Picture Jasper Cabochon, order Landscape Jasper, Blue Biggs Jasper from Oregon

Here's a cabochon of Biggs Jasper from Biggs Junction, Oregon. A flood uncovered this fine grained sedimentary jasper in the 1960s when highway 97 was being constructed. The road workers and local population suddenly became rockhounds, and scrambled to extract the picture jasper before it was paved over. While there have been a number of smaller mining operations in the area - one of which is still active today - the original deposit has not been dug since. This example is from material dug from the original deposit.

Now onto the stone. It is a free form cabochon featuring a nice mix of lighter browns and blues. It is highly polished on the front and back, and order has a bezel of approximately 1 mm to help with setting in a custom piece of jewellery. It measures 60 mm x 40 mm at its widest points and is 5 mm thick. Really nice pattern!