WorldWide Drilling Resource

Alaska Miners Association Phone: 907-563-9229 Fax: 907-563-9225 ama@alaskaminers.org www.alaskaminers.org ELKO / Mining Expo Phone: 775-738-4091 Fax: 775-738-2420 jennifer@elkocva.com www.exploreelko.com WorldWide Drilling Resource ® is proud to be a member of these mining associations. Northwest Mining Association Phone: 509-624-1158 Fax: 509-623-1241 nwma_info@nwma.org Women in Mining 866-537-9694 wim@womeninmining.org 51 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® NOVEMBER 2013 About Jade by Harry W. Short Engineering Geologist The Chinese called jade "the stone of heaven" and "petrified tears of the dragon." Primitive people used jade in prehistoric times because of its color, beauty, toughness, and relative ease of carving to make tools, weapons, and decorative artifacts. It became impor- tant for making ceremonial objects and jewelry, and became a symbol of man's achievements, position as chief, and a mark of nobility. Pre-Columbian Indians were prob- ably the first jade carvers on the North American Continent. TheAztecs, Mayans, and the Maoris of New Zealand did excellent work with jade, but the Chinese workmanship is unsurpassed. American Indians on the northwest coast were also skilled jade craftsmen, and carvings were used by tribes from Washington State and Eskimos in faraway Alaska. Jade is said to possess all the virtues: kindness and loving; great intelli- gence; understanding; bravery; and puri- ty. The Spaniards who conquered Mexico returned home with beautiful jade stones, and the associated myths. Mexicans wore them as badges to signify rank and as charms inscribed with magical verbiage that was supposed to protect them from evil spells such as witch- craft, disease, stomachaches, and kid- ney failure. Messages on jade charms were often sung or written in rituals for pro- tection of the dead and were placed in the mouths of deceased nobles to func- tion as their heart in the life hereafter. A green pearl was mixed with crushed jade and herbs to cure frac- tured skulls, fever, and gout, and to revive dying persons. During the first few hundred years of jade carving, the science of mineralogy was in a stage of infancy, and no thought was given to distinguish the difference between jade and nephrite. In 1863, a French scien- tist coined the name jadeite, based on the physical properties of gem samples to distinguish the jade carved in Burma from nephrite in Turkestan. Gem-quality jade has been known as jadeite and nephrite since this time. Nephrite and jadeite are distinct but different rock-forming minerals. Neph- rite is a tightly fibrous variety of the actinolite tremolite series. Tremolite is a white to gray calcium magnesium sil- icate whose color becomes greenish when magnesium is replaced by iron, and the mineral is called actinolite. Jadeite is a sodium aluminum silicate closely resembling nephrite. Green is jade's common color, but white and blackish-colored stones have been found. Jadeite is harder than nephrite and has a higher specific gravity. Two other minerals are closely related to jade. Chloromelantite is a dark-colored mixture of jadeite, acmite, and diopside. Diopside jadeite is a combination of jadeite and diopside. If anyone is interested in buying jade or starting a collection, consult with a reputable dealer since there are numer- ous other minerals, called pseudo jade that resemble real jade. The experts can identify jade by its color, crystal structure, chemical formula, hardness, refractive index, and specific gravity. Harry Harry Short may be contacted via e-mail at admin@ worldwidedrillingresource.com