PJ
Joined: Jun 26, 2007
Posts: 19
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PJ
the wife and i have been all over the states looking for jade-found my first jade in 1971 on the beach @willow creek in big sur.
the wyoming nephrite is the best america had to offer-but the BLM limits you to surface picking-and folks have been walking that sage desert
consistently for the last 60 years- jade remains but its harder and harder to find. the original source for all the wyoming jade is the granite mountains
north of jeffrey city. the wyoming geological service has great jade prospecting information on-line:http://www.wsgs.uwyo.edu/gemstones/jade.aspx
and i particularly liked the articles by dan hausel. remember while looking that most wyoming jade has a tan or a red rind covering the exterior- aside from a few jade slicks greated by windblown sand.
you can find rockhounds willing to sell some jade in rawlins lander laramie and casper- but the real apple green and the translucent emerald green are hard to find at any cost now.
i'm betting the slab in the picture is wyoming nephrite- never seen that quality anywhere else in the us-and i have some slabs that might be bookplates of that in color and translucency.
the crescent city jades actually occur north of there @ dry lagoon- beautiful beaches with great access and lots of black jade.
new jade locations are found all the time in california washington and oregon.ken agren has the best cascade jades: http://washingtonjade.com/
going back to the big sur jade festival in october. most of america's jade junkies meet up there every year.absolutely a must-see if you are on the west coast .
ask more locality questions- i have barely scratched the surface.
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