Grafting is a surgical implantation of a shell nucleus and a tissue graft (a small piece of mantle tissue) into the pearl oyster in order to produce south sea cultured pearls. It is performed at the pearl farm with a selected donor oyster which will be sacrificed and a host oyster.
The Moken are the sea gypsies of the mergui archipelago. During our cruise to the pearl farms around Ravenshaw island we met 2 groups on their boats. This is the second group we met, the Moken were preparing some squid for lunch...
On the way to the pearl farms around Ravenshaw island we met different group of Moken people, the mergui archipelago sea gypsies, living on their boats. This family was drying some sea food on the beach.
While visiting a "Pinctada maxima" pearl farm in mergui archipelago we collected several wild "pteria penguin" oyster. In one of these large oysters we were lucky to find a tiny natural pearl... "Palei" in Burmese.
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We left Mergui on a fishing boat to visit the pearl farm in the archipelago. The departure gave us the possibility to discover Mergui from the sea as many sailors did over the past centuries. Nice.. Really nice!
One hour later and 300 meters underground with the Merelani miners in the deep of Blod D Kikuyu mine in Merelani, Tanzania Guillaume Soubiraa and Philippe Brunot don't look anymore as fresh as in the previous video.
Guillaume Soubiraa and Philippe Brunot returning from the deep of the Aqua mine ruby mining trench using the mine crane.
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A morning view at sun rise from the "Orient Pearl Co Ltd" pearl farm. Located in the Mergui archipelago in Burma it is producing South Sea cultured pearls.
A short video showing a starting underground ruby mining operation at the Winza mining area in Tanzania. Rubies were found there 5 months before in the ground but soon mining continued underground in hard rock... More info: www.fieldgemology.or g
We are snorkeling in the lines of "Orient Pearl Co Ltd" pearl farm located near Ravenshaw island, Margui archipelago, Burma. Juveniles oysters are cultivated in these cages hung from buoy-supported surface "long lines" which are 100 meters long.
A 360 degres view over the Merelani Tanzanite mining area near the Kilimandjaro mountain in Northern Tanzania.
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On the way to the pearl farm in the center of the Mergui archipeplago we sailed near the scenic marble islands which are famous for a remote cave in which some white gold is found each year: bird nests...
During the dry season near Morogoro in Tanzania miners are digging the ground to reach the gem rich gravel layer. It take them typically 2 or 3 days to dig through the overburden and reach the gem gravels which are then washed in a pond. More details on www.fieldgemology.or g
At the Ruvuma river, the natural border between Tanzania and Mozambique, a group of miners is mining for alluvial rubies, sapphires, alexandrites and diamonds... while gemologist Richard W. Hughes is fighting against nasty flies.
April 17, 2008: We arrive at the Mtakanini ruby mining camp near Winza village in Tanzania. 5 months before rubies were found there and already about 5000 people have moved to the area to get their share of the discovery. More info on www.fieldgemology.or g
Going to visit the new Winza ruby mining area, we passed through the quiet Winza village. A school, few houses scattered here and there most of them surrounded by corn fields... Lovely!
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To reach gem mining areas like here the Lumesule DSM box mining area near Tunduru (Tanzania), it is sometimes necessary to drive for hours in the bush. The area is known for man eating lions, tse tse flies, deadly snakes... and daring bridges.
When the miners reach the gem rich gravel layer they start to collect it and here to wash it directly in the mine pit as they created in the deep of the pit a small washing pond. Ingenious...
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Gemologist Mike Rogers went down a sapphire mining hole in Songea, Tanzania. He finaly had to return using the Tanzanian ways...
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In the deep of a tsavorite min in Ruangwa, a group of miner proudly present us of some tsavorite they found during they mining shift: Two large piece of tsavorite rich rock.
Passing through the ruby washing area in Winza Tanzania: gem miners are washing here the gem rich ground collected in the hills in order to collect rubies.
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At Lemshuko here is a view over the tsavorite washing plant. In this water poor region the gem rich ground is first separated from the dust and the large rock to be then bring to the plant.
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During the dry season as the level of the Muhuwesi river is low gem miners build small dam to keep some part of the river dry and mine it...
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