"Vato Masina I": Sapphires rush near Bemainty, Madagascar (first part)

In September 2016 a major sapphire rush took place near Bemainty village close to Ambatondrazaka in Madagascar. Blue and orange sapphires of exceptional quality and size were discovered in a forest covered area part of the CAZ, an area dedicated to conservation. The discovery soon attracted tens of thousands of miners from all around Madagascar. Field Gemologist Vincent Pardieu, an independent consultant with a passion for both gemology and conservation, visited the new deposit in Feb 2017 while the rush was already ongoing for 6 months. This short video is about that first field expedition.

Vincent Pardieu  returned there in October 2017 for a second expedition to see how things changed. The following short video is about that second field expedition:

"Vato Masina II": Return to Bemainty ...

For more info:

See the complete article about the area published in the Spring 2017 issue of InColor Magazine:
http://www.gemstone.org/incolor/Incol...

See also the complete study on that new material that we published as a pdf on GIA website:

Pardieu V., Vertriest W., Weeramonkhonlert V., Raynaud V., Atikarnsakul U., Perkins R. (2017) Sapphires from the gem rush Bemainty area, Ambatondrazaka (Madagascar).
https://www.gia.edu/gia-news-research...

See also Rosey Perking reports, after her expedition in Oct 2016:

Perkins R. (2016) Sapphire rush in the jungle east of Ambatondrazaka, Madagascar: an expedition report:
https://roseyperkins.com/visit-sapphi...
https://roseyperkins.com/sapphire-rus...
https://roseyperkins.com/sapphire-rus...
and watch the following video she published after her return:
Video

See also our first report on GIA website:
Perkins R., Pardieu V. (2016) Gem News International: Sapphire rush near Ambatondrazaka, Madagascar. Gems & Gemology, 52(4), 429-430.
See at:
https://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/win...

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