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www.mineralgallery.co.za Minerals A-E |
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Blue Lace Agate |
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Name
Blue lace agate
Chemistry
Sio2
Uses
Carving of ornaments and jeweler.
Color
White to cream with layers of blue lace
Hardness
7
Specific gravity
2.64-2.69
Blue lace agate derives it's name to the similarities in appearance that some specimens have to Belgian lace.
It was formed by blue silica gel filling a cavity or a crack in the rocks. Some veins are only a few millimeters in thickness others are several centimeters thick.
This blue chalcedony was first discovered in the deserts of the Kalahari in the early 1994's by George Swanson. This is the only site in the world where it is found. While transcending earth's gravity and travelling in outer space, Dr Harrison H Schmitt of Apollo 17 said,
"If there ever was a fragile appearing piece of blue in space, it is the earth right now. "
The blue chalcedony has a remarkable similarity to our earth as seen from outer space. And because of this the Earth Ecology Award has adopted the stone as its symbol of world ecology.