Siberian Nephrite

Nephrite occupies a leading place among the colour stones discovered in Siberian. The majority of nephrite deposits are situated in the south part of Siberian craton: Western Sayan, Eastern Sayan, Djida and Vitim. Most part of nephrite deposits is connected with ultrabasics of a dunite-harzburgite formation and Vitim nephrite deposit is connected with serpentinization from ultrabasics and carbonation. Many ultrabasics-type nephrites have bright green colour and have ore dissemination with magnetite, chromite and sulfide. The light-coloured nephrite, which formed on the contact zone of the dolomitic marbles and the granites, has more translucency and practically has not ore dissemination. The characteristics of Siberian nephrite are introuduced in detail including the colour, composition and texture structure.