Madagascar Back In The News Again

More colored stones found in Andilamena

Madagascar is once again the site of new corundum discoveries, the International Colored Gemstone Association says. The Andilamena region has produced ruby since 2000 and is most recently famous for the �ruby star� material that is often lead glass filled. For the first two years the Andilamena rubies were mined from the riverbed and adjacent banks. Beginning in late 2003, shaft mining reached the level of the primary deposit of the ruby star. The March find was the primary deposit of another type of ruby being found in Andilamena. This ruby is usually small, dark red and well-formed. This deposit contains much more gem quality material than the �ruby star� and should be appearing in quantity in the marketplace soon. Also: Another new corundum find south of Mahajunga was recently reported. However, its quality and quantity were not appraised at the time ICA released its other findings. More on this second story as it becomes available.