BOTSWANA AGATE 3 POUNDS Rough Raw Stones for Tumbling Cabbing Gorgeous Banding for Sale

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BOTSWANA AGATE 3 POUNDS Rough Raw Stones for Tumbling Cabbing Gorgeous Banding For Sale

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BOTSWANA AGATE 3 POUNDS Rough Raw Stones for Tumbling Cabbing Gorgeous Banding:
$55.00

New for Summer of 2024, we have gorgeous 1” to 2 ¼” banded Botswana Agates in 3 pound lots. These stones are very high quality lapidary material. These agates are the perfect size and shape to cut a full face specimen, and most will cut beautiful pairs. They also will cut into beads or small spheres. They have a hardness of 6.5 to 7 on the Mohs Scale and will take a high polish.

Botswana agate is a semiprecious gemstone that is primarily found in mines and quarries throughout Botswana, Africa. The stones are most commonly found in the Bobonong mining district. Botswana Agate is a form of banded chalcedony, a mineral that belongs to the quartz family. It is characterized by its unique and striking banding patterns, which range in colors from earthy browns, grays, and creams to rosy pinks, salmon or pale orange and sometimes even purples and blues, and are the result of the stone forming in layers of volcanic ash. Botswana Agate forms in sedimentary rocks, typically as nodules or geodes within volcanic rock formations. These nodules are spherical to irregular in shape and can range in size from a few centimeters to several inches in diameter. The process of formation involves the slow deposition of silica-rich solutions within cavities or voids in the rock. Impurities and trace minerals present in the silica-rich solutions can contribute to the coloration and patterning of the agate. For example, iron oxides may impart red or brown hues, while manganese can produce pink or purple shades.