The terms "gem" and "gemstone" mean any mineral or organic material (e.g., pearl and petrified wood) used for personal adornment, display, or object of art because it possesses beauty, rarity, and durability.   Of the 2,700 mineral species, only about 100 possess all these attributes.   Silicates compose the largest group of gemstones; oxides and quartz compose the second largest.

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Annual Publications

Mineral Commodity Summaries

• Gemstones
    PDF Format:
       | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |2012 |2013 |2014 |2015 |2016 |2017 |2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
• Appendixes

Minerals Yearbook

• Gemstones
    PDF Format:
       | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
    XLS Format:
       | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 tables-only release |
• Archive
       | 1932-1993 |

Special Publications

• Gemstones - An Overview of Production of Specific U.S. Gemstones
  U.S. Bureau of Mines Special Publication 14-95
• Historical Statistics for Mineral and Material Commodities in the United States
  Data Series 140
  • Gemstones
• Natural Gemstones
  USGS General Interest Publication