Chemistry: Hydrous copper silicate (variable).
Crystal system: Monoclinic; cryptocrystalline massive.
Color: Semi-translucent to opaque; green to blue; chrysocolla quartz; chrysocolla opal; Eilat stone: mixture of chrysocolla, turquoise, malachite and other copper minerals.
Hardness: 2 - 4
Cleavage: None; Fracture: even.
Specific gravity: 2.0 – 2.4; Eilat stone: 2.8 – 3.2
Refractive index: 1.50 approx; Eilat stone: 1.46 – 1.57 (varies with composition)
Luster: Vitreous.
Dispersion: -
Dichroism: -
Occurrence: Zone of weathering in copper lodes and deposits; Chile, DR Congo; Russia, USA, Peru, Australia.
Notes
Porous; R.I and heavy liquids can damage; may impregnate quartz/opal; color may be ‘mountain green, bluish green, sky blue, turquoise blue, often with an opal/enamel-like texture; Eilat stone found near Eilat, Gulf of Aquaba in Red Sea; mottled blue and green; contain copper carbonate malachite; reacts vigorously with acids; cut mainly cabochons.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Sightholders Losses May Ignite A Banking Revolt
Chaim Even-Zohar writes about sightholder concerns + the credit business + other viewpoints @ http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullEditorial.asp?TextSearch=&KeyMatch=0&id=26181
Examination Of Maxixe-type Blue And Green Beryl
Only a very few know about Maxixe-type beryl (s), and often they are confused for aquamarine, iolite or even quartz. I have seen gem dealers getting puzzled when they have to deal with lots, and eventually they are sold as something else. You don't want to make god-like statement (s) when you don't have comparison stones or at times you go through 'momentary autism'--you just go blank/inert. Only a sophisticated lab with experienced staff will be able to recognize the tell-tale signs. Many labs do not have sample (s) of Maxixe-type beryl (s) for comparsion purposes so they get confused and misidentify them. At times it's like two blind walking the street (s).
(via The Journal of Gemmology, Vol.13, No.8, October 1973) K Nassau / D L Wood writes:
Abstract
Blue Maxixe beryl, kept in the dark since 1917, and current blue and green beryl showing similar characteristics have been examined b absorption spectroscopy, gamma ray spectroscopy, chemical analysis, and light, heat and irradiation treatments. All three show an anomalous dichroism (the ordinary ray is more blue than the extraordinary ray, while in aquamarine the reverse is true) and an unusual narrow band spectrum in the red and yellow regions. In all three cases the color is bleached by exposure to daylight or on heating and can be recovered by neutron or gamma ray irradiation. A color center not involving a transition metal such as Fe, Co, Cu, etc. is indicated. Examination of 23 faceted ‘sapphire’ blue beryl gemstones by gamma ray spectroscopy indicates that three had definitely been colored by neutron irradiation; the others may or may not have been treated by irradiation.
Introduction
About 1917 blue beryl was found in the Maxixe mine in Minas Gerais, Brazil, which had the following unusual properties: it showed a strong anomalous dichroism, a narrow band absorption spectrum for the ordinary ray which produces a pronounced ‘sapphire’ or ‘cobalt’ blue (distinctly different from the blue of aquamarine beryl); and the color faded on exposure to light. These and other properties were reported in 1933 and 1935. We consider any beryl to be ‘Maxixe-type’ beryl if it shows these three unusual properties: dichroism with blue in the ordinary ray; narrow-banded absorptions in the ordinary ray spectrum; and bleaching on exposure to light or heat. Some recent material of this type has become available, and our attention was drawn to the unusual absorption spectrum by Mr R Crowningshield.
Experimental
We have examined in detail the following: a piece of the original Maxixe find that has been kept from extended exposure to light since 1917, courtesy of Mr B W Anderson; 23 specimens of currently commercially available deep blue faceted stones (ranging from four to ten carats in weight) as well as blue rough, from an unspecified locality said to be in Brazil; and three dark green stones and some dark green rough, possibly from the same current locality. All exhibit the three properties just mentioned. Although there were some minor differences, all these specimens showed pronounced blue/colorless, blue/pale pink, or green/yellow dichroism with a similar characteristic w spectrum in the 5000 to 7500 Angstrom region.
