Rare Trent Agate

[rarerocksandgems]

Just found out from a friend of mine that the agate with Sagenite I put on my home page is rare Trent agate. The seam is 1 Pound. (5 1/2 x 2 x 1 1/2)

Here's the info he sent me which I thought was interesting.

This type of sagenite has Stibnite, antimony sulphide, as the primary inclusion, black and straight. Over time the stibnite often altered to realgar (red) or orpiment (yellow), both sulfides of arsenic so be careful when working it, since your piece is big on arsenic.

Philip-

[legendarygranite]

Phillip how have you been? Its been a little while now. I keep looking at the weather down there and getting very jealous. We need to plan a trip down there to do some Owhee hiking. Any ways, I was wondering if that was from Idaho. I'm not 100% sure and Courtney is sleeping off a bit of a cold bug at the present moment but I think we have some of this material. Collected up here.

[rarerocksandgems]

Phillip how have you been? Its been a little while now. I keep looking at the weather down there and getting very jealous. We need to plan a trip down there to do some Owhee hiking. Any ways, I was wondering if that was from Idaho. I'm not 100% sure and Courtney is sleeping off a bit of a cold bug at the present moment but I think we have some of this material. Collected up here.

Hey Jason:
It's from Oregon. Here's some more info.
A deposit of unique agate was found near Trent, Oregon, in the sixties. The black mineral that gave rise to the psuedomorphs is stibnite, a sulphide of antimony. At times the stibnite has altered to yellow orpiment or red realgar. The farmer who owned the land let rockhounds come onto his property to mine the material. Legend has it that one of these fortunate diggers was injured in a cave in and then proceeded to sue the farmer. End of mining on that property! Now there is a freeway over the area so there won't be any digging in the near future in any case.

Still a little too wet to get out into the Owyhee's. The roads will be slicker than snot still.

[MrsWTownsend]

That stuff is gorgeous!

[Taogem]

That is beautiful ! 

[woodyrock]

Beautiful material! Would not be a good one to lick, eh!  The antimony is a powerful laxative, like nearly instantaneous. The arsenic just kills the worms you might have..........unless you eat a lot of it.  too bad in is now under a free weay.
Woody

[asianfire]

Beautiful yes, but wearing it with those materials present (when I wear something I do so on skin 24/7)?

I'm not sure if I'm overreacting as an abalone most likely contains more arsenic, but.........

[Freeform]

nice

[DonniesTreasures]

Definitely absolutely gorgeous!

[Rockoteer]

If I remember correctly there is a 'Stibnite' mine in southern Idaho.  I think we used to go up around there somewhere fishing??  My memory is failing me.

TOG

[rarerocksandgems]

Beautiful yes, but wearing it with those materials present (when I wear something I do so on skin 24/7)?

I'm not sure if I'm overreacting as an abalone most likely contains more arsenic, but.........

There are trace amount of nasty stuff in a lot rocks. Malachite, for example is pretty nasty if you breath in the dust while sanding, Graveyard has very small traces of lead and mercury and a list could go on. Everyone should take precautions on any rock your are working on as a rule of thumb. I suspect this type of topic has been discussed before in our Forum. But, wearing it is not going to hurt you unless the Mercury is dripping out of the rock or you have a habit of chewing on your cabs.
Philip-

[prairiedog41]

Really marvelous colors.  Really like the blue and orange combination.

-=Will=-

[Rockoteer]

Don't think I would want to work on anything called Graveyard......but thats me......I'm just sayin..

TOG

[socalagatehound]

Hi everyone.  I'm a newbie to the forum, although I've been monitoring for months.  My question is...so how toxic is our cutting oil after cutting lots of material with toxic inclusions, especially on the bigger saws?  I have a huge garage and one side is all shop.  I generally am not in the shop when the 20 inch saw is going, but I notice when I walk in how much of the oil is vaporized in the air.  I have a 24 inch fan blowing the air outside, but still makes me wonder.  Thx 

[MrsWTownsend]

Hi everyone.  I'm a newbie to the forum, although I've been monitoring for months.  My question is...so how toxic is our cutting oil after cutting lots of material with toxic inclusions, especially on the bigger saws?  I have a huge garage and one side is all shop.  I generally am not in the shop when the 20 inch saw is going, but I notice when I walk in how much of the oil is vaporized in the air.  I have a 24 inch fan blowing the air outside, but still makes me wonder.  Thx 

I think it depends largely on what kind of oil you are using and how much ventilation you have for that room.  Another good reason for using mineral oil~  :)