Jaspers and Jades and Agates, Oh My!

[JLeonhardy]

Spent a couple of nights up at Patricks Point State Park, one of the more popular beach agate sites in Norcal. I like to hit the spring neap tides for jade/serpentine combos. I'm especially fond of a couple of Jade/Citrine combos I've found. Only two stones in six trips over three years. None this trip, but always a productive trip if you like variety in your sand scores!

 

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[curious kat]

...pretty stones...makes me hungry for "rock candy". Really like the lavender ones!

 

[jackiedanger]

Spent a couple of nights up at Patricks Point State Park, one of the more popular beach agate sites in Norcal. I like to hit the spring neap tides for jade/serpentine combos. I'm especially fond of a couple of Jade/Citrine combos I've found. Only two stones in six trips over three years. None this trip, but always a productive trip if you like variety in your sand scores!

Those are beautiful! I have been wanting to hunt for agates since I moved to Norcal. I'm in Placer County. Do you know if theres any where around here I can look? Thanks for sharing. Would love to see the citrine/jade combo.

 

[JLeonhardy]

Morning Jackie,

I don't usually hunt agates, so I'm not up on all of the locations. Were I where you're at, I'd pop over the hill on the 80 to Verdi, cut back to California through Dog Valley and spend some time on Crystal Peak. This is a quartz batholith that has been upthrust and is a hill of solid quartz. Overburden ranges from a few inches to a couple feet. Get down to the base rock on the steepest face of the hill and start popping it off with a gad and you'll be in crystal for daaaaays. There's a nice little campground less than an 1/8th of a mile away, too, but I usually base camp at the foot of the hill.

 

[wilfndgold]

JLeon is that copper stains on the Quartz? Or something else?

 

[JLeonhardy]

It's a copper clay -- a Chlorite variation of some kind, I think. Some of the crystals you find are so infused with it they're green! For the most part, though, it dissolves in the tumbler, though I've found a *few* pieces that are about a 4+ on the mohs scale and was able to polish them. Some of the pieces that are of a lesser hardness carve nicely with a pocket knife.

 

[JLeonhardy]

ALso, here are some placer county tips from Mindat: Mindat Mineralogy Messageboard