A WYOMING MYSTERY!

Both polished and unpolished Sweetwater agates found in the
northern Granite Mountains recovered by Wayne Sutherland
 and the GemHunter.

To this day, it is a mystery!

Some years ago, my field assistant and I were driving along the northern edge of the Granite Mountains in central Wyoming, on a poorly used two-track trail that looked as if the last person to use it was Ward Bond with his Wagon Train. Wayne and I had been drinking coffee all morning, and made a pit stop. We climbed out of the off-road truck rented from the University of Wyoming (we were working on a gemstone project for the Wyoming Geological Survey) and decided to water down some sagebrush. I looked down, and saw a Sweetwater agate! 

Wow, as I looked closer, there were more and more and more. But what was so unusual about these gems is that more than half of the treasure had been tumbled in a rock tumbler and dumped here in the middle of no where! I kid you not, Ward Bond had seen better roads than this one. 

Mysterious Agates

The Sweetwater agate is almost a precious stone in Wyoming. It is very popular, so most people don't polish them and throw them out in the middle of nowhere. So, we started wondering whose wife got mad and threw these gems out the window of their 4x4, or from the back of a covered wagon. It is a mystery.

Not to long after we found these, I explored and identified the Cedar Rim opal field, where I found some of the source rocks of Sweetwater agates along the northwestern flank of the Granite Mountains.

What a mystery, but it is just one of many such geology mysteries in Wyoming.

Some of the beautiful agates (and obsidian) found in the northern Granite Mountains of
Wyoming by Wayne and myself.

So, what does the Bible say about Agate??

The Granite Mountains location in central Wyoming

Ezekiel 27:16

Polished Sweetwater agate found on very old
abandoned wagon trail in the Granite Mountains.

Beautiful Sweetwater agate from the
Granite Mountains, found along an abandoned
wagon trail last used by Ward Bond.

 

Quartz, Gold & Silver in Arizona

Hey, I found the original Big Mac in Arizona. However, this one was more interested in eating me.

Prospecting for good lapidary material in Arizona almost always leads to the gold and silver districts in the State. So, learn a little about gold and silver and you may find some nice chalcedony, quartz and even a little opal to polish. And if you decide that you love the quartz and the gold is not all that exciting - send your gold specimens to me for keepsake. In some gold districts in Arizona, gold is associated with detachment faults. So, where you find detachment faults in Arizona, you may find old gold and silver mines and some interesting quartz veins.

Detachment fault visible above adit at the Blue Jeep prospect,
Arizona. What is interesting, is these types of gold
deposits are quite common in Arizona, yet little research is
scheduled to look at them. These should be top priority
for research as exploration for these fault-controlled and
replacement gold deposits will lead to discoveries of more
commercial deposits!

Not too long ago, I spent a few days looking in the Pearce district in southeastern Arizona and published two articles about this area - you will want to get copies of those papers before spending any time in the area (see Hausel, . Wow - just wow! What a place to explore. This place (which I cover extensively in my book on Gold Deposits in Arizona [in preparation]) is filled with great mineral deposits - significant silver and gold, disseminated gold, and then there is even some old copper and turquoise deposits and some opalized quartz. If only I had a mining company, I would pick up this entire district from Courtland Arizona to Pearce to Gleeson. Wow, this region has many potentially economic gold, silver and copper deposits! 

In this area, like many gold and silver districts in the Basin and Range and Transition zone of Arizona, there often occurs quartz veins that may be partially opalized, some may occur as banded quartz known as ginguro bands, and others may have prismatic quartz and even some amethyst. It is a rock hound's paradise - but keep your firearms handy as you may not only find some great rock specimens, but you may also see a few illegals and drug runners as well as a few other snakes in these areas. Then there is the occasional ghost in the nearby towns.

Check these articles out for more information on this great gold and silver mining district.

• Hausel, W.D., 2013, The Pearce Mineralized Area, Dragoon Mountains, Arizona (Part 1): Prospecting & Mining Journal, v. 82, no. 11

• Hausel, W. D., 2013, The Pearce Mineralized Area, Dragoon Mountains, Arizona (Part 2): Prospecting & Mining Journal, v. 82, no. 12.

.

Pearce rhyolite contains a lot of secondary quartz - so you
keep the quartz, but send me that golden yellow flakes in
the rock (gold!).

Quartz stockworks in Pearce rhyolite.
When you see stockworks like this,
often there will be some gold and silver
as well as open vugs with prismatic
quartz

More ginguro bands in quartz in rhyolite breccia near the Commonwealth mine, Pearce Arizona. 

prismatic quartz in ginguro vein at Pearce, Arizona