It’s my last day in the US before I slog through long layovers and lengthy flights on my way to Malawi. Malawi is a sliver of a country in Eastern Africa, just below Tanzania and above Mozambique. As part of the “Mozambique belt”, Malawi shares a similar geology to Kenya, Tanzania. Gem traders have long known that tourmaline, aquamarine, various garnets, sapphire, zircon, spinel are all present in Malawi, but since other countries are easier to get to, have better infrastructure and larger production, Malawi tends to be overlooked by most. So, the countries gem resources are underdeveloped and its miners & brokers are not as knowledgeable about gems in general.
Last summer, Roger Dery, my mentor in the trade, invited me to go with a small team of faceters to help teach basic field gemology to miners in Malawi. The hope is that we can teach enough of the basics that the miners can have a solid idea of what they’re finding and thus a better chance to get a fair price for it. Of course, we’re also hoping they’ll share some of nice rough with us!
More to follow when I get back…