Here are some photos of cabs. I don't profess to be an expert on stone. Some cabs I like may not be the top grade, I just know I like them. Like they say at an art show, I just know what I like. Here is what I like.
I looked around to see where the cabs are on the net. I saw some on Ebay for about $1 a ct in 100 CT parcels. Most of it seems to be on etsy, price varies from .20 a CT to maybe $2. There appear to be some pendant on the net, some are not bumble bee Jasper. I think China will soon come up with an answer with this kind of stone by dying Agate and injecting it into the stone to make kind of a painting. That would be my guess. I have a friend that seems to know about this stone, I can ask him any questions. At this time, it is supposed to be mined out. There should be some rough at Tuson this year, but not much of it. You will also see beads from China, but not nice ones. They have a lot of the outside material that has no color. Chinese will put a little color and a lot of bland stone into their beads. If anything good does come out of China, it may be at Shanghi Jade that will produce it. They have very nice cut stones and do shows. I could never afford what they sell but I can appreciate it.
The Saga continues..... According to sources I met at Madras this year, this material definitely contains arsenic sulphide. Its bound in the silica so should be relatively safe to work. Mask up with a P-100 filter. (though that is standard practice for all cutting at the cabby shack on this end.) But both arguments make sense, and at this point I am going to try and contact a university geology department for a definitive answer.
This material is astonishingly beautiful. It is neither a jasper nor an agate, both of which are chalcedony with mineral impurities. Chalcedony has hardness 7. This material is about 4 in hardness. My opinion is that it is a banded calcite, that many folks erroneously refer to as "onyx".
I have had three samples of rough assayed and they contain from 1.8% to 4.6% arsenic by weight. So, my 25 lbs of rough might have as much as 1 pound of arsenic in it. I have been working with this material and I am not dead...in fact, I had myself tested for arsenic with negative results. I did this because I was covered in wet dust from this stuff for two days. I was using respiratory protection, but I will be taking more serious precautions in the future.
Since its a volcanic mineral deposition, I wouldnt rule out opal either, as at least part of the mix, but the crystalline material does indeed act like calcite on the wheel. Thanks for the arsenic test. I am still trying to get it done by the local university. While it is quite pretty, I am not as thrilled to work it as I was.
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