SL earns Rs. 35,225.40 m in gem exports in 2011

Nimal Wijesinghe Anuradhapura additional district group corr

Sri Lanka has earned Rs. 35,225.40 million by exporting 29,485.1 carats of gemstones. Mainly blue, pink, star, white, yellow, violet, orange, golden and green sapphires, garnet, ruby, star ruby, topaz etc. have been exported.

This is according to the Sri Lanka minerals yearbook for 2011.

Sri Lanka has been earning a high reputation for its gemstones the world over. Some of the best known gem mining areas are Ratnapura, Elahera, Moneragala, Kamburupitiya, Okkampitiya, Balangoda and Tammennawa Galapitagala in Kataragama where an expanse of land was sold by the National Gem and Jewellery Authority for Rs. 270 million for gem mining making it a historical sales record. According to the authority sources, the most commonly found gemstones in Sri Lanka are sapphire, ruby, aquamarine, topaz, tourmalin, garnet, spinel and zircon.

During 2007 and 2010, the production of gemstones had been 29,504,607 carats. In 2010, blue sapphires of 283.6 carats worth Rs. 423.09 million has been exported. In 2009, 281.2 carats worth Rs. 4183.16 million has been exported.

Sources say that an accurate data collection of export figures is not possible due to illegal activities, such as, illegal mining and mineral transport.