Value of these lapidary rocks?

megatron

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Dec 2, 2013
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Hello. I have located an area that has pieces of things like petrified wood/agate, jasper, chalcedony, picasso marble and apache gold. Would these have any value as rough, cut into slabs or processed somehow? The pieces are broken up into pieces that are about 1-5 lbs with some larger rocks weighing 20-30 lbs.

Would this combination of rock point to other things worth looking out for?

Some have said that the apache gold could have some gold content and might be worth crushing - please tell me your thoughts on gathering and processing these kinds of rocks.
 

gunsil

Silver Member
Dec 27, 2012
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lower hudson valley, N.Y.
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Go to ebay, look under "rough for cabbing" in "gems and minerals". There you will see a lot of stuff like you have found for sale and you'll get an idea of the desirability of what you have. Don't just look at the asking prices, look under "sold items". Value has a lot to do with color, much wood isn't worth much but the very colorful stuff is. Also it's not worth much if there are cracks or internal fracture lines. In general, slabs sell for more than plain rough as the buyer can see exactly what they are getting. A good slab saw will cost you $2-5,000 new if you need to slab rocks 6-7" across. I make cabochons, have some pretty big saws, (up to 18"), and buy some rough and some slabs for my work. Not looking for any right now, as I have enough material to last me more than a year. Good luck at it!!
 

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