The countries that export most gemstones in the world are in all the continents; but we will specify the location of those that have the biggest deposits according to the importance of the gems.
Throughout history, the world production of precious stones has been moving from one continent to another, a process in which the vision of the wealth of Western culture has greatly influenced and the role that jewels play as a symbol of power and material abundance.
In ancient times, amber was a very valuable stone, and it was exploited from 3400 BC in the Baltic Sea in Europe, and from then until 800 BC the Egyptians had exploitations of emeralds, turquoise and other gems, which gave the African continent the supremacy of gem production.
The next stage began in 800 BC until 1725 BC, when the diamond, the sapphire, the garnet, the spinel, the ruby, the zircon, among other gems became the predominant gemstones, and India was the largest productive centre, in addition to Ceylon, the current Sri Lanka, so Southeast Asia became the leader of production of gems in the world.
But in 1725, history changed because the diamond became the gemstone desired by all, and very productive deposits were discovered in South America, specifically in Brazil, which made that area the largest producer until 1870, when much more productive deposits were discovered in the town of Kimberley, in South Africa.
The world panorama of gemstones production is very changeable because new deposits appear and are exploited; and apart from the world of diamonds, the exploited and commercialized gemstones with most economic benefits worldwide are emeralds, sapphires, rubies and pearls.
For example, the ruby, worn by famous jewellery designers, is located in Myanmar, the former Burma, its main producer, but the political situation in this country makes access to the deposits very difficult, and therefore the knowledge of its real production is also complicated. But Thailand has become an interesting option in terms of the production of gemstones such as ruby, since Myanmar’s production has fallen, in addition to the fact that Vietnam also has considerable potential.
In relation to sapphires, it is considered that the contribution they make to the global economy is much greater than that of rubies, while the most beautiful ones have been found in Kashmir, which is a region of India that also presents an important political instability; so the current production is almost nil. Other important productive deposits are in Myanmar, Cambodia, Australia, Thailand and Sri Lanka.
As for emeralds, these gemstones of greater quality and value are obtained from the deposits located in Colombia, considering that 80% of the emeralds of value in the world come from that country. Also, there are important deposits in the Ural Mountains in Russia, where the gems are of excellent quality; but due to the political regime of this country, there is information that is not known. There is also a significant and little known production in Kazakhstan, Zambia, Madagascar, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
In relation to other gemstones, we have that the largest deposits of lapis lazulis in the world are in Afghanistan and Chile, while China and Myanmar have very productive jade deposits and some varieties of quartz widely used in jewelry worldwide have their large deposits in India, Russia, Siberia, Russia, the Alps, Austria and Switzerland, among other countries.
For its part, Europe stands out for the amber deposits on the Baltic Sea coast, as well as the aquamarines and heliodores of the Ural Mountains in Russia, the chrysoberyls and moldavites in the Czech Republic, epidotes, axinites and many other gems in Italy, France and Germany that bring high economic benefits to the world economy.
As for South America, the highest quality gemstones are found in Brazil, specifically in Minas Gerais, where diamonds, topazes, emeralds, aquamarines, morganites, spinels, garnets, kunzites, tourmalines, quartz of many varieties and almost all gems of metamorphic and pegmatitic origin are abundant.
If we talk about an important country in the production of gemstones that are exploited and exported, we must mention the United States, which has deposits of sapphires, turquoise, topaz, garnets, tourmaline, spodumene, red beryl and other gems that report great profits to the economy of this country, like Mexico, that has important deposits of fire opals and nobles, as well as the topazes of San Luis Potosí and the amethysts of Guerrero.
Africa is a continent rich in gemstones, as it has diamonds of excellent quality in large quantities in South Africa, Ghana, Angola, Bostwana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Namibia, as well as emeralds, sapphires, rubies, chrysoberyl, garnets, tiger’s eye, tourmalines and zircons in countries like Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Tanzania.
Finally, Oceania has become a major producer of diamonds, as important deposits were recently discovered in Australia, standing out as one of the world’s leading producers, as well as it has sapphire, turquoise, opal and spinel deposits.
ALFA