Andean Opals

Blue and greenish blue opals from Peru have been on the market for more than three decades, but today there are also pink opals available that look like angel-skin corals.

Sunset Quartz

Here is an interesting story from Brazil. A vein of milky white quartz with yellow orange areas is marketed as sunset quartz.

Gemstones Of The Future

Joel Arem writes:

Jewelry store is where the public learns about stones. And the typical jeweler’s business in colored stones is only 10% +/- of his overall trade. Because of this most jewelers are not well informed about colored stones and cannot effectively promote them. A cyclical chain of events begins here at the jewelry store and ends there as well. What is not offered to the public, the public has no chance to discover, and without awareness there is no demand. Therefore obviously without demand, there will be no sales or increased sales. The break in this vicious circle will come only through education. As we all know, education in the form of advertising is expensive but this is what is needed to change the direction of the gemstone market. The best example of this is the classic success story of the diamond industry on a grand scale and the familiar story of tanzanite on an impressive smaller scale. We, the gemologist, jeweler and gem dealer, have the responsibility to educate the public about what gems are available. This can be accompanied by increasing the varieties displayed and more importantly knowing all there is to know about each and every one of them. Of the 259 mineral + species only 30-40 are durable enough for us in jewelry and of the remainder about 15 are seen with regularity and are considered commercial. The rest are either too soft or fragile and should be classified as what he terms the ‘collector’ stones or ‘exotics’.

It is necessary to consider some of the reasons why diamonds are so popular. The first consideration is supply. There is sufficient quantity available to be marketed on a large scale. The market was created and maintained brilliantly. What the public buys is what the public sees. If gems are not shown to the public through the jewelry stores and if they are not promoted at this level, they will never become popular. There is also a fine balance between supply and demand. Some gemstones have disappeared from the marketplace due to exhausted sources. Gems are like oil wells, when they are depleted that’s the end. You go to some place else.

The real excitement will come when the gemologists can convince the jewelers to learn, to promote and to teach the public. This will achieve a ground swell of interests that will result in exposure, high prices, more enthusiasm and mining + new localities. It will all start to happen. It’s our job and our challenge.

Actinolite

Crystallography: Monoclinic, bladed crystals, usually elongated; fibrous, columnar aggregates; massive; granular; twinned.

Colors: Light to dark green, blackish green

Luster: Vitreous

Hardness: 5.5

Specific gravity: 3.05 - 3.44

Cleavage: 2 directions, good, often fibrous nature; brittle, compact variety tough.

Refractive index: 1.619 –1.644

Birefringence: 0.022 – 0.026

Pleochroism: yellow to dark green.

Spectrum: faint line at 503nm

Luminescence: none due to presence of iron.

Occurrence: Contact metamorphic limestones and dolomites.

Madagascar: small, dark green crystals.

Tanzania: transparent crystals.

USA

Stone sizes: Actinolite is rarely facetable and usually in small fragments. Material from Chester, Vermont, USA could provide large stones.

Comments: Chatoyant material is cut to exhibit cat’s eye phenomena. Actinolite is a constituent of nephrite jade; easy to cleave and difficult to cut—for this reason it may not be an ideal stone for jewelry. Quartz cat’s eye, Apatite cat’s eye, Chrysoberyl cat’s eye, Cathay stone (man-made glass) may be confused for Actinolite cat’s eye.

Golden Amphibolite (GoldStone) From Near Port Hedland, W.A

I have seen the rough and cut specimens. The cut specimens are attractive. I also know that a famous temple in Thailand is buying the stones for making amulets and carvings. This goldstone is natural, but there is also man-made glass called goldstone which is a simulant/substitute for sunstone.

Dr Robert R Coenraads (Nikiticorp Australia Pty Ltd) writes:

Summary
Samples of a gem material called ‘Goldstone’ provided to Dr Coenraads by Nikiticorp for gemological testing have proved to be amphibolite, a rare metamorphic rock consisting almost entirely of the mineral amphibole. The amphibole mineral has now been largely altered to hematite, goethite and quartz and it displays a magnificent golden iridescence. This rare material is known only from two other localities in the world, Greenland and Wyoming, USA. Trial lapidary work carried out on this material shows it to be hard (approximately 6 of Moh’s scale) and capable of taking a high polish. The golden iridescence is best displayed at certain orientations so some care must be taken when cutting the rough material.

Introduction
Several kilograms of rough material being called ‘goldstone’ were provided to Dr Robert Coenraads by Nikiticorp Pty Ltd for examination. The material was sliced using a slabbing saw at the Wingala Lapidary Association in Sydney. The rough was sawn in three perpendicular directions, polished and photographed. This was to look for any observable difference in appearance of the material at different orientations. Cabochons were also prepared from some of the slices. A sample was provided to Mr Rad Flossman of the University of New South Wales in Sydney to prepare a microscope thin section for petrological study. Another sample was given to Dr Peter Williams for X-ray diffraction analysis at University of Western Sydney.

Description of the samples
The rough material is not particularly attractive being dull yellow or rusty red brown and powdery in appearance. The rough pieces provided were plate-like, that is larger in two dimensions than the third. When polished, however, the samples show a brilliant and unexpected golden iridescence. Noting the orientation of the cuts with respect to the shape of the material revealed that most beautiful iridescence was obtained when the sample was cut in one of the directions perpendicular to the large face of the rough material. In this direction almost all the grains will appear golden in polished surfaces. In the second direction at right angles and perpendicular to the large face, and in the third direction parallel to the large face of the rough most of the grains appear dark brown, although some show the golden iridescence.

X-ray diffraction analysis
The XRD work shows that the samples from Port Hedland are quite similar to those from Wyoming in that the original amphiboles have been largely altered to the iron oxide minerals, hematite and goethite, and quartz as a result of some form of secondary alteration process. This alteration is probably responsible for the iridescent color being so rich and golden. The XRF pattern also showed that traces of the original amphibole remain within the rock and identified them as either grunerite, manganogrunerite (dannemorite) or cummingtonite.

The thin section also reveals that the original amphibole crystals are oriented, probably as a result of directed pressure causing them to grow in that alignment during their metamorphic formation. It also appears that in some of the samples, the layers that were almost entirely made up of amphibole are interlayered with thin layers of almost pure quartz.

Gemological testing
The four ‘goldstone’ cabochons were tested at the Gemological Association of Australia laboratory. The material was found to be inert under LW and SW ultraviolet light, to have an indeterminate spot refractive index around 1.5 to 1.6, and a specific gravity around 2.60 to 2.80. Being a rock rather than a single mineral the tests for specific gravity and refractive index were considered not to be of use in identification of this gemstone. The binocular microscope and hand lens provide the most positive form of identification; that is this gem stunning visual appearance of the interlocking grains and distinctive golden iridescent sheen.

Previous studies
Amphibole is known from only two other localities in the world:

1. A gem quality iridescent orthoamphibole found near Nuuk, the capital of Greenland.

2. A gem quality iridescent orthoamphibole found near Douglas, in Converse County, Wyoming, USA.

The orthoamphiboles from Greenland were shown by Appel and Jensen (1987) to be solid solutions between the end members anthophyllite and gerdite. The iridescence colors are green, blue, through yellow to gold, red and violet (rare), and are caused by diffraction of light from lamellae of amphibole less than 0.2 um thick. The material has a hardness of 6 and an SG between 3.18 and 3.37. Refractive index is 1.64 to 1.66, with a birefringence of 0.02.

The material from Wyoming is different in that it now consists almost entirely of goethite and/or opaline silica which appears to be derived from weathering of the original ferroanthophyllite. The iridescence of the Wyoming material is mainly golden or dark brown with some red or silver gray.

Comparisons between the polished Western Australian ‘goldstone’ and photographs of polished samples from Greenland and USA suggest that the Western Australian material has a larger percentage of its surface displaying the golden iridescence and therefore it is a more attractive material.

Coolomon Mining

A gem miner's life is tough with endless changes in all things. Here is the real story of a miner and his passion for stones.

(via Gemmology Queensland, Vol.8, Issue 5, May 2007) Jim Elliot writes:

It seems a very long time since my last report as there has been so much going on in our lives. We live in a world of seemingly endless change in all things—except, of course, the damned dry weather over most of the continent.

The Central Queensland Gemfields had sufficient rain over the summer months to bring up a body of grass, which has now dried off and is likely to pose a serious fire threats in the winter months. However, there was only very patchy heavy rain and, as a result, our mine dams are either very low or empty—thus preventing a start up of mining operations once again.

Our cattle property at Calliope is in a belt of very badly droughted country and like many others, we are forced to continue hand feeding our stock and are finding it continually harder to source any supplies of hay for this purpose.

