Jadeite jade, also called fei cui, is known to come from many locales including Russia, Japan, Kazakhstan, the United States of America, Myanmar/Burma, Guatemala, and more.

However, the only commercially important sources of jadeite jade are Myanmar/Burma and Guatemala. We might see Kazakhstan become more a more significant source in the near future, but that is still yet to be seen.

Nephrite jade's most commercially important origins include China, Russia, Canada, and Korea. However, it comes from many more locales including Australia, Taiwan, Indonesia, the United States of America, New Zealand, and many more. 

In this article, we're mainly going to focus on commercially significant sources of jadeite jade: Myanmar (also called Burma) and Guatemala.

Burmese Jade

Jade Type: Jadeite Jade (aka fei cui, also called pyroxene jade)

Colors: Green, blue, lavender, red, yellow, brown, black, grey, white, ice
(the above chart features all colors of Burmese jade)

Significant Sources:
Kachin State, Myanmar
Hpakant, Myanmar
A more detailed list of every source in Myanmar can be found on mindat.

Qing Emperor Qianlong became fascinated with the vivid green jadeite jade coming from Burma during his reign, and after the Qing-Burmese wars of the 1760s, the 1770 peace agreement opened the way for jade to be exported into China.

Burmese jadeite jade beads from Mason-Kay Jade

Demand from Qianlong and the imperial court helped transform Burmese jadeite, called fei cui by the Chinese, from a relatively obscure imported stone into a highly prized material in China, with the finest translucent green material eventually becoming known as “Imperial Jade.”

Even though China has a history with jade going back 8,000 years, most of that jade culture revolved around nephrite jade. Since the Qing Dynasty, jadeite jade (fei cui) has been the most desired of the two jades for the Chinese market. Jade demand is actually so high in China that after diamonds, jadeite jade (fei cui) is the 2nd most traded gemstone in the world - a topic discussed at length by William Ralston-Saul during the 2026 International Jade Summit, an event which Mason-Kay was proud to sponsor.

Guatemalan Jade

Jade Type: Jadeite Jade (aka fei cui, also called pyroxene jade)

Colors: Green, blue, lavender, red, yellow, brown, black, grey, white, ice

Significant Sources:
Motagua Valley, Zacapa, Guatemala
A more detailed list of every source in Myanmar can be found on mindat.

From roughly 1500 BC until the Spanish Conquest (c. 1500AD), jadeite jade was traded across Mesoamerica by seven ancient civilizations, most notably the Olmec, Maya and Aztec, and became one of the region’s most precious materials.

Following the cessation of the jade trade during the Spanish Conquest, the knowledge of its sources was essentially lost. Centuries later, the discovery of hundreds of jade objects in the Sacred Cenote at Chichén Itzá renewed interest in the mystery of where the ancient jade came from.

In 1952, Smithsonian researcher Robert Leslie discovered jadeite in the Motagua Valley, giving scientists their first confirmed source for the jade used by ancient Mesoamerican civilizations. He brought the material to William Foshag, who studied and analyzed it. but died before he could complete his larger body of work on Guatemalan jade. Two decades later, Jay and Mary Lou Ridinger followed these early clues into the Motagua Valley, locating additional ancient jadeite sources and launching the modern Guatemalan jade industry with Jade Maya.

In 1974, Jay and Mary Lou Ridinger (then Johnson; yes they fell in love while hunting for jade!) followed Foshag’s clues into Guatemala’s Motagua Valley, rediscovered major jadeite deposits, and founded Jade Maya, restarting Guatemala’s jade industry after a five-century disappearance.

Their story is elegantly told in the book Stone of Kings: The Lost Jade of the Maya by Gerard Helferich. An excellent read!

Guatemala's Signature Jade Color

The terms "blue jade" and "Guatemalan jade" have almost become synonymous, but it's important for jade customers to understand this: Not all blue jade is Guatemalan. Some blue jade comes from Myanmar. However, most of the blue jade on the market is from Guatemala, and it's the most common color of Guatemalan jade that can be seen in a jewelry store. Other common colors of Guatemalan jade include black and lavender (sometimes called "lilac" by Central American jade dealers.) Green, red, and yellow are very uncommon colors coming out of Guatemala - and true ice jade in any notable size is extremely rare. Some of the translucent blue jade from Guatemala is being called "ice jade" or "water jade," but most of this material doesn't fit the American jewelry trade's definitions for those terms. (Note: Ice jade is the colorless, translucent variety of jadeite jade. And water jade typically refers to icy-green jade.)

True blue jade is exceptionally rare, and most blue jade from Guatemala is actually a grey-blue-green color that appears bluer under direct light.

Guatemalan jade from Mason-Kay

The topics of Guatemala's blue jade is discussed at length in our blog article Blue Jade Explained.

While true-blue jade stones have been known to come from Myanmar, they are exceptionally rare and fetch extremely high prices - easily over $100k per stone in high qualities (meaning true color, high translucency, even texture).

Most of the blue jade from Guatemala is grey-blue, blue-green, or blue-lavender as seen below.

Left - Blue-lavender jadeite jade from Guatemala
Right - Blue-green jadeite jade from Guatemala

In the video below, Jordan from Jewels of the Trade shows off some of Mason-Kay's Fine Guatemalan Green jade collection. While Guatemala can produce exceptionally high quality green jade, it is still rarely seen in American jewelry stores.

 

Kazakhstan Jade

Jade Type: Jadeite Jade (aka fei cui, also called pyroxene jade)

Colors: Green, grey

Significant Sources:
Itmurundy, Kazakhstan

Before the Silk Road even existed, Central Asia was building trade routes connecting its mountain jade sources to the palaces of ancient China.  Today, jadeite jade (also called 'fei cui') travels a new route in this modern era as Kazakhstan begins producing jadeite jade for the international market.

At this time, the only significant mining operation exists in Itmurundy, Kazakhstan, near Lake Balkhash. It's hosted in serpentinite rock, which isn't abnormal for jadeite, and formed in typical subduction zone geological conditions under high pressures and low temperatures.

Geologically, Kazakh jade is believed to be around 300 million years old which would make it 2-3x older than Burmese is believed to be. Commercially, pieces of Kazakh jade have appeared on the market here and there over the years, but the current commercial operation - and the most significant there to date - began producing in 2025.

Learn more about Kazakh jade here: Kazakhstan Jade: Bringing Central Asia's Legacy into the Modern Era