was closed down and turned into a preserve in 2002. Finding a chunk of that super rare agate that large these days is like finding treasure. Only shows up in old estate collections and is rarely seen outside of California. There was a lot of geothermal spring action in the silica rich tuffs at that site which probably accounts for the travertine like banding and appearance...Mel
|
|
Tommy
Administrator
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,665
|
Post by Tommy on Dec 18, 2013 0:50:12 GMT -5
Thanks for your help Mel, yes that's exactly what this was - an old collection sale. The lady's father had passed a few years ago and a small pile of large rough was all she had left of his collection and they were tired of moving it.
As a side note, in addition to the 50lb serpentine I posted in the other thread, she also wouldn't sell a 30" log of the most beautiful opalized/agatized wood I've ever seen in person. She didn't even know what it was until I told her :-)
|
|
rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
|
Post by rykk on Dec 19, 2013 3:58:40 GMT -5
Maybe Bacon Lace Agate? Rick
|
|