Scapolite

There are about 240 mineral species that have been cut as gemstones, out of nearly 4,000 known minerals. Only a dozen or so of these species appear regularly in jewelry stores throughout the world. Another half dozen are semi-commercial, appearing only in a small number of shops. But there are about a dozen additional stones that are hard enough for jewelry purposes, occur in attractive colors, and are abundant enough for commercial exploitation. These latter stones are the "stones of the future."

Scapolite is one such gemstone. It occurs in fairly large crystals in Brazil and Tanzania. The color in both localities is yellow-orange, but Brazilian crystals tend to be heavily flawed. Tanzanian crystals may be flawless and of large size, although the vast majority of available rough would yield cut gems of only 3-6 carats. Miners at the locality (the Umba River valley in northern Tanzania) have large quantities of such smaller rough. Cut gems over 15 carats are extremely rare, and stones over 20-25 carats are museum pieces. Yet these beautiful, hard and rare stones currently sell for a few tens of dollars per carat. In this regard, scapolite is similar to aquamarine in 1960, precious topaz in 1965 and tanzanite in 1970. All of these gems appreciated more than 1,000% in a decade, and a comparable performance might occur with scapolite, if the material is promoted within the jewelry trade.

Considering the increasing demand for "new" gemstones for promotion, and the growing general interest in colored stones, such an event appears to be likely.