The "Swazi" Agates are actually from Mozambique, not
Swaziland. They're more translucent than the porcelian pink
Botswana Agates. Some people refer them as "Rose" Agates for
their pinkish colors. The agates are white to gray with
strong pinkish to lavender hues, sometimes with reddish
rims. The horizontal bands are more common in the Swazi
agates than Botswana and some had been found with inclusions
and "eyes" structures. Apparently, most agates have been
somewhat opalized as shown by how they react to my grinding
and polishing methods. That may also the reason why it's
difficult to find any agates that are not fractured (I
searched thru a whole drum of agates and found very few
without fractures).
As of May 2026, they have started mining the agates directly
out of their bedrock hosts as evident by their red skins
which are absent in weathered nodules mined in the past.
Better and less fractured agates are coming out of that
mining expedition.
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may be found somewhere
else in Mozambique
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may be found somewhere
else in Mozambique |
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