An Emerald by Any Other Name…

Your recent article on Canadian Emeralds in the Yukon (CMJ April 2004) was most interesting. However, I was also interested in the ‘unique new type of aquamarine’ pictured in the article–yet there was not a word about the occurrence of that particular gemstone, other than the caption under the photo (did I miss it in the text body?).

Perhaps the editor did not have a picture of the ‘Canadian Emerald’ and substituted a file photo of an aquamarine (this is not an emerald as we all know) hoping to fill the gap–unaware that seasoned professionals were reading their articles?

Louis M. Bernard, P.Eng., consultant Meaford, ON

Because of space considerations, we had to cut a paragraph out of the article, which would have explained the aquamarine. It is reproduced here: “As the pioneer, True North has been the subject of much media attention, particularly in the last few months following their discovery in the summer of a unique blue gemstone on their True Blue property located in the same area as Regal Ridge. A group of consulting mineralogists and gemologists from the Gemological Institute of America, the University of British Columbia and the California Institute of Technology has just confirmed that the blue beryl is in fact a unique type of aquamarine, native only to Canada, and gemologically distinct from other precious stones.”–Ed.