Visit mine sites across the globe and learn about the business and practice of gem mining. Our videos will take you up close and personal.
It is morning in Hweka, deep in northern Burma’s Kachin State. Outside the window, the roar of the river below awakens us from our slumber, nudging us groggily into yet another day. Already it has been four long days since leaving Mandalay; when we will reach our destination is still uncertain. Nevertheless, we are unfazed, our spirits are high. Because we are convinced. Today is the day. Today is the day!.
Afghanistan’s ruby/spinel mines are one of the great mysteries of gemology. Historically, rubies and red spinels have been produced from four areas: Burma, Sri Lanka, the Thai/Cambodian border (ruby only; no red spinel) and Afghanistan. While extensive accounts exist regarding the other deposits, in the twentieth century, little has been written about the rubies/spinels of Afghanistan. Indeed, many are totally unaware of the Afghan occurrences.
Gemstones that were mined in the USA
The history of Burma’s jade mines in the West is a brief one. While hundreds of different reports, articles and even books exist on the famous ruby deposits of Mogok, only a handful of westerners have ever made the journey to northern Burma’s remote jade mines and wrote down their findings.Occidental accounts of the mines make their first appearance in 1837.
The most widely-used gemstone exploration techniques today are ground-penetrating radar, known as GPR; trace-element analysis, which involves seeking signature elements as clues to where gems may lie; and use of a device called a ‘terra thumper,’ which identifies differences in the structure of the host rock through seismic analysis. GPR has proven useful in providing subsurface mapping of potential gem-bearing pockets, or ‘vugs,’ but the readings can be confused by moisture in the ground, and they can’t separate gem-bearing pockets from the non-gem-bearing ones.
Money and Madness (1998) – Penetrating the shady world of Colombia’s emerald dealers, we meet private armies and pistol-packing miners. Colombia boasts some gruesome statistics. The leading cause of death for individuals over the age of ten is violence. And…
Geologist Juan Manuel Garca-Ruiz calls it “the Sistine Chapel of crystals,” but Superman could call it home. A sort of south-of-the-border Fortress of Solitude, Mexico’s Cueva de los Cristales (Cave of Crystals) contains some of the world’s largest known natural…
Do you know what diamonds, rubies, and emeralds are? “Jewels” is the answer most people offer. It’s an accurate answer, but it doesn’t tell the fascinating story behind these treasures from nature.
Mining Boulder Opal in Koroit, Queensland, Australia. Here is a quick (& amateurishly done) look at mining boulder opal in the outback of southwest Queensland, Australia. This shows my mine that is an area called Koroit. In Koroit there is…
I have met a few cockatoos in my day, but on this day, in early June, I met Sunny and FlaxMan, two Umbrella Cockatoos who help run wildpen, an Etsy shop where they sell handmade (er… beak- and talon-made) gifts….
High quality ruby is being mined in the province of Rukwa , in the southern highlands of Tanzania , according to local sources. Miners in the region are calling the material “Burma” or “pigeon blood” ruby, a reference to the most desirable colors on the market today.
While a worldwide shortage in gem rough sends prices spiralling upward, gem deposits in Africa are lying unworked, or underworked, due to lack of development funds. A prime example of the problem is northern Tanzania — including the well-known tanzanite mines at Merelani.
All-natural Oregon sunstone and similar-looking treated andesine once sold as natural are locked in apples-and-oranges competition that is both unfair and unnecessary.Until recently, brick- and salmon-red sunstone — both clear and with schiller –were rarities. True, renewed mining of this feldspar in Oregon — generally conceded to be the source of the world’s best sunstone — brought more fine colors on the market than had been seen in years. But fine stones cost at least $100 per carat, usually far more.
Then, in early 2007, look-alikes costing $40 per carat suddenly hit the market in impressive numbers. None of its sellers called it sunstone. Instead, most called it andesine, which is a first cousin of labradorite (the scientific name for sunstone) in the plagioclase series of feldspars. [Plagioclase consists of six species, identified according to the ratio of calcium to sodium — their two predominant chemical components.] This next-of-kin gemological status invited many consumers to think of andesine as an affordable alternative to pricier Oregon sunstone, especially because sellers swore it was all-natural.
Afghanistan is not only a country in perpetual turmoil, but also a geological miracle. Can they now harness 1,000 billion Euros worth of natural resources in order to lift the nation out of poverty?
Think they just lie around? Oh, no! Rocks are constantly meeting, mingling, and occasionally making gemstones.
Every so often you hear about a miner who literally trips over a rock, or takes a good. hard look at the ground in just the right place, and suddenly discovers a gemstone deposit. For the serious prospector, though, finding a deposit requires a good grounding in how the Earth is put together – the different types of rock you encounter and the conditions under which they formed. all of which determine whether or not gems could have grown there.
The gem’s first known owner was Abu Said, a Moorish prince of Granada in Spain in the mid-1300s. Abu Said lost the gem, as well as his crown and his life, to Don Pedro the Cruel of Seville. In 1366 Don Pedro’s own brother attacked him in turn, but Don Pedro successfully defended himself with help from the armies of the Black Prince of Bordeaux. As payment, the Black Prince demanded Don Pedro’s prize jewel, and Don Pedro was in no position to.