Permission was obtained to expose to light four current deep blue stones, current deep blue and green rough, and part of the old Maxixe rough (either to daylight with intermittent sun or to a 100-watt frosted tungsten light bulb at a distance of six inches in an air-conditioned room) After one week all had faded significantly, ending with only about half of the original color or less. The bleaching was then completed by heating to a maximum of 235º (450ºF) for 30 minutes, resulting in a yellow or pale pink color. By comparison, aquamarine is customarily heated to a much higher temperature (400ºC - 750ºF) to improve the color, which remains stable to light.
Examination of all the specimens by gamma-ray spectroscopy using a lithium drifted germanium detector indicated in three of the faceted stones the presence of a small amount of Caesium-134, a radioactive species with a half life of 2 years. This is absent in nature, but produced by neutron irradiation of natural Caesium-133 in the specimens. These stones must therefore have been treated by neutron irradiation. The other specimens did not show this behavior and have probably not been irradiated with neutrons. On heating one of the partially bleached cut stones to 150ºC for 30 minutes there was no significant further change in color. However, after 30 minutes at 200ºC (about 400ºF) only a very pale pink color remained. Neutron irradiation (15 minutes at 10¹³ neutrons/cm²/sec) now returned the stone to a blue color even deeper than its original color. Another similar stone (blue/pale pink dichroism), when heated by Mr R Crowningshield, bleached completely to pale pink in less than 30 minutes at 95ºC (200ºF). This stone was exposed to gamma rays (2 x 107 rads from Cobalt 60) and also turned deep blue. This gamma ray irradiation does not leave any evidence of treatment, producing the usual characteristic w spectrum. As expected from the case of heat bleaching, this stone also bleached very rapidly in light (significantly in only 15 hours).
The green material, when bleached to a deep yellow by sunlight, could be returned to green by neutron irradiation, to a weak blue/green by X-rays, but was hardly changed by gamma rays from Cobalt-60. The recolored material (both blue and green) could be bleached again by light. The green could also be changed to yellow by a 30-minute heat treatment at 150ºC, while heating to 400ºC removed the yellow color as was previously noted in an ordinary yellow beryl; neutron irradiation returned this colorless material to green.
Analysis showed a high iron content in the green material (about 0.2%), but essentially none in the old Maxixe sample (0.000X%). This is consistent with the spectral evidence that the deep yellow component is due to Fe3+ in the octahedral Al site and indicates that Fe is not involved in the narrow banded w spectrum. Other transition metals such as Co, Cu, etc. are essentially absent. Since the blue material can be bleached by exposure to light or quite low temperatures and recovered by irradiation, a color center not involving a transition metal ion is indicated. The minor differences in the spectra may well be associated with differences in the total alkali content, the old Maxixe being high (about 2%), the green low (less than 0.1%).
Neutron irradiation was also tried on several of the beryl specimens used in our previous study. One of these, a colorless beryl showed a faint blue color after irradiation, and on examination showed a weak w spectrum of the Maxixe-type. Accordingly it appears that not any beryl can be irradiated to give a Maxixe-type color, but neither does it appear to be necessary to have material from a unique location. Investigation on this point is continuing.
Conclusions
There is some variation in spectrum, iron content, alkali content, color, and rate of bleaching by either light or heat. Nevertheless, in contrast to the many ordinary varieties of beryl known over the centuries, these specimens show sufficient similarity to merit a common designation, and we have used the term ‘Maxixe-type’ based on the first reported occurrence. At present there is not enough information to decide if this type of material originates from one or several localities. It appears that the color of some of this material may be as originally found, although some material has definitely been neutron irradiated either to form the color, to improve the color, or to return color which has been bleached by exposure to light or to heat. Some or all of the rest may have been colored by gamma rays.
Based on the observations here reported we believe that any blue or green beryl (particularly if the blue color is of ‘sapphire’ type) showing anomalous dichroism with the blue color in the ordinary ray and sharp absorption bands for the ordinary ray in the 5000 to 7500 Angstrom region should be designated as ‘Maxixe-type’. Such a beryl will face, either on exposure to light or on heating. Such a beryl may or may not have been irradiated with neutrons or with gamma rays. It is in fact not possible to determine whether a given stone has been treated or how fast it will fade.