On the other extreme, we have still not been able to commence mining this year at our Lava Plains operation in North Queensland, because it will not stop raining. Once you get north of a line roughly west from the Mackay—Bowen area, everything is green, the creeks have water in them and the cattle are fat. It is only eighteen months since we put a very expensive deep bore down at Lava Plains because it was so dry there, and it worked well—it has rained ever since.

The Gemfields
The Gemfields is just awakening from its quiet time during the hotter months, and there appears to be a steady stream of tourists and hand miners returning to the area, which augurs well for the coming winter season.

By all the reports received, the local jewelers and tourist outlets enjoyed a good season last year despite the dire predictions that people would not travel because of the high fuel prices, and I expect that this year might even improve on the last one. The Sunday markets are well patronized and there are a number of new stalls among the familiar faces.

The very dry conditions will make life difficult for a lot of miners, especially as the Emerald Shire Council has not relented on its decision not to provide the reticulated water to mining claims, but miners are a determined lot and will overcome most difficulties thrown up by bureaucracy.

Our mining operations
Our plans to cut back our activities in order to make life easier do not seem to be working. The demand for quality natural Australian sapphires has grown to the point that, while we are prevented from actual mining by dry conditions in Central Queensland and by wet weather at Lava Plains, we are busier than ever.

We had already moved our Lava Plains mine to the new area on the east side of the Kennedy Highway and were producing very high grade blue sapphire. Just when we were considering selling the Lava Plains operation, our supervisor John Fischer moved the mining pit area and found what we believe to be some of the nicest sapphire that has ever been found anywhere in Australia. It is still mainly of smaller size, but quite the most beautiful blue.

We are also in the process of relocating our Gemfields operation from the ‘Rush’ and ‘Ricebowl’ areas at the Sapphire end, where we have mined for several years, back to the 50 acres of lease area we hold in the ‘The Scrub’ at the Rubyvale end. The Scrub area is famous for its larger and most beautiful blue and particolor stones and was one of the first areas to be worked by the machine miners. We have hung on to this area, waiting for the market conditions to support the increased costs resulting from the more difficult treatment process, and the lower amount of sapphire recovered from the very clay-bound wash.

While the ‘Rush’ and ‘Ricebowl’ areas produce a greater amount of sapphire, it is mostly of a quality more suited to the ‘commercial’ trade end and, as such, was largely sold to visiting Asian buyers. Since the visits of the Asian buyers have all but stopped, our business is now based on the supply of high quality cut sapphires to Australian jewelers, and we hope that the move back to the Scrub area will enable us to produce larger, top grade material, albeit in smaller quantities.

We will offer our 200 acres of leases, plant and plantsite at the Sapphire end for sale. While they no longer form part of our planned operation, they remain a valuable commodity for anyone who has a need for proven larger, efficient treatment system to produce the commercial sapphire found in this area.

Gem shows and jewelry fairs
We have already attended the North Brisbane Lapidary Club show, the Brisbane JAA Jewelry Fair and the Australian Gemboree, which was held at Gatton this year. All these shows were excellent, both in their organizational aspects and in the commercial returns achieved.

It appears to me that, for the last few years, many discerning buyers have been aware that the sale of faked gemstone material, whether it be synthetic, dyed, chemically treated, irradiated or whatever, has largely been undisclosed, and they have lacked the confidence to buy.

Many trade people were also content to buy the cheap, mostly Asian, products in the knowledge that they could resell them at a significant profit to less discerning buyers, even though they had no idea of the true nature of the product they sold.

As a result of TV programs about problems in the jewelry industry, and with the assistance of the brochures put out by the ACCC which both reminded sellers of their responsibilities under government legislation and buyers of their rights and protection, buyers now seem to be even more aware of the adulterated gem material that is on the market, but are prepared to take the trouble to ask questions so that they can satisfy themselves that they are getting what they want—and very importantly, once satisfied, they are prepared to buy.

It was very pleasing to note that, at the shows we have attended, the true nature and treatment status of gemstones was generally clearly displayed for the customers to see, and I hope that all future shows insist on this, and monitor compliance.

There is nothing wrong with a treated or synthetic gemstone, as along as it is sold as such, and is priced accordingly. I was personally very disappointed that the show that the ‘Jewellery World’ magazine had planned for Sydney later this year is not going ahead, as many of the principles espoused by the organizers mirrored my own convictions on what is in the best interests of the genuine Australian manufacturing jewelers, in order to provide for the longevity of our Australian Gemstone and Jewellery manufacturing industries.

Website sales list
We have experienced a significant increase in the demand for significant sapphires, particularly greens, parti-colors and the rarer yellows. Many of these fancy sapphires are found in the hand mining areas and many of the hand miners have some absolutely fabulous stones, but no way to market them.

We have therefore set a system on our second website http://www.australiansapphire.com/ to allow the small scale miners and others to present their stones for sale. We intend that this service may be used for any genuine Australian gemstone, and not just sapphires. We do not collect any cut or commission from the sale of other people’s stones on this website. Any dealing is solely between the buyer and the seller.

We do require that sellers sign a declaration that all gems placed on this sale list be guaranteed to be genuine, natural gemstones of Australian origin and, as always, we recommend that buyers ask for a clearly written certificate of authenticity or similar statement signed by the seller.

Faceting courses
The faceting courses organized by the Queensland Sapphire Producers Association in conjunction with the Gemfields Lions Club and run by John Broadfoot have continued to be a great success, with every course fully subscribed, which gives hope for the continuation of the cutting of at least a portion of our production within Australia, thus retaining jobs in our own area.

There also now seems to be a growing shortage of trained jewelers, by that I mean real manufacturing jewelers, not those who just resell goods that were manufactured overseas and imported into Australia, and I hope that the people in charge of our training systems will address this problem before it too has an impact on our ability to produce genuine local products, at an affordable price, for those customers who are proud to buy Australian.

Chrysoprase
As I detailed in an earlier report, we were given the opportunity to mine and purchase a quantity of chrysoprase from the Marlborough deposit, north of Rockhampton. We have completed that mining, but we have some 50 tons of rough chrysoprase stockpiled on our Calliope cattle property.

The rough chrysoprase varies from smaller pieces to boulders of several kilos, up to a ton (or several tons), with the largest being over 16 tons. The color varies from the darker green to a bright, translucent peppermint green, to the paler colors of the parent chalcedony. We do not intend to break down the larger boulders as we believe that, in time, they will become quite valuable as major carving pieces.

We have now had time to produce a fair quantity of finished material from this stockpile, including good quality cabochons, lovely beads and some amazing carved pieces. The beads are most beautiful, and start at less than 40 cents per carat for the paler colors, but can go up to $5.00 per carat for the jade green colors.

In keeping with our philosophy on gemstones, all this material is sold as completely natural, with no treatment or dyeing whatsoever. We have also used our 24 inch slabbing saw to produce slabs which can be used for bases for clocks, desk equipment or just for the beauty of the material itself.

Our partner in the chrysoprase venture is Rick Hodel who lives in the northern suburbs of Brisbane, and is willing to visit potential clients in the south east corner of Queensland. You can contact him on: 07 3888 3280 or on mobile 0427 265 045

Black spinel
For many years, the sapphire miners have recovered a gemstone called black spinel (a.k.a pleonaste) which has always been discarded as being of too low a value to worry about. When either cabbed or faceted, polished beads or carved, this material actually produces the most beautiful gems. It is harder and more lustrous than onyx, and takes a very fine polish.

While there is currently a limited use of this material as a gemstone in its own right, it produces the most beautiful black beads, which we supply to jewelers in temporary strings in a variety of shapes and sizes, and at prices around 40 cents per carat.

Zeolite
Ad the time of last report, I mentioned that we were fattening some steers in our feedlot on our cattle property with a feed ration that included 5% zeolite powder. I can now report that these steers fattened beautifully, and we were absolutely amazed at the totally spotless condition of their livers and kidneys when they were slaughtered. For those of you who do not recognize the significance of this, it is most unusual for animals subjected to feedlot conditions not to have some form of lesions or marking of the livers and kidneys, and the condition of these organs is considered an important measure of the animal’s health.

We continue to be able to supply, at no cost, this powdered zeolite material to the many persons requesting it for personal use an aid in controlling the effects of many ailments which we understand, includes cancerous conditions and blood related disorders. We do this on firm understanding that persons requesting it do so with no assurances or guarantees, as in this country there still has not been any testing or clinical trials of this naturally occurring material, only a great deal of anecdotal evidence from people who are using it.

Hardly a day goes by without a call from someone to thank for sending them some of this powder and to tell us of benefits they have derived from its use. It is such a pity that this information is not being obtained by trained persons under controlled conditions, and subject to the strict analysis needed for its approval for medicinal use.

