A typical gemstone that can be found in Arizona and Chihuahua (Mexico) is the fire-agate. Deer Creek in Arizona is beside the Black Hills Rockhound area one of the more well-known places of discovery in Arizona.
Fire agate is not a common agate in the usual sense - rather over up to handlarge, usually however smaller, bubbly aggregates from white to brownish, partial black chalcedony, which occurs in cavities in the rhyolithic hostrock. The fire agate has its name after strong iridiscent reflexions in all colors of the rainbow, which is caused by thin layers of hematite in the chalcedony. The more intensively and the greener (red and yellow are rather usual colours) the iridiscent reflexions of a specimen of fire agate is, the more highly rises its price. In the USA fire agates is traded in carat (0,2g).
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Northamerica/USA/ Arizona/ Deer Creak |