Colombian emeralds

Colombia, located in northern South America, is the country that mines and produces the most emeralds for the global market, as well as the most desirable.

[1] An ancient Colombian legend exists of two immortal human beings, a man and a woman—named Fura and Tena—created by the Muisca god Are in order to populate the earth.

Are later took pity on the unfortunate beings and turned them into two crags protected from storms and serpents and in whose depths Fura's tears became emeralds.

Today, the Fura and Tena peaks, rising approximately 840 and 500 meters, respectively, above the valley of the Minero River, are the official guardians of Colombia's emerald zone.

Once in control, the Spanish forced this native, indigenous population to work the mining fields that it previously held for many centuries.

Monarchs and the gem-loving royalty in India, Turkey, and Persia eventually sought the New World treasures once the gems arrived in Europe.

Over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, these mines were periodically shut down numerous times because of political situations within the country.

Fault-driven fluidization and brecciation of host rock within the Colombian Cordillera during orogeny led to the transport of hydrothermal fluids and subsequent precipitation of beryl and other minerals within the black shales.

These fluids have been described as “basinal brines”[12] and interacted chemically with organic material in the host shales, resulting in the precipitation of minerals such as calcite, dolomite, muscovite, pyrite, quartz, albite, and beryl.

The source of these trace elements in the case of Colombian Emeralds is believed to be from interaction of the parent hydrothermal fluid and the black shale host rock.

Muzo and Coscuez are on long-term leases from the government to two Colombian companies, while Chivor is a privately owned mine.

By night, these smugglers try to rob safe houses that store the rough emeralds before they are able to be transported to safer areas.

This illegal mining activity is monitored by the National Police, but arrests are infrequent and jail sentences are usually short.