Mara Mamba Tiger Eye

Mara Mamba Tiger Eye is a rare variety of Tiger Eye found only in the Hamersley Ranges of the Pilbara region in Western Australia. Only two deposits have ever produced “true” Mara Mamba, with reds, blues, yellow, gold and greens, made up of Riebeckite, Goethite, Hematite & Quartz.

Photosynthetic bacteria evolved more than 2700 million years ago, and gave off oxygen as a waste product. This oxygen built up in the atmosphere and dissolved in the sea water. When iron, produced mainly from huge submarine volcanoes, came in contact with this oxygen, it precipitated as iron oxide in the sea floor and resulted in banded iron formations.

Burial and heating brought about crystallization of these layers, and solutions carrying sodium, penetrated through some layers, causing Riebeckite to form. Earth movements throughout the millions of years caused folding and faulting to occur, distorting the layers. Heated fluids passed through the rock and dissolved material and redeposited it elsewhere. The fibrous Riebeckite crystals were replaced by silica with fine dusts of yellow Goethite. About 2000 million years ago, when the supercontinent Gondwana began to separate, waters heated by volcanic activity dissolved much silica from the banded iron formation, leaving huge iron ore deposits of almost pure hematite.

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