Publish Year: 2016 Title: Growth Blockages in Cat’s-Eye Beryllonite Abstract: Figure 1. Left to right: a cat’s-eye beryllonite cabochon, two faceted transparent colorless samples, and a partially polished specimen with clean areas and growth tubes. The larger faceted stone in the center weighs 1.90 ct. The rough on the far right is the specimen from this study. Photo by Kevin Schumacher.

The sodium beryllium phosphate mineral beryllonite (NaBePO4) is a rare gem coveted by collectors. The material is typically fashioned as a transparent colorless faceted stone but occasionally as a cat’s-eye cabochon (figure 1). Recently, an interesting colorless rough specimen studied at GIA’s Carlsbad laboratory exhibited an unusually sharp, obvious separation between two regions. One area contained a high density of hollow tubes, while the other was clean and transparent.

Chatoyant beryllonite gems have been reported previously (Spring 1991 GNI, pp. 47–48), but this peculiar specimen offers a clue to the mechanism that gives rise to the chatoyant phenomenon. The answer lies in the separation between the two regions, which is where minute inclusions (figure 2) were deposited during growth of the crystal. This created a localized blockage of necessary nutrients, preventing growth of the host mineral and leaving behind the parallel tubes (Summer 2010 Lab Notes, pp. 55–56). This collector’s cat’s-eye beryllonite, with its beautiful contrasting black-and-white inclusion scene, furthers our understanding of chatoyancy in this mineral.

Figure 2. Two-phase inclusions and parallel tubes in a colorless beryllonite are the
result of growth blockages created by tiny crystal inclusions, shown in diffused
transmitted lighting. Photomicrograph by Jonathan Muyal; field of view 2.88 mm. @topic:3


Publish Year: 2018 Title: IAC Conference on Responsible Gold Abstract: Barbara Palumbo, Monica Stephenson, and Sarah Yood participate in the panel “Who’s Got the Power? Influencers, Ethics, and the Regulations of Social Media.” Photo by Alice Catherine Young.

Gold: Vortex, Virtues, and Values was hosted by Initiatives in Art and Culture (IAC) at Bohemian National Hall in New York City, April 12–13. Now in its eighth year, the conference has become an annual industry gathering for those looking to evaluate the market, discover exceptional work, and discuss key gold-related issues.
Mark Hanna (Richline Group) opened the conference, stating that it is the leading gold event in the United States and introducing IAC founder Lisa Koenigsberg, who discussed the importance of bringing together people from various backgrounds. “Gold is the substance that can rivet our attention because the reality is the thing we ascribe value to in a social compact. Everyone in this room agrees that this has value.”
In the kickoff presentation, Jeffrey Christian (CPM Group) presented graphs showing that interest rates and gold prices are not correlated but indicated that surplus labor will become a problem due to computer-assisted manufacturing. Christian recommended gold as a way to diversify investment portfolios. In assessing international gold investment demand, he concluded that Indian gold investment is in long-term decline and that Chinese gold investment, while down from 2013, is ultimately rising.
Next was the update from Washington, DC. Tiffany Stevens (Jewelers Vigilance Committee) addressed the status of Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guides, which are meant to champion consumers and protect them from unfair competition. Once the guides are issued, the JVC will translate them for the industry. Highlighting hot topics, Stevens addressed service applications of precious metals, advertising and disclosure, and anti-money laundering efforts. Susan Thea Posnock (Jewelers of America) discussed the importance of advocacy, touching upon hearings on sales tax fairness that could reflect the changing marketplace. Elizabeth Orlando (U.S. Department of State) discussed her team’s work with conflict minerals and diamonds, particularly regarding the Kimberley Process and the Dodd-Frank Act. Mark Hanna observed that the requirement for new FTC members to review regulations has slowed down the overall process. Linus Drogs (AU Enterprises) addressed regulations that dictate what can and cannot be marked “Made in the USA” domestically versus globally.
Andrea Hill (Hill Management Group) reframed the use of technology in business. Hill emphasized the importance of marketing coherently across platforms and offering customers help with the decision-making process. She noted that consumers generally shop online and buy in-store. Making the experience seamless over the phone and approaching marketing from the standpoint of consumer desire are key.
Next, Brandee Dallow (Fine Girl Luxury Brand Building & Communications) had a sit-down with jewelry designer Alexandra Mor, who is working with Balinese artisans to promote the tagua nut as a luxury alternative to elephant ivory. Taking innovation to the next level, Mor has created a material out of tagua that can be 3D printed to solve the problem of the nut’s limiting size.
Independent consultant Christina Miller moderated a session on sustainable jewelry. Miller laid out international commitments regarding responsible sourcing, celebrating the progress made and hoping “to push the needle further” during the gold conference. Monica Stephenson (idazzle.com and Anza Gems) spoke on the importance of reinvesting in source communities. Wing Yau (WWAKE) discussed sourcing in Colombia, where she has visited model mines. Blair Lauren Brown (VERTE Essentials) talked about the 120-year legacy of the Alaskan gold nugget jewelry she works in and how it supports local mining. Stewart Grice (Hoover & Strong) noted that the company imports from Peru, Colombia, and Mongolia, bringing gold to the U.S. and either selling it as 24K or karating the materials for use. The premium on fair-mined products goes back directly to the local communities. Third-generation retailer Robert Goodman (Robert Goodman Jewelers) discussed his commitment to bringing in designers dedicated to sustainability. Nina Farran (Fashionkind) came to the table with a style slant. Fashionkind, which stands for “fashion in humankind,” began as a blog before launching a retail platform. The group also spoke of industry collectives driving down prices in sustainable sourcing as consumer education drives the demand for sustainable products.
After the sustainability panel, Toby Pomeroy was presented with IAC’s inaugural award for Leadership and Responsible Practice in Jewelry. The award recognizes a transformational contribution to the worldwide gem and jewelry industry. A leader in the responsible sourcing movement, Pomeroy also founded the Mercury Free Mining Challenge, which seeks to discover a safe replacement for mercury.
Next, Jean-Jacques Grimaud (SolidWorks Sell) delivered a presentation on optimizing the consumer experience through personalization. Technology keeps the customer fully engaged with the product, while brands are able to maintain control of design integrity. Grimaud demonstrated a sample personalized software for ring design that is accessible from a computer, tablet, or phone—all on the cloud.
Thursday’s closing panel on blockchain technology was jointly presented by Mark Hanna, Marla Beck Hedworth (UL), and Catherine Malkova (IBM). The overview of blockchain technology included provenance assured by the blockchain ledger, permissions to ensure visibility and security, consensus by all parties to verify transactions, immutability, smart contracts, and finality once an operation is completed. Trustchain is proposed to be a consortium permissioned private blockchain, focused on the provenance of a diamond engagement ring from the diamond and gold mines, tracking the full supply chain from the mine to the end consumer.
In the evening, IAC hosted “A Rising Tide: Women in the Jewelry Industry.” Hedda Schupak (Centurion) moderated the discussion, and panelists included: designer Wendy Brandes, Brandee Dallow, Jenny Luker (Platinum Guild International), and Barbara Palumbo (Adornmentality.com and WhatsOnHerWrist.com). A variety of topics were addressed, including: women’s involvement in political movements and willingness to perform unpaid labor to promote change, the increase of more women working independently due to lack of upward mobility in corporate settings, minimal presence of women on industry boards for products directing marketing towards women, and more.
Day two started with “Moda Operandi: A New Business Model for Jewelry.” Mickey Alam Khan (Mobile Marketer) interviewed Deborah Nicodemus (Moda Operandi). The company’s online luxury business model is currently based on three channels: trunk shows, boutique business, and the showroom. Of the three models, only the boutique carries inventory.
A panel moderated by Rob Bates (JCK) that included David Bouffard, Toby Pomeroy, Christina Miller, Tiffany Stevens, and Elizabeth Orlando opened by discussing issues related to gold. Orlando detailed the smuggling of artisanally mined gold, money laundering problems, gold’s use to support armed groups and cartels, and labor problems such as the U.S. interest in eliminating forced labor, mercury use, deforestation, and wildlife trafficking. Bouffard spoke on Signet’s efforts to identify the sources of its gold. After years of coordination and tracking from banks to refineries, Signet now knows where 99% of its gold comes from. The company is on the ground to make sure gold that comes from the legitimate supply chain and that workers are paid fair wages, helping promote a responsible cycle. Stevens described how the JVC office helps the industry combat money laundering. Pomeroy noted that his group is raising a million-dollar prize for a safe alternative to mercury in gold mining. Miller spoke about the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance and its work on large-scale mining standards. Five sectors form the current setup: mining companies, purchasing companies, labor unions, NGOs, and mining-affected communities. She concluded by reminding the audience that we rely on mining every day, so as an industry we need to advocate for it to be done responsibly.
Leo and Ginnie de Vroomen, the husband-and-wife designers behind the de Vroomen brand, presented selections from their stunning body of work, including the step-by-step making of a gold repoussé bangle. They use brightly colored gemstones and enamel and a variety of traditional metalsmithing techniques to create sculptural forms.
Enameler Jane Short detailed her more than 40 years of enameling. Her enamel is focused on the interplay of color or self-expression. Short presented examples of enamel throughout history, explaining technique and chronicling the creation of an enamel on silver beaker.
Next, designer Jen Townsend, Renée Zettle-Sterling (Society of North American Goldsmiths), and Lin Stanionis (University of Kansas) spoke on casting. Townsend and Zettle-Sterling are co-authors of the new book CAST: Art and Objects Made Using Humanity’s Most Transformational Process, which covers jewelry, architecture, and everyday objects made by casting. They described how life events influenced their designs and later inspired them to write the book to combat the stigma associated with the process. The pages feature exceptional cast work, from ancient jewelry to computer-aided design. Stanionis related how casting is a part of her jewelry design process. She explained her dedication to expressing human experience. Her pieces use organic forms such as rattlesnake vertebrae, bones, cracked eggshells, and leaves. She and her husband also excavate fossils and incorporate elements such as dinosaur bones, memorializing links to the past.
Andrea Hill returned to moderate “Industrial Revolution 4.0: Cultivating and Perpetuating Old World Skills.” Patricia Madeja (Pratt Institute) noted that our country must do more to appreciate makers. Ted Doudak (RIVA Precision Manufacturing) added that there are rules for supply and demand—we should see where the demand is, understand what crafts need to be filled, and encourage those. He also emphasized the importance of valuing artisans by compensating them well and acknowledging their accomplishments. Rich Youmans (MJSA), Katrin Zimmermann (Ex Ovo), and designer goldsmith Ann Cahoon rallied around education and the importance of teaching and apprenticeships outside the family.
“Who’s Got the Power? Influencers, Ethics, and the Regulations of Social Media” ended the conference with a follow-up panel from last year. Sarah Yood (Jewelers Vigilance Committee), Barbara Palumbo, Wendy Brandes, and Monica Stephenson (see above) interacted with the audience, under the moderation of Peggy Jo Donahue. Yood explained that the FTC is monitoring social media channels, and action can be taken if material connections between influencers and products are not clearly disclosed. She urged the audience to review the FTC endorsement guides and a new Frequently Asked Questions section on their website regarding the endorsement guides. Other topics included early disclosure of sponsorship on posts, pitching, and the purchasing of fake followers. Stephenson added, “Generosity, plus vulnerability, plus accountability, plus candor, equals trust.” The panel also took up the issue of followers, and how the question of how many followers an influencer had was usually brought up before getting to know the influencer. The use of fake and purchased followers has also become rampant.
The excitement around the annual IAC conference was palpable. Attendees anticipated a spectrum of calls to action after the gathering. The networking opportunities and the chance to appreciate gold among like-minded colleagues made for an enjoyable and enlightening experience. To learn more about the conference and other upcoming IAC events, visit www.artinitiatives.com. @topic:12


