beryl, chrysoberyl, beryl, emerald, alexandrite, Russia, Urals, Malysheva, gems

Emeralds are again being mined in the historic district of the Ural Mountains. Physical, chemical, spectroscopic, and ini-croscopic characteristics of stones from the recent production are presented and com-pared with data on older samples as well as those reported in the literature. Chemi-cal analysis and visible and infrared spec-troscopy provide information on crystal chemistry and color-causing trace ele-ments that is useful both to characterize these stones and to separate them from their synthetic counterparts. A variety of mineral inclusions as well as liquid, two-phase, and three-phase inclusions were seen with magnification. All of the data are critically evaluated with respect to the confirmation of unknown samples as Uralian.