Graveyard Point Plume Agate has been around for many years and is still collected by Rock Hounds at the site. I’d say about 90% of the this agate that sells on Ebay is not worthy of the name. Most Graveyard for sale is what rock hounds find on the surface. This material has been exposed to the elements which tends to make it fractured, stained and cloudy, or stuff that was mined but no one else wants. Thus, giving the agate a bad name. When people buy it online and see the junk that they bought they assume all Graveyard is junk.

Another way the agate has been getting bad press is that people most often don’t know how to cut or cab it right to show the beautiful plumes. Thus the cabs are very unattractive and boring. See this Graveyard for sale on Ebay verses a cab by an artist on my web site. example of a cab.

The current mining claim owner wisely changed a certain section of the mine where the prime pink plume comes from to Regency Rose. The beautiful colored plumes of pink, yellow and white make it more desirable although it has been around since the beginning of the mining back in the early 70’s. I even know cabbers who call there works something entirely something different in order to get around the bad press Graveyard has gotten.

The only way to buy Graveyard rough is to have it in your hands using your own eye balls or someone who knows how to pick out the bad from the good. Slabbing Graveyard is tricky. You want the plumes to show but you don’t want to cut directly into the plume itself because sometimes plumes tend to be softer and will undercut. If that does not bother you then it’s OK. But, you cut in front of the embedded plume just enough so that you cab down to it and have a thin layer or agate on top of it. You’ll probably have to cut a few slabs in order to see just the right plume you want. So, if you are going to try Graveyard, I’d suggest buying the rough and cutting it yourself or buy slabs from someone who knows how to cut it for cabbing.

Good Luck!

Philip-