LarryS
freely admits to licking rocks
SoCal desert rats
Member since August 2010
Posts: 781
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Post by LarryS on May 4, 2012 16:26:29 GMT -5
A sample of jasp-ag we gathered last Saturday in the El Paso Mtns, CA. LarryS
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Post by gr on May 4, 2012 17:34:50 GMT -5
Nice lookin material Larry, I have something similar to what you've found there. I'm curious as to the hardness of your material. It's probably the same as what I have, being a jasp-ag material. This, that I've found is like the az pet wood we find around here. Hard like steel and brittle like glass. Is yours like that? A couple pics for comparison the purple color same material without the purple
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LarryS
freely admits to licking rocks
SoCal desert rats
Member since August 2010
Posts: 781
|
Post by LarryS on May 4, 2012 21:25:03 GMT -5
Hey GR,
This stuff is extremely hard, 7+. Don't know about brittle, about the same as any agate. It was formed inside seams of black or gray ash like yours. Matter of fact, the uglier it is on the outside, the prettier it is on the inside.
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Post by drocknut on May 4, 2012 22:18:55 GMT -5
Lots of interesting patterns in that.
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Post by frane on May 5, 2012 6:03:29 GMT -5
Cool looking material! I am wondering if it is in the flint family? I have seen some with those variations in color. Fran
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Post by gr on May 6, 2012 21:15:24 GMT -5
Fran, I'm kinda leaning toward jasp/ag but, I think flint might be a possiable too. I also have seen flint that looks like this. What do you think Larry?
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Post by paulshiroma on May 6, 2012 23:22:40 GMT -5
Nice slabs, Larry. Haven't had any time to get to the stuff you dropped off back in February ... dying to find a weekend afternoon to cut some rocks! Paul
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LarryS
freely admits to licking rocks
SoCal desert rats
Member since August 2010
Posts: 781
|
Post by LarryS on May 7, 2012 10:05:06 GMT -5
I know of no flint in the CA area. Could be wrong. Lots of jasp-ag. What makes this material unique is not only the colors but the color varieties. We've been to about a dozen Gem Trail sites mentioned in the books. Most CA jasp-ag what I've seen is only 2 colors. This area has 4-5 colors along plus some has golden plume thrown in. All the books still call it jasp-agate. The El Paso mountains is about 20 miles in diameter and has lots of gold/silver mines dating back from the late 1800's. Plus there is a couple precious opal mines they recently shut down because they were located inside a state park. There are huge areas of common opal, whole hills of the stuff. Most of this volcanic area is covered with layers of ash where there is huge seams of agate & jasp-ag all throughout. These seams range in size from a couple feet thick to 50'-100' wide plus. When we find float, there will be a wide seam of that material further up hill. We're finding the best material not even mentioned in the books. They do require a bit of hiking to get to and is probably the reason why there is so much left. We've been to this area 6 times since last December and just scratched the surface. Lots more remote areas to explore and collect. This material looks awesome tumbled. Will show pics next week of the latest batch.
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Post by gr on May 7, 2012 14:50:34 GMT -5
Looking forward to the finished tumbles
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