We understand the mine which produces this material is being sold at present, and we hope that we will be able to continue obtaining powder from the new owners. We would have loved to purchase the mine ourselves, but we are trying hard to slow down, not to take on new responsibilities. We trust that you will all join us in praying for rain for all those individuals and industries so badly affected by the widespread drought, and all those of you in the flooded northern regions who are sick of rain can join and pray too for a more even distribution of this most precious commodity.

I must admit that I do not entirely agree with the current politically popular theory that this drought is all due to man-induced global warming. Our rough sapphire at Lava Plains is often fractured because it was expelled into a frozen landscape during geologically recent ice age, so there has been a bit of warming going on for several thousand years, and there have been many droughts as serious as the one we are now experiencing.

I think that, to a large extent, the politicians of all colors, State and Federal, are desperately trying to cover their backsides for their failure to take any positive action on either construction of new dams or more importantly on better use by industry of recycled water to minimize the amount of new water required by the reticulation systems in our cities.

It would appear to be commonsense that the first priority would be to ensure the efficient utilization of every drop of water pumped out of the storages, and that it should not be necessary to even consider the use of treated water for human consumption until there is 100% use of recycled water by industry and on parks and gardens, sporting ovals etc.

People in towns and cities in our area have been discouraged for years from having domestic water tanks, despite the fact that many of us in more remote areas have learned to live solely on the water we collect in them. Now the same councils and governments are falling over themselves trying to promote such obvious measures.

I’m sorry for the lecture, but we seem to be governed by blind idiots, but then again, it may just be that I am trying not to sound too cynical about their ultimate agendas.

Geology Of Placer Gem Deposits

Here is an experts view on placer deposits and its commercial significance in gem producing countries around the world + the geological and gemological characteristics that are important in identifying the particularities of placer deposits.

James M Prudden (Prudden GeoScience Services, Nevada, USA) writes:

Placer gem depositional environments consist of colluvial, fluvial, and beach deposits. The weathering of primary gem-bearing deposits forms overlying eluvial deposits, and the down-slope migration of the residual gems by both gravity and water creates colluvial deposits. Fluvial systems range from youthful through mature and old-age sedimentological regimes with associated channel geometrics that determine the hydraulic energy and therefore the locations of gem deposition. Fluvial systems commence with straight steep-channel gradients, with low depth-to width ratios containing unsorted clasts and large gems. This evolves into to the downstream, low-energy, old-age fluvial systems with low channel gradients that host bedded, well-sorted smaller clasts deposited in a meandering fashion within a broad flood plane. Gems in this environment are smaller and more rounded. At the point where the river enters a marine or lacustrine environment, the resulting abrupt gradient change is very favorable for gem deposition. Wave energy and long shore currents further winnow and transport gems in beach environments. Alpine and continental glaciers are nature’s bulldozers and the braded fluvial streams that are fed from their melt water effectively concentrate the contained gems from the glacial rubble.

Gem characteristics such as specific gravity, hardness, shape and durability will influence their related depositional environments and survivability, thus favoring the economic concentrations of certain gems in the fluvial milling environment.

Select case histories of a variety of placer deposits illustrate the practicality of applying detailed geology and sedimentology to placer gem exploration:

1. Australian Tertiary modified paleo-colluvial type sapphire deposits, derived from the weathering of alkaline basalts, have been a major global source of sapphires.

2. Namibian long-shore diamond distribution along the Atlantic Ocean coast constitutes the world’s most valuable diamond deposit, extending westward 100km to the continental shelf edge and 200km northward. The diamonds were originally liberated from the South African kimberlites (and possibly more distant sources) by post-Gondawana erosion of the southern African craton, which commenced in the humid Middle Cretaceous with the formation of the ancient Karoo and Kalahari Rivers. Subsequent erosion of these diamondiferous placers was accomplished by the Orange River in the Miocene. Prolonged winnowing of the diamonds increased their value by about 500%.

3. Fluvial reworking of glacial sediments in British Colombia, Canada, concentrated sapphires and garnets from several cubic kilometers of glacial material.

4. A fluvial diamond deposit in China’s Hunan province was deposited on completely weathered karst bedrock, which presents challenges to sampling and mining.

Subjectivity In Gemology

How true! In a way gemology is a magic blend of subjectivity + objectivity + the expert who knows how to connect with the world makes all the difference in a day. Can anyone express the allure, fineness, attraction and glamor in alpha numerical notation? I doubt it.

Ronald Ringsrud (Ronald Ringsrud Co, California) writes:

The analytical mind cannot encapsulate the full experience of viewing a beautiful gem. The detailed objective perceptions of the intellect are supplemented by another style of perception—that of subjective perception. It is holistic and devoid of the mental activity of analysis.

Connoisseurs of gems develop the ability, during a lifetime of viewing fine gems, to go beyond the boundaries of the intellect and witness the glorious aesthetics that a fine gemstone has to offer. From a physiological standpoint, this could be called shifting from brain activity dominated by the left hemisphere (responsible for analysis and discrimination) to that of the right hemisphere (contextual and nonverbal functions).

Gemology’s fullest expression as a discipline is exemplified when both objective and subjective approaches are used. Therefore, physics, optics, and chemistry are taught in gemological institutes alongside history, romance, and folklore. The work of gemologists Dr Edward Gubelin expressed not only objective science but also subjectivity; gemstone certificates from his laboratory had the usual page of objective determinations for the gemstone, but also a page of subjective description outlining the beauty, uniqueness, rarity of the gem.

Dr Gubelin went to encourage work in the use of poetry to describe gemstone aesthetics, which, in an industry sustained by the romancing sale of gemstones, should be recognized as worthy of the highest endeavor.

Fredrick Kunz decried the arbitrary alteration of the birthstone chart by an association of jewelers in 1912. He recognized the multicultural reality that gemstones are special to people born on certain months. Modern understanding of an ancient eastern astrological system sheds new light on this. Practitioners of traditional Asian medicine prescribed gems not only as talismans but also as pharmaceuticals.

Gemology is perhaps more suited to address subjectivity than other sciences simply because its focus, gemstones, involves the complete expressions of the highest subjective qualities: allure, fineness, attraction, glamour, and charm. The role of subjectivity in gemology is interdisciplinary and should elevate our expectations of future gemologists and gemstone dealers.

Amethyst Mining In Zambia

Here is an insider's view on amethyst mining in Zambia. Amethyst is found worldwide, but new localities can be always full of surprises.

Bjorn Anckar (European Union Mining Sector Diversification Programme, Lusaka, Zambia) writes:

One of the world’s largest producers of amethyst is Republic of Zambia in south-central Africa. Amethyst mining takes place in several parts of the country, but only three localities have any significance in the gem trade. The most important occurrence is the Mapatizya mining area in the Kalomo District of southern Zambia. Amethyst has been mined here since its discovery in the late 1950s. At present there are about 60 registered mining plots but only about 10 can be considered active producers. Currently, there is one large operator and a few moderate-scale operations. There are also a number of small scale mining operations as well as an abundance of artisanal miners and illegal diggers. About 5000 people have settled in the immediate area and depend on amethyst mining for their livelihood. The local climate is very arid, and agriculture is at the subsistence level or lower. The poverty of the area is striking.

Amethyst mining by the large and moderate scale operators is accomplished in open pits using bulldozers and excavators. Small scale operators dig pits and tunnels using only picks and shovels. Processing is very labor intensive, and includes washing, sorting, cobbing, sawing and final sizing/grading of large amounts of mineral material.

Production in Zambia over the last decade averaged about 1000 tonnes of amethyst annually. The vast majority of this production is low grade and mostly exported to China for carving and bead making. A small portion of the total production constitutes facet grade with a vivid purple Siberian hue. Faceted amethyst from Zambia ranges from melee to >50 carats. Heat treatment is not performed, as the material turns an unattractive grayish green. Frequent bush fires and intense sunlight in the area have turned all surface exposed amethyst veins to this color.

Amethyst mines are also located in central Zambia, in Chief Kaindu’s area north-northwest of Mumbwa. The area is most noted for its production of specimens of attractive amethyst druses; some are quite large and weigh several tones. The crystals are generally large, ranging from 2 to 13cm. One locality, the Lombwa mine, produces material that shows patchy portions of distinct citrine and amethyst, but the two colors tend to blend and the material is difficult to cut into attractive pieces of ametrine.

A vast area with several amethyst mines is located along the border of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, between Solwezi and Mwinilunga in northwestern Zambia. The material is often very clear but tends to be pale and is mainly exported to China for carving and bead making. Amethyst from this area responds well to heating, and a large portion of the production is treated to citrine. The Chafukuma mine is considered the producer of the best quality amethyst in this area.

