Post by 88pathoffroad on Feb 4, 2010 23:25:27 GMT -5
Toad: Cool, it's all good.
elementary: Thanks, and I just killed my camera in early January by accidentally taking a picture of the sun...*sigh* So no more pics, sorry. I do have more of the purple ready for 220 grit, but I'm waiting to save up for a UV-10 to run/finish those with cuz I don't want any of them fractured or broken after seeing what the 60-90 stage did to some of them in my 15-lb rotary.
The Calapooya agate is all nodular agate, forming in small pebbles from about 1/4" up to perhaps 2" with an average size of perhaps 3/4". In the rough, the nodules appear to be simple green pebbles. The green coating is another mineral, I believe. You have to tumble to remove the green coating and see what you've found.
Many have included calcite or calcite cores. After tumbling, the calcite shimmers like moonstone in the light. Some have pink/violet banding! Most are simply purplish. Some are citrine, with a crystallized core composed of very clean, clear quartz. Some have opaque white banding alternating with the purple.
You can find the agate on the left side of the road at the base of a cliff of crumbly greyish batholith spotted with white calcite nodules on Upper Calapooya Drive, located on a curve above the river at approx milepost 7 after the road goes from paved to gravel. There is very limited space for parking at this location, two or three cars max. The road is posted on most maps of the area IIRC and it shows up in Google Maps. It begins just outside of Holley, OR and traverses the mountains all the way to Blue River if you can find a road without a gate locking you out. There are still gold mines up there. It's quite a drive and up till last year they were still logging in the area, so watch out for trucks! If anyone else goes, post up results.
elementary: Thanks, and I just killed my camera in early January by accidentally taking a picture of the sun...*sigh* So no more pics, sorry. I do have more of the purple ready for 220 grit, but I'm waiting to save up for a UV-10 to run/finish those with cuz I don't want any of them fractured or broken after seeing what the 60-90 stage did to some of them in my 15-lb rotary.
The Calapooya agate is all nodular agate, forming in small pebbles from about 1/4" up to perhaps 2" with an average size of perhaps 3/4". In the rough, the nodules appear to be simple green pebbles. The green coating is another mineral, I believe. You have to tumble to remove the green coating and see what you've found.
Many have included calcite or calcite cores. After tumbling, the calcite shimmers like moonstone in the light. Some have pink/violet banding! Most are simply purplish. Some are citrine, with a crystallized core composed of very clean, clear quartz. Some have opaque white banding alternating with the purple.
You can find the agate on the left side of the road at the base of a cliff of crumbly greyish batholith spotted with white calcite nodules on Upper Calapooya Drive, located on a curve above the river at approx milepost 7 after the road goes from paved to gravel. There is very limited space for parking at this location, two or three cars max. The road is posted on most maps of the area IIRC and it shows up in Google Maps. It begins just outside of Holley, OR and traverses the mountains all the way to Blue River if you can find a road without a gate locking you out. There are still gold mines up there. It's quite a drive and up till last year they were still logging in the area, so watch out for trucks! If anyone else goes, post up results.