Small Treasures

Jasper Patterns, Owyhee country

OK, OK, I've been pushing the Owyhee jasper a lot lately on this blog. The truth is, that's about the only rockhounding I've had time for lately, and most of it has been just going through the pile of material I brought back from my last trip. I've been cutting a lot of pieces on my Lortone 10" saw, with mixed results as I've mentioned before. Sometimes there is great stuff, and sometimes there is just another wasted hour of saw-time.

These never saw the saw: they were fragments of a rock I broke open to see what it was made of. I knew right away it was something special, but it was not big enough to slab. So I opted to toss them in the tumbler - and both came out smooth and lovely, with handsome patterns on all sides. (Both have a lot of blue on at least one face.)

Anyhow, nice stuff...of unknown provenance. I suppose I could keep better records when I am in the field, i.e. get a GPS plot of every piece I pick up - but hey. I'd rather be looking for rocks than bending over my laptop. Anytime.

I will be traveling for the next few weeks, so probably not posting. Maybe I'll bring something interesting home.

Hidden Universe

Exterior : Raw and Colorless

Interior : A  Hidden World of Blue

Most of the well-known Owyhee jaspers come out of named sites, with private claims and - typically - heavy equipment. I follow the low-rent strategy, searching for intriguing rocks in canyons and gravel bars.  The challenge is that most of the things I find don't look like much. As I have pointed out several times in previous posts, it often takes a rock saw to show what's hidden inside.

This is a perfect example. The upper picture is of a rock I collected somewhere in the Owyhee area (I didn't keep track). Like many of the jasper fragments I've found it is covered with an orange weathering crust that reveals very little of the rock's internal structure.

The rock saw, however, revealed a blue universe inside the rock that I would never have suspected, full of color and crazy patterns: a real surprise.