Blue vein stone is produced in Wangcang County, Sichuan Province, China. It was discovered by the Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources in 1980. Its lithology is sodalized urtite, and its jade is named “Blue vein stone jade” because of its blue cloud-like stripes.
According to the color difference, the blue vein stone can be divided into light blue vein stone and blue vein stone. Blue vein stone has high ornamental and collection value. The high-quality ones can be used as raw materials for gems and jades.
- Composition: Blue vein stone is composed of nepheline, apatite, sodalite, and a small amount of titanaugite (most of which have been eroded into biotite).
- Morphology: massive, with local structure fragmentation.
- Color: The color is gray, gray-blue, and blue, but the distribution is uneven.
- Mohs Hardness: 5.5~6.
- Features: Cloudy bands, stripes, or color blocks appear on the white background of the blue vein stone, and their boundaries are unclear.
Comparison of sodalite and Blue vein stone
Blue vein stone is a sodalized urtite. urtite is an alkaline complex mainly composed of nepheline syenite In Wangcang County, Sichuan Province, China.
Among them, the middle and lower parts of the urtite vein were subjected to sodalization due to the action of later chlorine-containing solution, thus forming this blue vein stone. Therefore, sodalite is closely related to Blue vein stone. Next, let’s look at the differences between them.
Sodalite
Sodalite and lapis lazuli belong to the same group of minerals, which are sodium-aluminosilicates containing chlorides; It belongs to the equiaxed crystal system, and their chemical composition is Na4 [AISiO4] 3CI, Na and CL can be partially replaced by K, Ca and S, respectively.
Sodalite mines include sodalite, ashlar, hauyne, etc. The colors of different types of sodalite are different, usually blue, a few white, green, red, purple, or gray.
- The crystals are generally dense nodules or disseminated aggregates;
- The Hardness is 5.5 ～ 6.0;
- The density is 2.14 ～ 2.29g/cm, sometimes up to 2.35g/cm;
- The refractive index is about 1.48;
- The crystal shows apparent rhombic dodecahedral cleavage;
- Uneven to shelly fracture:
- Glassy;
- Translucence:
It can be melted into a colorless glass when heated, and dissolved in hydrochloric acid; When nitric acid and silver nitrate is added, it will produce a white silver chloride precipitate.
Hauyne is the most common. Its appearance is similar to lapis lazuli. It is often used as a substitute for lapis lazuli in the market, sometimes called “Canadian lapis lazuli,” which is easily misunderstood.
However, sodalite rarely contains the characteristic pyrite inclusions of lapis lazuli and often forms textures with white minerals such as calcite and albite.
Identification characteristics:
- Mostly blue:
- With white or nearly white streaks;
- Density 2.14 ～ 2.29g/cm;
- Soluble in hydrochloric acid; When nitric acid is added, and silver nitrate is added, it will produce white silver chlorides precipitate.
Blue vein stone
High-quality Blue vein stone is a sodalized Urtite that meets the requirements of arts and crafts. It is named because its jade has blue cloud-like stripes, commonly known as Blue vein stone jade.
The mineral composition mainly includes cancrinite Ca [AISiO4] 2 (40% ～ 60%), followed by sodalite (10% ～ 20%), nepheline Na [AISiO4] (10% ～ 15%), muscovite and pyrite.
Blue vein stone is light blue, ink blue, and bluish gray white, with uneven color distribution, often colored veins and cloud-like color spots; dense phanerocrystalline structure, massive structure.
When the fracture is developed, biotite spots are often formed by titanaugite alteration along the fracture surface, thus affecting its appearance.
Those with grease luster are mainly used to produce high-grade jade, while those with high quality and small lumpiness are used to produce jewelry.
There is also a kind of Blue vein stone with the appearance similar to that of China’s Blue vein stone jade In Brazil. The mineral composition mainly includes sodalite, nepheline, apatite Ca5 [PO4] (F, CI, OH), and a small amount of titanaugite, muscovite, pyrite, etc.
The Blue vein stone products on the market are mainly processed from this kind of stone from Brazil.
Where does the blue vein stone come from?
Blue vein stone is produced in alkaline complex (urtite) in Wangcang County, Sichuan Province, China. It is rare in production and is a very precious jade.
In addition to Sichuan Province, blue vein stones have also been found in alkaline pegmatites within the Silurian Devonian marble in the northern Yilanlike of Heiying Mountain, Baicheng, Xinjiang.
It is actually a vaporized-hydrothermal phlogopite sodalite vein, in which sodalite is relatively concentrated. The Blue vein stone is light blue and light eggplant purple, showing glass luster, slightly transparent to translucent and good quality.
Blue vein stone Efficiency
Blue vein stone is mainly composed of cancrinite, sodalite, nepheline (10%~15%), muscovite, and pyrite.
It can lead people into deep meditation, improve personal consciousness, and develop great wisdom.
It is beneficial to people’s headaches, high blood pressure, and respiratory diseases. Due to the body aura being left in and right out, gemstones are suitable for wearing on the left hand except for absorptive gems. Therefore, the blue vein stone should also wear the left hand.
Gems with the right hand mainly absorb negative energy, such as obsidian and tourmaline.
Identification of Similar Jades with Blue Veins stone
Blue vein stone is mainly similar to lapis lazuli and chrysocolla, which are identified as follows
Blue Vein stone and Lapis lazuli
Blue vein stone often contains white mineral patches or textures and rarely contains pyrite inclusions.
The density of lapis lazuli is about 2.75g/cm3, which is higher than that of Blue Vein stone; Blue vein stone usually has a coarse structure, while lapis lazuli has a fine structure.
Blue Vein stone and chrysocolla
chrysocolla is cryptocrystalline and amorphous and does not show cleavage. Chrysocolla is primarily green and light blue-green, with a hardness of 2~4, which is obviously lower than that of Blue Vein stone.
Conclusion:
Blue vein stone is famous for its blue cloud-like stripes on its block. Blue vein jade is mainly composed of nepheline, apatite, and sodalite. The color is gray to blue, and the color distribution is uneven.
There are cloud-like uneven stripes or color patches on the gray-white base, and the boundaries are unclear.
The jade has black spots because it contains little titanaugite and has been eroded into biotite. According to the color difference, there are light blue vein stones and blue vein stones. Blue vein stone is mainly used to make jade; high-quality blue vein stones can be used for jewelry such as ring faces and necklaces.