In the words of Mr Crowningshield ‘potential buyers should be alerted to the possibility that any stone of this type, which they consider, may fade too rapidly to be a satisfactory jewelry stone.’
Appendix
A note on color centers
Most of the color in gems and minerals is caused by unpaired electrons in major ingredients such as the copper in malachite and turquoise, or in impurities such as the chromium in ruby and emerald or the iron in aquamarine and citrine. Alternatively there is color caused by physical structure, as in opal and labradorite (the optical diffraction grating effect).
But in some materials, where there is no such color causing ingredient or physical structure present, it is possible for ‘color centers’ to cause a variety of colors. Color centers have been studied intensively, but only few have been understood. Frequently this involves a vacancy (omitted atom) or some other type of defect (sometimes an impurity) which can hold (but does not of itself possess) an unpaired electron.
Examples of color centers occur in halite or sylvite (made purple to black by various treatments), fluorite (green, purple, etc.) and smoky quartz. A frequent characteristic of color centers is that exposure to light or to relatively low temperatures may permit the unpaired electrons to pair off, thus removing the color. Irradiation by X-rays, neutrons, or some other form of penetrating radiation may cause the color to return by unpairing the electrons again. An unusual, only partly understood color center is involved in the amethyst form of quartz which also contains iron as an impurity. Amethyst is turned yellow or green by heat, and can be recolored with X-ray irradiation. However not just any quartz colored green or yellow with iron will go to amethyst with irradiation—some specific defect must still be associated with the iron impurity. Synthetic quartz containing iron must be grown in one specific direction to produce this specific color center and enable amethyst to be produced on subsequent X-ray irradiation. The color of amethyst is unusually stable for a color center, although it will fade over a period of many years or in hours at 400 to 600ºC. The relative ease with which the color is produced by X-rays is consistent with this stability to light and to heat.
In the case of the deep blue beryl there does not seem to be any specific impurity present. It is likely therefore that a vacancy is involved which can hold an unpaired electron. The relative ease of fading implies that the electrons pair off readily, and the difficulty of returning the color is consistent with this instability.
(via The Journal of Gemmology, Vol.13, No.8, October 1973) K Nassau / D L Wood writes:
Abstract
Blue Maxixe beryl, kept in the dark since 1917, and current blue and green beryl showing similar characteristics have been examined b absorption spectroscopy, gamma ray spectroscopy, chemical analysis, and light, heat and irradiation treatments. All three show an anomalous dichroism (the ordinary ray is more blue than the extraordinary ray, while in aquamarine the reverse is true) and an unusual narrow band spectrum in the red and yellow regions. In all three cases the color is bleached by exposure to daylight or on heating and can be recovered by neutron or gamma ray irradiation. A color center not involving a transition metal such as Fe, Co, Cu, etc. is indicated. Examination of 23 faceted ‘sapphire’ blue beryl gemstones by gamma ray spectroscopy indicates that three had definitely been colored by neutron irradiation; the others may or may not have been treated by irradiation.
Introduction
About 1917 blue beryl was found in the Maxixe mine in Minas Gerais, Brazil, which had the following unusual properties: it showed a strong anomalous dichroism, a narrow band absorption spectrum for the ordinary ray which produces a pronounced ‘sapphire’ or ‘cobalt’ blue (distinctly different from the blue of aquamarine beryl); and the color faded on exposure to light. These and other properties were reported in 1933 and 1935. We consider any beryl to be ‘Maxixe-type’ beryl if it shows these three unusual properties: dichroism with blue in the ordinary ray; narrow-banded absorptions in the ordinary ray spectrum; and bleaching on exposure to light or heat. Some recent material of this type has become available, and our attention was drawn to the unusual absorption spectrum by Mr R Crowningshield.
Experimental
We have examined in detail the following: a piece of the original Maxixe find that has been kept from extended exposure to light since 1917, courtesy of Mr B W Anderson; 23 specimens of currently commercially available deep blue faceted stones (ranging from four to ten carats in weight) as well as blue rough, from an unspecified locality said to be in Brazil; and three dark green stones and some dark green rough, possibly from the same current locality. All exhibit the three properties just mentioned. Although there were some minor differences, all these specimens showed pronounced blue/colorless, blue/pale pink, or green/yellow dichroism with a similar characteristic w spectrum in the 5000 to 7500 Angstrom region.
