Not required information for EPS2 students

Gemstones have historically been recovered from the stream gravels of Ceylon and Burma and more recently from Australia and the Soviet Union. Beach sand concentrations of zircon in Australia, Brazil, and Florida are commercially mined for the production of metallic zirconium ore and zirconium oxide.

Geographic locations:

1. Alluvial gem gravels of Sri Lanka
2. Mogok Stone Tract, Myanmar (Burma)
3. New England Region of Australia
4. Harts Range in Australia
   • Harts Range: in a carbonatite ( a carbonate-rich magmatic igneous rock)
   • age of xals: 1.5 - 1.78 billion years: xals up to 5.5 lb !