Fire agate
, a variety of chalcedony with an ancient and fiery beginning, is an all natural gemstone found only in certain areas of Arizona, northern Mexico, and other parts of the southwestern United States. Approximately 24-36 million years ago these areas were subjected to massive volcanic activity during the Tertiary Period. The fire agates were formed during this period of vulcanism when hot water, saturated with silica and iron oxide, repeatedly filled cracks and bubbles in the surrounding rock, often forming a botryoidal (grape-like) growth.Fire agate gemstones
have beautiful iridescent rainbow colors, similar to opal, with a measurement of hardness on the MOHS scale of between 6.5 to 7 which helps prevent cracking and scratching. The colors found within fire agates, created by the Schiller effect as found in mother-of-pearl and fire opal, is caused by the alternating silica and iron oxide layers which diffract and allow light to pass which forms the interference of colors known as fire. Besides the thin limonite and/or geothite iron oxide layers there is no actual objects inside the gems, the visual effects arise from light interference within the microstructure crystal layering of the gem.Due to the botryoidal shape and very thin refractive color layers
Fire Agate Gems
are one of the hardest gemstones to cut into a finished stone, taking highly skilled lapidary work and the creative talents of a true artist. Dedication, patience and time will be needed if you plan on producing quality fire agate cabochons, but the final rewards are truly spectacular. The fire agate stone also has a large metaphysical following with the fire agate meaning and properites of being an excellent protection stone which reflects negative energies back to the source, and healing properties for the stomach, nervous and endocrine systems.Fire Agate Gem Resources and Information
Here is a summary of some of what you will find on our website. Check out our fire agate location pages for helpful information on fire agate mineral locations and public fire agate rockhounding sites. Links to some of our favorite fire agate gemstone related websites are found within our site under Favorite Links. Some of these fire agate related resources include the Mineralogical fire agate gem data from Mindat.org, friendly social media Fire Agate related communities, and publications such as Leon Hughes 'Prospecting For And Instructions On How To Finish Fire Agate Gems'. Our Fire Agate Gallery section brings you to a wonderful selection of fire agate gemstones, gem grade fire agate rough, unique fire agate mineral specimens and some wonderful fire agate jewelry.Fire Agates Mineral Locations: This section of our website provides a listing and description of some of the fire agate gemstone mineral locations with related information, links and photos. Several public fire agate rockhounding collection sites are also listed if you are interested in searching for your own fire agates. You will find information on the Black Hills, Saddle Mountain, Deer Creek, Round Mountain, Slaughter Mountain, Oatman, and Opal Hill fire agate gemstone mineral locations. We have prospected a large number of areas within the southwestern United States in search of fire agate deposits for mining claim purposes and will occassionally add new areas to our online site inventory.
Fire Agate Links and Related Web Sites: This section of our website provides links to several of our favorite fire agate related web sites. Check out some of the listed social media communities for people and friends that are focused on collecting and carving fire agates. We also list some websites for general rockhounding enthusiast and mineral collectors, some Fire Agate Gemstone Mineralogical data, a great fire agate publication containing a wealth of information, and an assortment of other interesting pages.
Fire Agate Gallery: This addition to our website is an online gallery of fire agate gemstones, fire agate rough, mineral specimens and some fire agate jewelry pieces for your viewing pleasure. We will be adding many more fire agate gems, pieces of fire agate rough and jewelry, along with some very unique fire agate mineral specimens to this section over the coming month so please watch for new additions.
Fire Agate Rough Buyers Guide: We also have a Fire Agate Rough Buyers Guide available for you which is a good place to start if you are new to purchasing fire agate rough. This page also has a link to one of our popular YouTube videos 'The World Of Fire Agate'.
