Getting a supply of Sonora Sunrise rough was one of our missions during our trip to Quartsite and Tucson this year. Rumors were that it had been mined out. At least my “go to” supplier had none to sell. What we found was a spotty supply at very high prices. Most of what we saw was not the quality we were looking for. If we had to pay high prices at least we wanted the best.  And we did find some, although not as much as we would have liked. Having to set up and do two shows totaling 10 days cut into our shopping time. But here is one of the chunks we did get. Very, very nice.

The Lowdown

I also tried to get to the bottom of what was happening with the supply of this stuff. Is it mined out? I asked around and got some shrugs but also a couple of different explanations. It is clear the material comes as a byproduct of a large copper mine. One dealer said they mine had gone through the layer where this material occurs and there is no more now. The other explanation, more intriguing, is that the Sonora Sunrise material was sold off to a number of different dealers who started fighting amongst themselves and the mine owners simply quit selling the material. That had the sound of truth to it. But everyone agreees that no more is coming out now.  And the supplies are diminished, and the prices have tripled to quadrupled for the rough. Stay tuned as I learn more.

These are large (about 30 mm from top to bottom) pear shapes out of duzy quartz on chalcedony from Uruguay.  They are entirely natural.  We plan to drill some sideways near the top and have some as cabochons to be mounted in prongs or in bezels.   We’re looking for input from our customers.  What’s your preference?

Our first scores were great materials from the Congo. Shattuckite has been a very popular stone and normally we get our rough from a dealer in Oregon. But here were were at his source.  Max is from the Congo but lives most of the year in Upstate New York with his wife Helene. Very nice folks.

Ev latched on to the Shattuckite and picked out two chunks she thought were the best of the bunch. I had my eye on the pink cobalto calcite druzy and scored a small parcel; some for cabs and some to sell as specimens in our booth at the Tucson Gem and Mineral show which starts three days after the AGTA Gemfaire is over.

And  I talked with Max about the situation in the Congo, and no need no worry, the things he carries including the Shattuckite have no involvement in the conflict there. Although the ongoing violence and upheaval make it much harder for him to go there and get these cool gem materials out.

So yesterday we drove 75miles north to take our dog Izzy to the vet.

She had injured herself, fortunately not seriously.  The vet prescribed an anti-m and rest.  Now that’s she’s feeling better the rest part is hard.

On our way back we stopped in the town of Parker at an office supply store to get printer cartridges.  They didn’t have what we needed.  When I asked if there was another office supply store in town, everyone in the shop started laughing.  So we headed back to Quartzite where there is a lot of rocks and weird stuff for sale, but nothing so mundane as printer cartridges.

These whips caught my eye.  If they’d had one that was smaller and daintier,  I might not have been able to restrain myself.

Mostly though what there is here is rocks.

And a freewheeling approach to life.

Since were off for Arizona in a couple of days we will not have time to list these in the store before we leave, but please send us an email if these interest you and we can get your order shipped out before we leave or on the road. These are all we have right now!

And be sure and check out the store, we’ve added a number of very nice Sonora Sunrise cabs today! If you are interested in the polychrome cabs please send us an email. We are departing for Tucson this week and it is unlikely we’ll be able to list these in the store before we leave.