Copper Replacement Agates

Hello
I have been collecting Copper Agates and Copper replacement Agate for over 10 years now.Here is one if you want to see more ,go to ebay and type in Copper Agate or Copper replacement agate.Thanks.
David Schuder

David,
That is a beautiful agate and a wonderful photo.
John

HI all!
The Lakeland Gem Club is having their annual gem show at lakeland high school in minecqua wisc on july 15th and 16th. Dan Erickson and myself will have a wide array of these beauties up for sale. Dan is also doing a talk on them each day of the show. If anyone needs info on the show I can be contacted at 715 477 2519.
yes these agates have been found now in multiple locations, (not many). The Siemens Meusem in Houghton has an awesome collection of them along with other fantastic minerals and metals.
You can bang away all day, then get back home and cut them to find only a few true banded agates if you are lucky.

Dale,
I believe you are talking about the A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum, now located on Sharon Ave. in Houghton, Michigan. I was recently moved from the Michigan Tech campus to its new (but temporary) location until it can someday be moved next to the famous Quincy Mine in Hancock.

I have found two agates with Malachite replacing part of the agate, these were found at Boddin Point, just south of Montrose, Scotland..

Spencer.

Are you sure it is malachite and note celadonite or another chlorite-type mineral?

While on the subject of native metals in chalcedony or "agate".

An interesting and old occurrence from a location which is no longer around are the vein "agates" from Trent, Oregon. The site was worked out in the 1950's and few specimens are seen now.

Of interest are the realgar and orpiment tubes and crystals with associated native arsenic crystals in the chalcedony.

Karl -- Interesting. Trent appears to be little more than a wide spot on the road toward Dexter, just a few miles from me. I'll check out the Mineralogist article about this occurrence. Are you in the area, or have you explored railroad cuts in the area? --Ken

Sadly i never got the chance to visit, being too young.

Road trip this weekend! The 1950 article describing Trent, Oregon, as referenced on the Mindat page for the location, does not seem to mention railroad cuts, so I'm not certain where that information came from, though the railroad certainly does pass through there. The article also notes the occurrence of stibnite as rounded grains - is it possible that's what you're seeing, rather than arsenic? The author apparently dissolved the agate away with HF to recover the inclusions for analysis. --Ken

The grains were analysed by Dr Don Howard a couple of years ago. They turned out to not actually be Stibnite, but native arsenic. I found the online copy of the Microprobe where Don and Rudy discuss the material.

[photos.imageevent.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2012 10:57PM by Karl Volkman.

Thanks Karl! Not very encouraging regarding collecting, but I was planning to head out past that direction this weekend and may add a stop just to get a sense of the location. --Ken

Readers of this thread will certainly be interested in the new article by Tom Rosemeyer in the latest Rocks and Minerals about copper replacement agates!

Hi George Paul Don
It was great meeting all of you at the various shows this last summer. yes copper agates have been getting some great press. It was a real experience meeting up with Dr. Sukow, and Jack Hobart. Both had amazing photos and samples of these great infused agates.
As George is very aware, the amount of different mineral mixtures is just amazing. I find nice copper infused agates, and next to it, the next amygdule is all quartz or is a geode etc.
I enjoyed the presentations at the agate show, our club has bought the whole dvd set from the hosting club.
John, thanks for the heads up on Tom's newest article. I see him often now on the wolverine piles. I am glad the wolverine has its own publicist!

I started up a website to show/sell these awesome agates along with datolites, half breeds, other agates, thomsonites collected by some great people.
www.copperagates.com

Good hunting all! Dan Erickson and I are heading back up sunday, as 40 degrees is the perfect temp when you are on the pile.

Hello fellow rock hounds!
These rare copper infused agates are the talk of the town. they are only found in the kearsarge lode which runs from the ojibway mine south down through calumet. The main two areas to find them are the wolverine #2 and the C&H 21 dumps.
To understand the formation of these infused agates a great article to read is in the ROCK & GEM MAGAZINE in the November 2011 issue. Prof. Wayne Sukow has done extensive research on their formation and development. Tom Rosemeyer has also written a great article in another rock magazine. The demand has been high for the hard to find amygdules with the infused copper. There are plain white agate with copper, or banded agate with copper.
The Minneapolis club which hosted the International Agate show in 2012 has a dvd collection of all the agate presentations for sale. Included in this grouping is one by Prof. Sukow on the infused copper agates of the kearsarge lode.
You have to know what you are looking for to avoid a lot of wasted time. usually when one goes to these piles the first thing is to dig past the surface rock and boulders to get to areas that may have yet been checked out. Some people use detectors or wands, others go by spotting the amygdules. Some of the amygdules are loose, and some are still in the basalt matrix.

According to Tom Rosemeyer who is a geologist who has spent many days on the piles, stated that these are the oldest agates found due to their origin in the very old basalt flows of the kearsarge lode.
there are now several sites selling these nice agates. one is www.copperagates.com to save time, one should contact a person who has hunted these piles and knows what to look for.
If you would like more information, you can contact me at 715 477 2519 or brujodale@coslink.net

Dale,
I had found the best way to find these elusive little agates was to take every amygdule that looked suspicious and either cut them or edge grind them to expose the banding. I have heard of folks also having good luck with the pinpoint detectors as well. Last time I was at C&H 21 my wife busted several large boulders and we did pretty well.

As far as their origin, I believe that discussion will go on for quite some time just as it has for normal agates. What is known is that they are very old (~1.0 Ga) as Tom Rosemeyer has stated in R&M and are as of right now the oldest known agates along with Lakers.

I know this is the wrong forum but does anyone have a couple/few of these they would be willing to trade?

Rick
I know I am in my own little world, but everyone knows me here.

I had never heard of these before this thread, but after seeing those pictures I feel a sudden urge to plan a trip to Michigan.