W001 / Oregon
Biggs jasper
A locality-linked picture jasper · not a mineral species
Those soft brown hills are patterns in stone, not a picture of the place it came from. Biggs is a lapidary name tied to the Biggs Junction area; a familiar-looking slab still needs a paper trail.
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Thomas P. Shearer / Captain Tenneal · CC BY-SA 2.0 · No crop or color edits; scaled to fit. Locality follows the source label, not independent authentication.
Useful source-labelled comparison; exact locality is not independently authenticated. Visual resemblance does not identify C&C inventory.
What it is
Silica-rich cutting material known for scenic bands and earthy colors. “Jasper” describes lapidary material, not a separate mineral species.
What to look for
Look for fine bands, arcs and changes in brown, tan, yellow or gray. A landscape-like pattern is a useful description, but it is not an Oregon fingerprint.
At the cutting bench
Slabs and polished display slices make the pattern easy to read. Before laying out a cabochon, inspect both faces and edges for fractures, pits and uneven thickness. Hardness and cutting behavior should be checked on the actual material rather than promised from its trade name.
Under the loupe
Compare it with documented Biggs material, Deschutes picture jasper and other scenic jaspers. Similar colors cannot establish a mine, county or state. Keep a dealer label as a reported identification unless it can be connected to collection records.
Source & collecting access
UNKNOWN — current production, ownership and collecting permission have not been established for each deposit. The mapping report describes active and closed sites at the time of its fieldwork; those observations are not a September 2026 access clearance.
Status checked September 2026The market notebook
Market data insufficient for a reliable range. One retail example: FossilEra #336989 asks US $45 for a polished 4.2 × 3.7 inch slab, 0.25 inch thick, with stand. That is an asking price, not an appraisal or recorded sale.
Market researched 30 September 2026Open the field notes
Names, labels & aliases
Biggs picture jasper. China Hollow is a documented mine name, not a synonym for every Biggs slab. Wascoite is separately named in the mapping report; do not automatically merge it.
How it formed
DOGAMI’s mapping places local jasper, silicified sediment and silica deposits between two Columbia River Basalt flows. This is more specific than the common retail story that volcanic heat simply turned ash into jasper.
The collecting story
A modern mapping report documents China Hollow mining and identifies Biggs jasper and wascoite. Accounts of the original discovery give different dates and circumstances; this record leaves the first-discovery date unresolved.
Reading an old-stock label
“Old stock” describes a history of storage or ownership, not a geological type. Ask when, from whom and with what label it was acquired. Without those details, keep the age of the stock unconfirmed.
What we know—and what we don’t
WELL SUPPORTED: named regional material and mapped geological setting. UNKNOWN: current access and a label-free slab’s origin. CONFLICTING SOURCES: first-discovery chronology.
C&C Reference Collection
No C&C reference specimen has been authenticated for this record yet. Acquired in Oregon is not the same as formed in Oregon. Preserve an estate’s original wording and mark any lost locality documentation.
Sources & Further Reading
- DOGAMI · GMS 124, section 8.1.1 and figure 8-1
Primary mapping report; field observations from 2018–2019. Full text inspected through the authors’ ResearchGate copy; original PDF exceeds retrieval size limit.
- University of Nebraska–Lincoln · Agates Collection
Historical names and locality-labelled reference specimens. Older entries are not current access advice; some geological interpretations need updating.
- FossilEra · Biggs slab #336989
One observed asking price; geological marketing copy is not used as the formation authority.
- Copper Canyon · Biggs slab listings
Retail reference only; photographs and seller locality statements are not independent authentication.
- BLM · Rockhounding
General collecting framework; local restrictions, claims and ownership must still be checked.
- CDC/NIOSH · Safe Work Practices for Silica
Dust control guidance; wet methods are one control, not a guarantee of safe exposure.
Silica-bearing stone can release hazardous dust when cut or ground. Use appropriate dust controls; wet working alone is not a safety guarantee.