An update on Ruby and Sapphire mining
in South East Asia and East Africa.
Summer 2005

By Vincent Pardieu
and Jean Baptiste Senoble

General Presentation: (visit here)

Part 1) Introduction:

From 2002 to 2004, before becoming AIGS gemological laboratory executive director, I was mainly teaching gemology at AIGS. During weekends and holidays. I started traveling regularly to gem mining areas in Thailand (Kanchanaburi and Chanthaburi), Burma (Mogok and Namya), Laos (Huay Xai), and Cambodia (Pailin). During many of these field trips, I allowed some of my AIGS students such as Anera Zivkovic, Zieghard Ellenberger, Jean Baptiste Senoble, Yannick Mandaba, Noah Severs, Tanguy Lagache... or visiting friends such as Dietmar Schwartz, Christian Dunaigre (Gubelin Gem Lab, Luzern, Switzerland), and Laurent Massi (IMN, Nantes, France) to join me on these expeditions. These field trips to historic mining areas were very useful for the preparation of more ambitious AIGS field trip programs. Besides visiting gem mining areas, studying gem treatments, especially regarding ruby and sapphire, was a real personal passion. As AIGS is located in the center of the Mahesak gem trade area in Bangkok , it was a perfect place to study and learn about the famous Thai burners…real modern times “alchemists”.

These two aspects of the gem trade, gemstone mining and gemstone treatments, are not very well-known to the public or to most people working with gems. As a gemology teacher and then as a gemological laboratory manager, it was obvious for me that supplying correct information to the public about these two aspects would benefit the trade as it could increase their interest for gems. In January 2005, AIGS published a study on the new lead glass treatment of rubies performed in Chanthaburi, Bangkok, or Mae Sot. This treatment usually involves some material from Madagascar. Having already discovered and witnessed the gem mining and trading activities in South East Asia during these years living between Burma and Thailand, and with my activities at the AIGS laboratory putting me in contact with many gems from other origins, I soon desired to go to visit the other ruby and sapphire wonderlands: East Africa and Madagascar!

First I want to present you what I've witnessed about the gem mining and trading activities in Thailand and its neighboring countries:

THAILAND: Gem mining is currently low in Thailand compared to what it was few years ago (when I was not yet involved in gem business but active as tour guide). Some mines are still in production in Kanchanaburi and Chanthaburi areas. With the decline of the gem mining industry within the country, Thailand has transformed itself from the mining center it was in the 1960's and early 1970's to the world's major transformation center for rubies and sapphire. Possibly 70% of the sapphires and 90% of the rubies are currently passing one day in Thailand on their way from the mines to the final customer. Thailand currently provides (along with Sri Lanka for sapphire) the best heat treatment technology available for ruby and sapphire. It is a major cutting, jewelry making, and business friendly export center as well.

Now regarding mining activity in Thailand, there are 2 main centers:

Kanchanaburi: The Bo Ploy area 30km north of this very touristy city, known for its bridge over the river Kwai, where the company SAP is still mining a large domain and is converting the areas mined already into a golf course and lake resort. Bo Ploy is now just a shadow of was it was in the past. The area was discovered in 1918, and a small gem rush occurred, but soon the deposit was thought to be depleted. Its rediscovery in 1987 turned the area into a major mining center. After few years of strong activity, the production has decreased. Currently the loss of mining activity has made difficult to find a room to sleep or even a place to eat in Bo Ploy, which is difficult to imagine in Thailand . Besides blue sapphire, large quantities of black spinel known locally as “nin” are mined and most of the time sold on many Thai markets as “onyx”.

(Left to right: SAP sapphire mine in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, with Laurent Massi and Eric Capisano:
Photo: Jean Baptiste Senoble, 2005)

Chanthaburi: This area is probably the oldest Thai mining area. Discovered in the middle of the 19th century, it had a strong ruby mining activity after the military took power in Burma in 1962, cutting the supply for Burmese rubies and sapphires. Thai rubies mines near Bo Rai were then the major world source of rubies for nearly 30 years until the arrival of Mong Hsu rubies in the market in early 1990s which was a fatal blow for most ruby mining in Thailand and East Africa. In the Ban Kha Cha area southwest of the city, some mining is visible both small scale and larger scale. Most of the production there is black star sapphire along with some less frequent blue, green, and yellow gems. On the east of Chanthaburi, around Bo Rai, the large mechanized ruby mines visible during the 1970's and 1980's are now only memories. Several small scale mining operations and some individual river mines are still present in some parts of this area.

(Left to right: Mechanized and small scale mining near Ban Kha Cha, Chanthaburi, Thailand.
Photo: Vincent Pardieu, 2005)

Other Thai sapphire mining areas: On my last visit to the SAP mine in Kanchanaburi a few months ago, the mine manager informed me that they were currently opening a second sapphire mining operation in north Thailand near Phrae which was known to produce small quantities of sapphire. I did not visit the area yet, but will sometime soon. I was also told of some small sapphire mining in other parts of Thailand. These being in the eastern part of the country close to the Cambodian-Laotian border but I have not been to these areas.

