Rockhounding in Lesotho with the Children of God
Report from the Stony Missionary Fields of Africa by Donald Tuttle

Baptist Church Fellowship Mission
Ha-Pocane, Botha Bothe District, Lesotho, Africa

Rockhounding is an enjoyable pastime for me when I am at the BCF Mission in Lesotho, and a good way to organize the cadre of children that fill the mission house doorway after school. As soon as I leave the house with a “plas-tique” bag, they come running, eager to exchange their day’s stones—lehakoe--for a biscuit or candy sweet. Even the youngest of them, some not more than three or four years old, are able to grub the good agates and coral ‘beans’ from the dull limey soils, and carry on animated conversations among themselves about the preferable colors, types, and clarity of ‘-tones’ Ntate Donald might want.

At the mission, chalcedony-filled fossil corals in the alluvial soils are common. These prehistoric corals are believed to have thrived in the same environments that modern corals prefer - clean, warm oceans of normal salinity levels. Solitary corals were present in oceans of soft, muddy bottoms while horn corals and colonial corals preferred hard sea floors to attach themselves. The fossilized corals my budding Basotho rockhounds find are loose, broken ‘stems and pieces’ or ‘coral beans’-- small, rounded to flattened oval-shaped masses with a surface pattern of the skeleton of it’s former occupant. These are, technically, chalcedony replaced pseudomorphs of corals, genuine fossil evidence of the shallow seas that once covered this high-mountain region of the African subcontinent.

Fossilized coral holds a great attraction for some mineral collectors. In the United States, Petoskey stones, eagerly sought on the shore of Lake Michigan near Petoskey, are the remains of prehistoric coral. In Florida, agate and chalcedony have replaced ancient corals near Tampa Bay, making a decidedly beautiful cutting and polishing material for lapidaries.

Chalcedony is a type of cryptocrystalline quartz. Under certain geological conditions, prehistoric corals, mollusks, and even marine animal bone can fossilize by being replaced with silica from groundwaters percolating through limestone. The term chalcedony here refers to a uniformly transparent to translucent form of quartz with a slightly viscous or waxy “feel’ on a freshly broken surface. The term chalcedony is derived from the name of the ancient Greek town Chalkedon in Asia Minor, in modern English usually spelled Chalcedon.

Agate, also a type of cryptocrystalline quartz that exhibits a layered or banded effect, often forms solid nodules in the sedimentary rock or crystal-lined vugs surrounded by bands of color. Agate (Hebrew shebo) is named as the eighth stone in the breastplate of Aaron in the Old Testament book of Exodus.

Banded agates are frequently found at the BCF Mission, usually with alternating bands of gray, black or white, but some specimens include delicate shades of ivory, yellows, and bluish tints. At one site near the mission, a red or reddish-brown to orange variant of chalcedony called carnelian is abundant. (I and a young friend were able to fill a 50 kilo mielies sacs with good quality cabochon-cutting material in less than an hour.) The word is derived from the Latin word cornus meaning flesh, in reference to the flesh color sometimes exhibited.

A few larger nodules found at the mission are encrusted with a light blue fossil coral rind of agate covering a core of deep purple-black banded chalcedony. This purplish-black variety is found at many different locations around the district and can easily be collected from maize field erosion ditches and riverbanks. Some of the larger chunks contain vugs filled with sparkling quartz crystals; others feature a crust of burnt cornflake-like crystals of dolomite.

Isaiah 54: 11-13 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children [of God] shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children.

Jasper. In Scriptural times jasper was highly esteemed for gems, seals or signets. However, the Greek word iapsis (jasper) included several varieties of stones we do not recognize as jasper today. Modern terminology assigns opaque and richly colored varieties of chalcedony to jasper, especially those with shades of brown, reds, yellow-gold or green. On our rockhounding excursions in Lesotho, we find tan, yellow ocher, and brick-red jasper, and occasionally a compact porcelain-white variety. In Lesotho, jasper is attributed with many powers—carried or strung on a necklace it is said to prevent sorrow, it protects against drowning, wards off ailments of the stomach, and especially important for barefoot herd boys, keeps poisonous millipedes, spiders and scorpions at bay.

The rocks exposed in Lesotho are almost entirely of Triassic and Jurassic age, belonging to the Karoo Supergroup. The Karoo sediments were largely deposited in subcontinental marine environments, or as alluvial outwash plains (think Mississippi River Delta), These sedimentary rocks sometimes expose the tracks of dinosaurs that trod the primeval shores, and are becoming popular tourist attractions for Lesotho trekkers during the summer. Other parts of Lesotho are made up of basalt flows from the Drakenburg Group.

Diamond. The 34 known kimberlite pipes and dykes occurring in northern Lesotho are of lower Cretaceous age, 24 of which contain diamonds. The main area of interest today is the Liqhobong kimberlite area of the Mohotlong District, about 109 km north of our mission site in Botha Bothe. Here at the new Letseng Diamond Mine, the kimberlite produces a low yield of only 3 carats per 100 tons of rock, but it contains a high concentration of large diamonds. In November 2003, two large diamonds, a 215-carat and a flawless 95-carat stone were discovered at the mine. There is also some artesinal diamond mining from alluvial river deposits by traditional Basotho claims but it is difficult for an missionary-rockhound to get to see these operations.

In 1967 the world’s seventh-largest diamond of 601.25 carats was found in Lesotho. The golf-ball sized stone was later purchased by Harry Winston, New York diamond dealer for $600,000). An uncut, 603-caret white gem, weighing 120 g (4.2 oz), was recently found at the Letseng mine on August 22, 2006. The diamond—also about the size of a golf ball—is said to be the 15th largest ever discovered. It was recently purchased by the South African Diamond Corporation for 12.4m USD and will be cut into one large and several smaller stones.

Rev. 21:11 [Jerusalem] …her light was like unto a stone most precious, clear as crystal.

Quartz Crystals (or All Crystal is Not Diamond). Although I have been told the alluvial soils around the mission can occassionally yield genuine diamond crystals, that experience still eludes me. My young Basotho friends are far more apt to find glassy crystals of quartz. I am reminded of the fourteenth century rendering of Psalm 147:17, ”He sendis his kristall like morcels” when they run to me with a prized crystal find. In Lesotho, quartz crystals are considered talismans of good luck and healing for the finder. They are often displayed alongside various roots and herbs in the native medicine-vendor stalls in town. Herd boys consider a flinty piece of quartz a fortunate find, as they know that when struck against the back of an iron knife, the crystal will spark a warming fire.

Nothing indicates that diamond was used or even known in the Old Testament, and considerable doubt exists that the gemstone was familiar to the early New Testament peoples. Even though diamond is mentioned in the Bible several times, modern Biblical scholars believe the ancient text was more likely referring to crystal quartz. I found this ancient confusion still exists in Lesotho when one day I went to investigate hammering sounds coming from behind the mission house. “We are making diamonds for you, Ntate,” the boys said, as they enthusiastically reduced a beautiful large crystal quartz specimen to shards with the firewood ax. “We looked very hard for a diamond for you, Ntate, but we did not find one, so we making many new ones for you.”

Next: Walking in the Paths of Rightousness with Dinosaurs