Vignette Colored Gemstones The Artisanal Mining Grand
The mining of colored gemstonessuch as sapphires, rubies, emerald, and tanzanitehas grown as a source of livelihood for ASM workers as consumers tastes in precious gemstones expanded beyond diamonds, a trend that seems likely to continue. The mining of colored stones is widespread. Fortyseven countries are known producers of mined and refined gemstones ( Boehm 2014, GIA 2016) and