C. Gates wrote:
SNIP
A related story came out a few years ago when somebody went
around selling a "gem material" that emerged from some debris
from an oil well being drilled in Wyoming. According to the
story, it came from a depth of some 2000 feet, so there was an
extremely limited supply, etc. Apparently somebody unloaded
a lot of this to rock shops, etc., throughout the southwest.
These folks, in turn, passed the story along to their
customers. Believe the material turned out to be glass.
SNIP

Debris/cuttings from an oil well are SMALL, ranging from fine mud like
particles to very small chips, depending on the rock being drilled through.
If it was hard like obsidian, or glass as in the story, the crushing action
of the bit would pulverize it. After all, the cuttings have to be removed by
the circulating mud which transports them to the surface where they are
separated from the mud so it can be circulated again. The only recoverable
material large enough to attract a gem collector from an oil well would be a
core, and at 2000 feet in Wyoming, they would not have been taking cores
yet. This sounds like one of those whoppers.

Raj V