Custom Cut & Polished & Wire Wrapped Mariposite Necklace/Pendant Sterling Silver .935
Over all size: 2 x 15/16 inch or 51mm x 25mm
Mariposite is a distinctive, decorative metamorphic rock famous for its signature green streaks. Named after Mariposa County, California, it is primarily composed of a chromium-rich variety of the mica mineral phengite (or fuchsite) set in a matrix of white dolomitic marble and quartz. [1, 2, 3, 4]
It holds a special place in history and geology:
Gold Rush Indicator: During the 19th-century California Gold Rush, prospectors used mariposite as a key marker. Because the fluids that formed the green rock also carried gold, veins of mariposite and quartz were often a direct indicator of gold hidden nearby. [1, 2, 3, 4]Physical Characteristics: It is not an officially recognized mineral by the International Mineralogical Association, but the presence of chromium is what gives the rock its attractive, pale-to-dark green streaks