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Stone Arts of Alaska is the primary source of all
the lapidary stone we sell. In many cases, the locations are
known only to us. Fairer to both seller and buyer, we only sell
this material by the slab. $100.00 minimum order.
Azurite. Prince of Wales Island. Usually in a
brown matrix. Sometimes accompanied by chrysocolla or malachite.
Very little available. $50 slab.
Agate.
Kupreanof Island. Bluish-grey banding. Very little
available. $50 slab.
Blue
Jasper. Conclusion Island. Very hard.
Takes brilliant shine. $25 slab.
Chrysocolla. Prince of Wales Island. Often with
malachite. Soft stone - needs to be impregnated with a hardener.
$25 slab.
Coronation Marble. Coronation Island. A very
unusual orange color. $25 slab.
Crinoid Fossils in dark
Limestone. New 2006. A very whimsical
stone. The crinoids look like faces or other objects of the
imagination. $30
Eudialyte. Prince of Wales Island. Has many
presentations - sometimes in white feldspar, sometimes with black
amphibole minerals, from hot pink to blood red. $10 to
$100.
Green
Quartz. Admiralty Island. Due to fractures,
only small cabs possible. $25.
Hexagonaria Fossil Coral. aka "honeycomb" fossil
coral. Prince of Wales Island. Distinctive patterning.
Good for large cabs - for belt buckles, bolas, knife handles.
Most grey with black patterning, some rare white with black patterning.
$25 to $100.
Malachite. Prince of Wales Island, Brown
matrix. May need hardening. Little available. $25.
Orange
Calcite. Prince of Wales Island. Bright orange
in a black matrix. Rare. $25.
Piedmontite.
New 2006. Prince of Wales Island. Purple with white
streaking. Rare mineral - manganese epidote. $30.
Prince of Wales
Polka-Dot. New 2006. Little balls of
hemitite in white matrix. Great new stone. $25
Red
Jasper. Kupreanof Island. Bright red. Usually
accompanied by other colors, often green and yellow. $25.
Rhodonite. Prince of Wales. Bright pink, with black
manganese dendrites. Little available. $25.
"Stingray" Fossil Coral. aka "snakeskin" fossil
coral, aka caviar fossil coral. Kasaan Island. Small
patterned fossil coral, the best with high black-white contrast.
$10 - $75
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We feature two kinds of lapidary stone, both with
proven workability and popularity.
Minimum order $100.
Eudialyte. Found on a remote
mountain side of Prince of Wales Island, eudialyte has been used for fine
jewelry since we discovered it fifteen years ago. A rare mineral,
eudialyte comes from only a few other places in the world, most
notably the Kola Peninsula of Russia and the Mt. St. Hilaire district
of Quebec. Usually found in pegmatite structures, eudialyte is a
rare-earth/zirconium/silicate. The Alaskan eudialyte varies in color
from light pink to ruby red. The white background mineral is feldspar
and the black has been variously identified as both aegirine (a
pyroxene mineral) and riebeckite (an amphibole
mineral). The stone takes a very good polish. Sometimes, the
feldspar is quite translucent. Not much of this
material is available and it is only sold by the slab. Prices from $20
to $100.
Fossil Coral. Prince of Wales has
an abundance of Devonian and Silurian fossil corals. See our
"Fossils from Alaska" page for paleontology. Two in
particular have been very popular.
“Honeycomb.” This Devonian coral, Zystriphyllum,
makes very attractive jewelry pieces.
It has been sold as a lapidary stone for ten years. Because of
the large size of its corallites, it serves best in large cuts, as for
bolas, belt buckles, and bracelets. This stone also makes
excellent knife handles. It has also been used for small
carvings, making particularly good reptiles and fish. It is
somewhat similar to Michigan’s Petoskey stone but has stronger
pattern. Its background is usually grey but a small percentage
is white. Its six-sided hexagonal pattern is always black. The
stone is about hardness five. It is easy to work and polish.
Find your cuts between natural cracks in the stone. This material is
sold by the pound @ $5.00 - $25.00 depending on quality and volume.
It is also sold by the slab @ $10.00 to $50.
“Stingray.” Another Devonian species,
favosites, is now commercially sold as “Stingray” coral. Quality
stone is found on only one small island in Southeast Alaska, and there
in only one very small outcrop. "Stingray" coral makes
exceptional jewelry and beads. The highest quality pieces, with
very strong black and white contrast, are rare to the extreme. This material is sold by
the pound @ $15.00 - $100.00, depending on quality and volume. It
is also sold by the slab @ $20.00 to $100. "Stingray" fossil
coral is also sold by Placer Gold Designs of Vancouver,
Canada. See web-site links.
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