Now, the exclusive miner of the ore, TanzaniteOne, is working in collaboration with the Tanzanian Government. Since its discovery, a combination of government interference and mismanagement has prevented tanzanite from fulfilling its potential.

Due to the extremely limited ore body, extraction of tanzanite is only expected to continue for another twenty years, leading to it being called the РІР‚Вgemstone of a generationРІР‚в„ў. The blueish-purple stone was discovered in the 1960s by Tiffany & Co, which described it as the most beautiful stone to be found in 2,000 years. The circumstances of its formation some 585 million years ago were so unusual, involving tectonic plate movements and extreme heat, that itРІР‚в„ўs unlikely it will be found anywhere other than at this small, 4km by 2km area. Tanzanite is only found in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, from which it derives its name. Growth in jade mines in British Columbia, Canada has helped to fill the gap, which now meets 8.3% of global jade production. This, together with unrest over the past decade has hit the jade market hard, but despite disruption Myanmar remains by far the largest producer. However, historically, little of this wealth has trickled down to the population and much of the people live in poverty.Р”Р‡ollowing the election of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi in 2015, a moratorium was passed on all mining licences. This is worth up to $31bn and accounts for as much as half of the countryРІР‚в„ўs GDP. The countryРІР‚в„ўs output accounts for 70%, or 30,000t, of jade each year.

Jade is the second-biggest contributor to the global gemstone market, accounting for $3bn-$6bn, and Myanmar is the worldРІР‚в„ўs largest jade producer. Inside TanzaniaРІР‚в„ўs mineral trading hubs Jade in Myanmar The oldest, and probably best known, gemstone mined there however, is lapis lazuli, a rich blue stone that has been mined in the Hindu Kush region since the Neolithic period. Inhabitants who canРІР‚в„ўt afford large and expensive mining machinery often sift through the mounds of earth covering the landscape, left by previous miners.Р”Р„fghanistan is a country with high mineral wealth, boasting reserves of topaz, rubies and emeralds, amongst others. Instead, locals use a variety of mining machines to excavate their own small plots. Today, Cooper Pedy supplies the majority of the worldРІР‚в„ўs opals, despite no large mining companies operating in the area. Opals were discovered in Cooper Pedy a hundred years ago and the area has since drawn people from all over the world to live a subterranean life while in search of great fortune. This semi-subterranean town is located in the post-apocalyptic landscape of the desert, and takes its name from the Aboriginal РІР‚Вkupa pitiРІР‚в„ў, meaning white manРІР‚в„ўs hole. However, mining in this area has been broadly criticised by environmental groups due to the deforestation it has caused.Р”Р„ustraliaРІР‚в„ўs Cooper Pedy is one of the most bizarre places in the world. The rush saw more sapphires discovered in the Corridor Ankeniheny-Zahamena, a rainforest to the north of the island, in six months than in all of Madagascar over the past 20 years. Those found in Kagem mine contain elements which can be up to 1.3 billion years old. The hard, green stones only occur in very specific geological formations, making them some of the rarest in the world. This accounts for a quarter of the global production of emeralds. Since 2010 the value of emeralds has increased by 500% and Zambia is home to the worldРІР‚в„ўs largest emerald operation, Kagem mine, owned by Gemfields. Open-pit mining techniques bring the operational capacity to 150 t per hour. As such, the Montepuez siteРІР‚в„ўs 33,600ha amounts to an impressive resource.

Rubies are the most highly valued gemstones after diamonds and often sell for more per carat. Comparatively, Burmese rubies, some of the most popular on the market, are a mere 25 million years old. It produces some of the oldest rubies in the world, originally formed 500 million years ago. The Montepuez ruby mine in the north-east of Mozambique boasts the largest ruby asset globally and is currently valued at around $1bn.

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