Treasure Hunting For Fire Agates
Fire Agates is a layered stone that is formed then water that is saturated with colloida silica and iron oxide enters a cavity in a rock and the mineral in the water starts do form new rock. When cutting, the stones layers are ground or polished off following the natural contours of the stone until the desired colored is all that is left. Grind off one to many layers and the stone is ruined. Searching for fire agates is considered hard rock mining. The agates are usually found embedded in layers of dense limonite and rhyolite rock. Removing these gemstones from the underling bedrock without breaking the gemstones takes time and experience. Tools required will consist of several different sizes of chisels, a screwdriver, a stiff bristle paint brush, a heavy hammer, goggles and a spray bottle to clean your specimens. After you have found a suitable claim site brush of the area with the paint brush. This will reveal the gemstones embedded in the bedrock. Very carefully chip around the gem with the chisel. Chip to close and the gem will break into pieces, this is where the experience will show. If you are lucky you will find an seam or even a pocket full of agates. Size and shape of the gemstones has created its own language to describe them. Flowers, dog-tooth crystals and castles are just a few of the names applied to them. Dog-tooth usually is applied to the gemstones that grow from the sides of the pockets and the castles grow from the bottom. Pockets can range from orange to football in size. The Opal Hill Fire Agate Mine is the only mine that I know of that allows the public to mine for fire agates. It is located in the the Mule Mountains not far from Palo Verde California. Normally when you think of a mine you think of a long tunnel you have to traverse deep into Read More This Post ...
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