I meant google is friend to us all. Was not trying to be a smartass with the statement.
Im just learning how to rockhound.
Fire agates are pieces of quartz with various mineral intrusions created by the pieces being heated and ejected from volcanos. They flew through the air and impacted the ground and cooled.
when they hit they were still partially molten and so the bottoms of a pristine piece will be flat and the colors of the peices will be oranges and reds into deep reds and purples, depending upon which mineral were mixed in with the quartz.
The impact zone we were in was from a volcanic upthrust that was about a mile and a half away. The slope we were on was facing that upthrust. after we were all done I postulated that we would probably be able to find much larger pieces if we crossed the draw downslope from us and going over the next hump which was lower than the one we were on but I figure larger pieces would not fly as far. My friend just stopped and stood there thunderstruck!
They are called fire agates because when the colors are right , they look like all the reddish/orangish colors one sees in a campfire.
iron, silver, gold, copper are the usual mixes for the good fire agates with iron being the most prevalent as i understand it.
Another closely related type is called desert rose. this was fairly pure quartz that impacted and the impact formed the top into a hollowed out section with "petals" surrounding the depression in the middle of the piece.
I think I explained that semi-correctly. Yesterday was my first trip out doing this. Ive got a LOT to learn.
I entered into rockhounding more because I wanted to see the geology of the earth but now I am finding the things I want to look at, the volcanic actions in and around various places, are actually worth some bucks.
My experienced rockhound friend told me yesterday that in his estimation the pieces I picked up and brought home are worth as much as 2 grand in the rough and as much as 8-10 grand if the pieces are worked and have the proper lustre and whatnot. he did say it was the best stuff he had ever seen.
Apologies for thread hi-jack.
Now back to sleeping bags!