How To Learn About Gemstone Pricing

Gem trade shows are excellent venues to get a feel for prices. Gems and jewelry can also be purchased at international auction houses such as the Christie's, Philips, Sotheby's, etc, but participation requires knowledge, special skills and a lot of money. Most gem shows specify in advance whether or not they are exclusively for the jewelry trade.

- If designated 'trade only', prices are generally at the wholesale level.
- If open to the public, prices are often lower than retail, but not at a wholesale level.

In order to get into a trade-only show, one must have some form of identification (e.g., a business card with connections to the jewelry trade or some other proof that you are in the gem trade). For some fairs, a business card alone is not sufficient, and your company may have to be listed and rated in a trade directory for that particular country.

At the Tucson show, exhibitions and seminars take place simultaneously across the whole city, making it the largest colored stone show in the world. Nearly every hotel in the city has a gem show in their convention halls, as well as dealers selling gems and jewelry from their hotel rooms. Other important shows include the Bangkok Gem & Jewelry show, the Hong Kong show, Basel Fair (Switzerland) and the JCK show (USA). Such trade shows are an excellent way to learn about the market, both in terms of pricing, as well as designs and industry trends.

At most trade shows, you will encounter a wide range of goods of all qualities. A common misconception is that rubies are always more valuable than the more readily available stones, such as tourmaline, garnet or topaz. If you spend enough time looking around the shows, you will find this is not always true. A poor-quality ruby is a poor-quality ruby, and a fine-quality rubellite tourmaline or tsavorite garnet will certainly be worth considerably more. Quality is the decisive factor, not just the particular type of gem.

There are two main ways for the novice to learn about colored stone pricing. The first, and perhaps best, is to visit as many gem wholesalers as possible. Wholesalers may be visited at trade shows or via appointments at their offices. During these visits, be sure to take mental notes on the prices of selected goods (blue sapphire, ruby or whatever happens to interest you). As you move from one wholesaler to another, try to compare prices of the same relative size and quality, in order to develop a feel for the current price range of those items. The key word here is 'range'. Three or four wholesalers may offer 1 ct medium-quality sapphires or rubies at similar prices, but it is unlikely that their prices will be exactly the same (for instance, one dealer might have contacts with a particular mine or rough dealer).

Trade publications such as the Guide (USA) and Rapaport (USA) may provide information on prices for colored stones and diamonds. As you collect and sort this information, be aware that it is subject to change over periods of years, months, or even weeks, depending on market trends or supply and demand.

Recent Trends In World Gem Production

There are no reliable statistics on gemstone production for many reasons, but Thomas Yager has compiled nearly-accurate statistics on the state of the global colored stone gemstones production.

Thomas R Yager (US Geological Survey) writes:

Estimates of world colored gemstone production are inherently difficult because of the fragmentary nature of the industry, the lack of government oversight in many countries where colored gemstones are mined, and the wide variation in quality of the production. Therefore, global production figures for colored gemstones have not been published previously by the USGS, although data are available for some individual countries.

Based on government data, company reports, and a review of the colored gemstone mining literature, the overall emerald, ruby, sapphire, and tanzanite production from 1995 to 2004 have been estimated. Amethyst and garnet production figures for selected countries also have been compiled.

Global emerald production increased from about 3600 kg in 1995 to 5900 kg in 2004; output rose in Colombia, Brazil, Madagascar, and Zambia. Colombia’s status as the world’s leading emerald produced was challenged by Brazil and Zambia. Brazil’s emerald production increased sharply because of the development of large-scale mechanized mines.

World ruby production is also estimated to have increased, from about 4400kg in 1995 to 9100kg 2004. This increase was primarily attributable to greater production in Kenya, which tends to mine cabochon grade ruby. Production declines in Myanmar and Tanzania were reversed in 2001 and 2004, respectively. Madagascar’s ruby output increased because of the discovery of the Andilamena and Vatomandry mining areas.

Global sapphire production is estimated to have declined from about 26200 kg in 1995 to 22600 kg in 2004 as production increases in Madagascar and Sri Lanka were more than offset by decreases in Australia and Tanzania. In Australia, large-scale mining operations shut down or reduced output because of the depletion of near surface deposits by artisanal and small scale miners. In Madagascar, the discovery of sapphire at IIakaka and Sakaraha led to substantial increases in production from 1998-2000, but output has declined in 2003-2004. Sri Lanka’s production of geuda increased in 2003-2004.

Tanzanite produced declined from about 6500 kg in 2002 to 3100 kg in 2004 because of a lack of new deposits being discovered and higher costs associated with the increasing depths of small-scale mines in Blocks B and D at Merelani; cutbacks in production have not been offset by mechanized mining in Block C.

Gem production has shifted rapidly between countries and within countries in recent years. With the depletion of near-surface alluvial deposits, colored gemstone mining is likely to shift from small-scale to large-scale operations.

The Colored Stone Touch

To experience the concept you may have to look at colored stones from the buyer’s/seller's perspective. What are you/they looking for? What are you/they thinking when you/they are buying colored stones for someone you/they love? I bet you may go the extra mile to make that person happy. You may/will learn everything you need to know about colored stones. You don’t want surprises. In my opinion many have no clue as to where the colored stones come from. I think both the buyers and sellers will learn a lot more when they are able to see the source with their own eyes: Translation—the mines and people.

Digging a hole in ground, only to find little or nothing, will teach you something you will never be able to learn from a textbook, lectures or seminars. You will never forget that experience. Seeing is believing. I believe when you find one, and if it’s a good one, you will appreciate and respect colored stones. The invaluable experience will assist, both ways, to make wise choices.

Ruby And Sapphire Quality Grading

Till today there are no consensus on grading rubies and sapphires. The reasons may be political, geographical and other technical factors. There is love/hate relationship among gem dealers and lab gemologists and it will be there forever. No one has done research on the side effects of color graders from short/long term use of soft drugs, medical status, color blindness/defectiveness, color descriptions and perceptions in various languages and much more. The common belief is it is better to have an imperfect system than no system at all.

Wilawan Atichat, Visut Pisutha Arnond, Sakrapee Saejoo, Chotima Kunwisutpan, Boontawee Sriprasert and Chakkaphant Sutthirat writes:

Grading systems for color, clarity and cut have been developed by the Gem and Jewelry Institute of Thailand Gem Testing Laboratory (GIT-GTL) to improve the overall quality grading of ruby and sapphire from various global sources. These quality grading systems are used for communication in the gem and jewelry trades in Thailand and Japan (currently for ruby).This ongoing research has been expanded from the ruby and sapphire grading systems previously established by GIT-GTL.

Ruby and sapphire quality factors were determined from the results of a questionnaire that was given to gem traders in Thailand. These data were then used as a basis to establish eight preliminary sets of master stones that included ruby and various sapphires (blue, orange pink, purple, pink, orange, yellow, and green). Each set contained 15 stones of varying quality. These master stone sets were then sent to gem traders to solicit opinions. The outcome data were then integrated into the color, clarity, and cut grading systems. Eight final standard (master stone) sets were then developed, composed of 25 oval shaped, 0.75ct stones covering five quality grades (Excellent, Very good, Good, Fair, and Poor).

For color grading, the stones were placed 15-25cm from the standard light source (Macbeth 5000 K with an intensity of 1200 lux), and were visually graded face-up at a distance of 30cm and viewed perpendicular to the table surface. The hue, tone, and saturation of the stones were considered: dispersion and scintillation were excluded.

For clarity grading a Dialite Flip light source was positioned to the side of the stones (1cm away), which were placed on a dark background and graded using a 10x loupe. For confirmation purposes, the clarity of the stones was graded again with the unaided eye at 30cm distance (and 15-20cm from the light source) in the face-up position against a white background. The clarity grading was evaluated by using the GIT-GTL scoring system. As for the cut grading, factors for brilliance, face-up proportions, profile proportions, and finish were taken into consideration. The overall quality grading was usually peformed by at least three experienced gemologists.

The final evaluation of these corundum standard sets by gem traders in Thailand revealed that they are generally compatible with the quality grading being used in the trade. GIT-GTL is currently using these master stone sets for ruby/sapphire grading for some clients in Thailand and Japan.

Gemstones From Chantaburi, Thailand

Matee Jungsanguasith is considered the Godfather of sapphires in Chantaburi, Thailand. He is low-key, humble, knowledgeable and a wealthy man.

Pongchan Chantayos (narrated by Matee Jungsanguasith) writes:

That day must be a little bit different than the other days because this man just noticed that...the loose soil turned up from the passing of a sharp shovel being pulled by his big buffalo contained many colorful small gravels. That's strange! He thought.

But...will the loose soil mixed with these strange gravels make the rice plants in this plot of land give more grains than other plots? That's all he could think of.

In the evening he returned home with many thumb sized gravels, some were brownish red, some were clear red. He placed them in the empty milk cans lined up under his light bed before lying down to sleep. The life of the farmers in a tiny village adjacent to the Cambodia border moved slowly, repeatedly the same, until..

