Purple Cow, Malheur County, Oregon, USAi
| Regional Level Types | |
|---|---|
| Purple Cow | Occurrence |
| Malheur County | County |
| Oregon | State |
| USA | Country |
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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
42° 3' 30'' North , 117° 55' 32'' West
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Type:
Köppen climate type:
Purple Cow (better known as the Purple Cow Claim or Purple Cow Gemstone Mine) in Malheur Co., Oregon is situated within the Opalite-Brietz District of the Basin & Range physiographic province. It was a surface operation producing gemstone-quality jasper-agate (“Purple Cow agate”) exhibiting brecciated nodular forms with purple, lilac, orange, maroon, & green hues; the material is now rare & reported largely mined out by the late 1980s. Jasper-agate occurs in silica-rich hydrothermal systems within the volcanic host rocks of the Opalite-Brietz District. Chalcedony & agate precipitated in fractures & vesicles of rhyolitic & tuffaceous units as silica-laden fluids circulated. This volcanic-hydrothermal environment also hosts associated siliceous mineral/varieties (agate, chalcedony, jasper, opal) & zeolites.
DOGAMI MLR 23-0170
Commodities (Major) - Gemstone
Development Status: Producer
Select Mineral List Type
Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical ElementsMineral List
1 valid mineral.
Rock Types Recorded
Note: data is currently VERY limited. Please bear with us while we work towards adding this information!
Select Rock List Type
Alphabetical List Tree DiagramDetailed Mineral List:
| ⓘ Quartz Formula: SiO2 |
| ⓘ Quartz var. Agate Formula: SiO2 |
| ⓘ Quartz var. Agate-Jasper Formula: SiO2 |
Gallery:
List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification
| Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ⓘ | Quartz var. Agate | 4.DA.05 | SiO2 |
| ⓘ | var. Agate-Jasper | 4.DA.05 | SiO2 |
| ⓘ | 4.DA.05 | SiO2 | |
List of minerals for each chemical element
| O | Oxygen | |
|---|---|---|
| O | ⓘ Quartz var. Agate | SiO2 |
| O | ⓘ Quartz var. Agate-Jasper | SiO2 |
| O | ⓘ Quartz | SiO2 |
| Si | Silicon | |
| Si | ⓘ Quartz var. Agate | SiO2 |
| Si | ⓘ Quartz var. Agate-Jasper | SiO2 |
| Si | ⓘ Quartz | SiO2 |
Other Databases
| Link to USGS MRDS: | 10225818 |
|---|
Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
North AmericaContinent
North America PlateTectonic Plate
- Basin and Range BasinsBasin
- Columbia Basin and RangeWide Rift
- Shoofly-Olds Ferry DomainDomain
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Purple Cow, Malheur County, Oregon, USA