First discovered in the United States in the Unakas mountains of North Carolina, unakite is an altered granite
composed of pink orthoclase feldspar, green epidote,and generally clear quartz. It exists in various shades of green and pink
and is usually mottled in appearance. In good quality unakite is considered a semiprecious stone, will take a good polish
and is often used in jewelry and other lapidary work such as eggs, spheres and other carvings like animals. It is also referred
to as epidotized granite.
It is the state stone of Virginia, where it is found in the river valleys after having been washed down
from the Blue Ridge Mountains. Unakite can be found as pebbles and cobbles from glacial drift in the beach rock on the
shores of Lake Superior. I've collected several smaller pieces myself and once left a 3 to 4 lb piece that I found lying
at a campsite in McLain State Park. It's probably in the fire pit now! Unfortunately, I tried tumbling the pieces
that I found and they didn't tumble very well. I may get around to cabbing some of them over the next year.
