Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka offers a thousand reasons to visit: lush nature, sandy beaches, an exceptional cultural heritage, splendid temples and precious mineral treasures... Sri Lanka's subsoils are among the richest on the planet. It is an island on which the geological conditions are ideal for the development of crystals. Among them, the emblematic stone of the country: the sapphire.
Its soil is so generous that it is possible to find many different varieties: sapphire, ruby, spinel, topaz, tourmaline, moonstone, garnets, quartz or even cat's eye chrysoberyl, and many others.
Open-cast mining by digging a deep hole in the ground (vertical shaft), underground mining. Every day, the miners embark on a journey into earth’s bowels. The earth, full of promises, is packed up and brought to the surface for inspection.
What we are looking for is a kind of gemmiferous gravel in which, once washed, the gems can be found.
Extraction by alluvial dredging as the minerals lie at the bottom of the rivers in the Kiriella / Pelmadulla area.
The raw crystals extracted are first preformed, faceted and then polished on site by lapidaries, also known as stone cutters. The art lies in giving the stone a defined shape and revealing its brilliance, colour and shine. The cut and shape always depend on the type, shape and quality of the raw gem.
The cut of a gem has a direct impact on its value, as it defines how the gem restores the colour of its structure.
Local heat treatment techniques. (Burners and modern heating).
Some sapphires are very pale in colour and are usually very included. However, they can be made more attractive by simple heating. This is done by placing the raw sapphires in furnaces at a temperature of 1,300 degrees (modern heating). The inclusions dissipate in the sapphire, which becomes purer. The colour also intensifies and becomes more uniform.
The Beruwala Traders' Market
