corundum, ruby, Afghanistan.12, treatments.6, Sri Lanka.12, gems

Mr. Gary Bowersox, president of Gem Industries, Inc., in Honolulu, Hawaii, reports that a new find of gem-quality ruby has been discovered in Afghanistan, northeast of Kabul. This mine is unrelated to the deposit near Sorobi, known as the Jegdalek mine, that was reported by Mr. Bowersox in his article “A Status Report on Gemstones from Afghanistan,” which appeared in the Winter 1985 issue of Gems & Gemology. Mr. Gordon Bleck also has informed us that many Sri Lankan pink sapphires are heat treated in Sri Lanka to improve their color by driving off any blue overtones that may be present. The heating is done in air in an open fire, and the temperature reached during this type of heat treatment may be as high as 1100 °C.