Permission was obtained to expose to light four current deep blue stones, current deep blue and green rough, and part of the old Maxixe rough (either to daylight with intermittent sun or to a 100-watt frosted tungsten light bulb at a distance of six inches in an air-conditioned room) After one week all had faded significantly, ending with only about half of the original color or less. The bleaching was then completed by heating to a maximum of 235º (450ºF) for 30 minutes, resulting in a yellow or pale pink color. By comparison, aquamarine is customarily heated to a much higher temperature (400ºC - 750ºF) to improve the color, which remains stable to light.
Examination of all the specimens by gamma-ray spectroscopy using a lithium drifted germanium detector indicated in three of the faceted stones the presence of a small amount of Caesium-134, a radioactive species with a half life of 2 years. This is absent in nature, but produced by neutron irradiation of natural Caesium-133 in the specimens. These stones must therefore have been treated by neutron irradiation. The other specimens did not show this behavior and have probably not been irradiated with neutrons. On heating one of the partially bleached cut stones to 150ºC for 30 minutes there was no significant further change in color. However, after 30 minutes at 200ºC (about 400ºF) only a very pale pink color remained. Neutron irradiation (15 minutes at 10¹³ neutrons/cm²/sec) now returned the stone to a blue color even deeper than its original color. Another similar stone (blue/pale pink dichroism), when heated by Mr R Crowningshield, bleached completely to pale pink in less than 30 minutes at 95ºC (200ºF). This stone was exposed to gamma rays (2 x 107 rads from Cobalt 60) and also turned deep blue. This gamma ray irradiation does not leave any evidence of treatment, producing the usual characteristic w spectrum. As expected from the case of heat bleaching, this stone also bleached very rapidly in light (significantly in only 15 hours).
The green material, when bleached to a deep yellow by sunlight, could be returned to green by neutron irradiation, to a weak blue/green by X-rays, but was hardly changed by gamma rays from Cobalt-60. The recolored material (both blue and green) could be bleached again by light. The green could also be changed to yellow by a 30-minute heat treatment at 150ºC, while heating to 400ºC removed the yellow color as was previously noted in an ordinary yellow beryl; neutron irradiation returned this colorless material to green.
Analysis showed a high iron content in the green material (about 0.2%), but essentially none in the old Maxixe sample (0.000X%). This is consistent with the spectral evidence that the deep yellow component is due to Fe3+ in the octahedral Al site and indicates that Fe is not involved in the narrow banded w spectrum. Other transition metals such as Co, Cu, etc. are essentially absent. Since the blue material can be bleached by exposure to light or quite low temperatures and recovered by irradiation, a color center not involving a transition metal ion is indicated. The minor differences in the spectra may well be associated with differences in the total alkali content, the old Maxixe being high (about 2%), the green low (less than 0.1%).
Neutron irradiation was also tried on several of the beryl specimens used in our previous study. One of these, a colorless beryl showed a faint blue color after irradiation, and on examination showed a weak w spectrum of the Maxixe-type. Accordingly it appears that not any beryl can be irradiated to give a Maxixe-type color, but neither does it appear to be necessary to have material from a unique location. Investigation on this point is continuing.
Conclusions
There is some variation in spectrum, iron content, alkali content, color, and rate of bleaching by either light or heat. Nevertheless, in contrast to the many ordinary varieties of beryl known over the centuries, these specimens show sufficient similarity to merit a common designation, and we have used the term ‘Maxixe-type’ based on the first reported occurrence. At present there is not enough information to decide if this type of material originates from one or several localities. It appears that the color of some of this material may be as originally found, although some material has definitely been neutron irradiated either to form the color, to improve the color, or to return color which has been bleached by exposure to light or to heat. Some or all of the rest may have been colored by gamma rays.
Based on the observations here reported we believe that any blue or green beryl (particularly if the blue color is of ‘sapphire’ type) showing anomalous dichroism with the blue color in the ordinary ray and sharp absorption bands for the ordinary ray in the 5000 to 7500 Angstrom region should be designated as ‘Maxixe-type’. Such a beryl will face, either on exposure to light or on heating. Such a beryl may or may not have been irradiated with neutrons or with gamma rays. It is in fact not possible to determine whether a given stone has been treated or how fast it will fade.
