Madagascar Gems and Rough
Bulletin

September 6, 2007

Madagascar Gem Mines

Madagascar gem mines tend to look like an ugly pile of dirt, rocks and pits, especially in the arid southern part of the country.

Madagascar gem mines can also yield world-class gems.. if you have chosen the right "ground" and have a trustworthy manager overseeing the work.

Since Gilbert has relocated to Tulear, he has put his GPS unit to good use. In addition to visiting established mines in the area to source rough to fill your requests, he has explored parts of the region in search of new gem deposits.

Madagascar gem mines are being born as you read this Bulletin. Gilbert has located three "gem grounds" within 100 km of Tulear. And we purchased the exclusive mining rights from the Madagascar government.

On these three gem grounds Gilbert found deposits of spinel, tourmaline, blue kornerupine, and the color shift garnet  that a number of you have ordered. Oh, yes, he also found facet grade blue moonstone.

To operate even one gem mine successfully requires constant and direct supervision. So how does Gilbert oversee multiple mines spread over three different grounds measuring 2.5 km by 2.5 km? The answer of course is, he cannot.

In this development phase, we are working with the nearby villagers. They are digging exploratory trenches and pits to better scope the grounds. Gilbert tells me he will then rent a "mechanical shovel" to remove the expected 1 to 2 meter thick overburden in the most promising locations. I assume that a mechanical shovel is a backhoe.

After the overburden is removed from the digging areas and stored for future restoration, some villagers will be authorized to do the mining. We will then buy the rough from them at the market rate.

Madagascar gem mines are truly low tech, but they do require development to get down to the good stuff.

We will continue to source facet rough for you from nearby mines. The available rough includes color shift garnet, chrysoberyl, spinel, blue kornerupine, red-orange spessartite and more.

Gilbert is also planning a twice delayed trip to the north to buy sapphire rough to fill some current requests. If you are interested in these sapphires, let us know.

Tell us what rough you are interested in, and we will get it for you. Just ontact us by email (guarded by anti-spam solution).

Facet Rough for Training

We also supply parcels of beryl and other low cost rough for those conducting faceting classes and individuals learning to facet on their own.

We ship this material from Madagascar to the USA at no additional air freight cost. Shipping cost is levied by weight bracket, so we can sometimes include some low cost material and still stay under the next cost increment.

We view this as serving our customer's needs, and helping to grow the ranks of gem faceters.

Reference Links

We are receiving requests for some general Madagascar information. We will add pages and links as time permits.

Gem stone rough from Madagascar will make big money for you!

Madagascar Gems

 

 

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