[Rockhounds] Fairburn Agates in South Dakota

[Alan Silverstein]

> If you get to any of the agate beds, you'll find plenty to collect.

Yes, no, maybe, depending on what you like.  No shortage of rocks to
review, but at least the main beds are pretty picked over for rose
quartz, fossil wood, etc.

> Hard to know what to pick up and bring home.  Lots of poor quality
> stuff, of course, but you won't leave with empty pockets :-)

Agreed, not unless you are selective.

One year I took home about 5 gallons of what I called "Fairburn orange
crud" rocks, being jaspers that had the look of the matrix that might
contain the fine banding, but didn't.  I ran it through the truck tire
grinder to see if there were any surprises.  Almost all of it came out
rather different when cleaned up, some of it with interesting patterns
or features, but I think only ONE rock had any "hidden Fairburn pattern"
in it.

This still doesn't say whether cracking open nodules might reveal more.
You'd have to bust hundreds of them, and for all I know they might
naturally already split showing the pattern if there is any.

Cheers,
Alan Silverstein