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Condor Agates Mendoza Province, Argentina, South America |
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There is sone confusion over the excat
location of Condor Agates as result os a practice of giving false locations
to throw off the claim-jumpers (and that is true for the rest of the world
too). Several sources gave different locations for Condor Agates within
Mendoza Province so I went with just "Mendoza Province". Some miners would
try to pass the agates from around San Rafael as "Condor" Agates. Recently,
Argentinians have been trying to pass the agates from other locations as
"Condor Agates" and "Condor Thunderegg" is a good example.
Such agates were brought to the United States by Luis De Los Santos who named them after the large birds flying above the collecting site 6,000 feet high in the Andes Mountains of Argentina after tracking down the path of the German collector who first found the Condor Agates decades ago. The access to the site proved to be so difficult and can be accessed only on horseback, hence about a ton to three can be brought back each trip depending on weather, luck and availability of helpers. There are two agate sites in the same area, one produced nodular agates, while other site produced vein-like agates, both similar in colors and banding. The colors of the Condor Agates tend to be dark colored with orange, brown and yellow being typical colors, but many can come in a full spectrum of colors as well as varying color combos. |
YOU CAN CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO SEE LARGER PICTURES
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| It's typical to find fractures in most agates | Typical dark-colored agates | Typical dark-colored agates |
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| Typical Red Agate | With rare aragontie fans | |
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| Bright colors! | Desired color combo | |
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| Hot tropical colors! | Also an Iris Agate | |
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| Fine banding | ||
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| Curvative polished | Curvative polished |
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| Vein type from the same area(?) | Rare strong shadowng effect in white area.
with amethyst core. |