Pakistani Coloured Gemstones: A New Export Potential

Pakistan is rich in minerals and offers: Ruby, emerald, tourmaline, garnet (pyrope, almandine, rhodolite, demantoid, spessartite, and hessonite), topaz, peridot, aquamarine, spinel, pargasite, diopside, moonstone, serpentine jade, epidote, pink beryl (morganite), purple beryl, sphene, zoisite, lapis lazuli, turquoise, kunzite and almost all known varieties of quartz. One encouraging sign is that efforts are underway to set up organized gem exchanges in the cities of Peshawar and Quetta where rough pours in and is traded.