Gem Localities Of the 1990s

The past decade saw growth in gem exploration, production, and marketing worldwide.Important colored stone-producing regions included: Southeast Asia (Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam), Africa (Tanzania, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, and Namibia, as well as Madagascar), South America (Brazil and Colombia), central and southern Asia (Sri Lanka, India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, and China), and Australia.The major sources for diamonds were Australia, central and southern Africa (Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Angola, and Zaire), and Russia (mainly in the Republic of Sakha), with exciting discoveries in northern Canada.Cultured pearls from French Polynesia, Australia, and China became increasingly important, as production from Japan declined.This article provides a comprehensive overview of those gem deposits that were either new or remained commercially significant in the last decade of the 20th century. Gem material/locality ReferenceAquamarine-bearing pegmatites in Brazil have yielded some attractive crystals.This 12.6-cmlong aquamarine crystal, from the Teófilo Otoni region of Minas Gerais, shows both gemmy and opaque portions.Courtesy of Pala International; photo by Jeff Scovil.