Mookaite Jasper
Other Silicates & Gemstones
Mookaite is an unofficial local and trade name for colorful silicified porcelanite from the weathered Windalia Radiolarite of Western Australia. It is a fine-grained sedimentary rock rather than a distinct mineral or a strict jasper variety.
Identity
- Material or variety
- Jasper (opaque microcrystalline quartz)
- Scientific or material identity
- Jasper (opaque microcrystalline quartz)
- Classification
- Rock or mixed mineral material
- Aliases or trade names
- Mookaite · Mookaite jasper
- Composition or formula
- SiO₂ with mineral inclusions
- Crystal system or structure
- Aggregate or composite structure
- Geological or manufacturing origin
- Can form in more than one geological environment, or combines several materials.
- Mohs hardness
- 6.5 to 7
- Specific gravity
- 2.58 to 2.91
Origins
Mooka Creek, Western Australia
Appearance & optical properties
opaque mustard, burgundy and cream mookaite bands.
History & discovery
The name comes from the Mooka Creek area in Western Australia. Its host unit, the Lower Cretaceous Windalia Radiolarite, was named in 1954; near Mooka Creek, surface silicification produced the red, yellow, cream, and burgundy ornamental material now identified by the local name in the lapidary trade.
Uses & care
- Common uses
- Mookaite takes a smooth polish and is cut into cabochons, beads, spheres, small carvings, display pieces, and decorative slabs for lapidary work.
Jewellery
5 pieces of Mookaite Jasper jewellery. Learners earn each one in DigMyGem by learning words; until then it shows as a silhouette.
Mooka Mala Necklace
Necklace
A strand of graduated mookaite beads in ochre, cream and rust, strung as a mala for quiet counting. Each bead is a polished cross-section of the Australian jasper.
Ochre Shield Ring
Ring
A gold ring cut with a flat shield face of mookaite, its bands of yellow and red set like a desert horizon. The setting leaves the stone's edge visible on all sides.
Red Centre Brooch
Brooch
A brooch of rose gold shaped like a boomerang, inset with a curved wing of banded mookaite. Its colours are drawn from the red earth of the outback.
Mooka Creek Cuff
Bracelet
An imagined silver cuff with three mookaite stones in the brick red, mustard and cream of the Western Australian outback where it is found.
Red Centre Tiara
Tiara
An imagined gold tiara set with mookaite jasper in the brick red, mustard and cream of Australia's red centre.