Gem dealers excited about doubling of tanzanite price

Arusha. Gemstone dealers say the future is promising for tanzanite market as the price of the rare mineral has shot up in the world market.

This follows the tightening of the grip on illegal exports, including the construction of a 24km long perimeter wall around the Mererani mines. “The future is very good, very promising for the economy”, said Faisal Shahbhai, the managing director of the Arusha-based Tanzanite-For-Ever firm, which recently unveiled a lapidary.

According to him, the price of the precious gemstone shot up by 30 per cent in the world market.

Statistics indicate one gram of the gemstone was currently at Sh1.6 million as opposed to Sh800,000 two years ago, a rise attributed to tightened control on illegal exports.

He said the sustained measures would see the blue-violet mineral, found only in Tanzania, increased its share in the national gross domestic product.

“Tanzanite miners, brokers, master dealers and exporters are highly appreciative of the measures taken by the government lately”, he told The Citizen.

Mr Shahbbhai, is also a director of the TanzaniteOne Company Limited, which is mining the mineral at Mererani in joint venture with the State Mining Corporation (Stamico). The government recently opened the main buying centre for tanzanite at Mererani, the only place in the world where the rare mineral is found.

The blue-violet tanzanite, which was discovered by small scale miners in the 1960s, earns millions of dollars a year to the economy through exports.

The Sh1 billion centre would ease and control buying of the gemstone and ensure the mineral traders paid the required dues to the government.