Talk:Blue lace agate

Did you know nomination

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. You can locate your hook here. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by HurricaneZeta (talk) 00:59, 13 December 2025 (UTC)

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Blue lace agate slab from Namibia

• ... that until recently, most blue lace agate (pictured) was sourced from a single mine in Namibia?

• Source: : p. 3 "For several decades small mines in southern Namibia have produced an attractive banded agate, mostly marketed as lapidary material. The major source has been a mine on Ysterputs (or sometimes spelled Ysterputz) farm, producing blue lace agate." p. 11 "Since 2017 the mine has been dormant and currently its future is unknown."

: "For many years, virtually all Blue Lace Agate came from Farm 254, Ysterputs, Karasburg West, southern Namibia . . . Since 2017, no Blue Lace Agate has been excavated from the deposit on Farm 254, and visitor access is forbidden."

: "The Blue Lace Agate mine exploited a hydrothermal vein deposit at Ysterputs in southern Namibia until 2017."

• • ALT1: ... that until 2017, most blue lace agate (pictured) was sourced from a single mine in Namibia? Source: same as above
  • ALT2: ... that most blue lace agate (pictured) originates from a single, now-defunct mine in Namibia? Source: same as above
  • Reviewed:

Converted from a redirect by I2Overcome (talk). Number of QPQs required: 0. Nominator has fewer than 5 past nominations.

I₂Overcome ^talk 06:39, 13 November 2025 (UTC).

• Review as follows: Hook is very interesting and catchy, is sourced and verified within the article. Article is certainly long enough and clearly presentable, with a proper infobox and illustrative images, as well as well-sourced. Content is neutral and copyvio-free. Image is free and is used within the infobox of the article. Regards, Jeromi Mikhael 02:56, 14 November 2025 (UTC)

GA review

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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This review is transcluded from Talk:Blue lace agate/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Nominator: I2Overcome (talk · contribs) 07:15, 18 November 2025 (UTC)

Reviewer: GoldRomean (talk · contribs) 02:23, 12 February 2026 (UTC)

I'll take this :). Comments to come, within the next few days. GoldRomean (talk) 02:23, 12 February 2026 (UTC)

Good Article review progress box

Criteria: 1a. prose () 1b. MoS () 2a. ref layout () 2b. cites WP:RS () 2c. no WP:OR () 2d. no WP:CV () 3a. broadness () 3b. focus () 4. neutral () 5. stable () 6a. free or tagged images () 6b. pics relevant () Note: this represents where the article stands relative to the Good Article criteria. Criteria marked are unassessed

Prose review

I am human, I may make mistakes, and pushback to any suggestions are okay and encouraged. I might make some copyedits as I go; feel free to revert and/or discuss here if there are any issues.

• Lead: "Until 2017" - left me wondering what happened in 2017; add a bit more detail
  • explained in body I₂Overcome ^talk 08:09, 12 February 2026 (UTC)
• "although similar material has been found elsewhere" - what similar material?
  • explained in body I₂Overcome ^talk 08:09, 12 February 2026 (UTC)
• "in dolerite of Jurassic age" - "Jurassic–age dolerite"? perhaps also change "in Namibia" to "in the Namibia deposit" or similar to make the change to past tense less startling (or use present tense)
  • Changed to present tense. "Dolerite of Jurassic age" is common phrasing. I₂Overcome ^talk 08:09, 12 February 2026 (UTC)
• Origin: delink "ǁKaras Region" per MOS:GEOLINK
  • Done. I₂Overcome ^talk 08:09, 12 February 2026 (UTC)
• who is George Swanson? maybe add couple words of additional detail
  • The sources just name him as the former owner of the mine. The blog source does have some background, but you’re right, it’s not reliable. I₂Overcome ^talk 08:09, 12 February 2026 (UTC)
• why is its future uncertain?
  • This is what the source says; it doesn’t explain. I₂Overcome ^talk 08:09, 12 February 2026 (UTC)
• "it is possible that there are other occurrences of blue lace agate in Namibia or neighboring South Africa" - move this to the end of the paragraph; better to talk about confirmed occurences rather than possiblities
  • I can’t split that sentence, and I think it naturally follows from the preceding paragraph. I₂Overcome ^talk 08:09, 12 February 2026 (UTC)

  Changed this; see below. I₂Overcome ^talk 08:51, 12 February 2026 (UTC)

