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Take a tour of the
amazing emerald forest, the
green world. |
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In the past as in the |
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future, Madagascar is |
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proud to protect its |
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territorial integrity
and |
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its treasures. |
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John
in 1990 showing a noticeable green beryl. |
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Madagascar
was previously called the country of beryl. |
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At the center of the picture, the village of
Kianjavato is located near the emerald mines, |
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which are exploited behind the hills in the
yellowish zone on the top of the image. |
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The forest is ravaged by fires traditionally
used by farmers to make room to new |
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culture zones. |
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On
his shoulder, the |
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placid
John's friend. |
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Chameleons
are endemic |
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animals
there,
but in the |
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rain
forest
they are less |
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rare
than
emerald,
and |
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easier
to
catch. |
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Tracks
in the rain forest are usable by four wheel drives only. |
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This
one was quite rustic but very utile to reach some spots |
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resealing
hidden treasures. |
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the morning, after an excellent meal the previous evening, the team is |
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some victuals before a long trek in the forest. |
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Alain
inspecting an |
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association
of rocks |
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often
present with |
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emerald. |
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have to notice the
abundance of gneisses and mica schists, heterogeneous |
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migmatisation of épibolite type, in this region. |
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tons of emerald have been extracted from this area within the eighties. |
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as it is the case with most of the mines, a small quantity of them were |
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as gem. Actually, many of them contain a white heart visible in
the |
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of their axis of crystallization. If we want an untreated emerald, that |
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parts
in order to keep the green material. |
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Bargaining
emeralds in a ravinala wood |
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made house. |
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Crossing
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Mananjary
river |
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which
is infested |
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by
crocodiles. |
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their new discovery, the origin of the emeralds from this area
remained |
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| unknown
by the profession
within several years, but they reached the |
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| international
market steadily. |
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| Emerald
crystal in pegmatite matrix. |
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An
emerald mine worked mechanically. The hill has been scalp to reach
the |
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precious
material. |
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The
occurrences of this area produce an exceptional emerald quality,
comparable |
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with
the best emeralds found elsewhere in the world. |
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Emerald mine
located close to the Mananjary river, and visible on Google Earth. |
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| ©
All of the pictures on this
website have been shot by gggems.com Text written by Alain Darbellay.
GEM ADVENTURE
( Novel ) |
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