Skeptic Review

© Press service of Malyshevsky Mine

YEKATERINBURG, January 29. /TASS/. Geologists at the Malyshevsky Mine in the Sverdlovsk Region have found a one-piece 14-centimeter emerald having a mass of 1.6 kilograms. It is the largest-ever emerald mined at the deposit since the 1990s, the press-service of the public corporation Rostech (incorporating the Malyshevsky mine) told TASS on Monday.

“The crystal was spotted at the right moment and raised to the surface, thereby preserving it in the original condition. The emerald’s mass is 1.6 kilograms, length, 14 centimeters and width, seven centimeters. The state-run repository Gokhran has already evaluated the find. It is of second-rate quality, because it is not transparent and its color is light-green. The crystal was protruding from wall. It was noticed by a foreman and the deputy chief geologist,” the source said.

No name for the emerald has been chosen yet. Experts estimate the mineral’s value at 4 million rubles.

According to the press-service, the just-found crystal is the largest one-piece emerald to have been discovered at the Malyshevsky deposit over the past few decades.

Until just recently the 1.2-kilogram emerald mined in the early 1990s was considered to be the largest. It was named President in honor of Russia’s first president, Boris Yeltsin. Specialists at the Urals Academy of Mining estimated the crystal at $1.2 million. Currently it is kept in the Gokhran collection.

© Press service of Malyshevsky Mine

The Malyshevsky emerald and beryllium deposit is the largest deposit of emeralds in Europe, one of the three largest in the world and the sole one in Russia. It processes 93,700 tonnes of rock a year to produce an annual 1.5 kilograms of emeralds, 30 kilograms of beryls, and 100 grams of alexandrites. Also it mines phenakites, euclases, chrysoberyls, phenacites, alexandrites, phlogopites, lithium, rubidium and cesium.

Later in the day, it was announced the one-piece 1.6-kg emerald found in the Sverdlovsk Region will be put to an electronic auction and its starting price tentatively amounts to 4 mln rubles ($70,900), a representative of the Rostec Corporation told TASS on Monday.

“The gem remains in the company so far and will be presented at an electronic auction. The tentative price is about 4 mln rubles ($70,900) but we expect a major increase during the trading session. The gem has not yet received the name. We would like that it is selected on a competitive basis and think about details of this contest right now,” the representative said.