Malawi Agate Location

Malawi Agate is found in the southern region of Malawi near the small village of Ngabu. All agate classified as "Malawi Agate" comes from locations within a 20-25 mile radius of this village. The key mining locations are the Alimajo, 1970s, Gambiri, and Smooth Skin mining areas.

Alimajo Location - The Alimajo location is probably the most popular and well-known of all the Malawi Agate locations. It produces the highest quality agates and contains the least fractured material. The average siaze nodule from this location ranges between 1.5 to 2 inches. The agate is known as candy agates as a result of their small size and bright colored banding. Pretty much any color is possible, but yellow, red, white, blue, purple, and orange are some of the strongest colors found. In addition to the strong banding and intense coloring, agates found in the Alimajo location and contain quartz, amethyst and often floaters. The Gem Shop sells this material as "babies."

1970s Location - The 1970s location is the original mining pit. It is the oldest commercially mined location in Malawi. Originally most of the material found here was either on or just below the surface, but now miners must did up to 50 meters into the host rock in order to find any usable material. The agate found here is quite fractured and is why Malawi Agate is commonly considered the most fractured agate material in the world. If you cut a fracture-free piece of this material, hold onto it, because that is rare and valuable! This material is usually larger than any of the other locations and can get up to 7 inches in size. Coloring in this location can vary too, but most often contains blue banding on the outer portion of the agate with an orange banded center.   

Gambiri Location - The material found at the Gambiri location looks very similar to the Alimajo material. The outside husk is similarly brownish red with a pock-marked surface, but the pock marks do not appear as deep as they are in the Alimajo material. This material is also predominately red with similar warm toned banding on the inside. No yellow banding has been found at this location. 

Smooth Skin Location - This location is not nearly as well-known as the others. This is due to the fact that no rough material has ever been on the market. The agate from this location is named aptly because the husk found on the agate nodules are quite smooth. The material is a mystery when cutting. IT has visible flow channels and ridges on the exterior, but seldom that is an indication of the material inside. It is this very reason why the rough material has not been to market. Much of the nodules cut contain a layer or two of agate but then fill in with moss and quartz. That being said some of the more interestingly patterned nodules have come out of this area. When it's good, its great, but when it's a dud, it's terrible.  

In addition to these areas there have been several more smaller digging sites that have yielded small batches of agates. However, for one reason or another they were not mined commercially and the yield from these digs have been folded into the rough of other locations, simply sold as Ngabu Agates. 

A special thank you to Joshua Ritter of Agate Bay for the information on Malawi Agates and the photographs of the mine.