What Does An Emerald Mine Look Like

Check the emerald with a loupe using reflected light to check for cracks and inclusions.

What does an emerald mine look like.

Like cut emeralds raw emeralds can be transparent or translucent a quality that is sometimes called clarity but in the gem trade is referred to as diaphaneity. Beryl has a hardness of 7 5 8 on the mohs scale. Even if they can be set without damage they aren t likely to last long in the setting. Raw emeralds like cut emeralds are all green but the shade of green varies from blue green to pale yellow green to a rich forest green.

Cracks look like little hairs or threads on the plane of a facet. North carolina designated the emerald as the official state precious stone in 1973. Most emeralds are highly included so their toughness resistance to breakage is classified as generally poor. Emeralds with many flaws and cracks around the corners aren t good candidates for setting in jewelry.

Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl be 3 al 2 sio 3 6 colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium. This specimen is about 6 5 centimeters in height and has the blue green color and medium dark tone that is common in many emeralds mined in zambia. Emerald crystal from the kagem emerald mine zambia on a matrix of quartz and mica schist. A greater variety of minerals have been found in north carolina than in any other state more than 300 including some of the most valuable and unique gems in the world.