26Nov That’s Not Just a Hole in the Ground – Types of Mines in Sri Lanka


When most people hear the term “mining”, they usually think of a large scale operation, such as a diamond mine, where the pit can be up to 1 mile across and the gem material buried…

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22Sep Gemming in Ceylon – a Reprint by H. V. Sardha Ratnavira


Thank you to Pala International’s Bill Larson for including this article in his newsletter in September 2014. It is interesting to see how little has changed in the last 75 years in Sri Lanka’s gem mining…

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24Apr Our First Mine Has a Name!


Our mining project in Sri Lanka has now been officially named as “Pathal Pola 1”, which is the Sinhala for “gem pit”. This is the term that is used by the mining team themselves so…

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20Feb Our First Mining Project Has Begun


After many months of careful preparation, our first mining project is now underway. The team has cleared a small area of land and has started constructing the various shelters and support structures that we will…

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20Sep Working Partnerships


We work hard to establish relationships with the mining communities and small-scale operators in Sri Lanka and to obtain our gems directly from the local suppliers.We spend hours (if not days!) on the road, travelling…

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26Jul Visiting Gem Mines in Sri Lanka


We take our commitment to ethical standards very seriously at Nineteen48 and we do our best to visit our partners in Sri Lanka and see for ourselves exactly how they set up their mining operations.There…

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