Sapphire - Mining

Mining

Sapphires are mined from alluvial deposits or from primary underground workings. The mining locations include Burma, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Australia, Thailand, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tanzania, Kenya, and China. The Logan sapphire, the Star of India, and the Star of Bombay originate from Sri Lankan mines. Madagascar is the world leader in sapphire production (as of 2007) specifically its deposits in and around the town of Ilakaka. Prior to the opening of the Ilakaka mines, Australia was the largest producer of sapphires (such as in 1987). In 1991 a new source of sapphires was discovered in Andranondambo, southern Madagascar. That area has been exploited for its sapphires started in 1993, but it was practically abandoned just a few years later – because of the difficulties in recovering sapphires in their bedrock.

In North America sapphires have been mined mostly from deposits in Montana: fancies along the Missouri River near Helena, Montana, Dry Cottonwood Creek near Missoula, Montana, and Rock Creek near Philipsburg, Montana. Fine blue Yogo sapphires are found at Yogo Gulch west of Lewistown, Montana. A few gem-grade sapphires and rubies have also been found in the area of Franklin, N.C.

The sapphire deposits of Kashmir are still well known in the gem industry, despite the fact that the peak production from this area mostly took place in a relatively short period at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries. At present, the world record price-per-carat for a sapphire at auction is held by a sapphire from Kashmir, which sold for over $145,000 per carat (over $3.8 million dollars in total) in November 2011.