Western Isles Agates

The western Isles of Scotland contain numerous islands, the vast majority being non agate bearing. There are three islands however where agates can be found and they are Mull, Iona and Rhum. The lava formed here is vastly different to that on the mainland (much younger on the Isles) and as such the agates here are also different particularly in their colouration as you will see in the following examples

mull2Mull Agates

The agates on Mull are very often pale cream in colour with veins of white or grey chalcedony. The combination of agate veins mixed with the fortification banding makes these agates stand out and are highly collectable.The unfortunate part of collecting these agates is they are mainly in remote locations across the island so rock scrambling is essential if any success is to be had!

Ionaagate2Iona Agates

On Iona the agates are usually much smaller than Mull and usually blue/grey in colour. Iona interestingly has NO agate bearing lavas and it is thought that the agates found here come from Mull centuries ago carried on ice flows. If the theory was ever proved it must mean that somewhere on Mull there are coloured agates!

rhumagate2Rhum Agates

Rhum is not easy to visit as an island and is managed as a nature reserve by it's owners the Nature Conservancy Council. Any collecting done on the island must have the permission of the council from their Inverness headquarters. The agates are very similar to those found on Mull and Iona. The main difference between the stones found on these isles is that bloodstone can be found in certain localities on Rhum

 
  
 

 
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