The post Dyeing Agates – Who wants to dye some agates? appeared first on Where to Find Rocks.
]]>Dyeing of Agates Explained Here!
We will explain to you the process of dyeing agates, how to prepare them and how to dye them, with chemicals and tints.
Dyeing Agates
To start, the word agate will be used interchangeably with the word “chalcedony”, as they are the same thing. A suggestion is to place a piece of material to be dyed into a solution of Potassium Chromate
overnight. If the stone is yellow in the morning, dyeing will be easy to accomplish.
Processing
First, ensure that the material has been cleaned, to remove any debris, and of course, best, to have already slabbed, cabbed, or polished the stone to be dyed. The oils must be removed from the stone entirely, which can be done as such. Bring to boil the agate in a strong solution of water and sodium carbonate.
Allow this to cool and remove the agate and place in a pot of clean water and heat to a near boil, then cool, which should remove the traces of sodium carbonate. Then, place the agate into cool concentrated nitric acid,
which will remove any iron compounds. Heat this material for 24-48 hours, bring to a near boil for several hours at the very end of the cycle, then after cooling, wash and heat to a boil the agate in a clean water bath three or four times, at which point you will have the most professionally prepared agate ready for dyeing.
How to Dye Agates Red
To dye agates red, the solution is as follows.
Place 1/4 pound of iron filings
into 1 lb of concentrated nitric acid. The resulting fumes are going to be a corrosive, poisonous brown fume, so this mixture must be done outside or under a lab hood. This stuff will bubble and heat up, allow to cool for 24 hours, then decant the clear liquid into another container. This is iron nitrate, the liquid needed for the next step.
Place the cleaned, prepared slabs into the liquid iron nitrate produced from the last step and allow to soak for between 1 to 4 weeks, depending on thickness. 1/8′ needs a week, 1/4″ needs 3 weeks and 3/8″ needs 4 weeks to dye. Remove the agate, wipe them dry and place into an oven to gradually heat. Bring the material up to 365 degrees and heat for 3-5 hours. At this point, it is time to soak the agates in the iron nitrate for an equal amount of time, repeating the drying step after soaking, but for a lot longer, 2-8 days, depending on thickness. This long drying is needed, in a roasting pan
, as the final step is to raise the stones to 450 degrees and the long drying is needed to make sure the stones do not explode when the stones are brought up to that temperature Allow to cool, then, remove from the roasting pan
You should have a deep red colored agate. Note, while lab grade iron nitrate is available, the professional lapidary artisians claim it does not produce the same results.
How to Dye Agates Black
Dissolve 375 grams of sugar into a liter of water, producing a thick liquid similar to honey. Soak the slabs in this solution, heated to slightly above room temperature for 2-3 weeks, adding water to the solution as it is lost from evaporation. Rinse the slabs off and place into a bath of concentrated sulphuric acid
, which you will then warm slowly over an hour until the solution finally reaching 635° F for an hour. Allow the solution to cool, then remove the agate and wash, repeating the process to remove the acid. Soak the slabs in a solution of sodium bicarbonate to neutralize the leftover acid.
How to Dye Agates Blue
Bright blue agates are very desirable, below you can find the recipe for making this material.
Dissolve 250 grams of potassium ferricyanide
into 1 liter of lukewarm water. Place agate into this solution, kept at a lukewarm temperature, for 1 to 2 weeks. After soaking, wash the slabs and place into a solution of lukewarm ferrous sulphate
for 10 days. This solution will cause the compounds within the stones to react and form the bright blue color that people known and recognize.
How to Dye Agates Green
Take 620 grams of chromium trioxide
in 1 liter of water and place agates into the solution for 2 weeks, or longer if material is thick. Remove the material, rinse and place in a sealed container with ammonium carbonate,
to sit for 2 weeks. After this time remove the slabs from that container, place into a roasting pan
and place in an oven to “fire” the agate, bringing the oven up to 500 degrees for a few hours.
How to Dye Agates Yellow
Soak the agate in a concentrated solution of Potassium Chromate,
then wash and dry, which should give you a nice yellow tone.