Publish Year: - Title: Ruby Journey Abstract: Few people outside the gem industry realize the true nature of a gemstone’s journey from the mine to the counter of a store. Whether the gem is being offered to consumer’s at a traditional jewelry store’s counter, an internet shopping site, or a television broadcast the journey always involves a great deal of effort.  Tons of earth and countless hours of labor are needed to being a gem from mine to market. @topic:11


Publish Year: 2015 Title: An Unusual Filled Ruby Abstract: Figure 1. This 12.12 ct red stone showed features typically associated with a natural ruby. Photo by A. Droux/LFG.

A 12.12 ct corner-cut rectangular red stone (figure 1) was submitted to the Laboratoire Français de Gemmologie (LFG) for analysis. The sample’s refractive index, specific gravity, and Raman spectrum confirmed its identity as a ruby. It fluoresced a medium to strong red in long-wave UV radiation, and a weaker red in short-wave UV. Under magnification, it showed fairly dense accumulations of long needles, some of them rather flat and most of them iridescent (figure 2). Many parallel twin lamellae crossed the gem (figure 3). There was no indication of thermal enhancement. The inclusions and chemical composition were consistent with ruby from Myanmar.

Figure 2. Dense accumulations of iridescent needles were visible within the red stone.
Photomicrograph by A. Droux/LFG; magnified 50×.

Figure 3. Contrasted twin lamellae in this ruby are similar to those often observed in
material from Myanmar. Photomicrograph by A. Droux/LFG; magnified 60×.
Many fractures were apparent, with smaller ones following the twin lamellae. Examining the surface of the fissure, it became apparent that some material was present inside the fractures, and in some locations had left a whitish trace in the fracture close to the surface. Deeper within the fractures there were flat bubbles and networks of cracks similar to those seen in drying mud, with a somewhat dendritic aspect.

These same patterns were observed with the drying of oil in emerald (H. Hänni, “Gemmology, an oil well in your garden?” Schweizer Uhren & Schmuck Journal, No. 3, 1988, pp. 461–464; H. Hänni et al., “How to identify fillings in emeralds using Raman spectroscopy,” Jewellery News Asia, No. 145, 1996, pp. 154–156). Under the heat of the optical fiber used for observation, some droplets formed at the outcrop of the fissure, indicating that the material was either liquid or had a melting point just above room temperature, suggesting that the filler could be either oil or wax.

Exposure to the ultra-short UV wavelength of the DiamondView revealed the filling material inside the fractures (figure 4). Infrared absorption confirmed the presence of an organic material in the fractures (figure 5). “Oil” peaks at about 2852, 2925, and 2955 cm–1 were at positions nearly identical to those observed for oil-impregnated emerald (P. Zecchini and P. Maitrallet, “Que peut apporter la spectrographie infrarouge dans l’étude des émeraudes?” In D. Giard, Ed., L’émeraude: Connaissances Actuelles et Prospectives, Association Française de Gemmologie, Paris, 1998, pp. 81–96; M. Johnson et al., “On the identification of various emerald filling substances,” Summer 1999 G&G, 82–107). The peaks were accompanied by sharp features around 3600–3700 cm–1, attributed to kaolinite group minerals (A. Beran and G. Rossman, “OH in naturally occurring corundum,” European Journal of Mineralogy, Vol. 18, 2006, pp. 441–447). The band at 2463 cm–1 was produced by CO2.

Figure 4. DiamondView imaging of the ruby showed the filling of fractures. Image by A.
Droux/LFG.

Figure 5. Infrared spectrum of the ruby showing the same absorptions as for the filling of
some emeralds.
On the basis of microscopic observation and infrared spectroscopy, we concluded that the ruby showed moderate indications of clarity enhancement—with oil, in this case. Although glass-filled rubies are common on the market today, oiled corundum is much rarer. This oiled ruby was also unusual for its size and evidently Burmese origin. @topic:3


Publish Year: 2023 Title: GIA Library Wins Exhibit Award at TGMS Abstract: The GIA Library’s award-winning exhibit on mercury-free mining at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. Photo by Chris Rogers.
GIA’s Richard T. Liddicoat Gemological Library and Information Center was awarded the Betty Clayton Gibson Memorial Trophy for Best Museum Exhibit for 2023 at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. The winning exhibit illustrated the importance of mercury-free gold mining (see above). Historically, mercury has been used in artisanal and small-scale gold mining because of its ability to bond with gold to form an amalgam, but its high toxicity and negative effects on humans and wildlife have led to increased emphasis on mercury-free options for mining gold.
The exhibit featured a traditional wooden bowl used for gold panning, along with many of the library’s books on ecological jewelry and responsible and sustainable mining and jewelry practices.
“This exhibit illustrates how mercury-free gold mining can have positive long-term implications for both gold miners and the environment,” said library director Robert Weldon. He noted that among all the deserving exhibits displayed at TGMS, the GIA Library’s stood out due to the importance of responsible mining and sustainability in the industry.
In 2021, GIA provided a grant to Mercury Free Mining (MFM) and the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM). New methods for concentrating gold continue to be explored and tested with the goal of significantly reducing, or even eliminating, the use of mercury in gold mining. @topic:11


Publish Year: 2020 Title: Trapiche-Like Pattern in an Emerald from Pakistan Abstract: A distinct near-colorless hexagonal core with radiating fibrous arms is evident in this Pakistani emerald from Swat Valley. Photomicrograph by Charuwan Khowpong; field of view 1.40 mm.

GIA’s colored stone research collection contains many unique samples. The emerald sample shown above was mined at Swat Valley in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region of Pakistan and fabricated by polishing two parallel windows perpendicular to the c-axis of the hexagonal crystal in order to show its inclusions. The sample weighed 0.47 ct prior to fabrication and 0.36 ct after processing.
At first glance, nothing unusual was noted in this sample, but when correctly illuminated under the microscope it revealed a pattern that could easily pass for trapiche. The stone showed radiating zones of turbid growth with six-fold symmetry. This makes it a trapiche-like stone rather than a true trapiche, which has distinct arms that separate the growth zones. While classic trapiche patterns are mostly associated with Colombian emeralds, the Swat region also produces emeralds with radiating black intergrowths. Still, this structure was very different from the trapiche structure previously documented in some emeralds from Pakistan (Fall 2019 Gem News International, “Trapiche emerald from Swat Valley, Pakistan,” pp. 441–442). In this case, the distinct growth feature consisted of a colorless hexagonal core from which six-rayed fibrous arms extended. Lighting was an important consideration in maximizing the color in this stone, and the features were fully observed using brightfield illumination. This was a wonderful example of a pattern rarely encountered in emeralds. @topic:3


Publish Year: 2019 Title: Star-Like Growth in Natural Yellow Sapphire Abstract: A group of six-rayed stars in a faceted yellow sapphire. Photomicrograph by Ungkhana Atikarnsakul; field of view 1.5 mm.

Internal growth structures (commonly referred to as graining) observed in transparent gemstones often reflect a gem’s crystallography. Graining can assist in distinguishing natural from synthetic gem materials. For example, a synthetic flame-fusion corundum commonly shows curved growth lines, while natural and flux-grown corundum usually shows straight, angular, or hexagonal growth patterns.
Recently, the author examined an 8.01 ct faceted yellow stone that had gemological properties consistent with sapphire. The most distinctive feature found in this stone was internal graining displaying as six-rayed stars (see above). It is interesting to note that the angle of each ray was 60 degrees, consistent with corundum’s trigonal crystal structure. This is the first time the author has encountered a star-like graining pattern in natural sapphire. @topic:3


Publish Year: 2019 Title: Cobalt-Coated Sapphire Abstract: Figure 1. Lighter facet junctions and a speckled surface are evidence of coating. Photomicrograph by Tyler Smith; field of view 4.79 mm.

Recently, the New York laboratory received a bright blue stone for identification. The blue color closely resembled that of the highly desired cobalt spinel. Advanced testing procedures of Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR), ultraviolet/visible/near-infrared (UV-Vis-NIR), energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF), and laser Raman spectroscopy were performed to aid in identification. FTIR revealed a corundum spectrum, but with an uncharacteristic rise in the 7000–5800 cm–1 region. Laser Raman spectroscopy confirmed corundum, and UV-Vis-NIR yielded a cobalt absorption spectrum similar to that of diffused cobalt spinel.
Magnification revealed the presence of a coating, which was responsible for the observed over-the-limits RI reading. The coating was easily detected by the speckled, uneven surface and lighter facet edges where the coating was damaged (figure 1). EDXRF identified the coating as cobalt, consistent with the UV-Vis-NIR absorption spectrum. The stone possessed typical heated sapphire inclusions, such as altered fingerprints and frosted crystals. In addition, Raman spectroscopy identified glass-filled surface-reaching cavities (figure 2).

Figure 2. Glass-filled cavities on the sapphire’s pavilion. Photomicrograph by Tyler Smith; field of view 3.57 mm.
Cobalt coating is already a known treatment of tanzanite to improve the blue color component, but GIA has not observed cobalt coating on sapphire in recent years (see Spring 1994 G&G, pp. 48–49). Unlike cobalt coating on tanzanite, which has been observed applied only to the pavilion, this coating covered the entirety of the sapphire. This highlights the possibility of cobalt coating on materials other than tanzanite to induce a more pronounced blue color.
Because of its color, this material is most likely to be mistaken for cobalt spinel, which can easily be eliminated as a possibility through standard gemological testing with the polariscope and specific gravity. The stone tested was doubly refractive and had a specific gravity of 4.00, while spinel is singly refractive and has an SG of 3.60 (+0.10/–0.03). Although the RI was over the limit of the refractive index liquid, the stone’s specific gravity and doubly refractive nature point to sapphire. Advanced testing was useful in confirming the true identity of the stone and the coating. @topic:3


Publish Year: - Title: Family Heirlooms Recovered After 9/11 Attacks Abstract: These pieces, recovered after the September 11 attacks from a safety deposit box at the World Trade Center, were on display at GIA.

