Russ Kaniuth is the owner of Sunset Ridge Lapidary Arts and the founder and operator of the Cabs and Slabs Facebook group. See more of his work at www.sunsetridge lapidary.com.
Lakota Blue Ice Agate is a beautiful chalcedony with blue hues that catches your attention when you see it cut into cabochons. It comes from the Pine Ridge Lakota Reservation on privately owned land. When speaking with Mike Joebgen, who’s been allowed to collect there over the years with a Lakota escort and friend of his, he said this agate comes in a seam that’s in the White River Drainage in the Badlands. There is an abundance of blue chalcedony in this region, but only this one type that is thick and large enough to make cabochons.Since this area has a significant amount of erosion, they are not allowed to dig. Instead, they wait for the weather to erode a certain amount that they can collect each winter.