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[wampidy]

Please

Very old surface rock? This stone has agate qualities "translucent in spots", "white tips", "hard",

This stone has non agate qualities "white looks melted on", "break not shiny", "strange exterior pattern",

The first black agate I found here looks like this.



I found this stone a few years ago and never cut it because it looks like snow capped mountains.




I decided to cut the bottom off to make it flat so I could use it for a mountain looking stone in a sand garden and noticed this pattern.




I chipped a small piece off the bottom and the chip looks like basalt or something. But the bluish areas are clear and there is clear/white around the small hole.



For some reason the last photo is a bit brown which is not right.

The white tips are as hard as the rest of the stone but in some places it looks like it is melted on. Could be just the pattern in the stone before it turned white. I find a basalt looking stone that has turned white like an agate does but never anything with the strange patterns or the white looking like it is melted on wax or something.

A bit of a shot in the dark here because this area of Wyoming has a lot of rock that nobody recognizes but I am hoping someone will recognize the patterns. If nobody knows then the old saying goes, CUT IT.
Jim

[lithicbeads]

When you have lots of metamorphic rock as you do you often get rocks that stump geologists. They can test for the minerals in the rock but the combination of  constituents and their relative proportions often defy categorization.

[wampidy]

Well Frank, if you do not recognize a mineral pattern here it must be time to cut the bottom off and move on with my life. Thanks for your time.
Jim

[drnihili]

That agate is gorgeous.

On the other, I would go ahead and take the thinnest slice of the bottom you can.  If it's boring, you have a mountain.  If it's interesting, you can decide to slab it or polish a face for display.  The question in my mind is whether the pattern on the outside corresponds to color patterns on the inside.  It might, but it also might be due to factors that won't show up. 

[Enchantra]

That agate is gorgeous.

On the other, I would go ahead and take the thinnest slice of the bottom you can.  If it's boring, you have a mountain.  If it's interesting, you can decide to slab it or polish a face for display.  The question in my mind is whether the pattern on the outside corresponds to color patterns on the inside.  It might, but it also might be due to factors that won't show up. 

I agree on both counts.   

[ToTheSummit]

I'm a serial cutter...nothing is safe in my shop.    I say cut it! 

[ScarlettOSara]

LOLOL I love reading the comments:) Cut it...