A prospecting acquaintance of mine works the red sand desert regions of the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia as he has for decades, in the endless squint-eyed search for elusive signs of potentially high quality chrysoprase. It is rare these days, exceedingly rare.
To source and recover such gem rough he needs to contend with many false leads, broken promises, and pretenders in that earth, for this is an ancient landscape. Kilometres of rock and soil, complete mountain ranges have been scoured from its surface via river systems now no more during its plus 2-billion-year history. Followed by relentless weathering, so much has been bleached, chemically altered it is a wonder that anything remains after all this time in the 10 metres or so of earth that prospectors explore to recover the last remnants.
And so, it is always with not a little excitement that I visit his camp site or home base to look through the latest collections.
The following represents the cream of any chrysoprase currently being recovered in Australia. I have not seen such richness of colour, pervasive translucency, and seamless association with another mineral for many decades. This material is the absolute best of last year’s mining season in the Western Australian bush. It is the culmination of years of often fruitless searching and resources expended for no return. Perseverance has finally brought its reward in this exquisite Lemon n Lime chrysoprase.