Gem smuggling, The term evokes pictures of swashbuckling pirates and trench-coated international spies. The reality is far more gritty and physically dangerous on an individual level. Real smugglers, known as “mules,” often carry stones from the mine over treacherous terrain by foot, horse, or motor scooter to gem brokers in bordering countries who sell to international buyers. Those international buyers may themselves become smugglers, bringing the gems into their home country illegally.
Colored gemstone mining is a hard thing to pin down. The vast majority of mining is still done by independent, small-scale miners, working in remote locations and selling to buyers who pay cash and may or may not declare their gems on export. For many producing countries, particularly in Africa, the real production from the mines probably outstrips the reported production by a factor of 10 — or 20, or possibly 100. No one really knows. In compiling this report, weve included estimates from both official and unofficial sources, but in some cases there simply isnt any information available. This report isnt intended as a comprehensive list of gemstone deposits; its a guide to the most active mining areas in the world right now, with the humble acknowledgment that no matter how much we see, theres always more out there.
Colored gemstone mining is a hard thing to pin down. The vast majority of mining is still done by independent, small-scale miners, working in remote locations and selling to buyers who pay cash and may or may not declare their gems on export. For many producing countries, particularly in Africa, the real production from the mines probably outstrips the reported production by a factor of 10 — or 20, or possibly 100. No one really knows. In compiling this report, weve included estimates from both official and unofficial sources, but in some cases there simply isnt any information available. This report isnt intended as a comprehensive list of gemstone deposits; its a guide to the most active mining areas in the world right now, with the humble acknowledgment that no matter how much we see, theres always more out there.
Colored gemstone mining is a hard thing to pin down. The vast majority of mining is still done by independent, small-scale miners, working in remote locations and selling to buyers who pay cash and may or may not declare their gems on export. For many producing countries, particularly in Africa, the real production from the mines probably outstrips the reported production by a factor of 10 — or 20, or possibly 100. No one really knows. In compiling this report, weve included estimates from both official and unofficial sources, but in some cases there simply isnt any information available. This report isnt intended as a comprehensive list of gemstone deposits; its a guide to the most active mining areas in the world right now, with the humble acknowledgment that no matter how much we see, theres always more out there.
Colored gemstone mining is a hard thing to pin down. The vast majority of mining is still done by independent, small-scale miners, working in remote locations and selling to buyers who pay cash and may or may not declare their gems on export. For many producing countries, particularly in Africa, the real production from the mines probably outstrips the reported production by a factor of 10 — or 20, or possibly 100. No one really knows. In compiling this report, weve included estimates from both official and unofficial sources, but in some cases there simply isnt any information available. This report isnt intended as a comprehensive list of gemstone deposits; its a guide to the most active mining areas in the world right now, with the humble acknowledgment that no matter how much we see, theres always more out there.
Colored gemstone mining is a hard thing to pin down. The vast majority of mining is still done by independent, small-scale miners, working in remote locations and selling to buyers who pay cash and may or may not declare their gems on export. For many producing countries, particularly in Africa, the real production from the mines probably outstrips the reported production by a factor of 10 — or 20, or possibly 100. No one really knows. In compiling this report, weve included estimates from both official and unofficial sources, but in some cases there simply isnt any information available. This report isnt intended as a comprehensive list of gemstone deposits; its a guide to the most active mining areas in the world right now, with the humble acknowledgment that no matter how much we see, theres always more out there.
Colored gemstone mining is a hard thing to pin down. The vast majority of mining is still done by independent, small-scale miners, working in remote locations and selling to buyers who pay cash and may or may not declare their gems on export. For many producing countries, particularly in Africa, the real production from the mines probably outstrips the reported production by a factor of 10 — or 20, or possibly 100. No one really knows. In compiling this report, weve included estimates from both official and unofficial sources, but in some cases there simply isnt any information available. This report isnt intended as a comprehensive list of gemstone deposits; its a guide to the most active mining areas in the world right now, with the humble acknowledgment that no matter how much we see, theres always more out there.
Colored gemstone mining is a hard thing to pin down. The vast majority of mining is still done by independent, small-scale miners, working in remote locations and selling to buyers who pay cash and may or may not declare their gems on export. For many producing countries, particularly in Africa, the real production from the mines probably outstrips the reported production by a factor of 10 — or 20, or possibly 100. No one really knows. In compiling this report, weve included estimates from both official and unofficial sources, but in some cases there simply isnt any information available. This report isnt intended as a comprehensive list of gemstone deposits; its a guide to the most active mining areas in the world right now, with the humble acknowledgment that no matter how much we see, theres always more out there.
Colored gemstone mining is a hard thing to pin down. The vast majority of mining is still done by independent, small-scale miners, working in remote locations and selling to buyers who pay cash and may or may not declare their gems on export. For many producing countries, particularly in Africa, the real production from the mines probably outstrips the reported production by a factor of 10 — or 20, or possibly 100. No one really knows. In compiling this report, weve included estimates from both official and unofficial sources, but in some cases there simply isnt any information available. This report isnt intended as a comprehensive list of gemstone deposits; its a guide to the most active mining areas in the world right now, with the humble acknowledgment that no matter how much we see, theres always more out there.
Yellow-green beryl has achieved ‘desired gem’ status with consumers just within the last few years. Museums were eager to acquire spectacular specimens, while connoisseurs sought it for their collections. However, fashion trendsetters ignored it. As in aquamarine, the iron incorporated into its chemical structure is responsible for the color..
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