Nephrite is the second, and it’s more common and more widely used, probably because it’s the toughest. In fact, when it comes to toughness, nephrite jade is the toughest known natural mineral ...

In 2008 Jade West, a small Canadian mining company, was selling nephrite jade for $20 per kilo. Then the Chinese market woke up. The Chinese government ran a campaign to promote nephrite jade ...

He hoped it was nephrite, but he couldn’t be sure until he tested it. “I had to hit this rock about 100 times before I broke a chip off,” he said.