|  A
new, substantial discovery of
a primary deposit of sapphire
has taken place in the southwest
of Sri Lanka, in the town of
Kolonne, some 70 kilometers
south of Ratnura, the island
gem center. The deposit was
uncovered by chance by a farmer,
who was removing scrub from
a field before planting onions.
The
new site has already yielded
several thousands of carats
of good quality blue sapphire,
although most of the goods mines
have induded gueda-type sapphire
and yellow tourmaline.
Speaking
to Jennifer Heartens of Jewellery
News Asia, ICA member Gamini
Zoysa, a professional geologist,
said that the sapphire deposits
are easy to mine when they are
located in pocket, about 12
meter, underground, but at a
depth of 23 meters they are
found in veins and need to be
extracted using more sophisticatd
miining methods.
"From
a geological point of view"
Zoysa said, "this [find]
is particularly interesting
because the crystals have formed
right here on this location,
as opposed to the usual sapphire
deposit in Sri Lanka which are
alluvial, and weathered and
washed down from other areas."
Henricas,
together with ICA members Zoysa,
Marc Tremonti of Australia and
Mariana Photiou of the United
States visited the site in January
and observed hundreds of miners.
Most of them local villagers,
digging the earth in search
of sapphire crystals.
While
the locals have received formal
permits to mine the site, mining
activities are not coordinated.
Some miners have bored shafts
in an effort to reach the gem
bearing veins. The absence of
proper ventilation in the tunnels
is being dealt with by miners
carrying candles that are extinguished
when the oxygen levels fall
dangerously low. Other miners
are digging tunnels from the
side of the mountain. "Some
veins follow the line of the
slope of the hill, others are
at an angle, while other veins
are horizontal" a miner
told Henricus.
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