Marble Bar Jasper - A beuatiful but hard to come by material

Marble Bar Jasper is a form of very fine grained silica found just outside the small outback town of Marble Bar, the town taking its name from the now famous 'jasper'.

Marble Bar Western Australia - Located south east of Port Hedland approximately 200km from the Great Northern Highway

The area was first colonized when gold was discovered. The 'Bar', as it is locally known was originally mistaken for marble and for the fact that it blocked the flow of the Coongan River.

The 'Bar' - Marble Bar Western Australia - Photo courtesy of 'The Grateful Dad' on Flickr

The jasper, or more accurately the fine grained silica, is a magnificent mix of red, white and blue/black striped rock. The colours in the stone are as a result of inclusions of mineral impurities such as iron ore causing the red (more commonly known as Hematite), pyrites and carbonaceous matter creating the blue/black tones. The white areas of the stone are more 'pure' forms of silica.

As it is now illegal to fossick and remove the material, doing so carrying a $10,000 fine, it is not unheard of to come across 'old stock' every now and again. The rough shown here was found at the recent Gemkhana show in Albury - I couldn't walk past it! In addition to the material shown here, I am also lucky enough to have a small supply of slabs which my Grandfather collected many many years ago.

Marble Bar Jasper Pendant - $40

Although this material is a jasper, forming part of the quartz family, I have always found it to be quite a bit softer than most other Jasper's that I have cut. In saying this, it still finished with a great shine/polish, and the patterns can be spectacular. You can see in the piece shown here how the stone has fractured, shifted and then re healed to form a very interesting piece of rock.

Marble Bar Jasper Pendant - $30

Marble Bar Jasper Pendant - $30

These two pieces also show the colour variations which are evident within the material.

Swiss Army Knife with Marble Bar Jasper Scales

All in all, Marble Bar Jasper is a beautiful and unique piece of natural geology which is admired by many. Unfortunately not all will have the pleasure of cutting this material, but leaving the natural environment of its origins intact is probably more important. I am one of the lucky ones!

Until next time!