Unique to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, is the jasper form known as Dallasite, named after the road it was discovered on in the south end of Vancouver Island. It is officially recognized as the third most important gemstone in British Columbia.
Dallasite is a fantastic and jaw-dropping artistic display of green, black and white colours, but it often includes blue, yellow, red and all the colours on the spectrum. Dallasite is a jasper breccia made up of quartz, altered basalt, epidote and pumpelleyite. It is thought to have been formed as pillow lava underwater.
Each piece paints a picture in beautiful blocky artwork. No two stones are alike. Many even come with mossy black agate spots in the creamy seams. Some have blue tinges in the quartz and others tinge yellow.
As a breccia, Dallasite comes in many forms but all share a distinct look. It often has green zig-zags in lightning streaks or displays black dots lining a white background. Dallasite truly reflects the colours of the Pacific Northwest.
View our gallery below
There's what I'm after: Dallasite! It's a jasper breccia local to Vancouver Island.
Another nice piece of Dallasite. I like the ones with a lot of white. This piece was about fist sized.
Dallasite in its natural habitat, the eastern Vancouver Island shoreline.
Rough Dallasite.
Dallasite is a jasper breccia gemstone that displays amazing, natural artwork.
I like this Dallasite picture - that's the kind of piece that just yells at you.
Big, dinosaur egg rough Dallasite jasper breccia.
A flash of rough yellowy Dallasite.
Finishing up with a regular old Dallasite rock. It's beautiful nonetheless!
Nice chunk of rough Dallasite jasper breccia. The red is just staining, I think.
Rough Dallasite.
Another rough piece, this one had been through the coarse grind tumbler for a week.
Another partially tumbled Dallasite stone.
Boom! Same rocks, just sprayed the slurry off with a hose.
Another angle at the batch of Dallasite jasper halfway through the stone tumbling process.
This Dallasite jasper rock from Vancouver Island is going to need more time in the tumbler, but you can see its beautiful black orbs on the creamy background.
Here's some brecciated Dallasite jasper from Vancouver Island
Rough Dallasite.
Another partially tumbled Dallasite stone. They need to be photographed wet until they're fully polished, as the prior stages leave a haze on them.
A tumbled Dallasite stone halfway through the polishing process.
An egg-like chunk of Dallasite jasper from Vancouver Island.
Last shot for now. A Dallasite tumbled stone halfway through the polishing process.
Rare Dallasite jasper unique Vancouver Island.
Check out that piece of Dallasite jasper! Black, blue, white, green, orange... Amazing Vancouver Island gemstone.
Beautiful lightly tumbled Dallasite.
The back of that Dallasite jasper piece. This one is the best I've tumbled so far I think.
