July/August 2003 • Little Luxuries : Emerging Gem Markets • Afghani Gem Trade More Dangerous Than Ever • Euro Halts E.U. Imports • Books: Tsavorite Garnet • News & Updates • In This Issue

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN — A year and a half after the ouster of the Taliban, colored gem trading in Afghanistan remains a dangerous business. If anything, gem traders report that the situation is worse than it was before the war that eliminated the Taliban and led to the current multi-party government, the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan.

"The impression I have is that the new situation in Afghanistan is worse than in many years. It appears to be completely lawless. Getting material out is more difficult," says Simon Watt of Mayer & Watt.

Ruby crystal from Jagdalik, Afghanistan, from the Marcus Grossmann collection. Photo by Jeff Scovil.

Historically, Afghanistan has been an important source of tourmaline and lapis lazuli, as well as aquamarine, emerald, ruby, kunzite, and spinel. Most of the country's gem deposits are located in the mountainous eastern region, relatively close to the Pakistan border. For decades, Afghanis have carried material over treacherous mountain terrain to Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province. However, today the trip is more dangerous than ever, with the threat of renegade warlords and their militias in Afghanistan and surviving Taliban in northern Pakistan.

"Now we have to deal with the Taliban and Osama bin Laden moving to Pakistan, [and] the war in Iraq affecting flights to and from Afghanistan and Pakistan," says Gary Bowersox of The Afghan Connection/GeoVision Inc., who recently returned from there. "Many [foreign] dealers have curtailed or shortened their trips."

More lapis, tourmaline, and kunzite are available now, but that may be due to a lack of buyers, Bowersox says. Emerald and ruby production appear to be on the decline because of a lack of technology, and emerald production in the north is not meeting its once-promising potential.

Mining in Afghanistan has become more difficult because the government is attempting to control the village-run mines, says Wali Beekzad of Five Lions Gems in San Jose, California, who spoke with miners during a visit this May to Pakistan.

Namak Mandi, the old salt market and new jewelry market in Peshawar, Pakistan. TOP: The Pakistan-Afghanistan border from the Pakistan side. Photos by Gary W. Bowersox, courtesy GeoVision Inc.

"It's not free like before. They still mine, but it's a little harder because the government is trying to control it," says Beekzad.

"No one knows what [the government] is going to do in the future. They have already sent some of their people to an emerald mine and a lapis mine to check them out and to stop people from mining. After they left, they started to mine again." The miners are shielded from the government because their villages are located in remote provinces.

Mining has never been sophisticated in Afghanistan, where mines are owned by local villagers who lack equipment and skill.

"These problems [existed] even before the war. There are no companies to bring in machinery. . . . You have a small village digging with small [amounts of] dynamite, 10 people digging a hole," says Yahya Noor of Noor Gems in Los Angeles.

"People use drills and some explosives. I wouldn't say there are any skilled geologists. These are basically local people just having a gut feeling. Recovery could be lot better if they were more sophisticated in extraction," says Dudley Blauwet of Dudley Blauwet Gems, a frequent visitor to the region. Mining companies are reluctant to invest money in a politically-unstable Third World country, especially given the sluggish Western economy.

International dealers recognize Peshawar as the primary market for Afghani rough. The Peshawar mineral market is 80 percent Afghani gems, Blauwet says. Kabul, the Afghani capital, was never a viable market, even before the Taliban came to power in 1996. Today, with security fears and no legal air flight service, only a handful of gem dealers will even venture into Afghanistan.

"As far as carrying merchandise from one place to another, it's not legal and they have to smuggle [material], even in Afghanistan," says Beekzad. While there is not necessarily less Afghani material in Peshawar, the quality is not as good and the prices are higher, he added. He purchased tourmaline, aquamarine, and kunzite from Afghanistan traders and peridot and topaz from Pakistani dealers on his last trip in May.

It is inevitable that local miners will continue to trade material in Peshawar, and it's inaccurate to call their gem trafficking "smuggling," agree dealers. "It is just the way things are done. This is the reality. If they say they want people to have permits, you have to go to Kabul and attempt to get a permit from a government that's not functioned for 20 years. It takes five days to go to Kabul. I don't know a single Afghani, not one, who would try to deal with the bureaucracy. They're going be looking for large amounts of bribes. [So they take] their chances going across the border," Blauwet says.

Before the Taliban took over, the border was easier to traverse than the United States-Canadian border. The Taliban set up checkpoints and often demanded bribes along the route. Today, the route remains dangerous because some of the territory is controlled by warlords whose militias have stolen gems and also demanded bribes.

"There are reports bin Laden and al Qaeda are in control in northern Pakistan and on the border with Afghanistan, so the whole area is very, very dangerous. I know it doesn't jibe with what the [United States] State Department is saying, but it's what I hear from people who try to get in there," Watt says. "The whole area is a lot more dangerous."

Meanwhile, Pakistan has severely tightened its border. "They simply don't want Afghanis coming in. There are up to 3 million refugees in the northwestern provinces. . . . What people told me is, [when you leave Pakistan] you go to the border, they give you a good kick in the ass and say, 'Don't come back.' Even people living in Pakistan have trouble getting back in," Blauwet says.

The Kyber Pass gate used for traveling between Aghanistan and Pakistan. ABOVE, RIGHT: An old building located in Namak Mandi, Peshawar. Photos by Gary W. Bowersox, courtesy GeoVision Inc.

Pakistan has benefitted over the years from the flow of Afghani treasures into Peshawar. "I still think there's generally more money value out of Afghanistan. . . . In Pakistan, as far as faceted gems, it's limited to peridot, which has been depleted," Blauwet says.

Dealers in Peshawar are finally improving their handling of material, he says. "I've seen more control in not damaging gems. In Peshawar, they've gotten some quality machines, and the quality of cutting has increased dramatically. The Export Bureau is trying to get more cut [stones]. In the past, 99 percent was rough; cut is value added. When you add value, you employ more people, and more money stays in the country."

However, international gem dealers are still reluctant to visit even Peshawar, says Noor. Most dealers there are European, with only a few Americans and a handful from Hong Kong and China. "It's not like Brazil. . . . Not many foreigners are going, because they don't feel safe. Mostly Afghanis and Pakistanis are traveling abroad."

What lies ahead? In theory, the new Afghani government wants to take control of mining and issue permits from Kabul, Blauwet says. The government has taken over one ruby mine abandoned by the Taliban, but production there is very limited. However, political and security issues, and the recent death of the minister of mines in a plane crash, have forced mining far onto the government's back burner.

It is also unlikely that Kabul will soon emerge as a gem trading center. Until Afghanistan establishes banking facilities, air travel, and shipping and exporting procedures, most gems will continue to be shipped via Pakistan, Bowersox says.

"Pakistan has taken advantage. Before, there was the Afghanistan war, and you couldn't make it to Kabul. So you had to send money to Pakistan. The entire gemstone market going to Kabul would be ideal," so that the money from the gems benefits Afghanis, Noor says. "It's still very hard after 25 years of war. You can't do it overnight. First, you need peace in Afghanistan. They are doing it."