In the words of Mr Crowningshield ‘potential buyers should be alerted to the possibility that any stone of this type, which they consider, may fade too rapidly to be a satisfactory jewelry stone.’
Appendix
A note on color centers
Most of the color in gems and minerals is caused by unpaired electrons in major ingredients such as the copper in malachite and turquoise, or in impurities such as the chromium in ruby and emerald or the iron in aquamarine and citrine. Alternatively there is color caused by physical structure, as in opal and labradorite (the optical diffraction grating effect).
But in some materials, where there is no such color causing ingredient or physical structure present, it is possible for ‘color centers’ to cause a variety of colors. Color centers have been studied intensively, but only few have been understood. Frequently this involves a vacancy (omitted atom) or some other type of defect (sometimes an impurity) which can hold (but does not of itself possess) an unpaired electron.
Examples of color centers occur in halite or sylvite (made purple to black by various treatments), fluorite (green, purple, etc.) and smoky quartz. A frequent characteristic of color centers is that exposure to light or to relatively low temperatures may permit the unpaired electrons to pair off, thus removing the color. Irradiation by X-rays, neutrons, or some other form of penetrating radiation may cause the color to return by unpairing the electrons again. An unusual, only partly understood color center is involved in the amethyst form of quartz which also contains iron as an impurity. Amethyst is turned yellow or green by heat, and can be recolored with X-ray irradiation. However not just any quartz colored green or yellow with iron will go to amethyst with irradiation—some specific defect must still be associated with the iron impurity. Synthetic quartz containing iron must be grown in one specific direction to produce this specific color center and enable amethyst to be produced on subsequent X-ray irradiation. The color of amethyst is unusually stable for a color center, although it will fade over a period of many years or in hours at 400 to 600ºC. The relative ease with which the color is produced by X-rays is consistent with this stability to light and to heat.
In the case of the deep blue beryl there does not seem to be any specific impurity present. It is likely therefore that a vacancy is involved which can hold an unpaired electron. The relative ease of fading implies that the electrons pair off readily, and the difficulty of returning the color is consistent with this instability.
Charoite
Chemistry: Calcium potassium silicate with hydroxyl and fluorite.
Crystal system: Rock; massive.
Color: Semi-translucent to opaque; various shades of purple (Mn and / or Fe); may be solid color, banded, streaky purple and white, or fibrous (possibly containing black, gray or brownish orange areas).
Hardness: 5 - 6
Cleavage: None; Fracture: splintery to granular.
Specific gravity: 2.68
Refractive index: 1.55 (mean).
Luster: Vitreous, if well polished.
Dispersion: -
Dichroism: -
Occurrence: Siberia (Russia), NW of Alden.
Notes
Decorative ornamental material (distinctive structure); discovered in 1976 along the Charo River, northeast of Lake Baikal; purplish rock may contain radiating greenish black needles of Agirine augite (a pyroxene); yellowish to orangy prismatic crystals (Tipaskite); whitish green patches of microcline feldspar and other minerals; flouorescence: inert but feldspar may glow dull red; beads, carvings.
Crystal system: Rock; massive.
Color: Semi-translucent to opaque; various shades of purple (Mn and / or Fe); may be solid color, banded, streaky purple and white, or fibrous (possibly containing black, gray or brownish orange areas).
Hardness: 5 - 6
Cleavage: None; Fracture: splintery to granular.
Specific gravity: 2.68
Refractive index: 1.55 (mean).
Luster: Vitreous, if well polished.
Dispersion: -
Dichroism: -
Occurrence: Siberia (Russia), NW of Alden.
Notes
Decorative ornamental material (distinctive structure); discovered in 1976 along the Charo River, northeast of Lake Baikal; purplish rock may contain radiating greenish black needles of Agirine augite (a pyroxene); yellowish to orangy prismatic crystals (Tipaskite); whitish green patches of microcline feldspar and other minerals; flouorescence: inert but feldspar may glow dull red; beads, carvings.
How To Learn The Art Of Buying Art
Ashoke Nag writes about the do's and dont's, and how to ensure the piece of art harbors the essential elements + other viewpoints @ http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/quickies/2188328.cms
The Pirates’ Code
James Surowiecki writes about pirate ships and the simple constitutions + the link between pirate governance and CEO leadership @ http://www.newyorker.com/online/2007/07/09/070709on_onlineonly_surowiecki
I think James Surowiecki was spot on.