	Robin Silvers, a gem specialist in Los Angeles, was moved and overwhelmed by the items a client showed her – two petite silver mesh clutches, a diamond brooch and two pocket watches – all recovered from the family’s safety deposit box buried in the rubble of the World Trade Center after the September 11 attacks.

	The safety deposit box was one of 2,500 found in a JP Morgan Chase bank vault at 5 World Trade Center, which partially collapsed. The vault sustained severe damage from fires that burned for weeks after, and most of the boxes’ contents were nothing more than ash when they were finally discovered.

	Silvers’ anonymous client didn’t remember the family had a safety deposit box until weeks later. She was extremely worried about her father on 9/11 because he lived in Lower Manhattan and was likely on his way to work in a family-owned commercial building situated on the perimeter of the World Trade Center complex.

	Her father was late to work that day, so he was unharmed, but people who leased space in their building were injured or killed. “We knew people who were lost in those attacks, and our building was partially destroyed,” she said.

	When she did remember the safety deposit box, “it was like an electric shock went through me. The ripple effect of losses continued.” The family assumed the contents were destroyed.

	A couple of years passed before bank officials began to evaluate the boxes and contact owners. Silvers’ client went through a roller coaster of emotions as news went back and forth about whether or not the pieces in the safety deposit box had survived.

	“It was really surprising when they were found – and kind of bittersweet,” she said.

	A 1950s-era 14k white gold ribbon bow brooch, a gift from the client’s father to her mother, is particularly special because her mother, who passed away from breast cancer when the daughter was 19, had very little jewelry.

	“It’s one of the last pieces I have of my mother’s,” she said. The brooch was blackened from the heat of the fires, but the diamonds were in good condition, so she thought she might have it repaired.

	The silver clutches and pocket watches belonged to her great-grandparents. Her great-grandfather emigrated from Nazi Germany and her grandmother grew up during the Great Depression, so she imagines they were prized possessions, as well as being links to her heritage.

	Silvers said she got the chills the first time her client showed her the pieces. She immediately realized the brooch should not be repaired.

	“When I saw the brooch and was able to touch it, along with the other items, it brought home to me everything they had gone through. To repair the brooch would erase everything that had happened to it on 9/11,” she said. “It’s beautiful the way it is.”

	Silvers showed it to her friend, David Humphrey, a jeweler from Pacific Palisades, California, who contacted GIA to write a report for Gems & Gemology. Terri Ottaway, curator of the GIA Museum, saw the brooch as it was being photographed for the journal and asked to display it on campus.

	“This exquisite diamond brooch endured a horrendous event that forever changed America,” Ottaway said. “Its condition is a reminder of how the human spirit can shine through tragedy – just as these diamonds still sparkle in their blackened setting.”

	One conversation led to another between Silvers, her client and Ottaway, and now all five pieces are on display in Carlsbad through Nov. 18. Silvers’ client appreciates the symbolism they represent and is at peace with her decision to display them at GIA.

	“I miss having my mother’s brooch with me,” she said. “But I realize it is a connection for people to 9/11. It’s a symbol of resilience, renewal and rebirth – there’s life in it.”

	A 14K gold Columbus pocket watch, left; a 14K gold Lord Elgin pocket watch, center; and a 1950s-era 14K white gold ribbon brooch, with 75 diamonds (2.78 total carat weight) intact, right.

	Two petite silver mesh clutches fused together from the heat of the fires that burned for weeks. The larger one, left, measures 5.5 inches wide by 4 inches high and the smaller one 2.7 inches by 2.5 inches. You can see the remains of some of the contents in them. The reverse side of the clutches is on the right. @topic:6


Publish Year: 2024 Title: Gemstones and Art Abstract: Figure 1. Left: “Meteorites,” a mosaic by Leonardo Scarpelli. A labradorite background gives a strong sense of light shining in the night sky as the observer moves. Right: The “Starburst” mosaic by Leonardo Scarpelli. Larimar proved the perfect material to reproduce aquamarine’s transparency and color. Photos by Cristiano Brigida; courtesy of Scarpelli Mosaici.
Exploring the Tucson Fine Mineral Gallery, the author was impressed by artistic masterpieces hanging from the walls. These exhibits ranged from stone mosaics of modern subjects to watercolor paintings of minerals. The author had the chance to speak with mosaic artists Leonardo and Catia Scarpelli (Scarpelli Mosaici, Florence) and watercolor artist Ksenia Levterova (Kyiv).
The Scarpelli family creates stunning mosaics representing contemporary subjects using the technique of commesso fiorentino (from the Latin commettere, meaning “put together”), which dates back to the Italian Renaissance. In this craft, opaque stones of different colors and textures (pietra dura) are finely cut into unique shapes and seamlessly joined together. This traditional art form developed and achieved a level of perfection in the late sixteenth century in Florence, under the rule of the Medici family, who wanted to depict their era in a durable, eternal medium.
Leonardo Scarpelli, the son of a commesso fiorentino master, began his career in 1992. Challenged by the idea of moving from traditional to more modern subjects, he experimented with the commesso fiorentino technique by incorporating gem materials that had never been used before, such as labradorite. Scarpelli discovered that labradorite brought depth and life to subjects where dynamism is essential, such as a splashing water drop or meteorites falling in the night sky (figure 1, left), allowing him to create unusual motion effects unexpected from a traditional mosaic.
After Scarpelli exhibited in some gem and mineral shows, the idea of reproducing mineral specimens with the proper transparency and color nuances by means of commesso fiorentino became a compelling challenge. When commissioned to reproduce a fine aquamarine specimen from Pakistan, the Scarpellis’ extensive search for the right color landed on Larimar, the trade name for a variety of pectolite. Its light blue color and white speckles made Larimar ideal for the purpose, leading to impressive results (figure 1, right). This is one more case where the use of a gem material associated with traditional stones demonstrated all its potential in bringing into play precious effects, colors, and textures.
Ksenia Levterova is a talented Ukrainian watercolor artist. Passionate about the perfection of mineral shapes and their fascinating colors, she specializes in the reproduction of mineralogical subjects at a photorealistic level.

Figure 2. Watercolors of tourmaline with albite (left) and a diamond crystal from Kimberley, South Africa (right). Photos by Cristiano Brigida; courtesy of Ksenia Levterova.
Levterova’s artworks exhibited in Tucson this year encompassed a wide range of subjects, from the captivating beauty of fine specimens such as tourmaline to the precise reproduction of mineral crystallizations (figure 2). Watercolor makes it possible to represent the most subtle variations in color and transparency effects while displaying each crystal’s characteristics with remarkably high definition. The degree of realism and the fidelity to shapes and color nuances allow a rigorous mineralogical consistency. As a result, Levterova’s work is becoming popular in many gem and mineral shows, and she has a gallery hosted on Mindat (https://www.mindat.org/gallery-63606.html). @topic:8


Publish Year: 2017 Title: Cat’s-Eye Alexandrite with Unique Inclusion Pattern Abstract: Figure 1. This alexandrite cabochon appears brownish green in fluorescent light (left) and brownish purple in incandescent light (right). The cabochon shows chatoyancy under both forms of illumination due to light reflection from the shallow plane of dense fine parallel needles. Photos by Shunsuke Nagai.

Chatoyancy is an optical effect caused by light reflecting off dense concentrations of parallel needles or hollow tubes in cabochon-cut gem materials. To maximize chatoyancy, the base of the cabochon should be cut parallel to the inclusions to produce an even effect across the dome. In some cases, the parallel inclusions are not distributed throughout the stone and are only in zones or narrow bands. In such cases the cutter must orient the needles with care to produce a cat’s-eye.A chatoyant cabochon, weighing 21.22 ct and measuring 17.75 × 17.50 × 6.77 mm, was recently submitted to GIA’s Tokyo laboratory for identification service. This stone displayed a change of color (figure 1) from brownish green in fluorescent light to brownish purple in incandescent light. Standard gemological testing resulted in a spot refractive index (RI) reading of 1.75, a specific gravity (SG) of 3.74, and strong trichroism. In addition to these properties, heterogeneous needle-like inclusions and infrared and Raman spectroscopy revealed that the stone was natural chrysoberyl.

What is notable about this stone is that all the needle-like inclusions that cause the chatoyancy are confined to a narrow layer at the very bottom of the cabochon (figure 2). The rest of the stone is nearly free of inclusions. The cutter obviously knew to orient what must have been a narrow layer of needles at the bottom of the cabochon so that the dome would form a complete cat’s-eye. Some synthetic or imitation stones have an engraved foil backing or an engraved base to produce a cat’s-eye or star in much the same way. Raman spectroscopic analysis indicated that the needle-like inclusions were rutile (figure 3). While the boundary between the included and inclusion-free areas looks sharp, the stone is not assembled.

Figure 2. A side view of the cabochon, immersed in water, showing the localized inclusions near the base. Photo by Makoto Miura; field of view 1.6 cm.

Figure 3. Iridescent minute parallel needles and particles in the alexandrite cabochon. Photo by Makoto Miura; field of view 2.0 mm. @topic:3


Publish Year: - Title: Books: Jewels of Ancient Nubia Abstract: By Yvonne J. Markowitz and Denise Doxey, 184 pp., publ. by Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2014, $45.00

                      Nubia, known as Kush in antiquity, was a flourishing civilization for more than three millennia. It encompassed an area from south of Egypt to northern Sudan. Among the thousands of Nubian archaeological remains, their jewelry and personal adornment items stand out for their beauty, elegance, innovation, and technical mastery.

Modern-day knowledge of the kingdom is limited to accounts contained in ancient Egyptian records. Even though Nubia was a rival and a frequent enemy, the Egyptians referred to it as “the gold lands” for its precious metal and mineral resources. The Nubians themselves left very few written accounts, and their language is yet to be deciphered and translated. Appreciation of this fascinating culture later suffered the Eurocentric favoring of Ancient Egypt, and the modern world has known little about the region until recently. Jewels of Ancient Nubia provides the first comprehensive introduction to Nubian history through its artifacts.

The book features items made of gold, silver, and electrum (a natural gold and silver alloy) that illustrate the resources and the sophisticated goldsmithing techniques of the Nubian civilization. Similarly, local gems such as quartz, amazonite, ivory, mica, and malachite were used in many forms. There seems to have been an interest in lapis lazuli and carnelian beads, possibly influenced by the neighboring Egyptians. To the modern observer, the most outstanding jewelry pieces were created by glazing clear quartz. Faience, an ancient type of ceramic adopted from Egypt, was used to glaze quartz beads. In particular, they mastered the blue glazing technique, not only on beads but also on quartz sculptures and crystals. Quartz presumably held a deep religious significance for Nubians. These fascinating objects are beautifully photographed for the book and offer a visual delight.

