Mining on the island of Sri Lanka goes back at least 2000 years. We have our own heritage in the mining arena. Our island is called Gem Island & also "Ratna Dweepa" because of the large variety of gems found here.
To visit Sri Lanka is to experience one of the great gem sources and trading centers in the world. Traveling in Sri Lanka, you realize it is a large island with very diverse environments. Gemstone mining in Sri Lanka is mostly from secondary deposits. The gravels yield sapphire, ruby, cat’s-eye, chrysoberyls, spinel, garnet, beryl, tourmaline, topaz, quartz, and many other gemstones. This oxide of aluminum complex produces the most expensive and most sought-after colored gems of Sri Lanka. Besides the well-known Pangaea, which existed about 300 million years ago, there were several other supercontinents in Earth’s early history. Their assembly and breakup cycles helped form most of the world’s gem deposits. Some of these cycles are directly related to gem formation in Sri Lanka.
Checking Gemstones at Ratnapura Ambagahayata rough market
Rough Gem Market - Ratnapura Sri Lanka
Ratnapura is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Sabaragamuwa Province, as well as the Ratnapura District, and is a traditional center for the Sri Lankan gem trade.
It is located on the Kalu Ganga in south-central Sri Lanka, about 101 km southeast of the country's capital, Colombo. The name 'Ratnapura' is a Sanskrit word meaning "city of gems, මැණික් නගරය ", from the Sanskrit words " pura පුර" (town) and "රත්න ratna" (gemstone).
Clock Tower in Ratnapura Sri Lanka
Most people of the town depends on the gem trade, gem mining. Gem pits common sites in the surrounding area. Most large-scale gem businessmen of Sri Lanka operate from Ratnapura. There are considerable numbers of foreign gem traders in the city too who have recognized the value of the gems. Among the foreign traders, Thai (Thailand) traders, Currently Chinese Traders are in the majority.
Gemstones Buying office at Ratnapura
Every day, a large number of traders from suburbs and other towns gather in the town center to sell or buy gemstones, that places called " abagahayata අඹ ගහ යට", " in front of Clock Tower" and " demuwawatha".
Ambagahayata Market
Most rough gemstones are buying and selling mostly In front of the clock tower and amba gaha yata ( අඹ ගහ යට). Demuwawatha is a place of gem cutting and finishes stones trading place. Large-scale merchants collect gemstones from locals and sell them in the international market. Some traders go out of the city to buy gems. This includes neighboring towns like Kalawana, Bogawantalawa, Nivithigala, Heraniyawaka, and Ela-hera
Nivithigala Rough Gem Market
Nivithigala Rough Gem Market: Regular Gem Businessmen come here before visiting Ratnapura market around 06:30 AM for the purpose of buying rough gemstones which were mine in nearby mines. It is a very popular rough gemstones market in Sri Lanka.
There are so many gem mines around the area. Sapphire is a popular gemstone Can be found in Nivithigala Area. We at Danu Group mostly buy Blue Sapphires and yellow sapphires from this area for your fine Jewels. Nivithigala is a city surrounded by a number of mountains. Most of the people in the area are depends on the gem mining industry.
tunnels
Among mountain in Nivithigala area, the "kiribathgala" is a special mountain filled with bio Variety. Lots of mines are deep and include tunnels. When we go to Nivithigala, We can see a lot of mines located in Paddy Fields.
Gem Cutting Factory
Sri Lanka’s long history and culture in gem mining and faceting have long given life to an artisan culture, which still sustains the skills required to maintain a winning industry. Sri Lanka has been well known as a high-quality cutting and polishing destination with competitive pricing and still maintains a reputation as one of the best cutting centers for service cutting in the world. A skilled cutter can make slight angle adjustments to the table to achieve a fine color with a higher weight yield. Sri Lankan lapidaries are not only specialized for free size and precision cutting but have the capability in producing stones as small as 1mm, 2mm, 3mm of a millimeter with zero or very low tolerance according to technical drawings supplied by the customers. At present, Sri Lankan lapidaries are catering to a highly prestigious clientele in the watch and jewelry industry including Rolex, Mont Blanc, Bvlgari, Cartier, Tiffany & Co., etc.
Dunilite is a rare olivine group mineral with the corresponding chemical formula Magnesium, Iron, Manganese, Silicate (Mg,Fe,Mn)2SiO4. Long mistaken for green peridot , dunilite was identified in 2000 as a new gem variety from the olivine group. Dunilite- Discovered by Mr. Dunil Palitha Gunasekera in 1996. Dunil Palitha Gunasekera Dip. Gem, FGA,- President Crystals Gallery -Gem Lab Dunilite occurs in only one locality called, “Katukubura mountain” Kolonne , Sri Lanka. Dunilite can be found in colours light greenish-yellow to brownish green, the depth of colour being related to the iron content of the stone. • Group : Olivine • Crystal System : Orthorhombic • Lustre : Vitreous • Fluorescence : None • Hardness : 6 1/2 • Fracture : Uneven • Cleavage : None • Specific Gravity : 3.48 • Optic Sign : Biaxial (-) • Dispersion : 0.020 • Transparency : Transparent to translucent • Habit : Tabular, rectangle shaped aggregate crystals. • Refractive Index : a= 1.677, B=1....
Natural Bi-Color Spinel Crystal Sri Lanka Ceylon Natural Bi-Color Spinel Crystal from Alluvial Gem Deposi t. It was bit deep color but, Inside Color is really nice. It is 5.05 Cts weight transported octahedron crystal from Rakwana, Sri Lanka. Spinel is the magnesium-aluminum member of the larger spinel group of minerals with chemical formula MgAl₂O₄ . Spinel is actually a large group of minerals. Gahnite , hercynite , ceylonite , picotite , and galaxite are all part of the spinel group . This oxide mineral is a Cubic crystal system with 7.5–8.0 hardness according to the Mohs hardness scale. Spinels Specific Gravity is depending on the composition of chemicals such as Zn -rich spinel can be as high as 4.40, otherwise, it averages from 3.58 to 3.61. Spinel has many colors such as red, pink, blue, lavender/violet, dark green, brown, black, colorless, gray. Spinel is a single reflective Non-pleochroic gemstone and A...
The Gemstone Chrysoberyl is an aluminate of beryllium with the chemical formula Be Al₂O₄. The name chrysoberyl is derived from the Greek words "chrysos" and "beryllos". Its meaning is "a gold-white spar". It is known as a hard and durable gem after Sapphire . Chrysoberyl is an orthorhombic crystal mineral with 3.5 – 3.84 specific gravity and 8.5 hardness according to the Mohs hardness scale . It is a Biaxial (+) mineral with refractive indexes nα=1.745 nβ=1.748 nγ=1.754. Chrysoberyl can be found colours such as green , yellow , brownish to greenish-black, colourless, pale shades of yellow , greenish Yellow , Yellowish Green , Honey Brown , Reddish Brown, Orangy yellow, Greenish Brown, Blue. Also, Golden Yellow Chrysoberyl is called "Ceylonese Chrysolite" as a trading name. The Chrysoberyl Alexandrite is a colour change variety upon the nature of ambient lighting. It changes the colour...
Comments
Post a Comment