Gemmological and Mineralogical Characteristic of Muscovite Jade from Xinbin, Liaoning Province

Recently, a new jade has been found in Xinbin, Fushun, Liaoning Province, China. By routine gemmological testing, microscope observation, Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, X-ray powder diffraction, X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and UV-Visible fluorescence spectrophotometer, etc, the gemmological characteristics, mineral components, microstructure and spectral characteristics of the muscovite jade samples were investigated. The results showed that the main minerals of the muscovite jade samples are muscovite (weakly hydrated sericite), with minor constituents of tourmaline, biotite, magnetite, etc. Microscope observation results showed that the muscovite jade has massive structure, foliated texture, the flake microstructure, fiber microstructure and metasomatic structure. It is pointed out that the mineralization of muscovite jade is divided into two stages: The early formation of coarse muscovite; The late formation of scaly and fiber muscovite partly accounting for the early muscovite. The red lattice minerals in the muscovite jade sample are limonite, which are formed by the effect of epigenetic leaching. The UV-Visible absorption peaks at 448, 463 and 482 nm, were caused by Fe³⁺.According to the national standard GB /T 16552-2017 Gemstone Nomenclature, the tested samples can be named as muscovite jade. The muscovite jade is mainly lardite, rich in colour, delicate in quality, compact in structure and promising in future.