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Rathnapura Gem mining Excursion, Sri Lanka
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| Region: ancient-cities | Location: Ratnapura | | | Other regions: capital-colombo | east-coast | hill-country | south-coast | west-coast | Rathnapura is nestled among verdant hills at the southwestern corner of the hill country. It is literally “The City of Gems”. It is famous for its precious stones, which have been mined here in extraordinary quantities since antiquity. The long-established industry of precious stone at Rathnapura produces rubies, sapphires, white, yellow, pink, orange, purple and blue star sapphires, ruby and star ruby, cat's eye, topaz, amethyst, moonstone, aquamarine, tourmaline, garnet, zircon, spinel and alexandrite.
In the district of Rathnapura there are more than 200 working gem mines. The mines are around 100 ft (30 m) deep, each with a series of interconnecting tunnels. The mining operation for gems has been virtually the same since the days of Alexander the Great except for the modern addition of water pumps for de-watering the pits. The supports for the excavations are still mostly consisting of logs. Firsthand experience of seeing the manual process of miners digging, washing & sifting the stones will definitely turn out be a memorable one. |
| | Tours to the Ratnapura Region, Sri Lanka |
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| - Relevant Cities
- Relevant Excursions
- Relevant Hotels
- Sri Lanka Ratnapura Maps
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