Emerald over 1.5 kg found in the Urals

A huge rare emerald has been discovered in the Russian Urals: it weighs over 1.5 kg and was found in the Malyshevsky deposit, Europe’s largest emerald mine. According to the Russian state company Rostecis the largest stone found in the mine in the last decade: experts estimate it has a length of 14 cm and a width of 7 cm and could be worth about 4 million rubles (more than $70,000).

“The crystal was noticed in time and raised to the surface, so its original shape was preserved,” explained Evgeny Vasilevsky, director of the Malysheva division. According to the Guild of Jewelers of Russia it is a unique emerald and apparently of the highest quality. “In general, emeralds are quite rare stones, unlike diamonds or sapphires,” the association’s director, Edward Utkin, pointed out in an interview with Radio Sputnik, ” while specifically large emeralds are precisely unique stones.

The largest emerald previously found in the Malysevsky field was named “President” in honor of Russia’s first president Boris Yeltsin and weighed 1.2 kg. Emeralds from the Urals are highly valued on the global gemstone market because they have a unique yellowish hue, which is not typical of this mineral, and are known by the brand name “Malyshevsky emeralds.”

Rostec recently announced plans for a tenfold increase in emerald production by 2025. The company said it plans to develop new deposits of precious and semiprecious stones in the Malyshevsky field, including emeralds, alexandrites, and beryllium. The company plans to modernize the existing production complex by introducing new technologies.

(taken from Preziosa Magazine by Chiara Di Martino)