The news was passed from mouth to mouth that somebody from nearby villages entered to buy red gravel. They called them Siamese ruby. Some gravel had the price equivalent to many bushels of rice...

He hurried back home right away. "I should have a lot of money because I had collected the gravel every day, each day quite a few stones."

Under his light bed.....all the milk cans were empty. Where were all the gravels? Anybody saw the gravels in the milk can? He shouted.

"I used them all up for my slingshot while I went hunting for the birds." His youngest son replied.

The stories from the many old people...all telling the same thing about a family of farmers who pioneered and worked on the land in the vicinity of Amphur Nawong. These were among the sites for the first encounter of ruby in Thailand.

From then on, the red gemstone or Siamese ruby, was quickly known all over the world in a short period of time because of its unique quality: bright red color, sparkling fire after being cut and polished, and most important--the attractive amount of profit every time the stone moved from one owner to another.

It was being told that the first siles that gemstones were found were in Khao Ploywaen area. This is the name given since very long time ago. We may infer that in this area someone must have found gem quality stones that can be used for the rings. In former times, people did not need heavy machineries which consume gasoline in the mining of gemstones. In Khao Ploywaen area the stones were so plentiful that people just scratched the topsoil and found the valuable stones. The gemstones found during that time were green, yellow, star, and blue sapphire.

The searching of gemstones started to be more active and fun after heavy rain. When the heavy rain washed out the top soil, the gravels and gemstones were exposed. The experienced local people could differentiate gemstones from other gravels.

When the rain comes, washes out the soil, exposes the stones
Big ones, golden yellow color, bright and shine
Some are bright green, slightly green, yellowish green
With the size of an egg, as big as a clam, everywhere

Does anybody know how long ago that gemstones were found in Chantaburi, Thailand?
If one questions the local people or the elderly, the answer is that they have seen gemstones in Chantaburi since they were very young and nobody knows exactly how long the gemstones have been around.

There is a record in the Siam Chronicles about the Royal visit of King Rama V to Chantaburi that the local people from Sipraya Village called 'Jeenju' had brought a big sapphire and some small ruby. It was the year 1876. No written record was found before this year.

Khao Ploywaen, Bangkacha, Borai, Nongbon, Nawong, Tokprom, Boweru, Elem, etc are the sources for quality gemstones of Eastern Thailand. This has made Chantaburi a meeting place for Thai gem dealers since the old days until now and the international popularity of Siamese ruby, more and more businessmen around the world are drawn to Chantaburi for the dealing in gemstones.

Chantaburi today
The natural resources change with time. Underground....the raw material diminishes. Above the ground.....more and more knowledge and experiences accumulates until it is difficult for anybody to catch up.

The accumulated experience is tranferred from generation to generation. The experience is characterized as the lay person wisdom. The wisdom that the local people gained is evident in the color enhancement of gemstones by heat treatment. The wisdom that the local people developed is transferred within the family. Each family has their own secret technique. This technique is obtained from practical experience and knowledge.

The knowledge without any certificate and diploma.
The technique......which is accepted around the world.
The technique.....heat treatment of gemstones.

Today Chantaburi people rely on the accumulated experience. They go to every corner of the world searching for the raw materials of gemstones. Rough gemstones from every part of the world are transferred to Chantaburi.

An Unusual Gem Deposit (Man-Made) at Pallebedda, Sri Lanka

An intriguing tale from Sri Lanka. Gemstones are full of surprises and the ones with accumulated luck and knowledge always find them.

(via Journal of Gemmology, Vol.28, No.1, Jan 2002) M D P L Francis and P G R Dharmaratne writes:

Abstract
An unusual gem deposit (man-made) lies in the remote village of Pallebedda in Sri Lanka. This deposit is known as ‘walankatu illama’ which lies within the bund or embankment of an abandoned tank called Kandiyapalle (alias Bisokotuwa). Second rate material from a jewelry industry of ancient times was included probably at the time of its construction. This deposit contains many archaeological artifacts including many varieties of beads, rough gems, gem carvings, glass and coins, but it is mined by villagers mainly for the precious stones because they cab be most easily marketed.

Introduction
Sri Lanka is renowned for its wide variety of fine quality gemstones such as sapphire, ruby, chrysoberyl, alexandrite, spinel and beryl. Most of these gems are found as alluvial deposits in ancient buried or existing stream beds and low-lying areas. There are several primary outcrop deposits but the gems found in them are commonly not of the best quality, other than those found at the moonstone deposit of Meetiyagoda.

Gem deposits in Sri Lanka are classified according to their distance of transportation from the source, by the shapes and sizes of the rock and mineral fragments found. Gem bearing beds where angular minerals and rocks have been deposited in situ are named as residual gem deposits. Gem bearing layers found on the hill slopes with minerals and rock fragments that are semi-rounded or rounded are termed eluvial gem deposits. The third type of gem deposit is alluvial, which is by far the most prevalent in Sri Lanka. These deposits generally lie in old stream beds, far away from their sources and are characterized by the presence of well rounded heavy minerals, indicating longer distances of transportation.

In Sri Lanka there is currently no scientific approach towards gem exploration. Established gem miners who can afford to invest in land, to purchase a license to prospect for gems and other expenses, always follow the trails of illicit gem miners. Some people find gems during their day-to-day activities such as construction of a well or while ploughing their farmlands. However, the type of gem deposit to be discussed in this paper is somewhat different to the three kinds of deposit outlined above.

Along the Ratnapura-Embilipitiya road, 21 km from Embilipitiya, is a village of Pallebedda, a gem trading center, which has existed since ancient times. Six km north east of Pallebedda is the small village of Galpaya, with an abandoned tank named Kandiyapalle alias Bisokotuwa Wewa. The bund (embankment) which encloses the tank contains hidden treasure consisting of a variety of gems, beads, and carvings made of different materials. These artifacts and gems occur in a layer in the bund, 60 to 180 cm thick, which local people call ‘walankatu illama’. In Sinhalese, ‘walankatu’ refers to pieces of earthenware and ‘illama’ refers to gem deposit. The artifacts beat witness to how knowledgeable the ancient civilization of Sri Lanka was and to their standard of living. The gem carvings exhibit the most intricate and delicate workmanship and provide evidence of a sophisticated technology of the time.

Historical records
According to several authors there is evidence that this area was once a flourishing agricultural village. R L Brohier, Surveyor General during colonial times, describes this tank with reference to a Mr Collins and a Mr Mitford who was Assistant Government Agent, Sabaragamuva Province in 1848. According to the quotes this tank was quite beautiful at the time and had watered nearly a thousand acres of paddy fields. There is an ancient stone pillar situated in the village with an inscription dating to the tenth century A.D which indicates that the village was called Girimandula. It is not certain as to who built the tank but according to folklore the builder was King Vijayabahu I (1055-1110).

Materials found
For the villager, ‘walankatu illama’ is merelya gem deposit, unique because artifacts were found among the buried potsherds. This deposit is located along the tank bund that extends for more than 3.2 km (two miles). At a depth of 60 to 120 cm from the top surface lies the layer called the ‘walankatu illama’ with an abundance of potsherds. The thickness of the layer ranges from 60 to 180 cm. The layer is easily identified and the material is washed as usual in large wicker baskets to extract the gem material. A general idea as to the percentage of the earthenware material contained in the illama can be formed from the heaps of debris found in the vicinity of the washing sites. The miners are interested only in the gems, carvings and beads that fetch high prices. The highest prices are obtained for gems such sapphire, geuda, pushparaga (yellow sapphire), chrysoberyl, etc. Even among these gems there are instances of finding stones with drill holes to indicate that they were once discarded as valueless, owing to imperfections detected during the process of drilling. Other than these, various kinds of objects have been found within the area, and these include many kinds of beads, clay utensils, glass bangles, stone cameos, intaglios, coins and bones.

The illama contains many types of large and small beads in a variety of shapes. These include, glass, carnelian, agate, amethyst, terracotta, garnet, feldspar, rock crystal, chrysoberyl and zircon. These stones are called ‘mukkaru gal’ by the villagers, because most have drill holes which identify them as the raw material of a trade practiced for a living by a segment of society known as mukkaru. The most sought after beads (mukkaru gal) were the beads made of gem materials such as conrundum or amethyst.

At this site agate beads and clear glass beads have also been found in large quantities. According to archaeological dating, clear glass was made at a later date than colored glass. As in many other places, carnelian beads of many shapes and sizes found at this site are believed to be from India. Pieces of beads broken during production, unfinished beads and discarded second-rate material suggest that there had been jewelry workshops here during ancient times.