The New Gold Rush
Do you think gold mining is any different from gem mining? The local/foreign godfather (s) will always exploit the miner (s) one way or the other, and the loser (s) will be always the poor locals.
(via AP/Bangkok Post, July 10, 2007) Jonny Hogg writes:
For 12 years, Lauren Rakotondramara has been panning for gold on the banks of the Ikopa river in the dry western grasslands of this Indian Ocean island. For hours each day, he digs sand, places it in a panning dish made from an old oil drum lid and swirls it gently in the water, hoping tiny flecks of heavier gold will remain when the grit is washed away.
Rakotondramara scrounges together a gramme and a half of the precious metal a week. In the village market, he gets about $19 a gramme, so his takings come to four times the national average weekly wage.
“Every day my body aches from my work but if luck is with me and I find a lof of gold I can make good money,” the thin 57 year old said.
Rakotondramara is part of an innovative pilot project the government hopes will help it develop the gold industry in Madagascar, the ninth poorest country in the world, as well as allow workers like Rakotodramara to earn more from their labors—and free some from situations akin to indentured labor.
Madagascar has been known for its wildlife, not its mining. It has no formal gold industry, although there has been some large-scale mining, mostly controlled by French syndicates. More than 500000 small-scale miners like Rakotondramara have been operating clandestinely, risking harassment from authorities and price fixing on the black markets.
Under new laws that came into force in December, gold panners and collectors must register with the government and pay for permits. Funds raised from the permits go to local communities to fund infrastructure and development.
Johary Andriamanantena, director of the Gold Agency, the government agency that issues all mining permits, said the plan was being piloted among about 10000 miners in about 15 villages. He hoped to bring about 70 percent of all small scale miners in the country into the programme by next year.
“We don’t even know how much gold there is in Madagascar because before the industry was informal,” Andriamanantena said.
“We know that need a gold refinery in Magagascar to maximise profits for the country and we are hoping that a private investor from abroad will build one next year. The problem at the moment is that we have no statistics to show productivity or capacity, which is what investors want. By next year we will have these so the situation will be different,” he said.
“At the moment the price of gold here is lower than the global price,” Andriamanantena said. “With the new system we will publish international gold prices, so collectors (miners) will be able to get more for the gold that they sell.”
Gold on international markets is now at more than $600 a troy ounce (31 grammes). In Antanimbary, 300 km west of the capital, Antananarivo, each miner and panner pays $1.50 a year for a permit and buyers pay $50 a year to make purchases in the area. Miners and buyers will be taxed as well. Most miners have expressed happiness with going legal.
“Before this new law we had to hide when we worked and people caused us problems. Now, no one can cause me any problems and I can do my work openly. I can also get a better price for my gold,” Rakotondramara said.
Already, 1383 gold panners and miners, as well as 55 buyers have registered. A new school and four wells have been built and electric lighting for the main streeet installed, all with the money raised from permits.
According to Ranaivo Nonot, from NGO Green, a local development agency assisting the project, the local mayor’s budget for the area has tripled to about $7800.
“I had to show when I started this pilot project that I was reducing rural poverty,” Nonot. “You just have to look at things atht the village can afford now to know that we are being successful.”
NGO Green is funded by the World Bank which is helping with the implementation of the new law and teaching the local communities how the system will work. Tom Cushman works as a mining consultant for the World Bank. He wears loud shirts and he drives a hard bargain. After hours of checking the quality and quantity of the gold in Antanimbary market, he buys over a kilogramme.
“I’m trying to set up a model to show that it is possible to buy gold directly from the lowest level….and bring it all the way to the international market. This gold directly benefits the community, they are making a profit from it. Also, the people mining it and panning it are now part of the national economy. Before they were illegal and could be exploited, now they have a vested interest in the development of their country and they are protected by law.”
With the rough terrain unsuitable for agriculture and the tough stringy grass unpalatable for zebu, a type of cow aht is the most common livestock in the country, 80 percent of the Antanimbary relies on gold to generate an income.
