SUMMER 2015ISSUE 29

The Aurora Diamond Collection

Three-Phase Emeralds From Musakashi

Erica Courtney - Coloring The Stars

GREENLANDRUBIES

The Final Straight

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GEMSTONES DIRECT FROM THE SOURCE

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SUMMER 2015ISSUE 29

CONTENTS

Cover Image: Rubies from True North Gems’

operation against the background of an aerial view of Greenland.

SUMMER 2015ISSUE 29

The Aurora Diamond Collection

Three-Phase Emeralds From Musakashi

Erica Courtney - Coloring The Stars

GREENLANDRUBIES

The Final Straight

36

58

70

80

Foreword

Industry News6 Richland Resources Capricorn Delays Sale of Sapphires7 Zambia’s Government Cuts Mining Royalties 8 Archaeological Dig Uncovers 2,000-Year-Old Pearl11 Report Projects 21 Years of Output From Montepuez Ruby Mine15 ICA 2015 Congress Provides Food For Thought

Mining18 In Search of Emeralds From the Musakashi Area of Zambia26 ICA Mine Tour in Sri Lanka – In Search of Sapphire and More

Gemology30 The Aurora Collection: Exploring the World of Fancy Color Diamonds

Cover Feature36 True North Gems Greenland Mining - The Final Lap

Trends and Jewelry52 Sri Lanka’s Best-Kept Secret - Its Jewelry-Making Tradition

Jewelry Design58 Erica Courtney – Coloring the Stars62 Elke Berr – For the Love of Gems

Market Trends66 Rio Tinto Launches Diamonds with a Story

Auctions70 Colored Gemstones Play Leading Role at UK Auction 74 Jadeite and Colored Gemstones Lead at High-Selling Hong Kong Auction

Trade Shows76 SlowHongKongJuneFairReflectsStateofIndustry80 Color in the Desert – Gemstone Jewelry Shines at JCK

InColor ׀ Summer 2015 5 www.gemstone.org

FOREWORD

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InColor Editorial CommitteeClement Sabbagh - Chairman

Jean Claude Michelou - Editor-in-ChiefTerry Coldham

Richard Hughes

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ISSN: 1158934XChina Drives Market Correction

History tells us that a good crisis is never to be wasted. In other words the ability to rebuild after a strong decline allows a market to

reboundfromalowerlevelandonfirmerfoundations,allowing for a steady and more solid period of growth.

This might prove to be the case with the Chinese market. The Shanghai stock market crash led to approximately one-third of its value being lost in one month from early June onwards, with a staggering $4 trillion lost by investors, many of them being private individuals.

Following on from the ongoing slowdown in the Chinese economy over the past year, the stock market’s fall will clearly have a big impact on gemstone and gemstone jewelry purchases. The sense of panic engendered by the stock market’s decline has led many people to lose a not inconsiderable part of their wealth. Against this background, it is reasonable to assume that jewelry and gemstone purchases will not be uppermost in the minds of many consumers. But, as with declines in the past, and this one can be compared with the NASDAQ collapse of 1999-2000 when the ‘dotcom bubble’ burst, more realistic market prices are the basis for building the market afresh.

Unfortunately, the United States has not been able to step up to the plate and take up the slack caused by declining Chinese demand, as was seen in the results of the JCK Show in June which showed the U.S. market as stable but little more than that.

A decline in China, of course, as in any industrial sector, ripples across the world rapidly: in not so faraway Thailand, the effect is being felt with a decline in colored gemstone demand and falling production.

AndtheresultsoftheGemfieldsrubyauctioninSingaporeinJuneprovidefurther evidence of a declining regional market and a drop in market sentiment. The average price per carat realized, at $617, was 10 percent lower than the average pricepercaratachievedattheminer’sfirsthigh-qualityrubyauctioninSingaporeinDecember 2014. In addition, the company records show that the untreated rubies offered at the auction were only 66 percent sold by weight.

It is no secret that gemstone prices worldwide have risen almost indecently over the past decade due to demand from the burgeoning Chinese market. This has been clearly seen in the rising prices of stones such as tourmaline and specially rubelite, as well as other colored gemstones. Unfortunately, prices of gemstones werealsopushedupduetoasignificantamountofspeculationtakingplaceinthesomewhatyoungandimmaturemarket.Top-qualitystonesinthetopfour:diamond,ruby, emeralds and sapphires have not generally been affected as much. However, prices of diamonds have decreased and inventories have risen to critical levels.

The need for a readjustment, given the economic challenges that China faces, provides an opportunity to create a stronger, albeit slower, market with demand based on knowledge of gemstones and an educated class of consumers.

Editor-in-Chief Jean Claude Michelou

INDUSTRY NEWS

6 InColor ׀ Summer 2015 www.gemstone.org

Richland Resources Capricorn Delays Sale of Sapphires From Australia Mine

Richland Resources Ltd, the gemstone producer and developer of the Capricorn Sapphire project in Queensland, Australia,

said that following consultation with key Sightholders, it decided to delay its first sale of sapphires from the mine to the third quarter of 2015 and held a product display and education session on its first recovered sapphires during the June 25-28 Hong Kong Gems and Jewellery Fair. Material was also made available for further testing and cutting by potential Sightholders and other interested parties.

The decision to commence with a product display and education session was made as a consequence of reduced production, caused by a now rectified intermittent electrical fault that restricted processing recoveries over the initial month of operations this year. The resulting production to date would not be sufficient to warrant the start of the formal sight system for the sale of Capricorn Sapphire stones.

The product display and education session was used to introduce the first Capricorn Sapphire gemstones to

potential Sightholders and trade buyers, and discuss downstream branding. The sapphire bearing ore mined while the intermittent electrical fault was rectified was stockpiled and processing recommenced. Stones were sorted and graded in preparation for sale in the third quarter.

Chief Executive Officer, Bernard Olivier said: “At the end of June we were able to showcase the first sapphires recovered from the Capricorn Sapphire mine. We made the decision not to make the event a formal sight as the quantity of gemstones was not sufficient for the type of marketing profile we wished to build with customers. Whilst it was disappointing, start-up issues like this form part of a rapid mine redevelopment process as we continue our start-up and ramp-up phase. However, I believe the best way to solve these issues is to identify and rectify them while in operation.”

Following 10 months of construction and development, Richland Resources officially commenced production at its Capricorn sapphire mine in the Spring. Mining of Open-pit 1 in the defined JORC Resource got underway, with the Capricorn processing plant dealing with sapphire-bearing ore.

The interim mining phase is being conducted in an area of about one acre, in the region where the infill drilling (the process of adding new wells to an

existing field to test recovery methods) was conducted. The company aims to gradually increase output to reach full capacity.

Large volumes of blue sapphires have been discovered at the site, and Capricorn also has produced yellow and green stones. Richland said the Capricorn sapphire mine is one of the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere, and capable of treating up to 200 loose cubic meters per hour. The site is comprised of two new mining leases, covering 490 hectares, and is completely owned by Richland. Some sapphires are being cut and the first blue and colored sapphires are expected to be available to buy online in September.

The mine is an important development for Richland as it moves away from Tanzania and tanzanite mining into other colored stone markets, the company said. The firm sold off its Tanzanite One mining and beneficiation business towards the end of last year, as well as its tsavorite license interests in Tanzania to Sky Associates Group Limited for approximately $5 million. It closed all its retail outlets across the country, as the buyer did not want to acquire them as part of the deal.

Meanwhile, Richland launched its new online platform which will also include tanzanite under the Merelani Tanzanite brand.