A miner that I am dealing with has a ton of this material, literally. He deals in tonnage, not pounds. When I was over at his place the other week I decided to pick some up and see if I could off load it. He only had large pieces of rough and these easier to sell slabs.
I was there shopping for other minerals and this material was not on my list, but seeing it in person peaked my interest. As I was buying several pounds of boulder opal and other goodies I just grabbed 3 slabs and told him to toss them onto the tab. I had no idea of how expensive the material was! This slab would retail somewhere around $60!
The material comes from Indonesia and actually is not a jasper, but a limestone containing calcite other minerals. Many sources also say that it is a toxic mineral containing arsenic and sulphur, but Mindat.org says it contains realgar, a different toxic mineral so care should be taken when handling rough. Now excuse me while I go wash my hands!
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Thank you, Erik! It arrived safely and is beautiful! So is the boulder opal, but I think a strange little white rock might have crept into my package before you sealed it. Is anyone missing from the shop?
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Good to hear. Ya, those California opals have a mind of their own! Enjoy!
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I will treasure them! ❤️❤️
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Toxic! Oh my! And just when I had decided I must have some since yellow is my favorite color!
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You can still buy it! Just use it as a display piece. The realgar is locked up. The only way it could hurt someone is from cutting or cabbing it, otherwise the bad stuff stays in the rock.
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Done deal! It is too beautiful to resist... And it's yellow!
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You're the best @melinda010100! Thank you!
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Can't wait to see it!
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wow sir rt395, impressively colorful! I like that stuff. you put that out to brighten a bookshelf or something like that?
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People do use it for display because it is so eye-catching or they polish them into cabochons, again brilliant to the eye. This piece is unprocessed, just cut so it could take a nice polish to sharpen the color.
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Howdy sir rt395! oh I see, that would indeed be brilliant if it was polished!
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It now lives at my house on my bookshelf and I love it, as is!
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oh hi Melinda! Well it certainly is a colorful and interesting piece and I can see
why you'd leave it natural!
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Toxic it may be, but it is absolute beauty.
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It's really only toxic if you are cutting it or cabbing it releasing the particles into the air. It's more stunning in person. Thanks!
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