Wyoming Youngite

The first time I laid eyes on Youngite, I was in lapidary love.  This is an amazing stone, and in all my years collecting, I have only seen a few small samples for sale! 

Youngite is a now extinct (no longer mined/mined out) brecciated jasper suspended in agate from Wyoming, near Guernsey.  The jasper breccia ranges in color from tan, peach and salmon while the agate chalcedony ranges from white to bluish grey.  Many times the formations are coated with druzy quartz, making amazing cabinet display pieces. 

The agate chalcedony fluoresces green, adding its appeal to not only agate and jasper collectors, but fluorescent mineral collectors.  In fact, it is one of the few  fluorescent, cab-able materials that I know of that has such a stunning appearance outside of it’s fluorescent appeal. 

Youngite formed in bytroidal clusters giving it the distinct look of stalactites when slabbed, similar to rhodochrosite or malachite formations.

The location Youngite hales from is completely mined out and new material is no longer available.  The few collectible pieces out there are demanding a high premium, and cab quality specimens are almost impossible to find.

Details:

Youngite is Wyoming’s state rock

Hardness:  7

Fluoresces green

Polishes to high gloss

Extinct material

Uses:  Collector grade specimens and cab quality gemstones

This display slab is polished to a high shine and measures 4-inches wide by 2 5/8-inches high, and is cut just over 1/8-inch thick.  This slab is cabbing grade material, but as it is already polished on the face, and I have no more material to cut, it is staying in my cabinet collection for now.