It is fascinating to learn about the ancients’ degree of sophistication in creating imitation gems. Yet some of the descriptions of gemstones, minerals and rocks do not justify the detailed research of the subject. For example, the term “amethystine” is outdated, yet surprisingly used in this modern publication. A number of mineral and rock descriptions given in the glossary are inconsistent with modern mineralogical and gemological terminology. But given the significance of this subject, the nomenclature issues do not detract from the importance of this publication and the quality of the authors’ work. Jewels of Ancient Nubia deserves a place in any gemologist and jewelry historian’s library. @topic:6


Publish Year: 2024 Title: Ukrainian Pegmatitic Heliodor and Topaz Abstract: Figure 1. Left: This 109.68 ct heliodor and 80.62 ct bicolor topaz are from the Volyn deposit in Ukraine. They are cut to leave natural etch faces on the pavilion/culet, while the crown and table are faceted. Right: A 162.22 ct pear-cut heliodor. The natural etching patterns are retained on the pavilion and are well displayed through the polished table. Photos by Robert Weldon; courtesy of Nomad’s.
This year in Tucson, exceptionally large, clean, and attractively colored topaz and beryl from the Volodarsk-Volynskii pegmatite field in Ukraine (also known as the Volyn deposit) were very popular at multiple shows.
The Volyn deposit is in the northwestern portion of Ukraine, about 190 km from Kyiv. This deposit has been worked for more than 100 years and was initially mined for piezoelectric quartz with topaz as a byproduct. More recently it has been known for producing large and fine-quality topaz and beryl crystals as well as phenakite (Be2SiO4) and fluorite. The topaz ranges in color from blue to a golden-red sherry color, while the beryl ranges from mainly yellow heliodor to green beryl to greenish blue aquamarine. The large, beautifully etched heliodor crystals brought international notice to this deposit in the 1980s (G. Franz et al., “Etch pits in heliodor and green beryl from the Volyn pegmatites, northwest Ukraine: A diagnostic feature,” Fall 2023 G&G, pp. 324–339).
At the GJX and Pueblo shows, Nomad’s (New York City) had high-quality heliodor and topaz that were carefully cut to retain the beautiful rough etching patterns characteristic of this material (figure 1, left). These intricate etching patterns were retained in each gem’s pavilion and visible face-up through the polished table (figure 1, right). The founders and owners are from Ukraine, and they started Nomad’s in the 1990s with pegmatite minerals from Volyn.

Figure 2. Exceptionally large and clean blue and bicolor topaz from the Volyn deposit. The blue triangular cut is 113.86 ct, the middle blue cube cut is 87.82 ct, and the blue and golden bicolor rectangular cut is 55.70 ct. Photo by Robert Weldon; courtesy of Dudley Blauwet Gems.
At the AGTA and Pueblo shows, Dudley Blauwet Gems (Louisville, Colorado) featured topaz, heliodor, and phenakite from Volyn, which they have successfully been carrying for three years. This year, however, the demand for these Ukrainian gems has grown. In fact, Ukrainian topaz was one of their best sellers, with much of the material gone by the first day of AGTA. The bicolor blue to sherry topaz was a particularly strong seller, followed by blue topaz (figure 2). They noted that the miner they work with has been reworking old pockets for the last 20 years, and all of the topaz stones they offered in Tucson this year were from the same pocket at a depth of about 35 meters in the central part of the Volyn deposit.
The beauty, size, and availability of the gem crystals from these pegmatites bodes well for the continued presence of this material in the marketplace. @topic:1


Publish Year: 1984 Title: The Santa Terezinha De Goias Emerald Deposit Abstract: The Santa Terezinha de Goias emerald deposit, currently the most important source of emeralds in Brazil, lies northwest of Brasilia, in the State of Goias. The emeralds, most of which are stones of a carat or less, occur in a talc schist layer intersected by pegmatite. The emeralds are recovered by independent miners via trenches, pits, and tunnels at two prospects: Trecho Novo and Trecho Velho. The grade of the ore is: 1 to 6 parts of emeralds to 10,000 parts of ore. The density of the gems is 2.70; the refractive indexes are 1.580 and 1.588, with greenish dark blue/yellowish pale green pleochroism. The spectrum is typical, with two strong lines and two partial absorption bands; there is no fluorescence; pyrite and chromite are the most typical inclusions, with calcite crystals present in minor amounts. @topic:9


Publish Year: 1988 Title: Opals from Opal Butte, Oregon Abstract: Recent mining at Opal Butte in northeastern Oregon has produced a wide variety of large flawless opals. The most common gem-quality varieties are hyalite and rainbow opal, but the less common play-of-color varieties contra luz, hydrophane, and crystal opal are economically more important. Fire, blue, and dendritic opal are also found. The opal occurs in rhyolite geodes embedded in decomposed perlite. More than 100 kg of material was uncovered from November 1987 through November 1988. The opal varies greatly in stability, but the finest stable material makes excellent carvings, cabochons, and even faceted stones. @topic:13


Publish Year: - Title: Topaz History and Lore Abstract: The 97.45-carat Blaze Imperial Topaz is in the collection of the Field Museum of Natural History. - Courtesy "Gems and Gemstones: Timeless Natural Beauty of the Mineral World" by Grande & Augustyn, U of Chicago Press.

                      Most authorities agree that the name topaz comes from Topazios, the old Greek name for a small island in the Red Sea, now called Zabargad. (The island never produced topaz, but it was once a source of peridot, which was confused with topaz before the development of modern mineralogy.) Some scholars trace the origin back to Sanskrit (an ancient language of India) and the word topas or tapaz, meaning “fire.”

The ancient Greeks believed that topaz gave them strength. In Europe during the Renaissance (the period from the 1300s to the 1600s) people thought that topaz could break magic spells and dispel anger. For centuries, many people in India have believed that topaz worn above the heart assures long life, beauty, and intelligence.

The name for imperial topaz originated in nineteenth-century Russia. At the time, the Ural Mountains were topaz’s leading source, and the pink gemstone mined there was named to honor the Russian czar. Ownership of the gem was restricted to the royal family.

Today, topaz is one of the US birthstones for November. The other is citrine quartz. @topic:2


Publish Year: - Title: Amber Quality Factors Abstract: The word amber means brownish yellow, but the gem can be yellow, golden, white, orange to reddish brown, or even bluish or greenish.

                      Baltic amber is generally more expensive than Dominican amber. Pieces containing insect or plant inclusions fetch higher prices than clean pieces without such inclusions. For example, amber cabochons with no insect inclusions cost only a few dollars per piece, while pieces with easily seen or complete insect or plant specimens might sell for thousands of dollars.

Color
Although consumers are most familiar with yellow and golden amber, the gem can be white, yellow, and orange to reddish brown. Reddish amber is more valuable than golden amber, which is more valuable than yellow amber. Rarely, strong fluorescence can give amber a bluish or greenish appearance, which when attractive can be highly valuable. Oxidation might cause the material to change color over time.

Cutting and polishing amber for jewelry makes it more susceptible to oxidation by removing or thinning the harder exterior surface. Fine translucent yellow or orange amber can gradually darken to reddish brown and eventually black.

	Green amber’s color can be produced by treatment with heat and pressure. - Courtesy Treasure Green Amber, Ltd.
The color of amber can be modified by heat treatment and dyeing.

	Some rare amber specimens turn blue in fluorescent light. This striking example is from the Dominican Republic. - Courtesy Ambar Azul
Clarity
Transparent amber is more valuable than cloudy material. An interesting plant or animal inclusion adds to the value of an amber specimen.

	This large, elongated amber bead contains a fairly intact insect inclusion. The gem weighs 93.87 carats.
Treatment by careful heating in rapeseed (canola) oil can clarify cloudy amber somewhat. The resulting amber sometimes exhibits crack-like circular marks called sun spangles.

Cut
Amber is commonly polished into a free-form shape that follows the original shape of the rough. It might then be set into jewelry or drilled for stringing. Cutting styles for amber include beads, cabochons, and free-form polished pieces. Amber might be faceted, but this is rare.

	Amber can be fashioned into a variety of shapes. Many people think of amber as transparent, but it can also be opaque. - Courtesy Ginger Moro
Carat Weight
Amber has a lower relative density than salt water so it can feel very light, even in large sizes. This makes it possible to use fairly large sizes in amber jewelry.

	Amber beads come in a wide variety of shapes and can be quite large due to their light weight. - Irena Misevic/Shutterstock @topic:8


Publish Year: - Title: GemKids Introduces African Students to Natural Resources, Future Potential Abstract: Students at the Matshekge High School in Bobonong practice the MOHS Hardness Scale to test the hardness of minerals. Photo by GIA

	Thousands of African students are learning about the abundant natural resources found right in their own backyards through GIA’s GemKids program. The half-day workshops introduce the science of gemology with hands-on techniques that show the students why gemstones are a valuable resource.

	“The GemKids Program is a fun and fascinating introduction to gemology where students learn about gems from mine to market in an interactive environment,” said Elizabeth Bokaba, a GIA GemKids program instructor and coordinator. “Having taught several of these courses, it never ceases to amaze me how engaged the students are in this subject.”

	GIA’s GemKids Program was introduced in sub-Saharan Africa in 2012, and has taken place in Botswana, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Namibia Tanzania and South Africa. Since March 2015, hundreds of students in rural Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Tanzania have participated.

	“This program enables students to understand more about − and ultimately benefit from − their natural resources,” added Brad Brooks-Rubin, GIA’s director of global development and beneficiation.

Elizabeth Bokaba teaches a student how to use a Darkfield Loupe at the Matshekge High School in Bobonong, Botswana. Photo by GIA

Botswana

	Close to 100 students from in and around Bobonong, Botswana, participated in the GemKids program over the course of two days in May 2015.

	Although large-scale diamond production has dominated Botswana’s economy since the late 20th century and the country is the world’s largest producer of diamonds by value today, Bobonong, located in Botswana’s Central District, is a source of colored gemstones. These colored gems may provide future economic opportunities for the children who grow up there.

	Twenty students from each school – Matshekge Hill Senior Secondary School, Bobirwa Community Junior Secondary School, Bobonong Community Junior Secondary School, Molalatau Community Junior Secondary School in Molalatau and Mosethla Community Junior Secondary School in Gobojango – participated in the GemKids program, which was organized in conjunction with the Botswana Geological Survey.

