Madagascar Sapphire Mining is Focus of GIA Lecture

GIA to host Gemstone Gathering in Bangkok

CARLSBAD, Calif. – April 12, 2011 – GIA (Gemological Institute of America) announced today that the lecture, “Sapphire Mining in Ilakaka, Madagascar: A 10-Year Adventure,” will be presented at the Institute’s 45th Gemstone Gathering on April 27 in Bangkok. The featured speakers are Nirina Rakotosaona, Madagascar’s largest sapphire miner, and Vincent Pardieu, field gemology supervisor for GIA Thailand.

Rakotosaona became one of the first gem dealers to explore the sapphire deposits of southwestern Madagascar in 1998 when he joined a group of 10 Malagasy gem dealers in Ilakaka. He processed nearly 600,000 cubic meters of washed gravel and secured more than 1,000 kilos of produced gems during his 10-year rise to the top of Madagascar’s sapphire mining industry.

“During this captivating presentation, Nirina will offer insight into the unique geology of Ilakaka and the spectacular gemstones he encountered during the region’s well-known sapphire rush,” said Kenneth Scarratt, managing director of GIA Southeast Asia and director of the GIA Laboratory in Bangkok. “Attendees will also enjoy hearing from Vincent, who has successfully combined his two passions: studying gemstones and traveling to gem mining areas around the world, including Ilakaka.”

Rakotosaona was born in Madagascar and studied in Toulouse, France. He returned to Madagascar after he earned his civil aviation engineering degree and eventually formed a quartz crystal export business and began small-scale tourmaline mining operations. He gave up gem mining in 1996 to launch a pine tree sawing mill in south central Madagascar. Rakotosaona plunged back into gems in 1998 to take part in the Ilakaka sapphire rush.

Vincent Pardieu has spent his career in leadership positions with gemological laboratories around the world, including Thailand and Switzerland. He joined the GIA Laboratory in Bangkok as supervisor of field gemology in 2008. He has visited numerous gemstone-producing areas in South East Asia, Central Asia and East Africa, and particularly the Ilakaka–Sakaraha sapphire deposits of southern Madagascar, over the past 10 years.

GIA’s Gemstone Gathering is a free event that begins at 6 p.m. on April 27 in the White Room on the lower lobby floor at the Crowne Plaza Hotel (formerly known as the Pan Pacific), Lumpini Park, Bangkok.

Due to limited seating, please RSVP by April 26 to the GIA Laboratory Bangkok at 02-632-4090; or call the GIA Thailand Campus at 02-237-9575. For more information, visit www.giathai.net.