Genesis, Age and Mineralization of Emeralds and Related Gems

Dear Colleagues,

Beryls, particularly emeralds and aquamarines, are wonderful objects for jewelers and scientists alike. They are relatively rare minerals because the important constituent beryllium is rare in the continental crust (2.1 ppm). Hence, beryl is the prominent beryllium source for industrial products. Beryl occurs in different colors, or it can be colorless (goshenite). However, the beryl varieties of emeralds and aquamarines, which are green due to trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium, and blue due to the presence of iron (Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺), respectively, have for centuries been valued as precious gemstones. The mining of emeralds is proven to have started in ancient Egypt in the 13th century BC. Besides diamonds and rubies, emeralds are the most valuable jewels in the world, and today emeralds are mined on all continents. Deposits have been described from almost all periods, starting with around 3 Ga in South Africa up to the Cenozoic in Pakistan.

Their genesis is usually linked to structural weaknesses in host rocks and magmatic and metamorphic processes, but otherwise the conditions of beryl development vary. Whereas the most famous Colombian deposits are hydrothermally controlled veins in low-grade metamorphic sediments, the Brazilian ones are the result of the interaction of acidic magmatism with Cr- and V-rich host rocks, and the Nigerian deposits are hosted in pegmatites. The blue beryl aquamarine is of similar importance in the jewel industry, and the most common occurrences are within pegmatites, e.g., in Brazil.

Although the genesis of beryl deposits is clear in general, a lot of unsolved research topics remain open, i.e., the dating of emerald formation, isotope composition, tectonic environments, growth conditions, exploration methods, spectroscopic methods, paragenetic exotic minerals (e.g., parisite and xenotime) as well as jewel-related questions, such as their different natural source(s) (provenance), or whether they are artificial.

We would like to invite you to submit scientific manuscripts on the topic of beryl to this Special Issue, “Genesis, Age and Mineralization of Emeralds and Related Gems”. Both original studies and reviews are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Uwe Altenberger
Guest Editor

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• emerald
• beryl
• aquamarine
• gem stones
• geochemistry