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[lithicbeads]

It works up much better than jade. It is quite difficult to find down here. It occurs in just a few drainages in western Washington and is scarce on the beaches. The Snake river  at the lower end of Hell's canyon is a well known source and I suspect that may be because it was transported there from B.C. by glaciers.
 You have many more crystals in yours then any I have ever seen and your pieces dwark the average weight down here which is about three pounds. The areas with less crystals has an oddly pleasing swirling structure, interesting rough.Thanks for the pictures , sillimanite for sure and yes it has been called " mutton fat jade " down here for at least 70 years.

[Enchantra]

Jade, Sillimanite or not, I still want some when I come North In December.   

[Enchantra]

I have a cabochon cut by my friend Sheila of Rocfeathers.  She lives in WA.  I'm thinking it might be the same stuff.  She said her's was the tailings at a mine but it looks exactly like your "mutton fat."

[Itsandbits]

Its hard to tell from the picture Amanda but your stone looks more opaque but from what I have seen on the net, it comes in so many forms that It's hard to tell; I COULDN"T FIND ANYTHING EVEN CLOSE TO THE LOOK OF THE ROCK I have but most of the examples do show rock assemblages containing sillimanite as opposed to the one I posted which seems quite pure with very minor impurities. I'm putting together a box I'll ship to your inlaws so you can pick it up at Xmas; just pm me their address sometime.
Now that I know what to look for Frank, I have a rock from another location that I was at a loss to identify but now It is clear what it is too, about 2 lbs. There is a vid on youtube of a BC jade supplier; secretively as to location, showing a 60 lb rock that I suspect is this too and calling it mutton fat jade from the Fraser; where I got my initial id from as he sells to the Chinese and should know better.  Now that I know what to look for, I'm sure I'll find some smaller pieces too but there are some larger rocks that I just can't move as this material is so heavy but I'm hoping the river won't either. :)
The clearer material in the rock does have crystallization in the center of some that would make me tend to not use over 200 grit to rough out a cab again; I USED 100 and was quite aggressive roughing out the 5 minute cab and it shows although I'm going to redo it starting at 320 and see if the crystal areas respond to that.

[Enchantra]

I'm putting together a box I'll ship to your inlaws so you can pick it up at Xmas; just pm me their address sometime.

Woot!
Let me get with my hubby on that.  Married to him almost a year and I still cannot remember his Parents address!   
Let me know what you want for your rock.