Friday, February 16, 2018

What is Bumblebee Jasper?

Bumblebee Jasper is one of my very favorite minerals.  Personally I prefer the rough over the finished jewelry or cabochons. But what exactly is bumblebee jasper?

Firstly, the beautiful material comes from Mount Papandayan in Indonesia, a 150 mile drive southeast from Jakarta. It is rare stuff on the world market.

Now for the surprise.  Bumblebee jasper is not actually a jasper at all.  That is just how it was marketed when it hit the market a few years.  It actually contains no quartz at all. Bumblebee jasper is actually an agate.  A beautiful combination of volcanic matter, anhydrite, hematite, orpiment, sulfur, angelite, arsenic. The material is soft, with a Mohs hardness of 5 or below. The porous rock is easily cut and polished.