A new jade mine in Inner Mongolia
Sunday, December 23, 2007 at 08:34AM A news report from www-china.org.cn from 17.11.2007 brought to our attention by fellow FOJ Eric Hoffman at www.hoffmannjade.com
A rare jade mine has been discovered in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and experts are surprised by its huge reserve and high quality of the precious stone.
The jade ore, found in Dashetai in Urad Front Banner, Inner Mongolia, has an exposed part of nearly 30 million cubic meters, according to the local government.
The mine, discovered at an altitude of 1,815 meters, came into being about 1.8 billion to 2.4 billion years ago, according to geological and jewel experts.
The jade, which has been officially named "Shetai jade', is of high quality in terms of rigidity and the size of the pieces, experts said.
The Urad Front Banner government is discussing how to develop the jade mine and is planning to build a 66-hectare processing center
Reader Comments (6)
In the mine photograph it looks as if the miners are using a pneumatic drill-hammer. I would guess they are drilling holes for insertion of explosives.
In the mine photograph it looks as if the miners are using a pneumatic drill-hammer. I would guess they are drilling holes for insertion of explosives.
The idea that it may be jadeite is not so far fetched as the Chinese name is Shetai Feicui (Feicui is the Chinese term for jadeite or Kingfisher jade) also the reddish crust seen on the broken-out boulders looks very much like Jadeite weathering.
Will continue to scout for further info and try to get samples!
Herbert
Have kept coming across the Jade Art Group and their reports of recent times and read with interest your comments here.
The Group had their website go online on the 17th of this month with relevant information of their finds and sales. http://www.jadeartgroupinc.com
In one of their reports is this paragraph......
During the Jade Evaluation Conference, the attending experts conducted examinations of the SheTai Jade samples presented and gave their expert analysis and comments. Mr. Bao-Jun Li, the senior engineer at the National Territory Resource Department in China, stated, "Based on our measurements, SheTai Jade is a type of jadeite formed approximately 1.8 billion – 2.4 billion years ago. SheTai Jade is as hard as quartz, with a degree of hardness between 7.1 and 7.3 on the Mohs scale. The jade is abrasion resistant, smooth and highly reflective. The green is pure and the gems are translucent, with a glassy luster. SheTai Jade has a degree of hardness which common (nephrite) jade does not possess."
It sure ain't nephrite.
On a couple of the 'Authentication Certificates' the term mica quartzite is used.
So there you have it......
Cheers,
Donn