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This photo provided by SSEF shows a group of five copper-bearing tourmalines from Brazil, Mozambique, and Nigeria along with, in the bottom left-hand corner, two oval gemstones that might be from Ethiopia. (Photo © SSEF)
Basel—Less than a week after a private collection of five Paraíba tourmalines sold for more than $3 million at Sotheby’s jewelry auction, the sought-after gemstone is making headlines again.
Last week, Swiss gem lab SSEF issued a news release about a potential new source of Paraíba (or Paraíba-type) tourmaline, citing “credible reports” from trade sources that coincided with the submission of several copper-bearing tourmalines to the lab with indeterminable origin.
SSEF said it used existing analytical criteria and algorithms when examining the gemstones, two of which are pictured at the top of the article (bottom left-hand corner).
Trace-element analysis of the gemstones showed “considerable overlap” with copper-bearing tourmalines from sources in previously discovered deposits, particularly those from Brazil, but the lab said it could not definitively determine the stones’ geographic origin.
Because of the inconclusive test results and the reports of a new source of copper-bearing tourmaline, SSEF is hypothesizing that the gemstones it recently analyzed may be from Ethiopia.
The lab said research focused on characterizing this new material and refining the methods used to distinguish it from copper-bearing tourmalines mined in other countries is ongoing.
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Last week, Swiss gem lab SSEF issued a news release about a potential new source of Paraíba (or Paraíba-type) tourmaline, citing “credible reports” from trade sources that coincided with the submission of several copper-bearing tourmalines to the lab with indeterminable origin.
SSEF said it used existing analytical criteria and algorithms when examining the gemstones, two of which are pictured at the top of the article (bottom left-hand corner).
Trace-element analysis of the gemstones showed “considerable overlap” with copper-bearing tourmalines from sources in previously discovered deposits, particularly those from Brazil, but the lab said it could not definitively determine the stones’ geographic origin.
Because of the inconclusive test results and the reports of a new source of copper-bearing tourmaline, SSEF is hypothesizing that the gemstones it recently analyzed may be from Ethiopia.
The lab said research focused on characterizing this new material and refining the methods used to distinguish it from copper-bearing tourmalines mined in other countries is ongoing.
Copper-bearing tourmalines first appeared on the commercial gem market in the late 1980s.
Miner and prospector Heitor Barbosa discovered the gemstone in a weathered pegmatite in the Brazilian state of Paraíba, thereby earning their trade name, Paraíba tourmaline.
It is primarily the copper in the tourmaline’s crystal structure that gives Paraíba tourmaline its neon-like glow.
Tourmalines with the same electric-blue hue later were discovered in Nigeria and Mozambique.
Mozambique has become a particularly important source of the gemstone, both in terms of quantity and carat size, SSEF noted. The country has produced some pieces of Paraíba tourmaline rough that weigh several hundred carats, like the stone that was cut into the 181.61-carat “Kat Florence Lumina.”
Some refer to these gemstones as “Paraíba type” because they are not from Brazil, though “Paraíba tourmaline” has become a widely used term for all tourmalines of this color.
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