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MS Book and Mineral Company  Marra Mamba and other Rocks for Lapidary Applications  /  Gemstone Slabbing & Cabbing Rough Rock Images are hyperlinked.....click mineral to enlarge Satisfaction is guaranteed.  If you are unhappy with any order, return it prior to cutting the material, and you will receive a refund for the material with no questions asked.
Marra Mamba Crocidolite Slabbing Rough Wittenoon, Hamersley Range  Western Australia This material is extremely rare and cannot be replaced as it was mined out many years ago.  Normally one cabochon recovers the cost of each piece of rough purchased. The colors found in this material  are yellow,  red, and blue.  Multicolored crocidolite pieces occur where two of these colors appear side by side. The picture to the left is of some of this material as I found it in a Texas rock shop years ago.  At one time, years earlier the same material was in a New York City rock shop. I thought I had sold out of this material last year, but in pulling drawers open on a mineral cabinet I discovered this additional  material.  I could not believe my eyes.
Only 6 lots of this material remain - There are a few show pieces which will be sold later as mineral specimens. One small piece will can be found in the Australian Mineral Catalog  I can't guarantee you will get super stones out of every piece.  You will have fun working these as I have.  Use a sharp blade and cut (slice) these slowly.  Pieces can fracture, if you push too hard while cutting the material.  Click on the photographs !  They are hyperlinked, so they will enlarge x 4 !
	Marra Mamba Crocidolite Slabbing Rough Wittenoon, Hamersley Range  Western Australia Lot  1 - One of the pieces in this lot has small pyrites toward one side.  Sometimes you can get small pyrites included in your finished work; other  pieces show good color 3.3 pounds @ $150/ lb. = $ 495
	Marra Mamba Crocidolite Slabbing Rough Wittenoon, Hamersley Range  Western Australia Lot  2 - The large piece here should yield some scenic pieces,  I don't know what colors you might find, although there is a bit of red showing in it; other pieces in the lot show good blue color 2.6 lbs. @ $175 / lb. =  $ 455
	Marra Mamba Crocidolite Slabbing Rough Wittenoon, Hamersley Range  Western Australia Lot  3 -  Some good blues here and blue next to red; you will crazy trying to decide if you should cut the pieces one way or at a right angle to get better colors 2.4 lbs. @ $  200 / lb. =  $ 480
	Marra Mamba Crocidolite Slabbing Rough Wittenoon, Hamersley Range  Western Australia Lot  4 - Nice red in yellow here and another has blue in yellow; those dark "dancing" veins through the rock make some interesting finished pieces 2.9 lbs. @ $ 200 / lb. =  $ 580
	Marra Mamba Crocidolite Slabbing Rough Wittenoon, Hamersley Range  Western Australia Lot  5 - Nice blue piece; don't know how it will look when cut; Another piece is gemmy with red and blue and larger pyrites throughout the piece; one note: large pyrites (not found in these)  do not do well if you live in a humid region; the yellow piece has dark veins through it - include those in your finished work 2.6 lbs. X $ 250 / lb. = $ 650
	Marra Mamba Crocidolite Slabbing Rough Wittenoon, Hamersley Range  Western Australia Lot  6 - this is the most promising lot of the six as the coloring is very good; you should be able to cut multicolor  stones here; remember these must be done slowly - don't rush your work! And take a look below at more recent finds at Witenoom.  2.2 lbs. x $ 275 / lb. = $ 605
	Brown Crocidolite Wittenoon, Hamersley Range  Western Australia Crocidolite in matrix; sometimes called picture tigereye; this is a more recently mined material than the tigereye above Rough chunks available: Under 1 lb., $ 15 / lb. pieces 1 - 2 lbs., $ 30 / lb. over 2 lbs., $ 50 / lb. This crocidolite is very dense, i.e., the crocidolite fibers  are extremely thin and  are nearly impossible to distinguish from adjacent strands; both the crocidolite and the matrix will  take a slick polish. Two small slices of the material are show here.  The patterns seen are typical for this material; this crocidolite is made special due to the hematite dots, lines, or other patterns which of pure silver hematite; as seen here the crocidolite  may occasionally have red patches in the mainly gold fibers.  The gentleman who improted this material has passed away.  What I have is all I will ever have.
	Gold Crocidolite Griqualand, Koega, Namibia Sizes available: Under 2 lbs. @ $ 25 / lb. Over 2 lbs. @ $ 50 / lb. These are golden chunks of dense cutting material for slabbing and/ or cabochons If you are interested in rough, I will send jpeg's of several pieces and you can pick the one you would like purchase.
