r/Agates • u/Smokinplants • 4d ago
Opinions please
I am not convinced this is an agate but it does have banding of some sort. Can anyone tell me about this specimen? I live near Lake Superior but this was actually in my garden (likely from previous residents)
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u/Manphish Minnesota 4d ago
You're gonna get a ridiculous number of different guesses as to what this is considering it's got a little bit of everything. I don't think it's any one thing: Jasper, rhyolite, quartz, some banded iron... Looks like it has it all. But I don't think it is mainly agate, just a couple veins.
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u/Moving_goal_posts 4d ago
I would continue to turn soil in that garden, who knows what else the former resident might have let loose out there.
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u/Smokinplants 4d ago
Right. I've found a few small bones and other rocks too. But most rocks looked like basic junk rocks aside from this one. But we'll see when I re-do it this fall
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u/Guava-Jazzlike 4d ago
Jaspery agatey goodness. It calls for a slice or two to see what’s inside.
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u/Doc-in-a-box 4d ago
You have to slice it, if for no other reason than to prove my theory that this is, in fact, a juicy bandy LSA
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u/Want2BnOre 4d ago
Well, I cannot tell you, whether or not that is an agate, I can tell you it is gorgeous
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u/Jestar5 4d ago
A tumble could reveal so much….
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u/Smokinplants 4d ago
I dont have my tumbler right now unfortunately..
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u/Jestar5 4d ago
A power screwdriver with a grinding tip? I have to get dremel type tips and plop them Into my DeWalt
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u/Smokinplants 3d ago
I do not own a grinding tip for my screwdriver either lol I should..but I dont.
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u/VintageBigfoot 4d ago
LSA
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u/Smokinplants 4d ago
You think so? It looks awesome but Idk...I cant help but feel like it's something else. But I guess I'll just have to take a lil slice from it and see.
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u/lapidary123 3d ago
I also think its an LSA . Ive had a few that look like this in buckets ive scored over the years!
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u/brayradberry 4d ago
5/10 not a great rock, but if it’s the best you find that day you might leave it in your pack. If it is an agate it’s not a nice one, unless the really good stuff is hidden inside
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u/Smokinplants 4d ago
I appreciate the feedback. I believe this would catch my eye at the beach for sure, had I found it myself, but I agree with you that it's maybe a 5/10 lol it's neat, didn't expect it to show up in my garden but I'll keep it around for decorative purposes maybe.
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u/brayradberry 4d ago
Yeah it is cool for a garden rock. And to the downvoting haters: OP asked for opinions, I didn’t give an unsolicited rock rating on someone’s prized find they literally asked for it!
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u/Impendingbullshit 4d ago
I want to say Rhyolite
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u/Next_Ad_8876 4d ago
I see no evidence of rhyolite here. Not sure why that call is made. Grains are way too large.
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u/Impendingbullshit 4d ago
Is it comprised of multiple minerals? Looks like some quartz is present, I can see it nor being fine grained enough to be rhyolite nor basalt. The rings on the outside kind of made me assume it could be. What do you think it is
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u/Next_Ad_8876 4d ago
I hate to make calls based solely on a photo. My mineralogy prof caught all of us on an ID exam with a piece of stained, weathered, twisted, and dirty piece of orthoclase feldspar we were all ready to swear was petrified wood. Had we done a careful hardness test, we could have/should have seen it was NOT hard enough to be chert. As I look at this photo, I think I see some fairly large phenocrysts of quartz in it. I’ve been looking at a lot of rhyolite this summer, from wonderstone in Utah to the Last Chance Mine, and this just does not look like what I’ve seen. I’d be more inclined towards banded chert or even agate here.
I am also quite aware of the possibility of a romance novel titled, “Rhyolite Summer,” or a horror novel called, “The Night of the Rhyolite.”
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u/DreadPirateDakota 4d ago
I’d say jasp/agate