Description and Use. Copper is a reddish-brown, odorless metal. It is used in. electrical wiring and plumbing, in alloys and protective coatings. for other metals, and in insecticides, fungicides and herbicides.
YANGON, Myanmar: An enormous jade boulder that weighs up to 192 tons has been found in Myanmarâs restive Kachin State, officials said Saturday. The 174,600-kilogram raw jade stone was discovered in a gem-rich region of Hpakant Township in northern Kachin on Tuesday, according to an information ministry statement.
Nephrite and jadeite. Nephrite and jadeite were used from prehistoric periods for hardstone carving. Jadeite has about the same hardness as quartz. Nephrite is slightly softer but tougher (more resistant to breakage) than jadeite. It was not until the 19th century that a French mineralogist, Alexis Damour (1808-1902), determined that jade was in fact two different minerals.