Colombo, May 28: Floods and landslides that struck Sri Lanka this month, killing 266 people, may bring a windfall for miners - the movement of tons of soil and rock is believed to have unearthed new gems, industry workers said today. "When earth moves, it exposes new gem-bearing grovels and this is what is happening," said Leslie Punchihewa, a top Sri Lankan gem specialist. Sri Lanka is famous worldwide for its massive blue sapphires, red rubies, cat's eyes, Alexandrites, tourmalines, zircons, garnets, moonstones, amethysts and topaz. The southeast part of the country - which was worst hit by the devastation on may 17 - has produced several of the world's best-known gems, including the star of India, which at 536 carats is the largest-cut star sapphire in the world. It is on display in Washington's national museum of natural history. "The type of natural disaster that we experienced has two sides," Punchihewa said. "No one wants to talk about it because it looks bad to talk of gems and money when we have such devastation with people getting killed."

Priyantha Pasyala, who cuts and polishes gems in Colombo, said, "Maybe in coming months we will get some real good stones."


About 3,00,000 people were left homeless after the floods and dozens of landslides. It was the country's worst natural disaster in years.


Mining in the country's estimated 40,000 gem pits is done mainly by hand. The gem industry - mining, cutting, polishing and trading - employs about 4,00,000 people.

Bureau Report