Happy Camp Jade

Happy Camp Jade is found in the Klamath River and many of the streams around Happy Camp. Happy Camp Jade is many things and since the minerals found here are so varied and almost impossible to tell apart by the average rouckhound, the name Happy Camp Jade has stuck throughout the years. Some of the minerals found here are true Nephrite Jade, Idocrase, Vesuvianite, Californite, and Grossularite (also referred to as Grossular Garnet). This area is considered the first place in the State of California where the type of Idocrase called Californite was found, identified and named Californite.

Gemologist and rockhounds alike find the stones here equally as beautiful as they are confusing. It is very hard to determine what some of them actually are, hence the term, Happy Camp Jade. The only definitive determination that should be accepted for these stones is by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and since the lab tests from GIA average about $100.00 per test, it is not prudent to test each stone, so on my site when I refer to a stone as Happy Camp Jade, it has not been tested. If I call it by any other name, then it has been confirmed by a GIA lab test, and will be noted.

Most rockhounds seem to believe that most of the green type rocks, that look most Jade-like, are actually Idocrase, which is also considered to be an important gemstone by noted gemologist and author, John Sinkankas, as he referred to these rocks in his books Gemstones of North America, Volumes 1 & 2.

Another famous author and gemologist, G.F. Kunz, also had a high opinion of this material and was the first to propose that because it was so unique it should have its own name. In 1903 he offered the name, Californite, and it was accepted by the scientific community.

Again, it is a very beautiful and unique stone and can be found in the Museum of the California State Division of Mines in San Francisco and also the Chicago Museum of Natural History. I am sure when you see a piece of high quality Happy Camp Jade, you will see it to be as beautiful as I - unique, unusual, and unforgettable – a stone to remember.

One of the most rare aspects of Happy Camp Jade is that some pieces contain specks of GOLD, which make them not only beautiful, but rare, and VERY VALUABLE.

I have the largest private rock collection of Happy Camp Jade in the world, and am offering it to the marketplace for the first time, starting in early 2006, when some of my specimen pieces will debut at the 2006 Tucson Rock and Gem show.

See items currently for sale at the South Fork Mining eBay Store.

Enjoy the site and check back often.