About African Agates

Malawi The nodules of agate vary from about 6 to 10 centimeters in diameter, although few are actually round, as can be seen from the sample of four half nodules photographed ( these are not for sale.)   They were mined in the Chikwawa area of Malawi, near the Lower Sabie river, during the early to mid nineteen fifties.   In the nineteen sixties I obtained a quantity of the nodules from a trading store in the vicinity and was told that these had been exchanged for food and tools.   Who the miner was and where the rest of the production went remains unknown. A characteristic of many of these agates is the transparency or high translucency surrounding a "flame" or other red or orange pattern, usually encircled with pale blue.   Another characteristic is that hair cracks through the nodules are unfortunately quite common and it is therefore very difficult to cut a flawless cabochon with a complete and perfect pattern.   This considerably reduces production of the finest pieces. All cabochons shown on the Malawi agate page are from the same origin and although dimensions are given, no further comments are made on individual pieces for this reason. Zimbabwe Some of the agates I mined by chance in the Zambezi River valley and some from surface indications in the south east of what was then Rhodesia.   Unlike the Malawi nodules, there is a very wide variety of character, pattern, colour and external shape, some being crusts and others irregular blocks.   As the sacks were mixed up over thirty years of transit and storage I cannot therefore be sure which was from where.   They are all, however, of Rhodesian / Zimbabwean origin. No pieces displayed on this website have been or will be heated, dyed or otherwise colour-enhanced.