Officials hope the new system will help wipe out exploitation. Now many of those digging or panning for gold sell only to their bosses. They are often forced to borrow money from the boses to live and in some cases entire families, including children, work on the mines to help pay off debt.
Some distance from the river, in the hills above the village, Randriananrivo, aged 62, who did not wish to give his full name, works at a shaft mine. The site is wind-swept and hot, littered with old shafts cut into the red earth. Thirty workers, some with families, live there in simple huts made from dried grass.
“I came here with no money,” Randriananarivo said. “My bos paid for my good and transport and I must sell my gold to him. He has taken my identity card so I cannot easily leave. If I cannot pay him back at the end of my contract he will give me more food and I must continue to work. But the food is expensive, maybe 50 percent more expensive than in the market, and we must pay someone to bring it to the mine site. Everyone here is in debt to their boss. We have to work to pay him back otherwise we’ll never leave.”
Randriananarivo said they received a fair price for the gold they mined but when asked about safety, he laughed and shook his head.
“We asked for oxygen so we could breathe properly in the mine but our patron said no, we owed him money so we must work,” he said.
According to miners, two people died at the site last year in mining accidents. Jean Jacques Rakotomavo, deputy mayor of Antanimbary, acknowledges that the exploitation and the safety fo the miners are two major problems they have not yet brought under control.
Rakotomavo said wealthy gold buyers, who are part of the new plan, are continuing to loan money to workers. As part of the loan they will pay for the worker’s mining permit.
“I know many people are in debt to rich people here. It’s not right but that’s the way it is. We try and control it but it’s difficult. If we can crack down on these rich people, those in debt won’t be able to work here and they’ll sill be in debt. I don’t think everything that is happening here is good, but we are at the very beginning and we will overcome these problems.”
(via AP/Bangkok Post, July 10, 2007) Jonny Hogg writes:
For 12 years, Lauren Rakotondramara has been panning for gold on the banks of the Ikopa river in the dry western grasslands of this Indian Ocean island. For hours each day, he digs sand, places it in a panning dish made from an old oil drum lid and swirls it gently in the water, hoping tiny flecks of heavier gold will remain when the grit is washed away.
Rakotondramara scrounges together a gramme and a half of the precious metal a week. In the village market, he gets about $19 a gramme, so his takings come to four times the national average weekly wage.
“Every day my body aches from my work but if luck is with me and I find a lof of gold I can make good money,” the thin 57 year old said.
Rakotondramara is part of an innovative pilot project the government hopes will help it develop the gold industry in Madagascar, the ninth poorest country in the world, as well as allow workers like Rakotodramara to earn more from their labors—and free some from situations akin to indentured labor.
Madagascar has been known for its wildlife, not its mining. It has no formal gold industry, although there has been some large-scale mining, mostly controlled by French syndicates. More than 500000 small-scale miners like Rakotondramara have been operating clandestinely, risking harassment from authorities and price fixing on the black markets.
Under new laws that came into force in December, gold panners and collectors must register with the government and pay for permits. Funds raised from the permits go to local communities to fund infrastructure and development.
Johary Andriamanantena, director of the Gold Agency, the government agency that issues all mining permits, said the plan was being piloted among about 10000 miners in about 15 villages. He hoped to bring about 70 percent of all small scale miners in the country into the programme by next year.
“We don’t even know how much gold there is in Madagascar because before the industry was informal,” Andriamanantena said.
“We know that need a gold refinery in Magagascar to maximise profits for the country and we are hoping that a private investor from abroad will build one next year. The problem at the moment is that we have no statistics to show productivity or capacity, which is what investors want. By next year we will have these so the situation will be different,” he said.
“At the moment the price of gold here is lower than the global price,” Andriamanantena said. “With the new system we will publish international gold prices, so collectors (miners) will be able to get more for the gold that they sell.”
Gold on international markets is now at more than $600 a troy ounce (31 grammes). In Antanimbary, 300 km west of the capital, Antananarivo, each miner and panner pays $1.50 a year for a permit and buyers pay $50 a year to make purchases in the area. Miners and buyers will be taxed as well. Most miners have expressed happiness with going legal.
“Before this new law we had to hide when we worked and people caused us problems. Now, no one can cause me any problems and I can do my work openly. I can also get a better price for my gold,” Rakotondramara said.
