Apache Gold

Apache gold, also known as “healer’s gold,” is a combination of pyrite and schist, that comes from the old copper mining town of Jerome, Arizona. For as far back as recorded history and beyond, everyone has found gold to be universally appealing. It’s often representative of the top standard of many achievements. However, not all that glitters is gold! Yet, fool’s gold can still offer lapidaries good material to create something extremely elegant. The pyrite in black schist collaborates well with fool’s gold, creating a wonderful contrast that draws attention to an entire piece. While Apache gold is getting a little scarce to find, it is still available through online dealers, and at shows. When buying this material, it may be wise to purchase as a slab since there’s no real way of knowing how much pyrite streamers you’ll find running through the center of the stone. There’s a good possibility a specimen may be mostly schist with very little pyrite. An additional pitfall to watch for when selecting material are large areas of pyrite on the outer edges. These areas tend to be extra soft and can easily crumble. I’d advise you not to look at the outer edges to be useful in your design, as most of the pyrite exposed on the outside of the stone will most likely be rendered useless. It’s what is on the inside that you want to work with.

If you bought rough to work with, there is no right or wrong direction to load your saw to capture a certain pattern; just be sure that it’s clamped down securely in the vice. If you chose to buy smaller pieces to cut by hand on a 10” trim saw, which is the method I prefer, you might want to examine the slab from your first cut and check to see if there are any fractures. If a fracture is present, it’s a good time to start your workarounds, by cutting down the middle of any large fracture, then continue slabbing the pieces. Since Apache gold is also a soft material, I suggest cutting slabs no less than one-quarter inch thick, as it creates stability you can use throughout the cabbing process. When you work with soft materials and slab too thin in the beginning, you run the risk of sanding down too much too quickly, resulting in a broken cabochon, so it’s always best to start with a thicker piece of material. Once you have the slabs cut, be sure to check all the outer edges by hand to see if they are stable. It’s better to find out at this point in the process that they may crumble easily, than when you are halfway through cabbing. An additional tip I’ve learned is it’s best to cut your preforms out with a thin blade when working with soft materials like Apache gold, as it helps to avoid breaking or excessive chipping. Cabbing Apache gold is rather simple, yet, it takes a good amount of patience to shape the cabochon and not grind or sand too far too quickly. By grinding or sanding at a quick pace, the cab can easily lose its shape. It’s best to start the cabbing process on the 220 steel grit wheel and shape and dome the cab. Then gently smooth out the cabs, and use a 280 grit soft resin diamond wheel to remove all of the scratches. As long as you can remove the scratches, the rest of the process should be smooth and quick. Most lapidary’s end with either an 8k or 14k grit wheel, and either is ok, but schist doesn’t always polish very nicely by using only this method. Once you have completed work on your cabbing machine, use a little dab of Zam polishing compound on a buffing wheel, or a Dremel polishing bit to add a nice sparkle to the cabochon, and give the pyrite a mirror shine.