Students from Enaboishv Secondary and Bishopdvrning school. Photo by GIA

Namibia

	Local students from Five Rand Primary School in Okahanadja, a small town in Namibia, participated in GIA’s GemKids program in March 2015 in association with local company NamGem. Okahanadja is a rich source of diamonds and gemstones; many of the students’ parents work in mining-related jobs.

	The students were able to learn about and identify stones they encounter on a daily basis, often at home.

	“I am very honored to be part of this event as we are investing in the youth, especially those who are from underprivileged backgrounds. This opens many doors and windows of opportunity for them,” said the mayor of Okahandja, Her Worship Valerie Aron.

	In late June/early July 2015, GIA representatives delivered the GemKids program to more than 200 students – from the Gamams, Academia, Eldorado, Namibia P.S., Sunshine School, M. Mclean and Van Ryn secondary schools – during the Namibia Science, Technology and Innovation Fair.

	The fair was organized by National Commission on Research, Science and Technology with direct support from the Namibian government. GemKids was offered twice per day during the fair, for a total of 10 sessions, to a large numbers of students.

GIA participated in the East London Career Fair, organized by local nongovernmental organization DSR Youth Empowerment, in King William’s Town, South Africa in early July 2015. Photo by GIA

South Africa

	GIA participated in the East London Career Fair, organized by local nongovernmental organization DSR Youth Empowerment, in King William’s Town, South Africa in early July 2015.

	During the event, the Institute hosted a booth and presented students from across the Eastern Cape with essential information about GIA’s education offerings and career opportunities in the gem and jewelry trade.

	GIA also offered its GemKids program to more than 40 students from schools across the province. This program built on GIA’s participation earlier in the year at Career Indaba in Johannesburg.

Students from Arusha Secondary School tour the Arusha Gem Fair 2015 after the GemKids program. Photo by GIA

Tanzania

	Secondary students got to experience a gem trade show when GIA offered its GemKids program for the first time at the Arusha Gem Fair in Tanazania in April 2015.

	Secondary students from four local schools had the opportunity to learn about the natural resources that are an integral part of their local economy and tour the Gem Fair’s trading booths.

	GIA coordinated this program with the Tanzania Gemmological Centre, also based in Arusha. @topic:11


Publish Year: 2014 Title: IMA General Meeting Abstract: Dr. Gaston Giuliani presented on the oxygen isotope and trace-element chemistry of corundum at the General Meeting of the IMA in Johannesburg. Photo by Robert Weldon/GIA.

              The 21st General Meeting of the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) was held September 1–5 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Several oral and poster presentations were presented in a session on gem materials.

Giovanna Agnosi (University of Bari, Italy) discussed preliminary results of an X-ray diffraction topography study of Colombian trapiche emeralds, which revealed a consistent crystallinity between the arms and the hexagonal core. She presented a model of trapiche formation in which the growth of the hexagonal core occurred first, followed by the six arm sections. Ulrika D’Haenens-Johansson (GIA, New York) outlined the status of synthetic diamond production. She reviewed the means of identification based on visual observations, structure-related ultraviolet fluorescence reactions, and distinctive spectroscopic features. In concluding, she noted that synthetic diamonds can be unequivocally recognized by major gem laboratories.

Andrew Fagan (University of British Columbia, Vancouver) presented the geologic setting and a model of formation of the Fiskenæsset corundum district in southwest Greenland. Estimates of ore reserves suggest that this could become a commercial ruby deposit. Gaston Giuliani (Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques, Nancy, France) studied the oxygen isotope and trace-element chemistry of sapphire xenocrysts in basalts from Changle, China, and of corundum from the Mbuyi-Mayi kimberlite in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to trace their primary sources. In both cases, the host basalt and kimberlite transported the corundum crystals from the lower crust and upper mantle.

Daniel Ichang’i (University of Nairobi) described efforts by the Kenyan government to document and better understand the geologic setting of the country’s numerous gem deposits. He discussed two main occurrence lithologies: the metamorphic rocks of the Neoproterozoic Mozambique orogenic belt, and the Paleogene-Neogene basaltic volcanics in the Northern and Central Kenya rift regions.

Stefanos Karampelas (Gübelin Gem Lab, Lucerne, Switzerland) detailed the gemological characteristics of emeralds from Itatitia in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The emeralds formed along the contact between phlogopite schists and highly evolved granitic pegmatites. Based on minor and trace-element chemistry, they can be distinguished from emeralds from other Brazilian and world deposits. Vincent Pardieu (GIA, Bangkok) gave a talk about Montepuez in northern Mozambique, which is currently the world’s largest source of rubies. He also presented a short film about GIA expeditions he has led to gem deposits in eastern Africa. Wuyi Wang (GIA, New York) presented a study of carbon isotopes of synthetic and natural diamonds. The latter displayed δ13C values from 0 to –20‰, while the former ranged from –25 to –75‰.

Christopher M. Breeding (GIA, Carlsbad, California) described the interesting features of alluvial diamonds from the Marange deposit in eastern Zimbabwe. These type Ia diamonds display surface radiation staining, aggregated nitrogen impurities, and elevated hydrogen impurity contents, but these features do not provide a reliable indicator of geographic origin. Julien Feneyrol (Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques, Nancy, France) presented a model of the metamorphic formation of tsavorite nodules in primary deposits. The tsavorite nodules are always contained within graphitic gneiss and calc-silicates with intercalations of marble. Elena Sorokina (Fersman Mineralogical Museum, Moscow) described a model of ruby and sapphire formation in marbles at Snezhnoe in Tajikistan. @topic:8


Publish Year: - Title: Romancing the Source: Sri Lanka Abstract: Sri Lanka

	Join us in a gemstone treasure hunt by viewing this video. In true ‘Reality TV,” you will witness the perils and effort involved in mining colored gemstones and bringing them to the market.
This series of articles and videos follows a team of GIA Field Gemologists on their travels from the mountains of Afghanistan to the jungles of Sri Lanka in search of the sources of colored gemstones and the people who pursue them. This thrilling journey will take you to remote gemstone-mining areas, where you’ll witness the extreme effort required to wrestle nature’s treasures from the earth.

The romance of a colored gemstone arises from its beauty, the exotic qualities of its source’s location, the adventure leading to its discovery, and the stories of the people who seek it. These factors have united to create the allure of gemstones through the ages, and continue to do so even in modern times.

Sri Lanka is one of history’s most famous gem sources, providing gemstone lovers with numerous varieties for centuries. Sri Lanka is famous for sapphires of all colors, and large, fine examples grace the exhibits of museums and royal jewelry collections. Traders—from the ancient Romans, Arabian sailors, European colonial powers, to the new rising wealthy class in China—have always coveted gems from Sri Lanka.

Mining practices in use today have centuries of tradition behind them. Thousands of pits measuring 2x2 or 2x4 meters and between 5 and 25 meters deep are found in the common mining areas of Ratnapura (which literally means city of gems), Elahera, and Balangoda. The miners dig down until they reach the gem-bearing gravels, which they haul up for washing in hopes of finding gemstone treasure.

Sri Lanka’s gemstone and jewelry industry blends traditional practices and experience with the needs of the modern global market. Photo by Andrew Lucas/GIA.
These traditional mining methods have maintained gemstone supplies for centuries and provided opportunity for large numbers of miners. Methods are also environmentally sound, as Sri Lanka requires that the pits and environment be restored after mining. This philosophy allows mining and agriculture to coexist, with miners sometimes working in rice paddies.

Experienced Sri Lankan traders also travel the world in search of sapphire and other gems, stopping in places like Madagascar, Tanzania, and Mozambique. They return with gemstones to be cut and processed in their own country and sold to the world markets. The Sri Lankans are also masters at heat-treating sapphire to improve color and transparency.

The new generation of Sri Lanka gem traders comes from a long tradition, building upon the wealth of experience inherited from their fathers and grandfathers and adding new practices for the modern global market. @topic:9


Publish Year: 2015 Title: GILC 2015 Abstract: Laboratory representatives at the GILC in Tucson spoke on a wide range of topics related to colored gems, including nomenclature, treatment, and clarity enhancement. Photo by Duncan Pay/GIA.

              The International Colored Gemstone Association (ICA) sponsored the invitation-only GILC (Gemstone Industry & Laboratory Conference) on February 2, during the Tucson gem shows. Participants represented primarily gemological laboratories, educational institutions, gemstone buyers and wholesalers, and retailers.

Shane McClure of GIA began with an update on the activities of the Laboratory Manual Harmonization Committee (LMHC). The LMHC establishes consistent nomenclature among international lab reports but does not address standardization of criteria and testing procedures. The committee consists of seven international gemological laboratories, whose representatives meet three times per year by teleconference or in person. Information sheets that are under development include hydrophane opal, along with “pigeon’s blood” and “royal blue” designations for corundum. Topics under discussion include light sources, tanzanite/zoisite nomenclature, and the problem of stones being treated soon after a laboratory report is issued.

McClure also presented additional color designations for ruby that will be featured on GIA reports. He noted that “pigeon’s blood” would designate vivid red color on rubies with high fluorescence and low iron content, as typified by high-quality Burmese rubies. “Scarlet” and “crimson” would be used for fine-colored iron-bearing rubies with low fluorescence, in the slightly orangy to slightly purplish ranges, respectively. “Deep red” will be used for rubies of darker tone. There appeared to be different opinions among the participants about the definition of pigeon’s blood, and no clear agreement about the proposed new terms. This provoked a lively discussion as to whether “romantic” terminology belonged on lab reports, and whether the use of advantageous vocabulary was a move by some labs to gain market share.

Chris Smith of AGL spoke on the detection of low-temperature heat treatment of corundum. Smith defined “low temperature” as less than 1300°C, a treatment range where rutile (including silk) would still remain intact. The treatment has a long history and is still used to improve the color of pink, red, yellow, and orangy corundum, typically by removing purplish or bluish components. Characterization of non-rutile mineral inclusions and IR spectroscopy are keys to detecting the treatment.

Gabriel Angarita, ICA ambassador to Colombia and president of the Emerald Exporters Association, gave a presentation on residues in emeralds caused by the cutting process. He presented visual evidence that “dust” from the emeralds, laps, or abrasive powders can enter fractures during cutting and polishing, and he was concerned that they might be interpreted as clarity enhancement residues. It emerged during the discussion that although the stones might not have been intentionally clarity enhanced, the lubricating oil used in the cutting process, or the wax or nail polish used on rough to seal the fractures from dust, could be the source of the clarity enhancement being detected by gemological laboratories.

In the open session forum, participants pointed out that confidence in lab reports was waning for two reasons: (1) the inconsistency in country-of-origin and treatment determinations, and (2) the increasing prevalence of stones being altered or treated after receiving a favorable report (for instance, the re-oiling of emeralds).