Already, 1383 gold panners and miners, as well as 55 buyers have registered. A new school and four wells have been built and electric lighting for the main streeet installed, all with the money raised from permits.
According to Ranaivo Nonot, from NGO Green, a local development agency assisting the project, the local mayor’s budget for the area has tripled to about $7800.
“I had to show when I started this pilot project that I was reducing rural poverty,” Nonot. “You just have to look at things atht the village can afford now to know that we are being successful.”
NGO Green is funded by the World Bank which is helping with the implementation of the new law and teaching the local communities how the system will work. Tom Cushman works as a mining consultant for the World Bank. He wears loud shirts and he drives a hard bargain. After hours of checking the quality and quantity of the gold in Antanimbary market, he buys over a kilogramme.
“I’m trying to set up a model to show that it is possible to buy gold directly from the lowest level….and bring it all the way to the international market. This gold directly benefits the community, they are making a profit from it. Also, the people mining it and panning it are now part of the national economy. Before they were illegal and could be exploited, now they have a vested interest in the development of their country and they are protected by law.”
With the rough terrain unsuitable for agriculture and the tough stringy grass unpalatable for zebu, a type of cow aht is the most common livestock in the country, 80 percent of the Antanimbary relies on gold to generate an income.
Officials hope the new system will help wipe out exploitation. Now many of those digging or panning for gold sell only to their bosses. They are often forced to borrow money from the boses to live and in some cases entire families, including children, work on the mines to help pay off debt.
Some distance from the river, in the hills above the village, Randriananrivo, aged 62, who did not wish to give his full name, works at a shaft mine. The site is wind-swept and hot, littered with old shafts cut into the red earth. Thirty workers, some with families, live there in simple huts made from dried grass.
“I came here with no money,” Randriananarivo said. “My bos paid for my good and transport and I must sell my gold to him. He has taken my identity card so I cannot easily leave. If I cannot pay him back at the end of my contract he will give me more food and I must continue to work. But the food is expensive, maybe 50 percent more expensive than in the market, and we must pay someone to bring it to the mine site. Everyone here is in debt to their boss. We have to work to pay him back otherwise we’ll never leave.”
Randriananarivo said they received a fair price for the gold they mined but when asked about safety, he laughed and shook his head.
“We asked for oxygen so we could breathe properly in the mine but our patron said no, we owed him money so we must work,” he said.
According to miners, two people died at the site last year in mining accidents. Jean Jacques Rakotomavo, deputy mayor of Antanimbary, acknowledges that the exploitation and the safety fo the miners are two major problems they have not yet brought under control.
Rakotomavo said wealthy gold buyers, who are part of the new plan, are continuing to loan money to workers. As part of the loan they will pay for the worker’s mining permit.
“I know many people are in debt to rich people here. It’s not right but that’s the way it is. We try and control it but it’s difficult. If we can crack down on these rich people, those in debt won’t be able to work here and they’ll sill be in debt. I don’t think everything that is happening here is good, but we are at the very beginning and we will overcome these problems.”
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Memoirs Of A Geisha
Memorable quote (s) from the movie:
You cannot say to the sun, more sun or to the rain, less rain. To a man, geisha can only be half a wife. We are the wives of nightfall. And yet, to learn kindness after so much unkindness, to understand that a little girl with more courage than she knew, would find her prayers were answered, can that not be called happiness? After all these are not the memoirs of an empress, nor of a queen. These are memoirs of another kind. She paints her face to hide her face. Her eyes are deep water. It is not for Geisha to want. It is not for geisha to feel. Geisha is an artist of the floating world. She dances, she sings. She entertains you, whatever you want. The rest is shadows, the rest is secret.
You cannot say to the sun, more sun or to the rain, less rain. To a man, geisha can only be half a wife. We are the wives of nightfall. And yet, to learn kindness after so much unkindness, to understand that a little girl with more courage than she knew, would find her prayers were answered, can that not be called happiness? After all these are not the memoirs of an empress, nor of a queen. These are memoirs of another kind. She paints her face to hide her face. Her eyes are deep water. It is not for Geisha to want. It is not for geisha to feel. Geisha is an artist of the floating world. She dances, she sings. She entertains you, whatever you want. The rest is shadows, the rest is secret.
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