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The world's only known source of tanzanite is situated in the Simanjiro district of Tanzania, 70km south-east of Arusha and 16km south of Kilimanjaro International Airport. In 1990, the Tanzanian government demarcated the tanzanite mining area into four blocks: A, B, C and D, measuring approximately 5km by 2km in total. The TanzaniteOne Group owns the mining licence for the largest block, at the centre of the producing area, Block C.
Tanzanite is located within a relatively complex geological environment and is found in 'chocolate-tablet' boudin structure, typically located in the hinges of isoclinal folds (folds dipping in the same direction) present in the ore body.
Tanzania
Tanzania, which takes its name from the old colonial territory of Tanganyika and the island of Zanzibar, is home to around 30 million people. From Africa's deepest lake, Tanganyika, to its highest peak, the legendary Mount Kilimanjaro, it is a vacation destination that meets almost every expectation: an undiscovered country, a land of wide-open spaces and magnificent wildlife, of palm-fringed islands and turquoise seas, of a warm and hospitable people. Tanzania also lays claim to the continent's best wildlife viewing. Its national parks, conservation areas and game reserves, which include the famous Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, cover nearly a quarter of the country and are home to an estimated twenty percent of Africa's largest mammals.
But, not only is Tanzania one of the most unheralded tourist destinations in all of Africa, it has also been blessed with vast natural resources, mostly untapped and ready to transform Tanzania into one of Africa's major production and distribution centres. Tanzania is also one of the most promising gemstone frontiers, with more than 50 varieties of gemstones having been identified to date. Significantly, it is also the world's only source of tanzanite.
Tanzanite's Blue Axis
Depicted in its rough form
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Tanzanite's Red Axis
Depicted in its rough form
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Tanzanite's Violet Axis
Depicted in its rough form
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