• delete the word "recent"
  • Done I₂Overcome ^talk 08:09, 12 February 2026 (UTC)
• Geology: "The clay is easily washed away with a pressure washer" is this necessary information to include?
  • I think so, because it explains why the clay is never present on any specimens of blue lace agate. I₂Overcome ^talk 08:09, 12 February 2026 (UTC)

That's all for now! Might make a 2nd pass later. GoldRomean (talk) 03:33, 12 February 2026 (UTC)

Thanks for your changes! All look good. Additional minor stuff:

• the first external link is already cited as a source, maybe remove
• link Brittleness in infobox? maybe Uniaxial too... but I don't know if reading Index ellipsoid is going to make an average reader more or less confused ;)

GoldRomean (talk) 19:24, 15 February 2026 (UTC)

Source review

• [4d] - by my reading of the source, it is saying that it is true that there are additional occurrences in South Africa, and it is possible that there are other occurrences elsewhere, but those locations have not been exploited (and thus, not as thoroughly covered)? optionally, might be a better link than to a forum post; also, providing individual page numbers here might be helpful.
  • Changed to The geological formations at Ysterputs are not unique to this one location. Similar chalcedony deposits can be found on nearby farms, and it is possible that there are other occurrences of blue lace agate in Namibia or neighboring South Africa that remain unexploited. The current website is where the newsletter was first published online, I think. I₂Overcome ^talk 08:46, 12 February 2026 (UTC)
• [4h][6j] not egregious, but hints of WP:CLOP here. compare source (left) to article:

−

The blue colour of chalcedony is reportedly ascribed to Rayleigh scattering — due to cavities, mineral inclusions, or sub-micron-sized spheroids thought to be amorphous silica. Transparent and translucent layers of chalcedony may fluoresce bright green under short-wave ultraviolet light.

+

The color of blue lace agate is believed to be due to Rayleigh scattering of light by tiny cavities, inclusions, or sub-microscopic particles of amorphous silica within the agate. In some specimens from Ysterputs, a fraction of the chalcedony bands appear fluorescent green under short-wave ultraviolet light due to trace amounts of uranyl ions.

• and from [4a][4b]:

−

For several decades small mines in southern Namibia have produced an attractive banded agate [...] The major source has been a mine on Ysterputs (or sometimes spelled Ysterputz) farm, producing blue lace agate. It was promoted widely by the late George Swanson who owned the mine.

+

The primary source of blue lace agate for several decades was the privately-owned Ysterputs Mine (also spelled Ysterputz) on Ysterputs Farm 254 in Karasburg West, ǁKaras Region, Namibia. The mine was owned by the late George Swanson [...]

• from [6p]:

−

The colour banding and thickness of individual layers is symmetrical on either side of a central plane

+

The color and thickness of the agate banding tends to be symmetrical on both sides of the fissure walls around a central plane

• from [6i]:

−

Ysterputs is also the source of cubic chalcedony pseudomorphs, originally thought to be after fluorite, but probably after melanophlogite.

+

While previously thought to be pseudomorphs after fluorite, they are likely pseudomorphs after melanophlogite.

• and [6e]:

−

Much of the chalcedony constituting the agate is the length-slow variety ‘quartzine’, indicatingdeposition in a saline environment

+

the majority of the chalcedony in blue lace agate is the length-slow variety, quartzine; this suggests that it formed in fluids with a high salinity

• • Do you have any specific suggestions on how I could rephrase these? I’m not sure how else I could express the same information accurately, and I don’t think the paraphrasing is really close except for the technical language. I₂Overcome ^talk 08:46, 12 February 2026 (UTC)

    Thanks for the speedy responses! hmm—the article currently primarily relies on two main sources, and I do think having more would help with this. Apropos of nothing, I really like WP:FIXCLOSEPARA and WP:MINE. The sentence structures could be more varied, and I feel like some words could still be swapped out, though I agree that it is not egregious and there's a lot of WP:LIMITED. A try at a clunky (and not necessarily ideal) rewrite: "Until its closure in 2017, one of the primary sources of blue lace agate was Ysterputs Farm 254 of the Ysterputs mine in Karasburg West, ǁKaras Region, Namibia." I'll leave more specific comments, later. GoldRomean (talk) 01:25, 13 February 2026 (UTC)

• [5] - is this a reliable source? looks like the blog of a mineral store.
  • You're right; I removed it. It was mostly just there for redundancy anyway. I₂Overcome ^talk 08:18, 12 February 2026 (UTC)
• [2] - is this (gemdat.org) reliable? from its website: "Gemdat.org relies on user contributions to improve the quality of our database."
  • Gemdat.org is used in a lot of mineral articles, so I think so. It’s not user-generated in the sense that anyone can just create an account and edit it. I₂Overcome ^talk 08:18, 12 February 2026 (UTC)
• (optional) the Pabian agate book is available at IA, maybe link?

