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PAKISTAN |
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Tourmaline
from Estaknala, located at the foot of Haramosh mount, 7 kms from Sassi.
(Between Gilgit and Skardu) |
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The
Northern areas conceals treasures, such of rubies,
emeralds,
sapphires,
aquamarines,
topazes,
tourmalines etc. Unfortunately, their extraction
directly in the bed-rock, makes the exploitation very difficult. |
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Emeralds
from Sassi found in a limestone.

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A
gravel-top 241 kms road track connects Gilgit to
Skardu, the capital of
Baltistan perched 2438 meters above sea level. The journey takes 6 to 8
hours. Sassi is located at the edge of this road, in the geological belt
made up amongst other things of amphibolites surrounding Nanga Parbat, one
of the famous peaks of the Himalayas.
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Nanga Parbat -
Haramosh Geological Maps
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In Sassi, life is hard, but the inhabitants are friendly. |
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At
an elevation of 1,454 meters lies Gilgit. |
This wood bridge is one of the longest of the |
The
Rakaposhi Volcanic Complex previously called the greenstone complex covers
a large part of the Hunza Valley.Four main lithological elements
comprising the whole mass: 1
basalt-andesite-dacite-rhyodacite to rhyolite. 2 greenschists,
actinolite,chlorite schists, hornblend schist, amphibolite and
agglomerates 3 Medium crystalline limestone and marble,
quartzite, chert, slates and micaschist. 4
The igneous intrusions are mostly in the form of acid and basic sills and
dykes. Leucocratic granites bodies are quite common.

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Himalayas. |
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Rakaposhi overview from Aliabad. |
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Valley of Hunza.
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Situated at an elevation of
2,300 meters,
Hunza
Valley is the spot of the famous rubies found in a
metamorphic limestone, said:( Ganesh marble.) |
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· Emerald
from Mingora, the main city of Swat. The
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deposit
discovered
in 1958 was closured and monopolized |
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by the government, it is what compelled certain inhabitants |
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residing in the neighborhood to dig under their
house |
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in
order to research the prohibited treasure. |
TECTONIC
CONTROL OVER EMERALD MINERALIZATION IN SWAT. |
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It
is in the Swat valley that Alexander of Macedon fought |
Emerald
and chromian tourmaline occur in carbonate-talc/ |
and
won some of his major battles before crossing over |
serpentine/chlorite
rocks, carbonate-bearing talc schists, |
to the plain of Pakistan. |
and
associated quartz veins near Mingora, Charbagh, and |
Let us note that the emerald was known for a long time |
Shangla.
The rocks are altered ultramafics found in a |
in this valley, thanks to an analysis on a stone of a |
discontinuous
belt of volcanic, volcano-sedimentary, and |
Gallo-Roman ear-ring, witch shown that this emerald |
sedimentary
rocks that have undergone high P-low T |
originated in of the mines located in the Swat valley. |
metamorphism. |
This thanks to the measurement of the report/ratio of |

This is at the occasion of one of our
visits in the valley, that some children tolled us that they found some
fragments of emerald in the Swat river.
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concentration of the isotopes
18O
and 16O.
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Indeed,
the isotopic composition out of oxygen of this |
precious
stone is dependent on that of the rock where |
it
crystallized. |
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·
Central street of Mingora. |
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Blue-green
tourmaline from Kunar valley, Afghanistan. |
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Namak
Mandi, old Peshawar,
on the road to Afghanistan. |
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©
All of the pictures on this
website have been shot by
gggems.com Text written by Alain
Darbellay. |
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