Terracotta beads of various shapes and sizes are very common, the majority being disc-shaped; the larger ones are embedded with a tiny copper wire to strengthen the bead—an example of the ingenuity of the ancient craftsmen.

Almost all the beads show clear evidence of how they were drilled. The abrasion marks indicate that they were drilled from both ends to meet in the middle, and commonly this resulted in a slight disorientation in the center.

The question arises as to how they drilled tiny holes through these very hard substances. Some are of the opinion that emery powder and iron drill bits were used. If this is the case, how were the hard materials like sapphires drilled? Even for other gem species, it could have taken a very long time using this method to drill a single bead. Large numbers of beads found in the area suggest that the drillers were experts. Is it possible that they could have used diamond drill bits exported from India for the purpose of drilling? According to Henry Parker the bow-driven drill was familiar to locals in Sri Lanka from the second century B C onwards. So it is a fair assumption that they used this type of drill along with diamond drill bits to drill with ease large quantities of beads and to cope with the harder gems such as sapphire. A number of stones of hard materials such as sapphire and spinel that contain multiple drill holes of the same gauge or different gauges have been found. This could have happened as a result of testing the gauges of drill bits on these stones.

The most interesting materials found in this deposit are not the beads or the clay utensils but the most intricately carved cameos and intaglios. These carvings are mostly in materials such as carnelian, rock crystal and colored glasses, and very rarely in other types of material—one such rare type is chrysoberyl. Some carvings depict a cow in a seated position and three cows carved are similar to an ancient painting of an Egyptian goddess. The human figures carved are of both males and females. The female figures are mainly of dancers and of semi-nude woman meant to be either a dancer or more probably a goddess adorned with masks. Male figures include a hunter with his weapon and a dead animal, a seated Buddha in meditation and a man dragging a child bound with ropes, scratched on rock crystal (wessantara jataka, a parable of Buddhism).

Conclusion
These materials are much older than the date of construction of the dam, and this layer found within the dam was the fill material for the bund excavated from the nearby ancient work sites, where the clay utensils, beads and other carvings were manufactured. According to many experts, the materials can be dated from the first to the twelfth century A D. Therefore the assumption is that at the time the mukkaru people lived and worked in this vicinity in large numbers. The artifacts are of very good craftsmanship although they were made using the most primitive methods and instruments. In terms of the intricacy of the carvings and the quality of the drill holes in the sapphire they are not inferior to today’s standards. They are also remarkable aesthetically.

This is an unusual gem deposit because it contains artifacts that had been once discarded by people who were only interested in gems of value (precious material). Sometimes a villager who has found a carved artifact of a precious stone may try to erase the carving by grinding it on a lap to make a faceted gem. This would find a more ready market than the carvings, which are considered as archaeological artifacts and cannot be sold on the open market.

Variscite From Western Australia

Meekatharra District in central Western Australia is becoming known as the news source for variscite. Due to the remoteness of the area and the oppressively hot climate, mining takes place for only a 10-day period once a year during the cool season (May through September). The variscite colors range from light to dark yellowish green with attractive patterns created by orangy brown veining. The varisite reportedly is not treated or stabilized in any way. Through microscopic examination and EDXRF analysis the experts have identified particles of gold along with Fe and As.

Andes Jade

Andes Jade is the marketing name for serpentinite from central-western Argentina. The material is translucent to opaque with colors ranging from light to dark green, to bluish green to black. Analytical tests indicate a mixture of antigorite and lizardite with magnesite and magnetite. Some specimens are magnetic. The material is used for carvings; good ones may be cut as cabochons.

Tsarafara, Madagascar

Tsarafara, near Mount Ibity in the Sahatany Valley of central Madagascar is a well known site that produces crystals of spodumene, morganite and tourmaline of various qualities. The miners use hand methods to find the crystals. Tsarafara is also known as Ankadilava or Ambalaroy in the literature. The colors of spodumene crystals from these mines may range from colorless to pale green, blue and pink. Top quality specimens are sold to collectors from around the world, and the rest are cut and polished at cutting centers in Southeast Asia and South Asia. The colors of tourmaline crystals may range from violet pink, green, dark green, bluish green to yellow, brownish yellow and near colorless. Top quality specimens end up with the collectors, while the low quality tourmalines are sold to African/Asian dealers for beads and carvings. The colors of Morganite crystals may range from pale to yellow orange color. Top quality specimens may show a pleasing orange pink to pink body color. Clean stones may yield beautiful faceted stones. As is the case with most low tech mines in Madagascar flooding during the rainy season can destroy the working mines.

Trapiche Tourmaline From Zambia

Well formed crystals of green tourmaline have been found with a growth pattern similar to trapiche emerald and ruby from Kavungu mine in the vicinity of Jivunda in Chief Sailunga's area, southeast of Mwinilunga in northwestern Zambia. Those who are not familiar with the crystal specimens may confuse for emeralds because of its color and patterns. The experts believe that the trapiche-like appearance may be due to skeletal growth with black carbonaceous substance, most likely being graphite, that may have been embedded with other impurities during the growth of the crystals. Chemical analysis indicate that the tourmaline is uvite and is colored green by vanadium. Facet quality specimens are rare due to the dark color of the tourmaline.

Burma’s Jade Trail

2007: I think Hpakan will remain the same for the next 500 + years.

(via Gemological Digest, Vol.2, No.4, 1989) Bertil Lintner writes:

Abstract
There are few areas in the world which offer as much fascination to the gemologist as Upper Burma. Throughout history this region has been off limits to outsiders. This situation was merely perpetuated with the coming-to-power of the xenophobic Ne Win regime in 1962. Since that time eyewitness accounts have been few and far between. This is indeed unfortunate, for Upper Burma contains two of the planet’s premier gem deposits: ruby/sapphire mines at Mogok and the world’s only jadeite deposits of consequence near Mogaung.

The following article is based on the author’s lengthy journey through Burma’s Kachin State. He gives a fascinating account of the jade trade, describing the often romantic political and legal complexities surrounding the marketing and distribution of the gem known to Chinese as “the stone of heaven.”

There may not be many places in Southeast Asia where people are prepared to pay US$100 for a bottle of Hennessy cognac or French champagne, $10 for a pint of beer, $3 for a bowl of noodle soup, and over $130 for a pair of running shoes from South Korea. But exorbitant prices seem to matter little at Hpakan in northern Burma, where some people are said to have become overnight millionaires by accidentally unearthing a big green boulder while digging latrines outside their houses.

Described as a mini “Hong Kong” by many visitors, Hpakan, the “jade capital” of Burma’s Kachin State, is reputed to have a much wider and even more exclusive variety of contraband goods than the famous night market in Mandalay. Perfumes from Paris, American cigarettes, tinned New Zealand butter, Australian cheddar and German pressure cookers—anything and everything is available at freewheeling Hpakan.

Thousands of fortune seekers flock to the jade mines every year, ranging from affluent Chinese laopans, or bosses, from Mandalay, Rangoon, Bangkok and Hong Kong, to teenagers and people in their early twenties, all with dreams of striking it rich.

“It’s a very special atmosphere there. The gambling fever affects everyone and people live in perpetual presence,” said one young Kachin student who had spent his summer holiday searching for jade at Hpakan:

“Anything goes. Young boys and girls meet and build huts in the forest, where they stay and dig together. Even married people seem to forget their marital ties as soon as they have crossed the Uru Hka river.”

The jade diggers usually fall into two categories. They are either seasonal migrants—farmers, workers, students, and government employees—or full-time professionals.

Officially, the Burmese government allows jade mining only at three places: Hpakan itself, and at the neighboring villages of Waje Maw and Sanchyoi. There, the work is carried out by government-employed diggers who receive a monthly salary plus a 10-20% commission on any high quality jade they manage to find. That jade is later sold to international buyers at the annual government-organized extravaganza at the Inya Lake Hotel in Rangoon.

But, given the vast amounts of money in circulation, it is hardly surprising that the laopans, and even private diggers, can bribe the local officials who are more than eager to get their share of Hpakan’s fortunes. It is even said that big Hong Kong-based jade companies have their own, secret representatives at Hpakan to supervise the work, organize the buying, and hire agents for transporting the boulders out from the mining areas.

Local people with experience in jade mining told this correspondent that Burmese Army officers go looking for ‘illegal diggers—and even shoot them if they cannot pay the demanded fees:

“If the people killed have only a small amount, the officers keep it for themselves. But if they have a lot of jade, it’s difficult to hide and so the army people have to hand it over to the government. That jade also ends up at the Inya Lake Hotel,” charged one source from Hpakan.

Corruption in Burma—a country which virtually lives off smuggling and black market trade—is by no means confined to Hpakan, but the situation there is aggravated by the immense wealth of the place, and the fact that some major jade syndicates are reputed to be connected with drug smuggling rings. Several big traders are said to bring jade out of Hpakan—and local hard currencies, such as opium and heroin, in to finance the purchase of jade at the mines.

