Raw Jade for Dummies - The Freelance Files MMCLXV

Jade from Wyoming

It never ceases to amaze the staff what some of the freelance contributors to eHow.com got away with. Think about the site's business model: you pay people who know nothing whatsoever about a topic to "research" it and then write a few hundred words that will be passed off as "expertise" to unsuspecting web surfers. Since writers earned a flat fee for 300 to 500 words, the typical post was "researched" and written in about an hour before the "contributor" went on to the next topic, usually completely unrelated to the first (and to the writer's experience). That's how the website ended up with dross like the Chad Stetson post, "How to Identify Raw Jade," now niched at OurPastimes.com.

Truth be told, identifying raw jade is probably better left to people who know what jade is rather than people who think it has mystical powers. That being said, Stetson managed to copy, reword, and paste a few factoids about jade – it isn't one mineral, but two (jadeite and nephrite); there's lots found in various countries around the world – before departing for cloud-cuckoo land. Since much of his "information" was harvested from websites for jewelry makers, the information isn't of much use to prospectors actually looking for raw jade as opposed to slabs and cabochons. But we digress...

Stetson went all wonky when he started blathering about inspecting a sample, imparting such goofiness as,

"Identify the rock type. There are three basic types of rocks: igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic."

Cool. How would we do that, Chad? The boy remained mum on the subject. And then there's,

"Test the chemical composition of the rock. Both types of jade contain silicate."

Really? "contain" silicates? Idiot, both are silicates. Or perhaps we could perform this "test":

"Examine the rock for any see-through points. Some rocks will have a small area where the inside of the rock is visible."

We asked the staff geologist what a "see-through point" is, and he just stared at us like we were crazy. Still on the topic of "see-through points," Chad informed his readers of a couple of other tests:

"If the rock does contain jade, you will see a smooth, nongranular section displayed through the transparent area... If the rock has no transparent point, try wetting the rock's surface and shining a penlight against it to see if you can illuminate any underlying color."

Again, WTF? And last but not least, here's a winner of a suggestion:

"Cut the rock with a small sharp knife. As a final step in identifying raw jade, cut a small hole in the stone and polish the inside to determine what lies beneath the surface." Given jade's Mohs hardness of 6-7, that particular test would take a pretty sharp little knife. Apparently, however, Stetson thinks the stuff cuts like cheese. Suffice it to say that once Stetson got past listing the minerals called jade and a handful of locations where jade is found, just about everything else the boy said is utter bull. For his contributions to the stupidification of the internet, we hereby do name Chad Stetson our Dumbass of the Day. Something tells us he'll be back...

SI - MINERALS