gems, spinel, Sri Lanka, cobalt blue spinel, spinel inclusions, spinel chemistry

In November 2024, gem dealer Dudley Blauwet encountered loose crystals and matrix specimens of Co-spinel from a new deposit in Sri Lanka’s Central Province, located between Kandy and Matale. He purchased several dozen pieces from two trusted suppliers, returning in March–April 2025 to acquire more, though production had by then ceased because the site was on private land where mining was no longer permitted. Blauwet noted that in four decades of visiting Sri Lanka he had never before seen Co-spinel matrix specimens from the country; these consisted of aggregates of well-formed crystals lining fractures in weathered host rock. From some of the more transparent fragments, he faceted 22 stones totaling about 7.5 carats.