And with this, our limits of dyeing knowledge are capped. All of these procedures should be done under a lab hood or outside. MSDS sheets should be reviewed before working with any chemicals and proper lab equipment, including safety glasses, gloves and proper eye wash stations, anti-acid creams and clean up kits available.
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]]>The post Green Stuff in Vermont! Colorful Chrysoprase Agate appeared first on Where to Find Rocks.
]]>by Jeremy Zolan
Outcrops around the town of Newfane have long been known for interesting samples of bright green chalcedony colored by nickel. This popular and beautiful semiprecious stone is known as chrysoprase. The majority of chrysoprase is mined from commercial lapidary rough mines in Australia, but fine examples of the material are also known from Poland, Albania, Kazakhstan, Tanzania, and Oregon. It is a relatively rare stone worldwide so having an opportunity to find it is certainly unique. In addition to chrysoprase, a variety of other beautiful material can be obtained at this site such as jasper, serpentine, and small quartz crystals. The rare hydrated nickel silicate garnierite has also been found here.
Chrysoprase forms from oxidized nickel impurities imparting a green color to the material. The source of this nickel is from rocks geologists call ultramafic. These ultramafic rocks were metamorphosed to form the serpentinite at the deposit. These rocks are from very deep in the earth and have a chemistry that differs quite a bit from other igneous rocks. Often these ultramafic rocks are very rich in magnesium, calcium, and iron. They are also frequently poor in silica and rich in elements like chromium and nickel. When these rocks are exposed to water as well as a tiny amount of heat ad pressure, they break down and form serpentinite. The metals leach into silica and other minerals giving them their color.
Collecting-
Most of the collecting at this site will be done in the stream, stream banks, or riverside outcrops. Collecting involves getting into the stream bank and flipping over rocks. You might want to bring a shovel or hand rake to remove material from the stream bottom. Inspect material carefully for anything interesting and keep an eye out for anything with a bright green color. Place anything you want to keep in a sturdy bucket. Heavy waterproof boots or waders are a must in colder months. When it’s warmer wear some waterproof shoes to protect your feet from the rough bottom. Bring a hammer and chisel in care you want to break open anything you find to inspect it further.
Directions-
Navigate to South Newfane and look for a bridge that crosses Adam’s Brook. It should be very close to the center of the small town. Find a safe place to park and enter the brook. Search material in the brook for minerals. There are serpentine boulders present. Nearby there are several outcrops near roadcuts along the brook that can also be dug for similar material. Always keep an eye out for a bright flash of green color.
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]]>The post Rockhound Barstow – Collect Agates, Onyx, Dioptase, Celestite and more in this Mojave Desert Town appeared first on Where to Find Rocks.
]]>UPDATED 3rd Edition Released August 2020 – Get it now direct on a PayPal link, or check it out on Amazon, eBay and Etsy
The Mojave desert is a mineralogically rich area. One small town of less than 30,000 people serves as a great jumping off point for dozens of fantastic collecting sites. Many of these locations are Southern California classics, found in field guides dating to the early 1940’s and surprisingly, still producing to this day. The Cady Mountains are an endless source of material. You can be sure that enough time spent in the loving folds of the Cady mountains will reveal some mind blowing treasures to the lapidarist.
Just a few miles outside of Barstow you hit the Calico Mountains with a vast silver district, an amazing series of borate deposits, celestite for days, tons and tons of fine selenite and ample supplies of petrified palm root just pouring out of the hills…and silver lace onyx and calcite concretions that can have celestite and quartz replaced spiders and flies inside! That is just the things you can find in a small mountain range just four miles north of highway 15!
One of the reasons Barstow is such a great starting point for rockhounding in this area is the prime location. Just 2 hours north-east of Los Angeles and 2 hours south-west of Las Vegas, this town has most everything you need for traveling in this area. Gas, groceries, hotels, restaurants, even the Diamond Pacific Rock Shop, attached to the Diamond Pacific Lapidary Equipment factory. Emergency services, like tire and vehicle repair can be found in Barstow so that even in the worst of conditions, there is somewhere “local” to take care of any problems. Convenience is what Barstow provides and there is no reason why that is not a good thing!
