About Agates

Oregon Sunstones

Above is picture of a group of extremely fine pieces of Oregon Sunstone rough. These pieces are a mix of Sunstones from the Spectrums Double Eagle 13 , the Spectrum Cattle Guarder and other dig sites throughout the Eastern Oregon Sunstone fields. Sunstones of this quality are not common. The Yellow Oregon Sunstone is more prevelent, and sometimes can be found in smaller sizes on the surface of the ground, but finding the more rare colored rough material requires going much deeper beneath the surface, and even then there is no guarantee of success. If you think these look good now check our Website to view them after they have been professionally faceted. All Oregon Sunstones are Copper Bearing. They contain microscopic platelets of copper which generates their incredible brilliance. No other Sunstone in the world has natural copper inside the stone.

Oregon Sunstones are found either in Lava flows, or sometimes near the surface when Sunstones through cold winters and hot summers get forced upward to ground level. The best way we know of describing this is to consider an Octopus. The head of the Octopus is an ancient volcano, and the tentacles are spread out in about a 15 Square Mile radiius, and like the Octopus tentacles these lava flows get smaller and smaller as they spread outward. Thus a miner can dig in one spot and find nothing, and later dig and hit a tentacle and find Sunstones lodged in the Lava Matrix. It is a major hit and miss situation, and with the area being extremely remote it is a very expensive operation to find Sunstone pay zones in the lava matrix.

If you are interested in learning more about these incredible American Sunstones that are 100% Natural with no enhancement of any kind please consider reading the articles that I have authored on the front page of our Website. I believe that you will find them interesting, educational, and informative. Oregon Sunstones have a long history, and are so brilliant upon their discovery were thought to be diamonds, and thus earned a name still used in some circles called the "Plush Diamond." Plush is a little stop in the road on the way to the actual mining area. Please read more on our front page as Oregon Sunstones are a true American Treasure.

Oregon Opals

On our Website we also sell Oregon Opals as well as Sunstones. The one pictured in the above photograph is an incredible 25.94 carat Opal Butte Gem. Opal Butte is not open to digging of any kind, because it is now an Elk Hunting lodge. These Opals were simply were simply mined out. There are some in private collections, but the Opal Butte location in Central Oregon has been closed for well over a decade, so the Opal Butte production doesn't exist. There may be some rough material or faceted stones from Opal Butte in private collections, such as our own, but they are a vanishing gem, and unless other locations can be found that produce similar material then they will eventually become very rare, and even more valuable.

These Oregon Opals are generally a pastel Blue usually with some fascinating yellow highlights. Sometimes they can be all yellow, or a blend of yellow and Blue, and there was at least once a discovery at Opal Butte of some extremely rare red and orange Fire Opal. These Opals can get very large. We have them on our Website that are bigger than this one, and we consider this Opal to be large. They make stunning pendants. We consider them to also be an American Treasure, because like the Oregon Sunstones they have received no treatment of any kind. That is the major reason that we have them available for sale on our Website, because Oregon Sunstones and Oregon Opals are both 100% natural with no enhancement of any kind. If a buyer wants gems that are beautiful, and unique as well as all natural, then Oregon Sunstones and Oregon Opals are two fabulous choices.

In closing we want to briefly mention a relatively new discovery of Oregon Opals from a wide area called Juniper Ridge. A great deal of prospecting has been going on in the last 10 years in that area, and some startling discoveries have been made. The Juniper Ridge gems in our opinion do not yet have the reputation of the Opal Butte material, but mining claims are continually being staked out, and the area shows real promise in producing mostly Orange, Yellow, and some interesting Red-Orange material. With Opal Butte mined out this is an area not to be overlooked as a wonderful source of natural American Opal.