Besides these mining areas, Thailand is also rich in gem markets, trading centers, and jewelry factories.

Bangkok is, of course, Thailand's heavyweight with its numerous powerful companies; many of them located around Mahesak area near Silom and Surawong road, or in Gemopolis industrial area near Bang Na. Bangkok hosts the internationally known "Bangkok Gem and Jewelry Fair". These fairs occur in February and September. Bangkok is a global exportation center where all the different steps of the gem and jewelry business, from the sale of rough stones to manufacture of top end jewelry, flourish.
Chanthaburi is the main heat treatment and cutting center located near the formerly very active ruby and sapphire mining area. Bangkok companies' leadership is regularly challenged by Chanthaburi dealers and innovative burners. Chanthaburi weekend gem market starting each Friday morning until Sunday is famous worldwide. Currently all types of fine rubies and sapphires can be found there; from the rare unheated stones to gems heated with or without fluxes, using beryllium technology, or the new lead glass treatment. Besides rubies and sapphires, fine tourmalines, garnets, beryls, spinels, and occasionally other gems can also be found in the market. But Chanthaburi is also very busy during the week. Monday to Thursday rough dealers bring their gems to the city to supply the burners and the cutting factories.

Thailand has two other interesting markets which are becoming less active due to gradual opening of Burma and the new importance of African countries, like Madagascar and Tanzania, as suppliers for the Thai gemstone industry.
Mae Sot was traditionally dealing with Mogok gemstones and Hpakant jadeite. But these days the visible market activity there is very low and most shops display low quality gems from diverse origins (Burmese or African) along with synthetics and imitations. Behind the scenes, Mae Sot dealers are still important players in the Thai gem trade with their links to the Mogok mining area. Some Mae Sot people formerly involved in filling of ruby material from Mogok in the 1990's, were also recently involved in the new lead glass treatment and possibly the star rubies recently seen at AIGS laboratory in Bangkok. These stones contained some lead glass filling in cavities and fissures and may have passed through Mae Sot furnaces.
Mae Sai was the main trading center for the Mong Hsu rubies. The activity there is still important. Every weekend, stones can be seen in the gem market despite the invasion of street shops selling imitation and synthetic product along with low quality gems from diverse origins to tourists visiting the area. Several burners specialized in Mong Hsu treatment using flux additives are active in the area which is now, more than before, just a short stop for gems on their way to Chanthaburi.

(Right to left: A former “Khmer rouge" presenting the rubies he just mined,
Dietmar Schwartz and Christian Dunaigre (Gubelin Gem Lab) selecting sapphires for heat treatment in Pailin,
AIGS students witnessing alluvial sapphire mining near Pailin.
Photos: Vincent Pardieu, 2004 and 2005)

LAOS: We visited the Huay Xai blue sapphire mining area opposite of Thai city Chiang Kong, in the area known as the “golden triangle” three times between 2004 and 2005. Currently the three mining companies that were formerly using machinery to produce blue-green and yellow sapphires have stopped their activities. We were able to see only small scale pit and river mining involving mainly farmers that were not busy with agriculture. The main mining period is around March and April when the Mekong waters are at their lowest. Then hundreds of local people go to the river banks searching for gold and sapphires. Laos is also known to produce aquamarine, and recently while traveling in Africa I heard about a new ruby deposit found there. But several times the ruby samples from so called new ruby deposits turned to be flame fusion verneuil type tumbled synthetics… Anyway may be this time it could be true...

(Left to right: Laosian people mining the Mekhong River for sapphires. Houay Xai blue sapphires.
Photos: Vincent Pardieu, 2005 and 2004)

BURMA ( MYANMAR ): We visited the Mogok Stone Tract in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) three times between 2001 and 2004 before the Burmese mining areas closed again to foreign visitors in January 2005. We also visited the Namya, or Nanyazeik, mining area near Hpakant shortly in 2001 and for a one week long period in 2002.

