THE UNTAPPED WEALTH OF GEMSTONES IN PAKISTAN

Pakistan is known for its gemstones throughout the world. The land is gifted with the vast and natural reserves of precious gemsstones and mineral specimen. The most famous being the Emeralds from Mingora, in Swat Valley. The other gems found are Ruby, Tourmalines, Garnet, Pink Topaz, Peridot, Aquamarine , Spinal, Sapphire, Zircon, Feldspar, Agate and almost all known varieties of Quartz are found in the Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa, Balochistan, Gilgit Baltistan.

The delicate and diverse range of jewellery made in Pakistan speaks of the expertise of the artisans, perfected with time. Despite the fact that our exports are nominal as compared to that of the potential, yet it is worth mentioning that the exports rose from US$ 1.5 million in 2001 to US$ 289 million in 2009 and the Government has set a target of US$ 1.5 billion by the year 2017.