Who better to write and produce this Barstow rockhound field guide than the field trip leaders, Justin and Brandy Zzyzx – locals to the area and avid rockhounds, each of the locations in Rockhounding Barstow have been visited by Justin and Brandy. Justin wrote the text and Brandy designed the maps, as you can see in the sample below.
Many of the locations have been written about before, while some of them are being published in this field guide for the very first time. One of the locations that is very exciting is the North Cady Mountain collecting, including the Top Notch claim, prospected by Bill Depue and John Pickett, of Diamond Pacific. This spot has been producing some really lovely material, bright red, golden siderite, fortification and banding of clear and lavender agate. Oh, a day collecting here just can not be beat! You are going to get directions to this very spot and over 30 more locations, just waiting for you to come visit.
Another interesting feature is the interactive rockhound map provided in the guide. Simply type in the website address and on your phone google maps will open up and you’ll be provided with a pinpointed map featuring all the locations in the book PLUS additional locations, each of them showing you EXACTLY where to collect. Most of the locations in the books will have cell phone service, allowing you to use the interactive google map as a guided satellite directly to the collecting location. Truly a first in terms of mineral collecting field guides!
By now I’m sure you are chomping at the bit to find out how to get your copy of this booklet. This digest sized field guide, with a color cover, color photographs of what you can expect to find, over 20 collecting locations, all this can be yours for $14.99 plus shipping and handling! That’s right, just $14.99 plus shipping gets you a fountain of information, right at your fingertips!
Simply use PayPal to order directly by Credit Card or your PayPal account or purchase a copy from Amazon, Etsy or eBay.
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]]>The post Petrified Wood Near Colorado Springs – Pairing Old Information with New technology! appeared first on Where to Find Rocks.
]]>Many things have changed since this article was printed, nearly 50 years later. Instead of the turn being the “Skelly Station”, we can see the map is pointing to “Peyton Highway”, which runs north to go over a mountain pass and turns hard left (west) on “County Road 74/82”, which parallels the wash that is talked about in the article. I do not think there is any need to stop at the farmhouse listed in the article to ask for permission, as the ranch land gave way many years ago to the need for housing, as the populations in nearby Denver and Colorado Springs swelled, so did the growth out into the nearby countryside. 50 years ago there were just cows and a couple windmills, now there are hundreds of houses dotting the landscape. The issue is that the property in Colorado has two things going against it – Waterways can be included in property lines and property does not have to be POSTED to give first refusal to entry, as in most states in America.
As we searched google for information on this location, the terms “Peyton Petrified Wood” were coming up nearly blank. We did find an entry for it on Mindat.org, but it did not show anything directly from this location. Additionally, PeaktoPeak, a well known website for Colorado collecting, has a bit about petrified wood from that general area. Digging through field guides to Colorado, we could not find this location listed, could it have been one of the locations that simply slipped through an information hole, getting a two page article and then just…relegated to maybe popping up in a mention in a local club newsletter. It IS possible to contact the property owner, Tim Richardson, at timothy.k.richardson@gmail.com for guided tours of the petrified wood deposits.
Researching where rocks are found is necessary and interesting – don’t neglect to inspect old magazines and field guides from 40, 50, 60 years ago. You never know when a good location has simply fallen through the cracks and is waiting for you to find it and come explore! You’ll find that property ownership has changed over the years, however, don’t neglect to contact current property owners about that old information – many people are excited to find colorful rocks and minerals and are surprised they are underfoot.
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]]>The post Rock Hounding for Agates in SouthWest Texas appeared first on Where to Find Rocks.
]]>Above: Banded Agate from the Alpine Texas area
After rock hounding in Texas with a guide as amazing as Frank Roberts of Austin, Texas, Dawn and I felt ready to go it alone. Also, we begged Frank to come if we got lost or could not identify what we were seeing, and he emailed us all weekend to be sure we were safe. Like I said, we “went it alone”, with Frank on stand-by. We grabbed a copy of The Gem Trails of Texas by Brad Lee Cross and decided to head out.
