Beryl

specimen number:
9711747

location:
Copperbelt Province, Zambia

description:
Deep green translucent semi lustrous crystals of beryl, this the variety known as emerald, measuring to 0.9 cm in size across the top of a dark schist matrix. In good condition.

Emerald occurrences in the Copperbelt province of Zambia were first discovered in the Kafubu area in 1928, though significant commercial production did not begin until the 1970s and 1980s; major industrial mines like Kagem remain active today so a closing date does not apply. Geologically, these deposits formed during the Pan-African orogeny when beryllium-rich pegmatites and quartz-tourmaline veins intruded chromium- and vanadium-bearing ultramafic and metabasite host rocks (such as talc-magnetite schists), creating phlogopite reaction zones where emerald crystallization took place.

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