1) Mogok: The Mogok Stone Tract covers a very large mountainous area to the north of Mandalay. It has been known and mined for more than 1000 years and is the birthplace of the gem traditions in all of Asia. Now, around 500.000 people live in the Mogok valley from the gem mining industry. Of this amount, depending the period of the year, between 10.000 to 50.000 people are involved in gem mining. The production in Mogok involves many people but is weak. Regarding rubies, most of the alluvial placers are getting depleted and currently the production has moved to primary deposits in marbles. Now people have to work harder, farther, and deeper to get rubies. As the other gems were not valued in the old times and as a result rejected, most alluvial mining deposits are searching now for spinels, chrysoberyl, fancy sapphires, scapolite, danburite, zircon, tourmaline, and other minor gems. Currently, several hundred mining operations, from small scale to large Burmese military run mines, are in operation. Good stones are rare and found intermittently. During the last 10 years, in an attempt to achieve peace with armed ethnic groups, the Burmese government has allowed these groups to mine in most areas. We could see many ethnic groups besides Burmese people involved in mining. These included: Kokant, Shan, Wa, Karen, Kachin, Lissu, Pao, Nepalese Gurkhas, Chinese, Arakanese mining operations. As a result Mogok, Mong Hsu, Hpakant, and Namya are still restricted areas and highly politically sensitive. Mogok is currently an important mining center producing, to my experience and knowledge, the best quality rubies, sapphires (all colors), spinels, peridot, moonstones, and some 60 different rare and collector gemstones including Painite, Pouddreteite, Jeremejevite, etc.

(Left to right: Visiting Mogok mines with my friend Henry Ho,
Studying a Painite crystal with U Ngwe Lin Htun (FGA) from New Aurora Gem Lab, Mogok
Photos: Anera Zivkovic, 2004)

2) Namya: While I was studying gemology in Yangoon (Burmese capital) in 2000, around 10.000 people from Mogok and Mong Hsu rushed to Namya which was re-discovered. Namya is located on a swampy forest covered plain a few kilometers east of the famous Hpakant jadeite mines in the Burmese northern Kachin state. I visited the area shortly in July 2001 on the way to visit the Hpakant mines. Then I spend one week mapping and scouting the entire gem mining area in December 2002. The production was low in this alluvial deposit due to the harsh conditions in these swamps during the rainy season and the lack of infrastructure. By 2002, several large mining operations had replaced the large number of small miners we saw on my first visit in 2001. The Namya deposit is well known for its fine rubies and excellent spinels, but the production is very low. Even though rubies and spinels are the most known gems from Namya, it produces many other gems like blue sapphire, occasionally diamonds, and recently pink Painite! Painite was discovered in 2004 and was previously only known to originate from Mogok. Only a few gems were then known to exist. Several pink Painite from Namya were studied at AIGS lab, and an interesting complete study on these rare gems was published by Dr. Rossman

(Left to right: Pit mining in Namya jungle, Studying jadeite in Mandalay jade market.
Photos: Vincent Pardieu, 2002)

3) Hpakant: I visited Hpakant mines in July 2001 while I was a gemology student at GIA Bangkok. The expedition was led by Ted Themelis along with my friend Hemi Englisher . Thanks to them I learned a lot on how to organize and successfully execute such expeditions. The production involved thousands of people in many locations and was highly mechanized. The “Kyauksein Naga”, also known as “Ruby Dragon”, is an underground mine we visited. With its 700 miners, it is one of the most impressive gemstone mines I've ever visited along with "Tanzaniteone" operation in Merelani (Tanzania). I had difficulty imagining that I was in Burma! We saw some important quantities of green, black, and lavender jadeite both from hill or river mines. While regularly visiting the jade cutting center and market in Mandalay or the Yangoon emporiums, I found hundreds of Chinese and Taiwanese buyers. From this, I could see that the production was still strong and the market very busy. Note: it was interesting to see, in the Mandalay jade market, a shop openly selling chemically to dyed jadeite during my 2002 visit. Friends from the Mandalay Gem Association gemological laboratory reported to me many times that they commonly encountered treated pieces of jadeite in Mandalay.

(Left to right: Mong Hsu ruby mines, Thai buyers at Yangon Emporium,
Photos: U Kyaw Khine Win and V.Pardieu for AIGS, 2004)

5) Mergui archipelago: Some people (including myself) were afraid that the Dec. 2004 tsunami that hit so badly all the Indian ocean coats had also destroyed the pearl farms in this archipelago located north of Phuket island. But a friend visiting regularly the area, told me that the area did not suffer from the disaster as the pearl farms were protected by the area geography. The production there is still weak compared to what is produced in Australia or the Philippines, but record size pearls are produced once a while there.

Part 2: Report about Vietnam (April - May 2005) (visit here)

Part 3: Report about Sri Lanka (May 2005) (visit here)

Part 4: Report about Madagascar (June- July 2005) (visit here)

Part 5: Report about Kenya (July 2005) (visit here)

Part 6: Report about Tanzania (August 2005) (visit here)

Visit also our 2006 fieldtrip reports

Introduction: Presentation of the AIGS, Gubelin Gem Lab, ICA 2006 fieldtrip to central Asia: (visit here)

Part 1: Pakistan: The Central Asian capital of the gemstone trade. (visit here)

Part 2: Afghanistan: Land of beautiful gems and unique people. (visit here)

Part 3: Tajikistan: Gems from the Pamirs. (visit here)

Part 4: China (Xin Jiang): Emeralds from the silk road. (visit here)

Note: For more information and photos about all these different areas, please visit our photo galleries available from our home page.

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