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[victor1941]

These are handmade cabs made from material acquired about 45 years ago. I'm trying to figure out where it was mined and what the material is.

[Sapphireminer]

Hi Victor you have some very interesting colour combinations in those cabs and very nice work with the cabbing of them .Dave

[lithicbeads]

Nice !

[Kaljaia]

Can't help with the material but whoever put that set together had an eye for a very nice color scheme.

[gemfeller]

I have some somewhat similar material and what follows is based on a fair amount of research.  First, I think "variquoise" is a misnomer for webbed variscite found near Snowville, UT.  The term is used but it lacks any scientific basis.

My Nevada material was mined in the 1970s by a mineralogist friend.  At first he called it variscite but later said he'd learned it's actually chalcosiderite.  This link explains more than I can off the top of my head:  https://www.durangosilver.com/blog/chalcosiderite/

Most sellers will probably call it variscite for a simple reason: it's a much more "sellable" name than chalcosiderite.  Here's an image typical of my material:

DCab 195.jpg (117.98 kB . 402x446 - viewed 219 times)
This is Snowville material:

DCab 194.jpg (108.51 kB . 402x476 - viewed 198 times)

[victor1941]

Gemfeller, thanks for your reply.  I think most of my material shows characteristics very much like your first cab. The outside surface was chalky and had to be cut or ground down to see the interior but was hard on the inside. The colors varied considerably but most exhibited a spiderweb pattern. Durango Silver is where most of this material seemed to match when I  searched a few years ago but figured some collectors might have a large collection because of it's attractiveness and easily identify it for me.

[gemfeller]

Separating webbed variscite, chalcosiderite and turquoise is difficult without special testing.  They're very similar in composition but the color depends on the amounts of zinc, iron and copper present as feed minerals when they're formed. 

Here's another link that may be helpful:  https://www.garlandsjewelry.com/blogs/news/the-turquoise-mineral-group-whats-the-difference-between-turquoise-variscite-chalcosiderite-and-faustite

[victor1941]

Gemfeller, thanks for the help in getting a better understanding of the complexity of this material.