Like most other towns in Kachin State, Hpakan is supplied by convoys of lorries (F.E.E.R, 28 May 1987) which move with tight security because of fear of ambushes which are frequently launched by the rebel Kachin Independence Army (KIA). These convoys carry daily necessities, arms and ammunition for the Burmese Army, and, for a fee, various kinds of contraband, according to Hpakan souces.

The rampant graft and corruption at Hpakan could be the reason why army units are deployed there on a rotational basis. One battalion of government troops never stays more than six months in the area—enough time for an officer to make a fortune, but not too long to let rivalry erupt between him and his colleagues, who are waiting for their turn of duty at the jade mines.

However, disputes between army officers reportedly do occur every now and then. The most serious clash in recent years erupted between some officers from the Myitkyina-based 29th battalion, which was stationed at Hpakan for six months during 1985, and the then commander of the northern command of the Burmese Army, Brig Gen Lazum Kam Hpang. The latter, a Kachin himself, had severely reprimanded the officers from the 29th battalion for alleged maltreatment of Kachin civilians in the jade mines area, even threatening to punish them. It all ended in a shoot out at a coffee shop in Myitkyina on November 16, 1985; Brig Gen Lazum Kam Hpang was fatally wounded and died in the hospital shortly afterwards.

At first, the local authorities put the blame on the Kachin rebels in the KIA, but when no substantial evidence could be presented to support that allegation, the whole story was quickly hushed up, and it went unreported in the government controlled Burmese media. Army deployment in the jade mining region is heavy, but nevertheless confined to Hpakan town, and the government controlled jade mines of Waje Maw and Sanchyoi. In addition, a company size contingent is always based at the Lung Hkang junction, where the road to Hpakan branches off to Kamaing in the Hukawng Valley. The surrounding hills and the countryside—where most jade mines are located—including the famous mines at Tawmaw north of Hpakan, have long been controlled by the KIA.

The Kachin rebels first occupied parts of the jade mine area in 1963, and tax on the trade as well as yearly licenses, or so-called digging tickets have since been a main source of income for the KIA. The rebel army maintains a number of checkpoints around the mines—including one on the main Lung Hkang Kamaing motor road—where a 10-30% tax is levied on the jade which merchants bring out from the area.

A Kachin rebel taxation office told this correspondent that yearly takings, including tickets at the KIA toll gates around Hpakan amount to Kyats 8-10 million—but he added that only 25% of the jade may pass through the rebel checkpoints:

“The most precious pieces are smuggled out, and the total value of the jade extracted from the Hpakan area could be as much as Kyats 100 million a year,” the officer said.

The real profit, however, is made when the jade reaches the Thai border, usually the first destination outside Burma on the long smuggling route from Burma’s Kachin State to Hong Kong, the world’s main marketing center for jade. Prices at the Thai border are said to be five to ten times as high as in Hpakan, and sometimes even more if the jade is of unusually good quality. But before the jade comes that far it has to pass through many stages, involving more bribes to government officials, and additional tax to other rebel groups along the way through Burma to Thailand.

The clandestine representatives of the international jade syndicate at Hpakan—who are not in a position to evade bribes, but who seldom pay tax to the KIA—are reported to bring most of their cut and uncut jade boulders down the Uru Hka river, in a westerly direction towards Homalin on the Chindwin river. In this way, they bypass the KIA’s checkpoints on the Kamaing road and south of Hpakan.

Usually, blocks of jade are tied to rafts or small country boats for the downriver journey to Homalin. There is only one Burmese Army outpost along this route—at Nawngpu-awng—and bribes ease the way here as well as in Hpakan. From Homalin, the jade continues by steamer down the Chindwin, or hidden in paddy baskets and under heaps of straw on bullock carts, until it reaches the railhead of Monywa. From there, rail and lorries take over for the onward trip to Mandalay, Taunggyi, and even as far south as Rangoon and Moulmein, depending on the final destination of the cargo.

Along the way to Monywa, a small percentage of the jade is diverted to India via the Tamu-Moreh border market in the Manipur State. This border crossing point is a main center for the contraband trade between Burma and India, but the demand for jade is not high among the Indians; the customers on that side are the 40000 or so ethnic Chinese who live in Calcutta, and a few other places in eastern and northeastern India.

An elaborate network of local agents, who usually have connections among themselves even if they work for different syndicates, are said to be responsible for the various stages along the routes. One group may take care of the Hpakan-Mandalay section, another would be in charge of the stretch from Mandalay to Taunggyi, Rangoon or Moulmein, and a third party would ensure that the goods are delivered across the border in Thailand, or sometimes by boat from Moulmein to Penang in Malaysia, or even on to Singapore.

During the last leg of the journey, before reaching the Thai border, some traders have to pay transit fees to the various insurgent groups there—the Karen rebel army if the goods are going south to Bangkok, the Karenni army if the destination is Mae Hong Son and Chiang Mai via Loikaw in Kayah State.

But these minor routes would be used by smaller traders only; most of the border between Thailand and Burma’s Shan State is controlled either by remnants of the Nationalist Chinese Koumintang, or by Chang Shee-fu (alias Khun Sa) and his powerful private army. Both groups are dominated by ethnic Chinese businessmen who run their own jade syndicates—and mercenary armies across the border with Burma.

The jade trade, which has brought a fair amount of the present wealth and well being to Chiang Mai, is seen by some observers as potentially even more lucrative than the closely connected drug trade, which sometimes is carried out by the same syndicates. That is becoming more important now when international police agencies in Thailand are stepping up their drives against narcotics smugglers. Unlike heroin, jade becomes a legal commodity once it has crossed the international frontier.

Running the gauntlet into Thailand is becoming tougher, and while most heroin refineries still appear to be located near the Thai-Burmese border, increased police supervision in Thailand is seen by many observers as the reason why more and more drugs now make a U-turn near the frontier, back into Burma and along new ones through that country.

New smuggling routes exist along which both jade and heroin pass through central Burma—where international police control is none existent—down to the Tenasserim coast. Well informed sources assert that it is not difficult to bring any kind of goods through Burma—if one can afford to pay the price.

Small traders reportedly deposit their goods with the policemen who check the passenger baggage on the Myitkyina-Mandalay and Mandalay-Rangoon trains; it is also possible to leave the contraband with the train driver, these sources say.

The fee here would not be more than a few thousand Kyats, or less than 10% of value of the goods, which can be heroin, raw opium or jade. Bigger traders, though, need more sophisticated solutions to the problem. By bribing government officials, they can obtain letters of introduction stating that they are intelligence agents on duty, and that their luggage, therefore, should not be checked. People issuing these letters range from local army officers to government ministers, the sources say, and the fee depends on the authority of the official in question and the solvency of the individual trader. Other certificates can be more cryptic, stating that the bearer should not be recruited as a porter to carry arms and ammunition for government troops—a common practice whenever the Burmese Army launches operations against country’s many insurgent groups—which indirectly means that he is an important person. Bearers of such certificates have assured this correspondent that their vehicles are never searched by the police or the army.

But now it seems that recent events along the Sino-Kachin border may change all this and drastically alter the entire network of underground trade through Burma down to Thailand, and to Malaysia and Singapore. As a result of the rapid modernization drive launched by Deng Xiaoping in China, baggy trousers and old Mao jackets are losing their former popularity—and jade is back again. According to one source along the Sino-Kachin border:

“Previously, the only decoration Chinese women could wear were red Mao badges. Now, also the Chinese in mainland China want to set off the beauty of their women as the overseas Chinese do. Jade is undergoing a renaissance in the People’s Republic.”

Buyers from Peking and Shanghai recently have come down to the border between China and Burma’s Kachin State, and they are reported to be gradually improving their knowledge, almost matching the Chinese jade merchants of pre-revolutionary days. Most of this jade seems to be earmarked for the domestic market, while some gemstones, jewelry and carvings are sold in Hong Kong via the many emporia the Chinese government maintains in the still-British territory.

The exact amount of jade now being sent to China is difficult to determine, and as far as the value goes, it may not exceed five percent of the total output at Hpakan. But it is increasing steadily, since it is a much easier route than down to Thailand.

This correspondent saw convoys of jade-laden elephants and mules winding their way up the steep mountain passes along the Sino-Kachin frontier, and there was little doubt that the routes of the former jade caravans to Tengchong in Yunnan Province were open again. The most frequently used routes lead from Hpakan to the KIA-controlled border settlements of Hkala Yang, Pa Jau and Loije. A smaller amount reaches China via Kambaiti Pass to the north, which is controlled by the Burmese Communist Party (BCP). All three aforementioned gates are in Kachin State—but most jade goes from the center at Mandalay via Lashio to Juili north of the Shweli border river in order to avoid the rebel tax gates.

