It
was in 1953, after so many years,
that the last new gem variety
was found in USA. The discovery
of 'Benitoite' in San Benito
country in California, before
the world war 1 in 1907 and
during the next 38 years no
new additions came on the list
of gemstones.
Mr.
F.L.D. Ekanayake, who was with
the Customs Department then,
was a keen observer, as well
as a gemmologist. In 1953, he
came across two dark green cut
stones brought by a dealer from
the local gem market in Colombo.
Althogh they looked more like
glass, his keen eyes did not
miss some special properties
shown by these stones which
aroused his interest. With the
help of foreign gemmologists,
he explored the nature of this
mysterious stone looking like
glass.
The
Opinion of the most of the experts
was that, it was a variety of
natural glass or a newly manufactured
artificial glass. But Mr. Ekanayake
was very confident that this
is a new variety. Testing and
analysing of the sample took
nearly 7 years with prolonged
procedures. Finally in 1961
it was published in the famous
magazine "Nature"
that Mr. Ekanayake had discovered
a new mineral from Sri Lanka
and it was named after him as
"Ekanite".
The
properties of this gem variety
shows that it is highly radio-active
compared to many supposed to
be radio-active minerals such
as, Zircon or even radiation
included stones like blue topaz.
High percentage of Radioactivity
is due to its main component
of the chemical composition
called Th{thorium}
This
new find had received much attention
as well as criticism in many
international exhibitions during
the decade. Many gemmologists
around the world were eager
to possess a piece of this new
variety. Mr. Ekanayake later
had found the exact locality
of the mineral. It was an area
close to Eheliyagoda.
Ekanites
are still found among gem gravels
from the sabaragamuwa valley.
In Recent times there are three
reported deaths due to keeping
Ekanite at a close proximity
by three gem dealers.
Being
the discoverer of the gemstone,
Mr. Ekanayake has never complained
about any unusual disorders
as he was very careful about
handling and safe keeping of
the samples, and he took great
care to prevent his family members
getting exposed to the harmful
radiations emitted by the mineral
Ekanite.
Physical
& Optical properties of
Ekanite
Chemical
composition : K{Ca,Na}2.Th[Si8020]
{approx. weight of Th is always
about 30%} of the total weight
of any given specimen}
Hardness
: 6 - 6.5
Refractive
Index : 1.57
Specific
Gravity : 3.30
Common
Colors : Green, Yellow, Dark
Red, Brown, there are star ekanite
as well. {as a gemmologist myself,
I have found the radio activity
levels or ekanite specimens
I have come across so far are
extremely high compared to many
radiation induced stones and
Natural Zircon which prove that
they have naturally induced
radioactivity {metamict Zircon}
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