Above: Classic Agate from the Alpine Texas area
I called Paul at Moonlight Gemstone, of Marfa, TX, (432-729-4526) Bruce Huff, of Katy Rock Shop has a great respect for his beautiful work as do I, and I could not wait to see it for myself, and meet him. The Marfa agate is breathtaking. Paul Graybeal has exclusive rights to the private property in which most of Marfa agate is found. He explained that access to for us to do some hounding would not be possible. He keeps names or locations of land owners who place trust in him to protect their land from sought after agate to himself. It is easy to see why he protects the agate he does. It should be protected, and the land owners have the right to feel their trust has been in no way misplaced. Instead, he invited us to come see him work! This was an incredible offer that I was not about to miss! Paul is thoughtful, generous, patient and kind. I was as impressed by the man, as I was by the work he did, and the agate that surrounded us. Spending the afternoon watching him work, letting us work with him, learn from him, was and experience I will not forget.
Above: FIRE AGATE from the Alpine Texas area
We couldn’t wait to get to Woodward Ranch (WoodwardRanch.com) famous for the beautiful red plume agate only found there. There is so much more to find at the ranch! The Labradorite is a clear yellow! Opals that are gorgeous, and what she calls “yard art” is some of the most beautiful I have seen. (Yard art … no charge!) $6.00 a person, you are given a detailed map, a quick learner’s course, and shoos you before it gets too hot! When you return she counts it out, $6.00 a lb. for agate. We each left paying 18 dollars, 2 lbs. of agate, and many more lbs. of “yard art” so beautiful I am thrilled to have found it. A few items I collected from this trip are on my website. She was a delightful woman who spoke of her late husband Trey in a way that made you want to sit all day and talk to her. I, like so many others, are so grateful that Woodward Ranch is still operating and allowing others to see the wonder it has to offer.
Terri Smith of Alpine, TX, emailed to explain that she will set up Agate “Hunts” for you, a group, or family, in the fall. THE FALL when it’s….cooler? Terri is the logical one here. And so we will go back in the fall and go to the Ranches able to be hounded at that time on the tours given. The email was very nice and suggested that we try the book I had bought for the journey. I was grateful for the advice, and that I had picked the right book! I have heard only great things about Terri and her extensive knowledge of the area and experience.
“The Gem Trails of Texas Book” by Brad Lee Cross, was for our purposes to the mile, correct and accurate in its description of findings, and location. We found beautiful Jasper at the picnic table Jasper sight 8 miles from Marathon. Exactly as the book said. Amazon is one seller that carries the Gem Trails Series.
Above: Iron Rich Agate Geode from the Alpine Texas area
The West Texas Agate was a trip we will never forget, filled with beautiful surprises showing in each piece you see from that area. While visiting the Katy Rock Shop, you will see pieces from all over Needle Peak, Woodward, Marfa, and so much more and it is all there waiting to show you the beauty of West Texas.
Please find links to Katy Rock Shop, Terri Smith, Moonlight Gemstone, Woodward Ranch, Frank Roberts, and more at my website www.treeclimbersjewelry.com. Pieces I collected during this trip are displayed on the site as well.
Above: Iron Rich Carnelian Agate from the Alpine Texas area
Here at WhereToFindRocks.com we love using Hotels.com to find places to stay while out rockhounding!
And you never know when that hole in the ground is going to require working after hours on, so with Hotels.com,
No hotels.com Change or Cancel fees on lodging bookings!
So, find a hotel around Marfa, Texas or Alpine Texas and get out and collect some Agates!
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]]>The post Agate Collecting in Colorado – Wolf Creek Pass Zeolites appeared first on Where to Find Rocks.
]]>If you enjoyed this article, it was originally printed in The-Vug.com Magazine, which was released as a hardcover coffee table book, collecting all 16 issues of the original magazine. It is 324 pages, hardcover and full color, available directly from the publisher at FortySevenPress.com For $34.95, it is full of great photos, articles, collecting locations and more! Get your copy to add to your mineral book library!
The post Agate Collecting in Colorado – Wolf Creek Pass Zeolites appeared first on Where to Find Rocks.
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