Sierra del Chachahuen Agate Specimens

The agates you will see below are from the province of Neuquen, Patagonia. They were collected years ago in an area which is now being drilled for oil and is closed and guarded. It has also been seriously over collected and depleted, so having these choice specimens from days gone by is something quite wonderful for me. These agates, like the Pumas from Mendoza to the  north, occur in a sedimentary deposit left by an old sea bed where they form in cavities left by ancient corals. They  usually have finer patterns and colors than the Pumas and they often have fortification banding in the center in many colors and are quite rare. In Zenz fine book, Agates II, there are many pages devoted to biographies of some of the major figures in the agate world and no less than five of these world class collectors chose agates from Sierra del Chachahuen to present among their most treasured specimens.