spokanetim
has rocks in the head
Member since October 2009
Posts: 656
|
Post by spokanetim on Jan 4, 2010 0:36:58 GMT -5
I've got a place where I can pick this up or break it out from a rock quarry seam. The surrounding rock is basalt. I'm thinking it's common opal but wanted a second opinion. Probably half the stuff will break into pieces but the other half can be cut and cabbed. It's cream white, green, brown, gold, red and amber. Some of it's transparent as well. None of it has any flash but looks good cabbed. The clear reds and ambers might be able to be faceted. Milk white rough and cab red, red, green and gray rough amber end polished Thanks!
|
|
|
Post by Woodyrock on Jan 4, 2010 1:07:30 GMT -5
Tim: It sure looks like you have opal. There is a lot of common opal in your area. One place that has really good cabbing common opal is the diatomaecious pits at George, not so local but worth stopping. The pits are a commercial operation for the diatomaecious earth, and the common opal is both rubbish, and a problem to them. On week ends you can go in a collect all you want, it is left in big piles alongside the pits. You can find any colour you can imagine there including some with fire. The fire is pretty rare but still there to be found. The army green stuff is pretty poor, and will fall apart on you, but I have seen some very nice cabs of the other colours that are years old that have remained stable. The red/pink material is beautiful. So, if you make a trip west on I-90 George is worth the stop, and if you are going to Saddle Mountain, you can actually see the diatom pits from there. Woody
|
|