Ilakaka Sapphire Mines [2019]
44 images Created 28 Nov 2019
ILAKAKA SAPPHIRE MINES. MADAGASCAR.
Ilakaka, the “Madagascar Wild West” is a recently new mining town of about 60.000 people, just in the middle of nowhere. It was built in 1997, when Sapphire gem was discovered in a nearby river. Since then, miners, dealers and mining companies have come to Ilakaka in the search for the precious Stone. Big companies have failed during the years due to the hard and absolute manual system that is needed to find the gems. Most of the workers are locals but many of the traders are from abroad, from Sri Lanka and Thailand.
The vast and red scenary of 4,000 km2 is full of excavations, all made by hand; some large, taking weeks or months time to dig them, but many just small holes (with the diameter of a person) carved deep inside until the sapphire rich gravel is reached.
One of the systems is to pull a man vertically down up to 50 meters to the level, where the sapphire can be found in streaks. During eight hours shifts the man fills bags of mud, meanwhile two men use a manual pulley to bring up the loose dirt. One more man flush out the gas continuously using a big plastic bag while underground. Afterwards the sacks are taken to a damm to be sifted the dirt with a metal box searching for Sapphire.
In the main street of the town, full of small retailer shops, the dealers use a torch to check the quality of the stones being brought to them by the miners. There can be various intermediaries between the miners and the final retailer who sell the final product, which is produced on-site. But almost 90% of uncut stones are exported to Asia.
Ilakaka, the “Madagascar Wild West” is a recently new mining town of about 60.000 people, just in the middle of nowhere. It was built in 1997, when Sapphire gem was discovered in a nearby river. Since then, miners, dealers and mining companies have come to Ilakaka in the search for the precious Stone. Big companies have failed during the years due to the hard and absolute manual system that is needed to find the gems. Most of the workers are locals but many of the traders are from abroad, from Sri Lanka and Thailand.
The vast and red scenary of 4,000 km2 is full of excavations, all made by hand; some large, taking weeks or months time to dig them, but many just small holes (with the diameter of a person) carved deep inside until the sapphire rich gravel is reached.
One of the systems is to pull a man vertically down up to 50 meters to the level, where the sapphire can be found in streaks. During eight hours shifts the man fills bags of mud, meanwhile two men use a manual pulley to bring up the loose dirt. One more man flush out the gas continuously using a big plastic bag while underground. Afterwards the sacks are taken to a damm to be sifted the dirt with a metal box searching for Sapphire.
In the main street of the town, full of small retailer shops, the dealers use a torch to check the quality of the stones being brought to them by the miners. There can be various intermediaries between the miners and the final retailer who sell the final product, which is produced on-site. But almost 90% of uncut stones are exported to Asia.