The difficulty in bringing profitable goods other than jade to China could explain why many traders still prefer the much longer and more risky journey down to Thailand. One source also pointed out that the traders do not want to work only; they also want amusement:

“In Thailand, there are massage parlors and nightclubs; in China there is nothing like that yet. It’s more fun to spend your money in Chiang Mai than in Juili or Tengchong.”

But even when taking this into consideration, it is nevertheless not far-fetched to assume that the direct routes to China are destined to become more important, especially when Hong Kong returns to Chinese hands in 1997. Whether that will severely affect the jade trade with Thailand remains to be seen, but, without doubt, that route will inevitably lose much of its present significance. If that should prove to be the case, the drug syndicates which are based along the Thai-Burmese border may also be affected. Without jade as a supplementary, and complementary, commodity, the heroin trade will become less profitable and more difficult to continue effectively, some observers suggest.

“Jade is popular in China now. But neither the Chinese authorities, nor the Kachin rebels who tax the trade, would allow heroin to come along with it. The Chinese welcome green jade, but not the white powder.”

Gemologists distinguish two types of jade: jadeite and nephrite. The origin of the word jade is believed to be the expression piedra de ijada of the Spanish Conquistadores, which means stone of the side or flank. Wearing jade next to one’s kidney or liver was believed to provide healing benefits. Similarly, nephros is the Greek word for kidney, and this led to the term nephrite.

One difference between these two species is that jadeite is a vitreous and shiny stone, while nephrite has a more oily or waxy finish. Nephrite is also called green stone in New Zealand, where the native Maoris carved it for fish hooks, knives, needles and war clubs—and for religious objects, or tikis, which were worn for decoration and spiritual protection.

The Aztecs and Mayans of Central America revered the beauty of both jadeite and nephrite, and vast quantities were taken away by the Conquistadores when they occupied these ancient empires. Fair quality jadeite has been found in Guatemala, but the location of the original Mayan Mines still remains a mystery. Small quantities of jadeite have also been found in the USSR, Japan, and in California in the US.

But, it is the Kachin Hills of northern Burma which for centuries have been the world’s only supplier of top quality jadeite. The discovery that fine green jadeite occurred in the Kachin Hills is said to have been made accidentally by a Yannanese petty trader in the 13th century. The story runs that when about to return home from a trading trip to northern Burma, he picked up a stone to balance the load of his mule. It proved to be jade of excellent quality, and subsequently a large party returned to procure more. These merchants were unsuccessful, however, as no local people were able to tell them where this kind of stone could be found.

Several more missions came from China, but they were equally unsuccessful. The keenness of the Chinese to locate the jade deposits was not difficult to understand; nephrite jade had been known and appreciated in China from early times in history. And to the Chinese, jade was not just another stone—protective qualities were also attributed to it. Many Chinese children, even today, wear a kind of jade padlock around their necks to protect them from diseases. One type of Chinese nephrite is known as mutton fat, having a yellowish white color. Another variety is called chicken bone and it has a slightly lighter hue. Nephrite most commonly occurs in a green color. But even the finest nephrite is no match for the emerald green jadeite which the Yunnanese trader had brought back from the Kachin Hills.

The final discovery of the jade mines came after 1784, when centuries of hostilities between the traditional enemies, Burma and China, were terminated. Adventurous traders from Yunnan once again entered the Kachin Hills in search of the green stones. This time they managed to find them; big, precious boulders along the banks of the Uru Hka river, near the village of Hpakan, northwest of Mogaung. From the end of the 18th century onwards, the jade trade with Yunnan expanded rapidly. The only hindrances were rough roads and a climate in which malaria flourished. A Chinese temple at Amarapura near Mandalay in northern Burma has a long list of the names of more than 6000 traders who perished while searching for jade in the Kachin Hills—and the roll-call includes only the names of well known traders for whom funeral rites were held. The actual total would be many times that number, had all the small traders and adventurers been included.

The original rulers of the jade mine area were the Shan sawbwas of Mogaung—a place—a name which is actually a Burmese corruption of the Shan Mong Kawng. But pressed between the politically more powerful Burmans to the south—and the warlike Kachins, who pushed down from the north, the sawbwas of Mogaung lost their independence soon after the trade with China had been established.

The state was subjugated by the Burmese Kings of Ava in 1796, and the mines came within the domains of a number of Kachin chiefs, or duwas. The most powerful of these was the Kansi duwas, who drew considerable royalties on the jade trade—apart from the revenue collected by the Burmese governor in Mogaung. The Burmese Kings quickly became aware of the importance of the jade trade; already by 1806 a Burmese Collectorate with an armed force was located in Mogaung.

Although there is no jade at Mogaung itself, the town soon became the headquarters of the jade trade in Burma. Few merchants themselves actually went up to the mines. Instead, they hired local people to dig for them, and the jade brought down to Mogaung where it was bought by the Chinese and taxed by the Burmese authorities. From Mogaung, caravans—often protected by Panthay, or Muslim Chinese, mercenaries from Yunnan—wound their way over the high mountain passes east of the Irrawaddy, across the frontier into China. The demand for jadeite was universal throughout China, and the Hpakan mines were the only source of this superior type and quality.

The trade with China has since been interrupted only four times. The first cut-off occurred during the First Opium War between Britain and China in the 1840’s, when Cantonese traders no longer could come to buy the stones at Kunming in Yunnan. When the war was over, the trade commenced again, but it soon came to a new halt when the Panthay Muslims rebelled in 1857. The unrest in Yunnan, which prevailed for many years, prompted some traders to negotiate with the Burmese Kings, and a new route was opened by sea from Canton, up the Irrawaddy to Mandalay.

From then on the trade picked up and, before long, the mountain routes via Yunnan came into use once more. It continued uninterrupted until World War Two and the Japanese invasions of China and Burma in the 1940s. The fourth time the trade was stopped was, naturally, after the communist revolution in China in 1949. This brought the trade with China to a standstill, which at first appeared to be permanent. Hong Kong then emerged as the world’s leader center, with Chiang Mai in northern Thailand as the most important nexus along the long and dangerous route from Hpakan. By then, the mines had been nationalized by the Burmese government following the military takeover in 1962—at least in theory.

The jade-belt roughly stretches from Hweka north of Indawgyi Lake to Singkaling Hkamti on the Chindwin river, with the main mining area suited between Hpakan and Tawmaw near the Uru Kha river. Jade is also found at a few other places in Kachin State, notably at Mandawng and Shangaw east of the Nmai Hka river—but the quality there is said to be inferior to that of Hkapan-Tawmaw area.

A trained eye is said to be able to distinguish one type of jade from another, and even say from which mine the stone has been brought. But not until it has been cut. Through millions of years of exposure to weathering, jade boulders oxidize, developing a gray to brown exterior skin. Such a skin is largely opaque, hiding the color and quality of the material underneath. Thus no one is able to say exactly what the quality of a piece is until this skin is removed by grinding, or the boulder opened by sawing. It may be the highly prized, translucent emerald green known in the trade as imperial jade, sometimes worth thousands of dollars per carat, or it could be of an opaque white color worth practically nothing. Part of the excitement surrounding the jade business is exactly this: buying the unskinned rough is very much of a gamble. Traders can make a big profit if lucky, or lose their shirts if the quality is low.

This gambling connected with the purchase of rough jadeite could be one of several reasons why jade became so popular with the Chinese—and why the communists later frowned upon it after the 1949 revolution. Now, when China is rediscovering many of its former traditions, the traders from Peking and Shanghai appear to have settled for a compromise: jade, minus the gamble.

“They want to cut the stones before they buy them,” said one local jade expert on the Sino-Kachin border.

Hong Kong is usually the final destination of most jadeite which comes out from Burma via Thailand. The British colony entered the international jade market when the Japanese occupied the former trading centers of Peking, Shanghai and Canton during World War Two—and when the communists took over China in 1949. These events forced two waves of jade merchants to flee to Hong Kong, which soon became the world’s main marketplace for cut jade. Today, either they or their descendants are among the most prominent of the 40 members of the Hong Kong Jade & Stone Manufacturer’s Association.

Despite being carried out by people in business suits and neckties, Hong Kong’s jade auctions are still steeped in ancient Chinese ritual. Whereas a Western auctioneer is all noise and movement, his Cantonese counterpart will stand still and wait for customers to come up to him and offer their bids, using the legendary finger sign bidding technique. The prospective buyer will privately touch the fingers of the auctioneer under a piece of cloth, and just whisper if he is indicating hundreds or thousands of Hong Kong dollars. Keeping all the secret bids in his head, the auctioneer will finally clasp the fingers of the bidder who has offered the most suitable price.

A jade deal has been made.