Beryl

specimen number:
8911016

location:
Chivor Mine, Boyaca, Colombia

description:
A grouping of lustrous gemmy green beryl crystals, this the variety known as emerald, measuring to 2.0 cm in height along one edge of a matrix covered with crystallized calcite. In very good condition.

Located in the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes within the Boyaca Department, the Chivor Mine is one of the world's most famous emerald deposits, known for producing gem-quality emeralds with a distinct yellowish-green hue. Geologically, these gemstones formed during the Paleogene period when hydrothermal fluids injected under intense pressure into tectonic fault zones within black shales and limestones, causing hydrothermal alteration and vein mineralization. Indigenous Muzo and Chibcha peoples originally mined emeralds in the region long before Spanish conquistadors seized control of the deposits in the sixteenth century. Mining operations fluctuated dramatically over centuries, experiencing periods of abandonment until American engineer Peter Rainey rediscovered and reopened the Chivor deposits in the early twentieth century, establishing it as a premier commercial source and a legendary site for collectors worldwide.

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