	Blue Crocidolite Griqualand, Koega, Namibia Sizes available: most pieces are over 5 lbs.   $ 55 / lb. Blue chunks of cutting material for cutting tigereye slices and/or producing cabochons If you are interested in rough, I will send jpeg's of several pieces and you can pick the one you would like to purchase. This material arrived here in Lake Charles wrapped in newspapers from South Africa with dates from the 1950's
	Lapis Lazuli with some calcite matrix Afganistan Free sample with any order until it is gone
	Lapis Lazuli gem grade Afghanistan 5mm thick slices of material, sold by the gram; these slices have about 2-4 square inches of surface area each $ 100 each
	Piemontite  with Cyprine Copper Hill,  near Taos, New Mexico Sizes available:  Small pieces around 5 cm, $ 40 Larger pieces over 5 cm, $ 80 Piemontite (red) and Cuprine (green) on and throughout specimens mixed with a white and gray matrix; this material is very hard and can be cut and polished into gemstones
slice with longitudinal vascular bundles	Petrified Palmwood  Louisiana Solid material containing  preserved vascular bundles in a contrasting color from the matrix; material usually contains no voids or holes; as many as 75 colors have been identified in a research project I conducted several years ago.  Louisiana Palm polishes to a mirror finish. Available in chunks up to 10 pounds, or slices Chunks:  $ 100 / lb.    Slices are excellent for cabochons or channel inlay giving the pattern of bird feathers 5 mm thick slices: $ 10 for  1 sq. in.; a slice having 5 square inches would cost $ 50    7 mm thick slices:  $  20 for 1 sq. in. ; a slice having 6 square inches would cost $ 120 If available, slices containing the color black are priced at the usual rate x 5
slice with vascular bundles in cross section
	Cabbing Grade Rutilated Quartz Minas Gerais, Brazil Rough is clear, translucent, or included; color of the rutiles can be gold, silver, copper or black Graded by clarity of the rutiles grade 1: $ 0.50 / gm grade 2: $ 0.20 / gm grade 3: $ 0.10 / gm For facet grade rutilated quartz go to the faceting catalog
	Cabbing Grade Smoky Rutilated Quartz Minas Gerais, Brazil Specify if you prefer light, medium or dark smoky or a mixture of colors; color of rutiles is usually silver, gold,  black   priced at $ 0. 95 / gm
	Fancy Jasper India Several sliced specimens are shown here.  It is a cousin of blood stone with the red dots of iron oxide with a dark green background.  See item below. Although called a "jasper" it is really a extremely hard chalcedony which takes a mirror polish.  Pieces usually range from 1 to 5 lbs. $ 65 / lb.
	Bloodstone India A green chalcedony with red dots composed of iron oxide and other minerals The highest grade of bloodstone has red dots on a dark green background with no other colors or patterns present. top grade: $ 100 / lb. and up regular grade (as shown here): $ 50 / lb.
	Chrysoprase Candala Mine, Marlborough District, Queensland, Australia A fine green chalcedony Most pieces range from 1 - 4 lbs. each Priced at $ 100 / lb. Chrysoprase has a range of colors and patterns with or without black dendritic inclusions and/or translucent or white areas Several cabochons are shown cut from this material.  The actual color is darker than shown.  Cabochons were cut from the rough rock shown. The photo to the left shows a close-up of some of these characteristics with the color of the chrysoprase in this piece going toward a citron color on the left side with clear areas and some inclusions. Citron chrysoprase shown here to the left, is also available where the color variations are from green to lime greens Pieces range from 3 - 7 lbs. each Priced at $ 45 - $ 55 / lb.
	Malachite Rough Congo This is an old stock of material which is very dense and dedicated banded.  I purchased this material about 40 years ago.  This material is solid with no voids inside. Pieces range from 1/2 lb. to 2 lbs. Priced at $ 75 - $100 / lb.
	Mookite Slice Australia A slice is shown here showing the three typical colors: red, white and yellow. My current stock has red as the primary color.  It seems to be denser than material of the past Pieces range from 5 - 15 lbs. $ 45 / lb.
	Bluelace Agate Namibia This rock occurs in seams about 1 - 1 1/2" thick.  The color patterns are usually white or blue wavy patterns through a pale blue matrix. Pieces range from  1 - 4 lbs. $ 25 / lb.
	Crazylace Agate Mexico This is material was purchased over 45 years ago when the best of this material was being mined in Chihuahua, Mexico. Two slices are shown here showing some of the possibilities or pattern and color.  Virtually any color you can imagine is found in Crazylace Agate.  You will only know the color or pattern after you slice the rock open.  I have spent many days cutting this material looking for yellow and/or red --- and finding it! Pieces are sold at random. Rough pieces range in size from 1 - 8 lbs. $ 55 / lb. and up  Assortment of slices $ 50 / lb.
	Green Moss Agate India Delicate strands of "moss" is a translucent chalcedony background.  Some pieces are more translucent than others. Pieces range in size from 1 - 4 lbs. $ 40 / lb.
	Parrotwing Chrysocolla Mexico This is the good hard chrysocolla which will polish to a high gloss every time.  Colors are mainly blues and greens, but can trend to red and brown as seen here. Sold only as slices cut about 6 mm thick including at least 2 square inches of good working material $ 75 per slice
	Nephrite  slices and chunks Nephrite scrap as received from the cutting houses in Germany over 20 years ago.  Make cutting nephrite cabs and larger inlays easy.  This material is larger than what is sold in the inlay catalog Most pieces have 1 dimension over 1 inch. $ 40 / lb.
	Botswana Agate Botswana One tumbled stone and two sliced sections are shown of this remarkable material with consistent banding.  The most typical colors are pink to gray and white.  I have found other colors also. Available as broken nodules or sealed nodules where you have no idea what will be inside.  Most pieces are 1 - 3" in size. Broken nodules, $ 30 / lb. Sealed nodules, $ 55 / lb.
	Rainforest Jasper Australia Has the appearance of  a continuum of thunderegg structures with basic colors of brown and green with quartz inclusions Inquire about the size of pieces currently available $ 100 / lb.
	Dendritic Agate Australia Similar to Montana Agate which occurs in seams; contains delicate patterns usually in back in a clear to white quartz background.  Occasionally will have brown inclusions also.  Most pieces have a maximum thickness of 1 inch (2.5 cm) Pieces range from 1/2 to 2 lbs. each Priced at: $ 25 / lb.
	Hickoryite Mexico An old favorite with banding patterns with the basic color of butterscotch with reddish-violet, white and / or gray streaks Priced at $ 25 / lb.
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