The Posted Coordinates lead to the approximate southern boundary of the former Jade Reserve at the Hope Bridge, the gateway to Jade Hunting Territory.
JADE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA:
B.C. is home to half of the world's jade, and much of the best quality Jade in the world.
Jade is an extremely tough material used for knives and axe heads in primitive cultures, including the Natives in BC pre-contact.
In the 1860’s through early 1900’s Chinese miners and railroad workers earned extra money by shipping tons of jade from BC home to China where it is highly prized for carving.
USES OF JADE:
Today, High Quality Jade is most often used for fine jewelry. Larger pieces are used for sculptures and table tops. Industrial quality material is used for making tiles.
Jade is the 12th, 30th and 35th Wedding Anniversary Gemstone. In the West, Jade is considered to be nature's tranquilizer, a stone which helps us to be more calm and relaxed. In Chinese Feng Shui jade is believed to have the power to bring you good luck, ward off evil spirits and keep demons away. Jade was adopted as B.C.’s official gemstone in 1968 through the Mineral Emblem Act.
Though many minerals use the term "jade" as part of their common names, true Jade comes in two groups.
Jadeitite is a rock that consists essentially of jadeite (sodium-rich, high-pressure pyroxene).
Nephrite consists of prismatic to acicular amphiboles of the tremolite-actinolite series forming bundles that are randomly oriented and interlocked. All of the known jade deposits in B.C. are of the nephrite variety.
HOW TO IDENTIFY JADE:
Nephrite Jade appears in numerous colors, snowy white, bluish white, yellowish hue, brown, gray, black, green, dark green.
1. If you chip the edge of a suspected specimen and it sparkles or glitters, it's not jade.
2. If you can scratch it with a knife blade, it's not jade.
3. It should be much heavier than a common rock of similar size. (high Specific Gravity – or heaver than an equal volume of water)
4. Tap The specimen lightly with the point of your pick. If a small moon-shaped fracture shows up, it is agate or jasper, but not jade.
If it is jade, it will have a smooth, waxy, almost greasy, look and feel.
THE JADE RESERVE:
The Fraser River Jade Reserve was established in 1968 and stretched from the Hope Bridge to the Highway Bridge in Lillooet. The BC Government designated this area so anyone can look for and take home jade for private use without a Free Miner's Certificate. As part of a clean up of redundent regulations, the regulation creating the reserve was eliminated in 2004. The former reserve area is still a great clue where to look for Jade.
Current Government regulations allow anyone to prospect and collect reasonable samples without a Free Miner License so long as they only do the prospecting with hand tools, so leave your excavator at home.
Private property and Indian Reserves must still be respected. Provincial Parks may be restricted areas for propecting. Your best bet is to go where there is unoccupied Crown land. Also, areas within the River below the high water mark are typically fine. Practice CITO and Leave No Trace Principles when looking for Jade. Only use established trails and public access points. If you want to cross private land, seek specific permission. If you do end up on private property and a land owner asks you to leave you must comply.
In addition to Jade; Gold, Jasper, and many colourful and interesting specimens of igneous and metamorphosed rocks may be found when the water is low.
The Fraser River and its tributaries restock the supply of Jade and other semiprecious stones every year as rocks erode and deposits are uncovered. Jade in the Fraser River system can be found from pebble to boulder size.
LOGGING REQUIREMENTS:
Earthcaches are an educational form of virtual cache. Usually you do not take any specimens, unless the nature of the site would not lead to any damage.
Since the provincial government has provided the right to hunt Jade for the public’s enjoyment and recreational collecting, stop hunting plastic boxes for a day and go find something more valuable.
To claim this Earthcache you must:
1. Physically visit the former Fraser Valley Jade Reserve (described above)
2. Learn enough about Jade to correctly identify it. Beyond the info here, you might try books on Rockhounding at the library, visiting a store or mineral museum, or internet research. This step will save you a lot of time later.
3. Use your geocaching acquired hunting skills to actually find at least one piece of jade in or near the river. No... buying jade in the store does not count.
4. Take your specimens to a recognized expert (like a rockhound store or museum – there are many around the Fraser Canyon/Greater Vancouver Area) and have it verified as Jade. You might even be able to sell your find if it is of real high quality or exceptional size – and finally get paid for geocaching!
5. Post here to brag about your find, including:
a) Size of the Jade you found and other details about it
b) General coordinates and description of where you found the Jade
c) Name of the expert who verified your find
d) Name and location of the store or museum that you found your expert in.
Happy Hunting!