Raw golden obsidian2/18/2024 The area around also has newer claims that have been laid, so it’s a matter of doing your due diligence. These claims were laid prior to 1969, evading the rockhounding area designation of Glass Buttes. While this is public land, you’ll have to be careful to respect the boundaries of any claims that have been laid in the area. This area hosts an incredible variety of obsidian, from plan black to mahogany to even limited amounts of rainbow obsidian. These are mountains made almost entirely of obsidian, in a remote area off of the 20. Glass Butte, Oregonįarther north, in Oregon, we find Glass Buttes. This is mainly to deter illegal mining, which would erode this natural resource and the forest it inhabits. The collection is also only permitted outside of winter since the terrain becomes forbidding and the Forest Service folks don’t want to drag collectors back down the mountain.įor that reason, any Davis Creek or Lassen Creek rainbow obsidian you see online is likely either old stock (awesome!) or being sold illegally (not so awesome). There are limits on the weight and size of what you can take, and it’s limited to only being collected for personal use. You can go to collect up to three times per year, but the permit needs to be purchased prior to heading out. These mines are the Lassen Creek Mine, and the Middle Fork Davis Creek Mine, which are two of the four mines found in the national forest. Modoc National Forest is the location of the two mines in the USA known to yield rainbow obsidian on a regular basis. There’s a bit of a catch, and it’s the reason the actual marketplace is dominated by the colorful material from Jalisco. The bulk of the material on the market is from the Mexican state of Jalisco, for reasons I’ll discuss below.įor those who want to find some of their own, you’re not out of luck! Particularly if you happen to live in the Pacific Northwest. Like all obsidian, where it forms there’s quite a bit of it so it’s not hard to find for purchase. Rainbow obsidian is still prized by knappers, but it’s also found its way into jewelry and just as display. In obsidian, you’ll generally see these colored effects referred to as a sheen. When held up to the light and turned, rainbows seem to “dance” just under the surface of the rock. Obsidian is generally less than 20 million years old. The material is brittle and weathers with exposure before being metamorphosed into other forms of silica. Obsidian is pretty unstable, at least on a geological time scale. Obsidian still sees some niche use in optical surgery, where specially manufactured obsidian scalpels are considered superior since they leave a cleaner edge. These edges are quite fragile, which is why copper, then bronze, and finally steel won out as tool materials despite the technology needed to make them.
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