Since 2018, Jade Leader Corp. has established a core presence within the historical Wyoming Jade Fields, USA, where small scale production of nephrite Jade had previously occurred in multiple periods from the 1930’s to roughly the 1970’s.
The Wyoming Geological Survey reported that Sinkankas (1959) considered Wyoming Jade to be some of the finest nephrite in the world (https://www.wsgs.wyo.gov/minerals/gemstones.aspx). Historical activities in the area were largely focused on looking for Jade boulders and cobbles at surface or “Jade hunting”. Little of the historically productive jade-bearing area having been previously evaluated using modern day jade-genesis concepts or exploration technologies.
Jade Leader has now acquired and consolidated 5 separate projects in the historical Wyoming Jade fields which collectively consisting of a total of 99 Lode claims and 2 placer claims, covering in excess of 1,800 acres. Through combinations of regional prospecting work, focused detailed geological mapping and use of airborne geophysical techniques, Jade and Jade bearing systems have now been found on all 5 of Jade Leader’s Wyoming projects. All of the Company’s projects are located on public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management.
Figure 1: Left to right. Rough gem Nephrite Jade with a polished window. Rolling hills of the Wyoming Jade Fields. Polished rough and cabochon set of Jade Leader’s Wyoming Sky Jade©.
From 2019 to 2022, trenching and pilot scale bulk sampling programs have focused on establishing a solid foundation on potential Jade types and potential production profiles for both ornamental and gem Jades of the Rabbit project. In excess of 23 tonnes of Ornamental/Carving to Jewelry grade Jade was recovered for evaluation and marketing purposes in late 2019, a process which was significantly slowed down by the onset of the COVID pandemic and various subsequent lockdowns worldwide.
Figure 2. A: Single large block of green Ornamental/Carving Jade. Weight 1,400 Kg. B: Examining Jade materials collected from trench T1A at the Rabbit project. Total 230 Jade blocks, 21.36 tonnes. C: A carved disc of this jade variety showing body color and texture. Disc is 7.5 cm across.
In 2020 and 2021, Jade Leader also focused its field work on its Sky Zone, a newly recognized system hosting finely textured, highly lustrous nephrite jades with generally uniform colors across a range of green to olive colors. A pilot scale mechanized extraction program was conducted in 2021, resulting in the collection of 230 kilograms of Wyoming Sky Jade ©, of which 183 kilograms was considered gem grade. The calculated yield from this system to date corresponds to 8.47 kilograms per tonne of gem grade Jade from the Jade bearing zone.
Figure 3. A: Hydraulic hammer used to break away host rock and recover Sky Jades© from the Jade bearing zone. B: Rough Sky Jade©, at extraction point. C: A series of Wyoming Sky Jade© pieces with “windows”, or polished surfaces, showing texture, color and translucency of the materials.
Figure 4: In house testing of Sky Jade© materials for workability, color, texture and luster in typical jewelry use. From right to left: Rough and shaped suite of cabochons suitable as ring and pendant stones. Middle: Sky Jade© bi-disc style pendant. Left: 2 bangles of finely textured Sky Jade©.
The Company has prepared some of this Jade material for test marketing through an online portal at https://jadeleader.shop/, where individual pieces are marketed at prices varying between US$500 to US$4,000 per kilogram, depending on stone sizes, color, texture and translucency. The sales portal also serves as a virtual showroom of the product’s range of sizes and quality for international audiences. Results of ongoing sales will be used to inform of the economic potential for further development of this Jade system going forward.
Figure 5: Typical products listed on our sales portal/virtual showroom at jadeleader.shop. A: Curated Sky Jade© specimen (SKJSP5), showing quartz crystals unique to Wyoming jades. Specimen measures 13 x 10.5 x 4.5 cm, weight 657.5 grams. B: Hand Gem 1015, 11.5 x 8 x 5 cm, 698 grams. C: Hand Gem 1032, 8 x 5.5 x 3.5 cm, 176.7 grams.
The finest Wyoming Jades once had a worldwide reputation for exceptional quality. Artisanal production supported both an American industry of specimens, cutting and lapidary materials and jewelry making as well as export markets to Europe and Asia.
With the gradual exhaustion of surface resources, Jade Leader’s task was to identify hard rock sources that could recapture the once historic fame of this gemstone, and re-establish Wyoming as a premium Jade source for today’s world.