The issue of hydrophane opal was revisited, with a call for nomenclature and comments, and perhaps a standardized method of assessing and communicating the degree of absorption and its impact on durability and color stability.

While trade in elephant ivory is prohibited in the U.S., the trade in extinct mammoth ivory has been severely restricted in New York and New Jersey, and on eBay. Nomenclature to distinguish the two types needs to be developed, along with awareness of treatments to disguise modern ivory as mammoth or antique to circumvent restrictions.

Another issue raised was the treatment of spinel, once considered a gemstone that was not treated. Participants confirmed the routine heating of spinel from Myanmar and Tanzania, as well as the colored (red) oiling of both spinel and corundum in Mogok. While microscopic examination does little to detect heating, photoluminescence and Raman spectroscopy are useful. @topic:8


Publish Year: 2015 Title: Wonders Within Gemstones II Abstract: By Anthony de Goutiere, softcover, 72 pp., publ. by FriesenPress, Victoria, British Columbia, 2014, Can$23.99.

              In his second book on photomicrography, Wonders Within Gemstones II, Anthony de Goutiere presents remarkable photos of gem inclusions. De Goutiere reveals the natural beauty of these features by applying various lighting methods to a wide range of gemstones, including amber, beryl, corundum, diaspore, feldspar, garnet, malachite, meteorite, peridot, quartz, spodumene, and topaz. Readers will get a thorough overview on how to use these approaches to find “invisible” inclusions. It is a great resource for both the general public and those working in the jewelry trade and in gemological laboratories.

de Goutiere has mastered the use of oblique illumination, polarized illumination, and diffused illumination to reveal the most amazing aspects of many inclusions, such as iridescent color in fractures, cleavages, parting planes, thin films (like liquid inclusions), and voids. In one notable photo, the whitish mosaic thin film inclusions in aquamarine become remarkably colorful because of the excellent use of oblique illumination. The author demonstrates how darkfield and transmitted oblique illumination exhibit the sharp euhedral crystal faces of the syngenetic crystals inside gemstones. de Goutiere also uses diffused reflected oblique illumination to reveal distinctive surface etch markings and crystal growth markings, and shows how polarized illumination exposes internal graining and strain as well as birefringent spectral colors. It is such a vivid use of oblique illumination, which can be a very useful but challenging lighting technique for gemologists. The description of each photograph is concise, clear, and well organized. It covers stone information, inclusion detail, and lighting method. Some photos look like abstract art, and some are reminiscent of nature scenes such as mountains, rivers, and animals. These beautiful images are all strikingly rainbow-colored due to the effect of the light.

A Graduate Gemologist with over 50 years of experience, de Goutiere has filled his book with gemological knowledge, a persistent passion for gemstones, and an impressive aesthetic standard. Each photo is enhanced by his unique and artistic perspective. Wonders Within Gemstones II is an enjoyable read for anyone interested in gemstones. It is a valuable reference for any enthusiast who would like to start their photomicrographic adventure. @topic:8


Publish Year: 2018 Title: Twelve-Rayed Star Sapphire from Thailand Abstract: A 12-rayed black star sapphire, weighing 3.6 ct, with one set of golden rays and another set of silver rays producing two different-colored stars. Photo by Simon Bruce-Lockhart.
The Thai city of Chanthaburi is a well-known international trading hub for colored gemstones but was once an important corundum mining center. In recent decades, mining activity in the area has decreased, but there are still several smaller-scale operations active. The 3.6 ct 12-rayed black star sapphire shown above was mined in 2017 in Bang Kha Cha (or Bang Kaja), a mining locality near Chanthaburi.
Thailand’s gemstone deposits typically produce blue, green, and yellow sapphires (and combinations of these colors). The deposits in eastern Thailand also produce a peculiar sapphire variety: black star sapphire. This variety is found in other basalt-related deposits like Australia, but they rarely match the size, quality, and abundance that the Thai stones are famous for.
The black color is due to a very high concentration of Fe-rich particles, identified as hematite and ilmenite. This high density of particles completely masks the bodycolor of the stone. When strongly illuminated from the back, glimpses of the bluish green bodycolor in this gem can be seen. If the platy, Fe-rich particles are oriented in the correct way, they result in a six-rayed star pattern. This star is often yellowish golden in color.
Another common inclusion in corundum is rutile needles. When they are abundant and correctly oriented in the crystal, this might also result in a six-rayed pattern, often with a whitish silvery color. In some cases, both of these patterns overlap, creating a 12-rayed star with one set of golden-yellow rays and one set of silver-white rays. The stone in this entry is an excellent example of this phenomenon, displaying well-centered, sharp asterism with two different-colored stars. @topic:2


Publish Year: - Title: Expedition to the Cruzeiro Tourmaline Mine in Minas Gerais, Brazil Abstract: This handful of crystals is just a small portion of the production we saw during our short visit to the Cruzeiro mine. These multicolored crystals range from rubellite to green, with black terminations. Photo by Andrew Lucas/GIA, courtesy Cruzeiro mine.

                      In April 2014, a team from GIA visited major emerald and tourmaline sources in Brazil. One of the most exciting mines the team visited was the Cruzeiro tourmaline mine in the state of Minas Gerais, about two hours outside the city of Governador Valadares.

	Mining for Tourmaline in Brazil

Although the authors had been to many gemstone mines, the size of the mine’s gem-bearing pegmatites and veins and the quantity of tourmaline being produced made this one of the most prolific gemstone mines visited by GIA. You don’t often get a chance to see large, impressive crystals being constantly hauled out of a mine tunnel, with walls and pockets mined with picks and by hand. The tourmaline crystals seemed to be just laying embedded in the enormous pegmatites, waiting to be removed.

The Cruzeiro tourmaline mine is blessed with magnificent surroundings. Its owners work the mine in harmony with nature. Photo by Andrew Lucas/GIA, courtesy Cruzeiro mine.
The other visually striking aspect of this mine was the beauty of the setting and surroundings. The Cruzeiro mine is on a mountain, with a lush green landscape lining the road leading up to it. The mine location itself offers a spectacular view of hills, mountains, sky, and greenery.

	History
The history of the Cruzeiro mine is intertwined with the rich mineral composition of the area, tourmalines mistaken for emeralds, mica mined for war efforts, unwavering belief in the richness of the deposit, tragedy, family unity, perseverance, and triumph.

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	The Cruzeiro mine is located about two hours outside of Governador Valadares in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

	An Area Rich in Minerals
As far back as the mid-sixteenth century, the Portuguese were searching for emeralds. They thought they had discovered them in Brazil, but what the so-called bandeirantes had actually found was green tourmaline. During the seventeenth century, a Portuguese explorer documented the gemstones found in the area where the Cruzeiro mine is now located.

By the 1800s, the government’s will was strong to discover more of Brazil’s mineral wealth, including gold and precious stone deposits. When explorations in the Minas Gerais area revealed the presence of green tourmalines, explorers again initially thought they were emeralds. This belief led to much interest in further exploration of the area.

The actual mine deposit in the Cruzeiro area is said to have been discovered in 1915, and the first mining lease was established in 1938. In the 1940s, the US government was greatly interested in exploiting the mica deposits of the area for the war effort. The American company mining the mica employed 800 men, producing an estimated twenty percent of global mica production. The closest significant city, Governador Valadares, experienced significant economic growth during the mica mining period.

Today, mica is used in a decorative display at the Cruzeiro mine. In the war-time 1940s, it was of major strategic importance. Photo by Duncan Pay/GIA, courtesy Cruzeiro mine.

	Mining for tourmaline began in the 1950s when Jose Neves and his brother Antonio De Assis Neves started what is now the Cruzeiro tourmaline mine. The brothers had been mining mica in the area and taking it to Governador Valadares to sell. They also bought and sold the production of other mica miners.

	Interest in Tourmaline Increases
As the market for mica softened, the brothers started mining and selling tourmalines. At first they were only interested in large, clean tourmaline crystals. As a result, much of the production that was disposed of in waste piles might contain useable material today. The brothers also began cutting and selling tourmalines, as they were interested in moving farther up the value chain.

Not long after they became tourmaline dealers, they caught the interest of Julius Sauer of the world-famous Amsterdam Sauer gemstone and jewelry company. Mr. Sauer bought a large portion of the mine’s tourmaline production, then also bought the mine. Mr. Sauer worked the mine for about 15 years during the late 1960s through early 1980s. He then offered it for sale to Jose Neves, who was working for Mr. Sauer, buying tourmaline in the area and in Teofilo Otoni. Jose Neves sold everything he owned and invited his brother Antonio De Assis Neves to partner with him in the mine, which they purchased in 1982.

	While the mine is rich in minerals, tourmaline is the main focus and its most commercially
	important product. Photo by Andrew Lucas/GIA, courtesy Cruzeiro mine.
At the time, Julius Sauer advised Jose Neves not to take too many risks, as gemstone mining is a very uncertain business, and you never know for sure what you are going to get. But Jose Neves believed strongly that this would be an extremely rich mine and pursued mining it with all the energy and resources he could muster. One month after the warning by Mr. Sauer, Jose Neves hit a big deposit of pink tourmaline. Soon afterward, the mine began producing large amounts of red and pink, green, blue, and bicolor tourmaline, including 26 kilos of very clean rubellite.

	Tragedy, Perseverance, and Success
The family suffered a tremendous tragedy in January 1992, when both Neves brothers died in a plane crash in Brazil. At that time Beatrice Neves, the wife of Antonio De Assis Neves, her son Antonio de Neves Jr., and Douglas Williams Neves, the son of Jose Neves, took over the mine. Douglas was a teenager at the time, but had already spent a considerable amount of time at the mine with his father, where he would mine for tourmaline using a pick. He’d then wash and clean the stones he found and sell them directly to his father.

Adding to the event’s tragedy, Douglas’s mother and another aunt also died in the plane crash. Even at that young age, Douglas stepped up and took over running the business with his Aunt Beatrice and her son Antonio. In running the business, Douglas built upon what he learned from his father and followed his own instincts and intuition.

The Cruzeiro mine is truly a family business. It owes its success to the close ties of the Neves family and their will to overcome tremendous tragedy. Photo by Duncan Pay/GIA, courtesy Cruzeiro mine.

	Discovery, Tragedy, and Triumph

The mining operation today is very successful, with 150 employees. One hundred of them are miners, and the mine has produced an annual average of more than eight tons of tourmaline over the last five years. This was only possible because these resilient family members came together as a team. Along with the loyal employees of the mine, they came through their tragedy and built one of the most successful colored gemstone mining operations in the entire world.

