Nebula Stone™ vs Kambaba

I originally wrote this comparison article in the early 2000’s but I think it is time to bring it back out. Incorrect mineral names are passed from miner to buyer to wholesaler to you all the time. Many times, it is no one’s fault as they are simply passing along the information they received. Let’s look at Nebula Stone™ vs Kambaba to set the record straight once and for all.

These two rocks do have some commonalities. They are both volcanic rocks and they even have a few of the same types of minerals included. Both contain Quartz, Aegerine and Riebecktite. It is when other minerals come to the party where the differences begin to appear.

The first obvious DIFFERENCE is in the appearance, color and pattern. Nebula Stone™ has a dark green to black “background” with green orbs while Kambaba has a blue green “background” with black orbs.

Let’s start at the beginning with Nebula Stone™

In the early 2000’s I was in my baby phase of crystal education. My mentor’s shop received some beautiful tumbles one day that were called Nebula Stone™. Super shiny, highly polished black “background” with green orbs and spotting. When I first wrote my original article back in 2003, I was in touch with Ron and Karen Nurnberg, the ones credited for the Nebula Stone™ introduction. They are the ones who discovered this amazing rock hidden away in a remote mountain range in Mexico. Once found, they did everything right. First and foremost, they had it geologically tested and certified.

They shared their report with the public. The findings were as follows: “Nebula Stone™ is an unusual alkalic volcanic rock composed of the minerals Quartz, Anorthoclase, Riebeckite, Aegirine, Arfvedsonite, and Zircon. Quartz, Riebeckite, and Anorthoclase form the dark matrix. The light green spherules (eyes) are composed of radiating fibers are Riebeckite needles mantled with fine-grained Aegirine.”

Ron and Karen were even allowed to name their discovery. Nebula Stone™ appeared as a dark-green, nearly black, shiny material with fascinating, light-green, swirling orbicules scattered through the dark matrix. They said the rock looked like the night sky viewed through a telescope, where you can see galaxies, nebulae, and individual stars scattered against a dark background- and so it was named Nebula
Stone™. Nebula Stone™ has a 6 1/2 to 7 hardness with the toughness of jade that takes a brilliant polish.

As proper follow-through, Ron and Karen legally trademarked the name to protect their find.

Kambaba is quite different! The second contender in the Nebula Stone™ vs Kambaba confusion.

Kambaba is common, though erroneously sold as jasper or as a stromatolitic rock, which it is not. In fact, the first information I ran across stated that Kambaba was a fossilized Stromatolite Algae, but after seeing the testing results below, I have to go with those in the know (mindat.org) on this one.

From mindat.org, “The EPI-Institute in Germany has studied the rock by thin section and XRD. The greenish-colored rock consists of the minerals quartz, Pyroxene (Aegirine), albite, and K feldspar. The characteristic, blackish, rounded aggregates consist of needles of amphiboles (riebeckite to paragasite in composition).”

And here is where things get really confusing! Kambaba “Jasper” is not only misidentified as Nebula Stone™, it is also called Kambaba Jasper, Kambamba, Eldarit, Kambaba, Kabamba, Kabamby, Cumbamba, Cambamba, Kumbara Jasper, Brecciated Army Jasper, Camo Stone, Combamba, Amphibianite, Fossilized Stromatolite Algae, Green Stromatolite Alga, Crocodile Jasper, and Crocodile rock just to name a few! And as we have already learned, it is not a jasper at all!

So while they are similar in some respects, they are worlds apart in others. As always, ask questions! Be
informed! Be educated and self-empowered!

with love and crystal blessings,

Kristi

To read more about Nebula Stone, including information from Jane Ann Dow, Melody, Katrina
Raphaell, and others, go to Nebulastone. com