Stone Classifications

The word ‘Pounamu’ is the term used by Māori for nephrite jade. The word greenstone is also commonly used in NZ, however the people of Poutini Ngāi Tahu prefer to call it pounamu as it comes in many different colour variations not just green.

There is a lot of confusion around different names to describe jade, greenstone, jade and pounamu are all the same thing. here is a description of the most common pounamu types found in New Zealand.