Is this some kind of jasper?

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Lefty

Lefty

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Rock was picked up on the bank of the Fitzroy river, west of Rockhampton, central QLD. It turned out to be badly cracked but I have a few other bits, one about twice the size of a man's fist. It is lying about here and there on the gravel banks along with agate and petrified wood. It looks a bit like the piece of "Gympieite" that was given to me when I joined the club in April. Gympieite is apparently a kind of jasper. Most chunks just look to be straight green but a few are splashed with blue and maroon like this one.

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That would be leverite, leave it right where you found it. ITs cracked and ugly and the stone not good either. Too much diggin
 
Well Lefty, I like it,...As a stone it has to have a history of some sort, I can see why you picked it up, it certainly has a charm about it, and I know that if I saw it lying there I would need to have a look at it and feel it as well, certainly has a nice smooth look to it regardless of the cracks, looks like it would have a waxy type feel(maybe).
 
Cheers Silver and Richard. Ran a few bits through the saw this evening. Two different shades, blue-green and a definate green. Couldn't find any more with maroon or blue but I think there are some buried in the drum there somewhere. Lots of cracks but I think there will be some big enough bits without cracks. I've seen chunks there probably as big as a tissue box but only ever picked up a few smaller bits.

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While the bit I cabbed might have been leverite, I did it to get an idea of what any un-cracked stuff might look like polished. Maybe the photo doesn't show it but it actually polishes up quite well. No digging necessary, the river has done all the work. Seems to be enough of it lying around up there, I'll keep my eye out for some minimally cracked bits next time I'm up there :)
 
Definitely looks metamorphic in nature,...Australia used to be flooded under oceans of water in some places,and then with all that volcanic east coast activity,....who knows maybe its old coral that's been transformed into a type of marble(only guessing though),...just keeps getting better and better Lefty,... is that a cleavage plane at all on the left side of the top middle piece ?
 
Not too sure Silver - doesn't seem to have cleavage, I think most of it is just badly cracked. But definately, there will be some decent un-cracked bits somewhere.

Could well be metamorphic I guess, the area it came from is dotted with old volcanic plugs. Mount Hay - once a well-known source of thundereggs, not so many big ones left there these days apparently - is a relatively short distance away.

I used to go there looking for carnelian and it only recently struck me just how much stuff is lying there in the gravel that I had been missing because I was fixated on one thing. It is a mass of petrified wood and agatey-type materials, who knows what else I've just been walking over?

Actually, the area is about the closest point to the coast that is identified as being potentially precious opal bearing. Not that I've ever found any.

But I have a bit of stuff from there that I'm pretty certain is fossilized coral.
 
One of the nicest bits of woodwork I ever saw was at a gem show once where someone had made two small wine glasses/shot glasses from petrified wood, that has stuck in my mind for many years as it was amazing to me that someone would think to do wood carving type style on stone(they looked nice too). And yes it is amazing what you can overlook while searching,...even with trained eyes for one thing and not realising what the other ones are(geologically speaking) that are all around you.my family all have our eye in for agate as Mrs Silver was trained from childhood to be able to seek out that particular type of rock by her father and mother,... and all our kids have their eyes in already.
 
Will have to add the Fitzroy R as a future place for a day trip.

I know what you mean about training your eyes to look for a certain material.
It's taken me a while to recognize the moss Agate from Windera,the outside look nothing like what they do on the inside.

Going to cut some more at the club tomorrow.Will try to get some before and after photo's.
 
Hi!!
I got very excited when I accidentally found this post and saw your photos.
I believe I have this exact same rock but I found mine in NSW.
Do you still have this material? Did you figure out exactly what it is?

I will post some photos of mine. I haven't cut mine but am hoping to over Easter to see the inside.

I'm hoping you are still around to reply :)
 
Awesome :D

I'll wait until after the weekend when I've cut them (hopefully - dad reckons he can so fingers crossed!) and post uncut and cut photos. I think I need to get my post numbers up to put photos up first anyway don't I?

So excited to find someone with (hopefully) the same rock!
 
Have a look and a comment here n there on the forum.... wherever something sparks your interest.... that'll get your post count up tamelean. :Y:
 
Tamelean said:
Hi!!
I got very excited when I accidentally found this post and saw your photos.
I believe I have this exact same rock but I found mine in NSW.
Do you still have this material? Did you figure out exactly what it is?

I will post some photos of mine. I haven't cut mine but am hoping to over Easter to see the inside.

I'm hoping you are still around to reply :)
Click to expand...

Hi Tamelean - still around, just get busy these days cutting rocks :D

I never found out for certain what it was but I believe it's some type of jasper. It's reasonably hard and takes on a good polish. Did you find yours in an area of volcanic geology?
 

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