	Regional and Local Geology of the Cruzeiro Mine
Cruzeiro is one of the world’s most important sources for gem and mineral specimens. The main mining area is located in the Safira pegmatite district within the Eastern Brazilian pegmatite province (EBPP). EBPP is one of three important pegmatite provinces, mainly situated in the state of Minas Gerais. The southern part of the state of Bahia and the western margin of the state of Rio de Janeiro are also part of EBPP. There are thousands of gem-bearing pegmatites in Minas Gerais, and they contain virtually every known pegmatitic gem mineral species.

Neoproterozoic collisions (~1000 to 540 million years ago) led to the final formation of the West Gondwana supercontinent and created the Brazilian orogens of South America and the Pan-African orogens of Africa. Orogens are formations resulting from large-scale continental collisions. Numerous economically important gem deposits have been discovered and mined along these so-called orogenic belts.

In South America, the São Francisco craton (an old and stable part of a continent), which forms eastern Brazil, is surrounded by a sequence of Brazilian orogenic belts. One of them is the Araçuaí belt, featuring west to northwest-extending thrusts and folds. The Araçuaí belt borders the eastern margin of the São Francisco craton and overlaps with EBPP.

During the post-collision stage (530 to 480 million years ago), bodies of intrusive igneous rocks, called plutons, penetrated the metamorphic rocks of the Araçuaí belt. One of these plutonic rocks is considered the source of many pegmatites containing gem tourmaline, spodumene, morganite, and other gems, plus industrial feldspar and muscovite. Although it is quite common to find large batholiths—emplacements of plutonic rock—in the immediate vicinity of gem-bearing pegmatites, in some areas the plutonic source rocks are not well exposed.

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	This schematic geological map of the Araçuaí and Governador Valadares regions shows the location of the Cruzeiro pegmatites. – Modified after Viana et al., 2007, Chemical zoning of muscovite megacrystal from Brazilian Pegmatite Province; and Federico et al., 1998, Compositional variation of tourmaline in the granitic pegmatite dykes of the Cruzeiro mine, Minas Gerais, Brazil
The current Cruzeiro main mining area consists of four parallel, largely unweathered granitic pegmatite bodies, identified as pegmatites 01, 02, 03, and 04, and another pegmatite between 01 and 02, identified as pegmatite 01½. There are many other pegmatite outcrops on this property, but the major operation is focused on these four veins. All four pegmatite bodies dip steeply to the southwest and intrude into quartzite (metamorphosed sandstone).

	In the Cruzeiro mine area, the contacts between the pegmatite bodies and the host
	quartzite are all sharply defined. The white clay minerals that define the pegmatites are
	the products of weathered feldspars, which are more vulnerable to weathering than
	quartzite. Below the surface, the width of the pegmatite can be quite different from the
	width seen in this partially exposed pegmatite body. Photo by Andy Lucas/GIA, courtesy
	Cruzeiro mine.
The contacts between the pegmatite bodies and the host quartzite are sharply defined. Pegmatite 01 is 1300 meters long and up to 60 m wide. Pegmatite 02 is 900 m long and about 20 m wide. Pegmatite 03 is about 700 m long, with a maximum outcrop width of 8 m. There are no exact dimensions of pegmatite 04 currently available. The maximum width of pegmatite 01½ is so far thought to be about 30 m.

	Whitish albite, purple lepidolite, and the yellowish to brownish iron-manganese coatings
	are indicators that lead miners to gem-quality tourmalines. A good quantity of nice
	rubellite crystals was recovered from the pocket in the upper left of this photo. Photo
	by Andy Lucas/GIA, courtesy Cruzeiro mine.
These pegmatitic veins have very similar internal zoning, symmetrically distributed around a quartz core. The zoning contains a very thin border zone, a muscovite-quartz-feldspar wall zone and a quartz-microcline-albite intermediate zone, where the economically important gemstones are found. In the Cruzeiro mine, gem-quality tourmaline is usually found right next to the quartz core and associated with albite rather than microcline feldspar. Massive non-gem garnet is also found in this mine.

	The Pegmatites

	The Thrill of Discovery
Speaking with unbridled enthusiasm, Douglas Neves and his Aunt Beatrice described for us the thrill of discovering major tourmaline pockets and crystals. They are ready to come to the mine at a moment’s notice 24 hours a day, and even though they have experienced such moments thousands of times, they feel the same sense of excitement, like a kid receiving his best present, or a parent giving birth to a child. Their first reaction is a desire to keep the tourmaline and never sell it, but the reality is that they must sell their stones to keep the business going. If an important pocket is found, they may work all night to remove the tourmaline crystals, which have become more and more valuable over the last several years, due primarily to the enormous demand in China.

For Beatrice and the other family members, the thrill of discovering tourmaline is as strong today as it ever was. Photo by Andrew Lucas/GIA, courtesy Cruzeiro mine.

	Treasure Hunters

	Production
Of the eight tons of annual production, approximately 70 percent is carving and bead quality, 10 percent is clean facet grade, 10 percent is cabochon grade, and 10 percent is suitable for specimens. The Cruzeiro mine produces all tourmaline colors. Douglas estimates that green makes up the largest percentage of total production. Pink and rubellite colors make up about 30 percent, and blue about 10 percent. These color percentages are difficult to estimate because many of the crystals are bicolored or multicolored, with crystals commonly going from pink or rubellite colors to green, and terminating in black. The black tourmaline is often highly fractured and sold for industrial uses.

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	Mining Tourmaline

	Visiting the Mine
The mine is about 36 miles northwest of Governador Valadares and about six miles from the town of São José da Safira. The latter is named after sapphire, probably due to blue tourmalines found and mistaken for sapphires by early explorers. We drove to the top of the mountain Serra Resplendecente do Cruzeiro, where the mine is located at 4,593 feet. The mine and a small nearby village are both named Cruzeiro, meaning cross due to the presence of a local church.

The Cruzeiro mine has an extensive array of horizontal mining tunnels, called galleries, located at different depths. Some of the galleries are very long: One extends to 500 meters. This mine’s pegmatites are enormous. At the deepest mining area, the pegmatite is 32 meters wide and over one kilometer in length. The property itself is close to 3,000 hectares (a hectare is equal to 2.471 acres). The area that is actually being mined is only around 100 hectares, but much of the rest of the property shows promise for successful future production.

	Navigating the mine involved descending to different depths on vertical to near-vertical
	ladders, and then following horizontal galleries. Photo by Andrew Lucas/GIA, courtesy
	Cruzeiro mine.

	Beatrice proved to be far more able to navigate the mine with less effort than any of our
	GIA team. Photo by Andrew Lucas/GIA, courtesy Cruzeiro mine.

	Pegmatite 01½ has its name because they discovered it while attempting to tunnel into vein number 01 from a different direction. They soon realized they were in a new vein that connected with veins 01 and 02. Vein 01½ is currently their most productive vein. They refer to it as Umbezão, which means “the big one.”

	The Mining Operation
In 1996, the mining operation was re-structured to incorporate modern mining methods. Currently, Cruzeiro is working three veins. The current mining plan includes a new entrance and new ramp as well as further assessment of all the pegmatites. They evaluate a pegmatite by looking at its central quartz core zone, where they find green tourmaline at the side contact areas. Next to the green zones are pink and rubellite colors, and then mica. Drilling near the quartz core veins, they look for lines of black tourmaline and indicator minerals of lithium, lepidolite, albite, and mica. Besides tourmaline, they also find colorless, white, and rose quartz, aquamarine, morganite, and red garnets. However, tourmaline is the focus as it’s the most economically important gemstone mined here.

These tourmaline crystals are attached to a section of the quartz core vein. Photo by Andrew Lucas/GIA, courtesy Cruzeiro mine.
In some areas of the mine, the tourmalines are scattered throughout the walls of the pegmatites in a pattern they call staining. In other areas, the tourmaline crystals are in pockets, some of them massive. The crystals are extracted from the walls and pockets with a pick, often followed just by hand tools.

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	The Cruzerio Production

	Inside the Mine

The processing stage is simple and uses classic methods. The rough is washed by hand in wire baskets submerged in large drums of water. Manipulating the baskets in a circular motion allows the water to wash away the smaller pieces of lighter overburden, leaving larger crystals behind. While we watched, several large tourmaline crystals were recovered. Many of them were multicolored, with red-to-pink rubellite transitioning to green, and with black terminations. Some of the crystals were quite large. There were also large blue and green crystals. After washing, the crystals were cleaned further and some were rolled in newspaper for protection, a common technique that’s used especially for specimens.

While the washing equipment and procedures were very basic, they accomplished the task of removing the overburden, leaving behind the easily seen tourmaline crystals. Photo by Andrew Lucas/GIA, courtesy Cruzeiro mine.

	Describing the Mine

	The Business Model
The mine owners are rejoicing at the current demand for tourmaline in the global market. The mine produces all colors of tourmaline, so they can take advantage of the fact that all colors are in demand. Demand is especially strong for rubellite and bicolor varieties, with strong demand for greens, followed by blues. One of the main tourmaline consuming countries is China. This has been especially true with rubellite and now is also true for bicolors, greens, and blues.

These faceted rubellites were cut at the Miranda Group Co. Ltd. factory in Shenzhen, China. They are being sorted in the Group’s Hong Kong office. The rough came from the Cruzeiro mine. Photo by Andrew Lucas/GIA, courtesy Miranda Group Co. Ltd.
The Cruzeiro mine works with Miranda Group Co. Ltd., which cuts their rubellite tourmaline and markets it through KGK, a global diamond, colored stone, and jewelry wholesaler. KGK markets the majority of the rubellite in China. The Miranda Group saws the rough at their Hong Kong office and then sends the sawn rough for finishing at their factory in Shenzhen. KGK then handles the sale of the finished rubellites. The company also sells rubellite jewelry in China.

The Miranda Group Co. Ltd. cuts the rubellite from the Cruzeiro mine at their factory in Shenzhen, China. Photo by Andrew Lucas/GIA, courtesy Miranda Group Co. Ltd.
The majority of Cruzeiro production goes to China. Cruzeiro itself cuts the green and blue facet-grade material in Governador Valadares and sells the finished stones in the wholesale market. Cruzeiro sells carving, bead, and cabochon-grade rough into the China market for manufacturing.

Describing the changes in the price of tourmaline over the last five years, Douglas says, “When I think about the prices I sold tourmaline for five years ago, I did not sell it, I gave it away.” Five years ago it would have been difficult to get $1,000 a kilo for carving and bead-grade rough tourmaline, while today he can easily get $7,000 a kilo. Facet-grade green tourmaline that was selling for ten to twenty dollars a gram five years ago, now sells for $150 a gram.

