Nature has end

Pakistani stones Nature has oldest and mineral-rich mountain ranges like the range like and Karakoram, Hindukash and Pamir. This geographical fortune givesthem an edge over the neighboring Countries.
      The mineral-rich belt of the north forms a big crescent, which starts from Aathmaqam in Azad Kashmir, goes down towards Balistan,Gilgit, encompassing Karhan, Kohistan, Chitral, Swat, Dir and ends in Badakhshan in Afghanistan near the Pamir foothills.
      This Curved terrain has huge deposits of precious stones and their numerous varieties: emerald, ruby, saphire, topaz, peridot, aquamarine, tourmaline, kunzite, zircons, lapis, spinel, garnet, amethlyst, epidote, morgonite, agate and cornalian,
      Three of these precious stones- emerald, ruby and sapphire-belonged to the corundum family are mined in swat, Chitral, Hunza, Badakhshan and Azad Kashmir.

Topaz: Pakistan is the only country which has deposits of pink Topaz in Katlang, Mardan. Its golden variety can be found in Chitral and Kalam. Pink Topaz is more precious than ruby is more precious than ruby and sapphire. This mine was auctioned to a private company but nowadays it remains closed. During her visit to Pakistan, Princess Diana was gifted Pink Topaz by the government.
Ruby: Its main deposits are located in Batakundi in Kaghan, Hunza, Azad Kashmir, Garam Chashma in Chitral and the tribal areas running parallel to the Badakhshan Province of Afghanistan. This stones has many varieties and colors ranging from blood red to purple, Ahmad Shah Masood's main income comes from the mining and trading of the world famous rubies of Badakhshan.

	Sapphire: Its main deposits are in Aathmaqam (Azad Kashmir), (Skardu Balitistan) and under the foothills of Mount K-2.
Aquamarine: Its largest mines are located under the K-2 foothills and some parts of Kaghan Valley. It's found in shades of blue and the larger stones fetch very high prices.
Emeraid: Thes deep green transparent stones are mined in Mingora, Shamozai, Gujjar Killi, Shaglapar, Makhad, Charbagh and Alipuri in Swat and its neighbouring areas, These mines were auctioned off to private companies, but some of them have closed down because of litigations. The mine-onwers cling to old methods of mining; carrying out explosions to unearth the deposits. This result in the damaging of these stones' inner composition (radiance) and mars their beauty and luster.
Tourmaline: It has many colors, but is mostly found in light green shade. Its main deposits are located in Muzaffarabad, AJK, Chitral, Gilgit and Dir.

Lapis Lazuli:
The many varieties of this stone, from navy blue to bright blue, are mined in abundance in various parts of the northern areas.

Kunzite:
Its only deposits are found in Chitral, where this large and transparent crystal in Pink and blue hues is mined.

Peridot:
This stones id privately mined in Kohistan, Hazara. Its fresh green color variety is popular all over the world.

Other precious stones found across the whole northern belt include spinel (Hinza), garnet and hessonite (Swat, Dir and Chitral), amethyst, epidote, morgonite, agate and cornalian (Dir, Chitral, Gilgit, Baltistan).
Pakistan is rich in rare and preious stones, but exports them in crude and rough form to India, Honk Kong, USA, France, Germany, England, Belgium, Netherlands and many other countries at very low prices. India, on the other hand, has no deposits of such stones, yet it is famous for its gem-cutting industry in Jaipur. No other Country matches up to India in this field.
Some two mouths ago, the government of Pakistan decided to establish a Gem-Cutting and Gemological Institute, housed in the Benevolent Fund Building in Pashawar. This institute will impart gem-cutting training to those who are in this business.