WYLOO AMETHYST

Australia is not known for great amethyst, at least compared to other amethyst producing regions of the world, arguably however the best amethyst from Australia comes from Wyloo.

Most specimens are labelled Wyloo, for the nearby station homestead. The "Great Australian Amethyst Mine" is located on Wyloo Station in Ashburton Shire Western Australia. Permission from the owners is required before visiting this location and requests in recent years to visit the site by local collectors have been refused by the station, and also the separate leaseholders.

18,800 kg of amethyst came from leases here from 1967-1978 by the Soklich family.  The site was originally discovered by prospectors looking for gold in the early 1900's.

Wyloo amethyst occurs in a quartz veins and most of the stone is said to be of inferior quality, although fine specimens from the location have been seen over the years for sale.

The dolomite is a thin to thickly bedded unit, locally stromatolitic with minor chert and mudstone horizons. Amethyst at the surface is sun bleached but quality increases with depth. Some crystals are doubly terminated, and gem quality near the crystal terminations.

Reports in the late 1960's states single crystals had diameters of 12-15cm, without twinning and fractures, and there was an abundance of single and doubly terminated clusters.