Lapidaryforum.net
Let's Rock => Identifications of Materials => Topic started by: 55fossil on October 27, 2021, 09:16:30 AM
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Beautiful dendritic jasper. This material is super soft, almost like cutting chalk. Just wondered if this is a variety of Sonora jasper or something else. Picture of two cabochons I cut.
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Beautiful colors and material, too bad about the softness and great job working with something that soft. Stating the obvious, but if it is that soft it wouldn't be jasper.
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As in might it be a form of dendritic opal. Awfully brown to be the types of opal that I expect dendritic patterns in but . . . what do I know.?
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It could be a form of rhyolite, or it could be common opal, but my first guess would be dolomite.
If you are comfortable handling chemicals, try a small amount of hydrochloric acid. Or dry grind on sandpaper to collect powder, then stir it into a small volume of cleaning vinegar (10%) in the bottom of a shot glass.
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Definitely not a "jasper" as we know. It is too pretty to toss out but nothing I would buy on purpose. Thanks for the input.
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If you have any rough left, it'd be interesting to see a picture here. Seeing a fractured surface would help us guess between opal and rhyolite or dolomite.
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Sorry, no rough or even slabs left.. that I know of. I am just dif=gging through buckets and boxes of old material looking for the Prettys' to cut into cabs.