🔎 UNIDENTIFIED Washington blues

[LadyBall]

3rd most rarest rock in the world came from a meteor that was in a ice glacier that melted in one place that's Washington state.

 

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[Clay Diggins]

Pretty stones but not a meteorite.

That is blue agate. Although all rocks were once part of a meteorite, as is the whole earth, what you have there is not a meteorite. It looks like Ellensburg blue agate from Kittitas county Washington.

 

[unclemac]

from the web...
The Ellensburg Blue is one of the rarest gems in the world. Also referred to as “E-blue”, the Ellensburg Blue Agates are the third-rarest gemstones in the world. They are composed of layers of blue chalcedony. The formation of these beautiful Ellensburg Blue geodes dates back to millions of years ago. What is unique about this gem, is their beautiful blue sky color. Many believe that they got the color flowing through lave beds in the Kittitas Valley, where you can also find arrowheads, a million years ago, which made light blue agate beds. Researchers also believe that the blue color comes from refracted light from tiny particles in the stone, which is similar to why the sky is blue itself. Unfortunately, this precious gem is limited in quantity and can only be found in certain locales.

most of the area is private land too... I know a fellow with an E-burg blue projectile point, gem grade blue and it is worth thousands....

 

[Clay Diggins]

Third rarest gem in the world is more than a stretch. I could name several hundred gems that are rarer than Ellensburg agate. It is often beautiful, it's rare and it's valuable for a semi precious stone. There really isn't any need for the hyperbole.

 

[unclemac]

i think perhaps they are referring to gem quality blue. That stuff is pretty amazing and very hard to polish evidently

 

[gunsil]

Plenty of nice blue agate coming out of Turkey these days. The Ellensburg deposit has nice material but I agree it's not the third rarest stone by a long shot. Some good blue agate coming from Africa too these days. That web quote must have been written by a Washington rock hound. Don't get me wrong, I like and have used Ellensburg but in the last year I have gotten some African blue agate that makes nicer cabochons and jewelry.

 

[Clay Diggins]

I think the original quote was "Ellensburg Blue is the third rarest Agate in the World." The statement was made by the mining association that owns one of the Ellensburg claims, The Washington Prospectors Mining Association. You can see the quote and more about their Ellensburg property on their front page. I have no association with the group but I wanted to share the quote source.

The best of Ellensburg is very nice. I don't think I've ever seen quite that color in another agate. There are some very nice chalcedony varieties in the world, some more valuable than Ellensburg. I have a piece of slabbed top grade clean clear Tulare Chrysoprase on my desk that would bring two or three times the price of the Ellensburg. The chalcedony market is huge and varied, generally agates are not the most valuable variety of chalcedony unless they have a unique color and a large enough deposit to maintain sales long enough to achieve recognition and create a sustainable market but not so large as to make the stone seem common. Ellensburg fits this model well.

Some of the African blue agates I've seen are very beautiful and clean. I'm not familiar with the Turkish material but I don't follow agate material all that closely. Maybe I'll search out some in Quartzsite this year. For the money I would probably choose the African material I've seen over the Ellensburg for cabbing or carving.

 

[unclemac]

like I said.... gem quality, not for cabbing... high end stuff is VERY pricey.

this guy ... https://jchapahernandez.com/

You have to see his stuff in person, especially the chunks of rough he has

 

[gunsil]

AARRGGHHHH, I sure wish I were in Quartzite!! I have only been once about five years ago. It was almost a 2500 mile drive one way for me but I love rock shows and rocks and the Quartzite meet is fantastic. I've never been to the Tuscon show, would love to see that too but I chose Quartzite since I prefer to use stones I cut and polish to those done by others and Quartzite is better for rough material.

 

[unclemac]

My family used to go winter in Quartzite for 30 years, they even owned stick houses there and not just trailers. If you are a rock guy you have to go!

 

[galenrog]

The appearance is similar to dozens of blue and bluish agates I have seen and worked with. Ellensburg? Could be, but I would not swear to it based only on photos.

In Washington, there are about a dozen other areas that have similar blues and lavenders, but with lower quality.

Time for more coffee.

 

[opalboy]

Agate is pretty easy to polish! Now orientation is a different thing.