All colors and grades of tourmaline have risen significantly in demand and price. This is especially true for large, clean, fine-color rubellite. Photo by Andrew Lucas/GIA, courtesy Miranda Group Co. Ltd.
These increases in the selling price are offset by increased production costs. Costs of labor, fuel, equipment, environmental regulations, etc., have risen significantly over the last five years. Also, the value of the Brazilian currency—the Real—has risen significantly against the dollar. This was difficult for the entire Brazilian gemstone and jewelry industry since their costs are in Reals and their sales on the international market are in dollars. This reversed a bit in the last two years, with the Real going from approximately 1.5 to 1 dollar in value. During our visit, there was a drop in value to 2.4 Reals to the dollar. The massive production from the Cruzeiro mine also helps it to compensate for increasing production costs.

While the price of and demand for tourmaline has been rising, mining costs in Brazil have also been going up. Photo by Andrew Lucas/GIA, courtesy Cruzeiro mine.

	The Market

	Business Costs

	The Environment

	The Future
When describing the mine’s future, Douglas informed us that they are planning to turn it into a ramp-style mine. The ramp will start at the surface and cut across all five main pegmatite veins currently being mined, plus one more they are planning on mining. Shafts will extend upward from the ramp so they can bring the material down to the ramp and haul it out by truck.

With over 95 percent of the property not being mined and large areas showing strong production potential, the future yield of the mine looks strong. Douglas told us that his father always said that his grandchildren would be mining tourmaline at Cruzeiro. @topic:9


Publish Year: 2016 Title: Blue Sapphires From a New Deposit Near Andranondambo, Madagascar Abstract: Figure 1. These three rough unheated sapphire crystals, weighing (from left) 9.98, 14.56 and 7.7 ct, are reportedly from Madagascar’s newest rush area. Beside them are heat-treated faceted sapphires believed to be from the old deposits around Andranondambo. The pear-shaped faceted stone weighs about 4.17 ct. Photo by Vincent Pardieu/GIA.

In January 2016, author VP was informed by Nirina Rakotosaona (Societe Miniere du Cap, Madagascar) and Jack Mampihao of a sapphire rush in the south of the island near Andranondambo. The blue sapphires (figure 1) are reportedly from a primary deposit and similar to those produced near Andranondambo, the region that put Madagascar on the map as a world-class sapphire source two decades ago (D. Schwarz et al., “Sapphires from the Andranondambo region, Madagascar,” Summer 1996 G&G, pp. 80–99). Details emerged as miners returned from the rush in February. According to these firsthand accounts, the new mines are located near Vohitany, north of Tiramena (figure 2). They are only accessible by foot, and it takes about a day of walking from Tiramena to reach the area.

Figure 2. According to miners, the new deposit is located near Vohitany, north of Tiramena.
This remote area is only accessible by foot.
The author’s contacts in Madagascar did not consider it safe to travel to that area, which is known to be a haven for bandits, called malaches or dahalo. In early February, the author learned from Karim Guerchouche (Premacut, Bangkok) that a 1 kg parcel of the new material had arrived in Thailand. The owner, Isaac Stern, wanted to perform some heat treatment experiments with Premacut. This offered us a chance to conduct a preliminary study of the material before visiting and collecting samples at the site.

Most of Mr. Stern’s parcel consisted of rough weighing between 1 and 4 ct. The largest stone was an etched crystal weighing nearly 15 ct (again, see figure 1). The parcel was composed of attractive, well-formed crystals still associated with kaolin. Out of more than 300 stones studied, only one showed some indication of weathering. This suggests that the material is from a primary deposit. The stones were euhedral transparent crystals with strong blue color zoning. Overall, the material was very similar to the specimens the author collected in Andranondambo and Tiramena during visits in 2005, 2008, and 2010.

Sixty-three stones from the original parcel (mainly clean and milky specimens) were selected for a heat treatment experiment. Fifteen other stones, most of which hosted inclusions, were studied at GIA’s Bangkok lab (figure 3). The study confirmed their similarity to GIA reference samples from Andranondambo; details will be published in a News from Research entry on the GIA website.

Figure 3. A detailed view of the 15 unheated samples selected for a preliminary study. The stones were placed on a light box and are seen here using bright diffused light. Under such conditions, the strong color zoning is obvious. Photo by Sasithorn Engniwat/GIA.
The new stones showed a medium to high iron content (between 300 and 1100 ppma), consistent with the classic Andranondambo material. Strong blue color zoning and an abundance of negative crystals dominated the inclusion scene (figure 4). Many stones contained bands of minute particles, thin needles, and growth tubes. Calcite mineral inclusions were common; we also identified mica and apatite crystals.

Figure 4. A blue sapphire from Madagascar’s newest deposit hosts this group of negative crystals. Some crystals host white hairlike diaspore needles, identified using Raman spectroscopy. Photo by Victoria Raynaud/GIA; field of view 1.2 mm.
The heat treatment experiment was successful. The light-colored, slightly milky material turned into fine transparent, deep blue stones after heat treatment under reducing conditions for seven hours at approximately 1600°C. Most of the included stones broke during the experiment, probably due to the presence of negative crystals.

This exciting discovery suggests that the Andranondambo sapphire deposit is much larger than originally expected. The main challenges are the security issues and the nature of the deposit itself, as the rocks hosting the sapphires are very difficult to work. @topic:9


Publish Year: - Title: Anahí’s “New” Ametrine Abstract: Figure 1. At Bolivia’s Anahí mine, a worker removes an ore car loaded with quartz-bearing material that will then be washed and presorted. Photo by R. Weldon.

              The Anahí mine in southeastern Bolivia, near the border with Brazil, has enjoyed consistent production since coming under private control in 1990. The mine is best known for its ametrine (amethyst-citrine), a quartz variety that exhibits two principal colors, purple and yellow (see P. M. Vasconcelos et al., “The Anahí ametrine mine, Bolivia,” Spring 1994 G&G, pp. 4–23). Bolivia is the world’s only commercial source of this gem. Mine owner Ramiro Rivero has transformed operations in recent years to better control production, cutting, jewelry manufacturing, and retail activities, establishing a clear mine-to-market chain of custody for his product (see Winter 2001 GNI, pp. 334–335).

In August 2008, GIA staff members visited Anahí to videotape and report on the mine-to-market operations. The Anahí mine presently employs 74 workers and is active in five tunnels (e.g., figures 1 and 2). The company has also started to process the tailings piles to recover material that is now popular in the market, such as pale amethyst (called anahíta in Bolivia). Taking advantage of abundant groundwater supplies, workers wash the ore on location and then presort it before transport to Minerales y Metales del Oriente, Mr. Rivero’s manufacturing arm in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz.

Figure 2. This tunnel at the Anahí mine exhibits the richness of the quartz deposit. Photo by Robert Weldon/GIA.

Production at the Anahí mine is lower than it was a decade ago, but Mr. Rivero maintains that is because greater efficiencies in mining, sorting, and cutting have reduced the amount of rough needed for the value-added operations.

Nevertheless, the mine still produces some 2,500–3,500 kg of gem-quality material, from a total 120 tonnes of quartz mined each year. Amethyst averages the highest production (44%), followed by ametrine (33%), and citrine (23%); ametrine remains the most lucrative product.

The proportion of ametrine has actually increased (from 20% a decade ago) because of Mr. Rivero’s success in marketing gems that do not necessarily show the traditional split in amethyst and citrine colors. In the early years of the Anahí mine, ametrines were often faceted as emerald cuts showing a distinct color demarcation to mimic the appeal of bicolored tourmalines. But cutting ametrine for an even color split wastes much of the quartz. While “fantasy” cut gems have long ignored this purple-yellow color demarcation in favor of free-form shapes, Minerales y Metales del Oriente today focuses on a blend of colors in more traditional shapes (i.e., round, oval, or pear). This strategy maximizes yield. In addition to purple, the resulting mix of colors may exhibit “peach” or deep orangy red hues when viewed face-up (e.g., figure 3).

Figure 3. Anahí mine ametrine is cut to maximize yield while also blending the yellow and purple colors. The 33.55 ct gem on the left was cut by Dalan Hargrave; the 44.23 ct concave-cut stone on the right was faceted in Bolivia. Both gems courtesy of Minerales y Metales del Oriente; photos by R. Weldon.
For many years, Minerales y Metales del Oriente developed its own cutting styles and jewelry design prototypes, but contracted with overseas manufacturers for large-scale production. Until recently, it worked with a gem cutting and jewelry manufacturing plant in China. With the global economic downturn, today the company is producing all of its cut gems and finished jewelry in Santa Cruz. @topic:1


Publish Year: 2019 Title: Pyrope-Almandine Garnet in Sapphire Host Abstract: A protogenetic crystal of pyrope-almandine garnet with reflective needles in a greenish blue sapphire. Photomicrograph by Nattida Ng-Pooresatien; field of view 2.70 mm.

In gemology, garnet occurs in a wide variety of colors, including red, orange, yellow, and green. Garnet is also found as inclusions in diamond, quartz, topaz, aquamarine, and zircon (E.J. Gübelin and J.I. Koivula, Photoatlas of Inclusions in Gemstones, Vol. 1, ABC Edition, Zurich, 1986, pp. 158–160).
GIA’s Bangkok laboratory recently received a 3.97 ct transparent greenish blue sapphire for a colored stone identification report. Standard gemological testing and advanced analysis revealed properties consistent with natural sapphire. Interestingly, microscopic examination with a combination of darkfield and oblique fiber-optic illumination revealed a well-formed brownish orange crystal cluster with reflective needles (see above). The crystal was singly refractive, and Raman spectrometry matched it with pyrope-almandine garnet. Sapphires with garnet inclusions are rarely seen in laboratory examination, although they are occasionally found in samples from Tanzania and the state of Montana (E.J. Gübelin and J.I. Koivula, Photoatlas of Inclusions in Gemstones, Vol. 3, Opinio Publishers, Basel, Switzerland, 2008, pp. 228–242). @topic:1


Publish Year: 2021 Title: Tourmaline in Paraíba Tourmaline Abstract: A tourmaline inclusion in Brazilian Paraíba tourmaline. Photomicrograph by Suwasan Wongchacree; field of view 4.8 mm.

The authors examined the 3.21 ct Paraíba tourmaline shown above. The stone was moderately included with fine thread-like trichite fluid inclusions, growth tubes, and many fractures. Growth tubes are often open on one or both ends and may contain epigenetic minerals encapsulated within such as limonite, cookeite, hematite, prosopite, and tourmaline (E.J. Gübelin and J.I. Koivula, Photoatlas of Inclusions in Gemstones, Vol. 2, pp. 763, 764, and 780–781). In this tourmaline, we observed a long prismatic crystal that had a morphology consistent with tourmaline, which was confirmed using Raman spectroscopy. This offered an interesting example of a gem tourmaline that contained a tourmaline inclusion. @topic:13