Reading through that journal article, will come back with more source review. Feel free to ping if no updates by the 16th :). GoldRomean (talk) 18:18, 13 February 2026 (UTC)

Source review, part 2

• [5a] Y
• [4c][5b] ? - "Most mineralogical data on blue lace agate originates from analysis of material from Ysterputs." - is this explicitly said in either?
  • [5] says this: "Until recently, neither the primary banded agate nor the associated secondary minerals (calcite, quartz, dolomite, gypsum and siderite) had been studied mineralogically. In this paper we report on a petrographic and geochemical investigation of this material..." Also see the first paragraph of the other source. I₂Overcome ^talk 20:46, 15 February 2026 (UTC)

    Y GoldRomean (talk) 21:32, 15 February 2026 (UTC)

• [5c] Y
• [5d] Y
• [5e] Y
• [5f] Y
• [5g] Y
• [5h] - could you quote the part from the source that supports this?
  • "Plates of cubic chalcedony pseudomorphs, up to 9 mm in size, from an adjacent location about 1.5 km to the south of the main mine at Ysterputs, have attracted the attention of mineral collectors." I₂Overcome ^talk 20:46, 15 February 2026 (UTC)

    Y GoldRomean (talk) 21:32, 15 February 2026 (UTC)

• [4a] Y
• [4m][5r] Y
• [3] - okay on the Kenya part, though could "Other localities have also produced a blue lace agate very similar to that found at Ysterputs" be considered WP:OR?
  • Rewrote as one sentence for clarity: Other regions have also produced blue lace agate or a similar blue chalcedony, including the Lapurr Range in Turkana County, Kenya, Georgia, Malawi, Zambia, and Turkey. There are three separate sources here. I₂Overcome ^talk 20:29, 15 February 2026 (UTC)

    Y GoldRomean (talk) 21:32, 15 February 2026 (UTC)

• [6] Y
• [7] ? - source says from Ysterputz, not Malawi etc.
  • The source is a photo on Mindat; the caption mentions these three countries. I₂Overcome ^talk 20:29, 15 February 2026 (UTC)

    Y mea culpa, thanks! GoldRomean (talk) 21:32, 15 February 2026 (UTC)

• [9] Y

Other notes

• not sure what the general form is, but is it necessary to include locations for the image captions? They are all either from Ysterputs, probably from Ysterputs, or unknown (but presumably most likely from Ysterputs, as Ysterputs is the primary source?)
  • Removed from all except the one that is from Malawi. Some are definitely from Ysterputs (based on collection date, quality, and/or being labeled as from Namibia), others are probably from Ysterputs but could be from Malawi, Zambia, etc. I₂Overcome ^talk 21:35, 15 February 2026 (UTC)
• an increased gallery size might be nice
  • Increased to 150px I₂Overcome ^talk 21:35, 15 February 2026 (UTC)
• I do think File:Blue lace agate lapidary slab.png shows that "pale blue" quite nicely and would work well as the infobox picture, but that's just a suggestion and I'm absolutely not going to quibble over it :).

Copyright checks out and suggestions above mostly optional for GAC; so that's all for criterion 6. GoldRomean (talk) 18:18, 13 February 2026 (UTC)

Not a lot of sourcing out there, but what is available is used. Neutral, stable, image/prose/source reviews above. Thank you for this interesting and well-written articles; just a couple things left here that I've noted :). In the meantime, I'm going to ask for a 2O: some quick thoughts from a third person on the paraphrasing problem/non-problem noted in the diffs above would be much appreciated. GoldRomean (talk) 19:34, 15 February 2026 (UTC)

Okay, revisiting this. I was leaning there before, and am even more there now (having had several weeks to think about it): if this is WP:CLOP, it's borderline at best—but I do think the paraphrasing is fine, and likely WP:LIMITED either way. Based on this (and the review above), I think this meets the GA criteria :). The 2O's been open for over a month (and seeing as the oldest one is from last year (!)) I'd rather not keep this waiting further. Passing, with sincere thanks for your patience and sincere apologies that this has been on hold for so long. GoldRomean (talk) 22:27, 3 April 2026 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.