Expensive Stones — Lapis Lazuli, a jewel from Afghanistan | Lapis uses, lapis lazuli price?

What Is Lapis Lazuli?

Lapis Lazuli or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock.

It is used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color.

• The best quality of Lazuli stone is found in limestone, in Afghanistan, while other parts of the world also has some reserves of the stone.

• Lapis lazuli gets its vibrant blue color from the mineral lazurite, which contains sulfur. It omits strong smell of sulfur when smelled in its powder form.

• Unlike most other gem materials, lapis lazuli is not a mineral. Instead, it is a rock composed of multiple minerals, primarily lazurite, calcite, and pyrite.

• Main colours incldue: Blue, Lazurite (blue tectosilicate mineral), White Calcite (calcium carbonate mineral), and Golden pyrite (also known as fool's gold.)

lapis lazuli afghanistan

Lapis Lazuli is found in limestone in the Kokcha River valley of Badakhshan province in northeastern Afghanistan, where the Sar-e-Sang mine deposits have been worked for more than 6,000 years.

Sources Around the World

Mines in northeast Afghanistan continue to be a major source of lapis lazuli.

Other important sources include, Russia and Chile, production of Lapis from mines in west of Lake Baikal in Russia, and in the Andes mountains in Chile.

Smaller quantities are mined in Pakistan, Italy, Mongolia, the United States, and Canada.

Lapis Uses

• Lapis takes an excellent polish and can be made into jewellery, carvings, boxes, mosaics, ornaments, small statues, and vases.

• It is used to carve artifacts, ornaments and jewelry.

• Lapis Lazuli is a semi-precious stone which makes it collectable and decorative piece as well.

• It is also used as ultramarine pigment in Renaissance paintings.

• Interior items and finishing buildings can be also made with lapis.

Historical presence

Lapis Lazuli is a historical jewel from Afghanistan (known for its quality) has a rich history associated with it.

As early as the 7th millennium BCE, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines, in Shortugai, and in other mines in Badakhshan province in northeast Afghanistan. And there are sources that are found as far east as in the region around Lake Baikal in Siberia.

Trade in the stone is ancient enough, for lapis jewelry to have been found at Predynastic Egyptian and ancient Sumerian sites.

Lapis beads have been discovered in Neolithic burials at Mehrgarh, across the Caucasus and as far west as Mauritania, all originating from Afghanistan.

Afghanistan was the source of lapis for the ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations, as well as the later Greeks and Romans.

During the height of the Indus valley civilization about 2000 BC, the Harappan colony now known as Shortugai was established near the lapis mines.

Lapis Lazuli Value and rough market price

Afghan Grade One (AAA) Rough: ~$250–$800 per kilogram at source, depending on trade margins.

Small gemstones (gemcut): $1–$200 per carat, highest for deep blue AAA quality.

Per gram: $2.50–$750, depending on quality.

Color: Deep, even royal blue is most valued.

Inclusions: Few white (calcite) inclusions; balanced pyrite can enhance value.

Origin: Afghanistan (e.g., Sar-e-Sang) lapis is considered top-tier.

Form: Carvings and polished specimens fetch higher per-weight prices.

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