A polished kambaba jasper sphere from Madagascar, deep forest green scattered with dark orbs and swirls. Here is the honest part most sellers skip: despite the name, kambaba jasper is not a jasper, and it is not a fossil. Lab analysis (X-ray diffraction) shows it is a rhyolite, a volcanic rock, made mostly of quartz and feldspar. The green comes from minerals like aegirine, and the dark "eyes" are tiny needles of amphibole that grew in radiating circles as the rock cooled. It is often sold as fossilised algae billions of years old; that is a long-repeated myth, and the geology says otherwise.
Rock: Kambaba jasper (rhyolite; quartz, feldspar, aegirine, amphibole)
Also known as: Crocodile jasper
Origin: Bongolava region, Madagascar
Hardness: 6.5 to 7 on the Mohs scale; hard and durable
Treatment: None
Diameter: 5.88 cm
Weight: 285 g
Note: Acrylic stand included (not the stand shown in the photo).
You'll receive the exact piece photographed.