“ ...Barossa, like Stew Point and Mt Somers stations is another high country farming location. It is adjacent to Mt Somers but separated by the Stour River which used to be an agate source as well. It is part of the series known as The Mt Somers volcanics. Until very recently the area was private property and unaccessible to collectors, but since late 2011, a large portion of the station has become DOC (Dept. of Conservation) land. This means that anyone can use the area for recreational activities such as tramping, rock climbing, hunting etc. but no digging is permitted. Digging equates to "mining" in DOC terminology. The hillsides are covered in tussocks, spaniards and mountain daisies and one must seek out the screes and rocky outcrops for any degree of success. There are many stories of vast amounts of Barossa agate being gathered and sold overseas back in the late 1950's and early sixties. Barossa has produced various agate types - predominantly the grey-blue tones with good fortification and some excellent moss agate.  It also provides some very good multicoloured jaspers. Much of the agate is fractured and really good perfect specimens are difficult to acquire. There have already been some interesting finds  since the area was made public, with beautiful brecciated Jasp/agates and pink nodules, highly reminiscent of Queensland's Agate Creek agates.

The agate host rock is predominantly andesite

Barossa is notorious for sudden fog and low cloud invasion and sensible arrangements for retreat off the mountain is wise...”

personal report of Malcolm Luxton, Canterbury