Graveyard Point Plume Agate
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Graveyard Point Plume Agate has been around for many years and
is still collected by Rock Hounds at the site. I'd say about 98%
of the this agate that sells on Ebay is not worthy of the
name. Most Graveyard
for sale is what
rock hounds find on the surface. This material has
been exposed to the elements which tends to make it fractured,
stained and cloudy, or stuff that was mined but no one else
wants. Thus, giving the agate a bad name. When people buy
it online and see the junk that they bought they
assume all Graveyard is junk.
Another way the agate has been getting bad press is that people
most often don't know how to cut or cab it right to show the
beautiful plumes. Thus the cabs
are very unattractive and boring.
See
this Graveyard for sale on Ebay verses a cab by
an artist on my web site.
example of a cab.
The current mining claim owner wisely changed
a certain section of the mine where the
prime pink plume comes from to Regency Rose. The beautiful colored plumes of
pink, yellow and white make it more desirable although it has
been around since the beginning of the mining back in the early
70's. I even know cabbers who call there works something
entirely something different in order to get around the
bad press Graveyard has gotten.
The only way to buy Graveyard rough is to have it in your hands
using your own eye balls or someone who knows how to pick out
the bad from the good. Slabbing Graveyard is tricky. You want
the plumes to show but you don't want to cut directly into the
plume itself because sometimes plumes tend to be softer and will
undercut. If that does not bother you then it's OK. But, you
cut in front of the embedded plume just enough so that you cab
down to it and have a thin layer or agate on top of it. You'll
probably have to cut a few slabs in order to see just the
right plume you want. So, if you are going to try Graveyard, I'd
suggest buying the rough and cutting it yourself or buy slabs
from someone who knows how to cut it for cabbing.
Good Luck! Philip- |