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<nettime-ann> [ann] Bokeo and Chantaburi mines, Lao, Thailand |
Actu. /pictures for news - des photos pour infos [french version below] Bokeo and Chantaburi mines, Lao, Thailand. (Chanthaburi, August 30, 2005). http://levels9.com/artprog1/actu/document_actu/chanthaburi/chanthaburi.html Ou / or http://www.levels9.com/light/actunews.html Ou / or http://www.levels9.com/actu Bokeo and Chanthaburi mines, Laos and Thailand. (Chanthaburi, August 30, 2005) The Bokeo valley is located all along the Mekong River at the crossing point of Thailand, Myanmar (the old Burma), and China. Laos, one of the least developed countries in South-East Asia, is only surviving with an economy essentially based on farming. However, this region is not as poor as the others because of fruitful commercial exchanges. Parallel to its rice production, lumber trade and poppy culture in the Golden Triangle (opium and heroin are derived from poppy flowers), huge gems deposits are laying in this valley whose name means ?valley of the sapphires?. This land became a highly coveted one because of sapphires and rubies. In fact, sapphires belong to the corundum gem family. The label ?sapphire? is granted to all corundum gems excepted red ones, which characterizes rubies. Traditionally, sapphires are blue, but since the 19th century the term sapphire is applied to all transparent corundum. It is custom then to specify the color when they are not blue. In fact, green, yellow or pink sapphires can be found. Sapphires generally come from Mesozoic rocks belonging to the metamorphous type composed of sands and alluvium clays. In a raw state, they look rather like small round opaque and cask-shaped pebbles. These days, the richest and most productive deposits are not only situated in Sri Lanka, but also in Burma?s Mogok region; they are not as profitable in Laos. Cashmere?s famous cornflower blue sapphires are almost impossible to get. Mining exploitations in Laos have various dimensions, from shovel to excavator, but still remain family or village size enterprises. Farmer and child labor is used for digging huge holes in the middle of rice paddies with the hope of finding one?s fortune and the stone that would change a whole life? Small operations are mainly using shovels, sieves and pumps in order to protect themselves from a possible drowning caused by water coming from nearby rivers and rice fields; water is constantly oozing in from porous sides. Younger workers are given the hardest tasks; they are digging with their shovels at the bottom of the excavation. Hiring remains the main resource; a full workday would not often bring anything at all, at the best, a one-carat sapphire? These gems will sooner or later all end up on the Chanthaburi market. The Chanthaburi mining region is a Thai town but also a province located close to the Cambodian border. It was the first ruby producer in the world in the 80?s. Rubies have always been considered the most precious stone. The color indicates where it comes from; a pale or paler red and a pink color stone would be from Burma or Sri Lanka, as a dark garnet almost burgundy red one from Siam origins. ?Pigeon blood? color rubies have great reputation; they are very rare and even more expensive than good quality diamonds. The Chanthaburi mining centre is no longer a major one since its ruby production is almost gone and has been replaced by industrial type yellow sapphire exploitations. In this region, mines are scarce but large. Most of the time, mechanical shovels are tossing and digging the ground all day long using plenty of water in order to separate the sapphires from the sediment. In spite of this situation, Chanthaburi still prevails for the size of its rubies and the quantity of its sales; 80% of them are passing through Thailand. An amazing gem variety coming from everywhere in the world is offered to merchants. The main supply sources of raw gems are the Mong Hsu region in Burma, Pai Lin in Cambodia, Ratnapura in Sri Lanka, and more recently, in Africa with the Tanzania, South Kenya and Madagascar mining areas. _______________________________________________ nettime-ann mailing list nettime-ann@nettime.org http://www.nettime.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nettime-ann