Land of Origins: A Gemological Expedition to Ethiopia

Abstract

Although Ethiopia is considered the cradle of mankind and the land of origins, gemstones never played a significant role in its long history and rich culture. Only in the last decade did Ethiopia emerge in the gem trade, with the discovery of large opal deposits near the town of Wegel Tena (Rondeau et al., 2010). When the first high-quality emeralds from Shakiso in southern Ethiopia reached the market in the fall of 2016, GIA’s Carlsbad and Bangkok labs conducted a joint preliminary study (Renfro et al., 2017). And in February 2017, GIA received news of a sapphire discovery near Aksum in northern Tigray Province (Vertriest et al., 2017). With all of this new material reaching the market, GIA collaborated with the Ethiopian Ministry of Mines, Petroleum and Natural Gas in Addis Ababa to set up an expedition to the sapphire, opal, and emerald sources. In March 2018, a team of four GIA gemologists and videographers traveled to Ethiopia to visit its gem sources. The first target was the sapphire deposit in the north, followed by the opal mines in the central highlands. The last area visited was near Shakiso to witness the developing emerald mines. During the expedition (figure 1), we documented mining techniques, social impact, material processing, natural challenges, and limitations. We also collected samples at the mines and nearby markets in accordance with GIA’s sampling protocols. These samples are now part of GIA’s reference collection and used for origin determination, research projects, and treatment experiments.