Lemurian Jade

Item Description

Lemurian Jade is a trade name given to dark Pyroxene stones from Peru. In truth, these probably have no Jade / Jadeite in them, but the end member of the solid solution series, Omphacite. I'm told that there is some black Hornblende in this material as well, which is another Pyroxene mineral. For those interested, GIA did a bit of research on Jade / Omphacite, and I encourage anybody to read the quick 2-page article that they posted at https://www.gia.edu/doc/omphacite-nomenclature-0521.pdf . This stone is a good sized example of this uncommon material, with an "Oval" cabochon cut. The stone is black and opaque, but if you look closely, you can see some tiny metallic golden Pyrite reflecting off the surface near the center of the stone, along with a few other spots.