Mookaite Jasper Handmade Stone Pendant Wrapped in Copper

This pendant is made of Australian Mookaite Jasper and hand-wrapped in 12 gauge Copper wire.

Mookaite Jasper is found only in the Kennedy Ranges of Western Australia in outcroppings near Mooka Creek, the area for which it is named. The Aboriginal term “Mooka” means “running waters” and refers to the numerous springs that feed into this area. Mookaite was formed as the skeletal remains of radiolaria, microscopic protozoa with a hard silica shell, were deposited over millennia as sediment in shallow areas of sea beds. As waters receded, the remains were solidified by additional silica carried in groundwater, along with minerals that produced its beautiful combinations of red, burgundy, mustard-yellow, cream, white, brown, mauve and purple. 

Mookaite Jasper is described as chert, opalite or chalcedony, or a combination of the three, varying only with the degree of silica, and occurs as nodules in the softer clay beneath the creek bed or as multicolored sheets of chalcedony. Although most Mookaite contains only the chemical remains of the radiolaria, occasionally impressions of Ammonites and other organisms have been preserved. There are also rare occurrences of black dendrite inclusions in Mookaite that, when cut en cabochon, produces a dendrite “tree” formation and greatly increases the value.

Size: 1 5/8" x 1"

Copper chain not included. Shipment includes only pendant shown in pictures.