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Sapphires are a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminum oxide (α-Al 2 O 3) with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, copper, or magnesium. It is typically blue, but natural "fancy" sapphires also occur in yellow, purple, orange, and green colors; "parti sapphires" show two or more colors.
This member of the beryl family ranks among the traditional "big four" gems along with diamonds, rubies and sapphires. [ 9 ] In the 1960s, the American jewelry industry changed the definition of emerald to include the green vanadium-bearing beryl.
Some habits of a mineral are unique to its variety and locality: For example, while most sapphires form elongate barrel-shaped crystals, those found in Montana form stout tabular crystals. Ordinarily, the latter habit is seen only in ruby. Sapphire and ruby are both varieties of the same mineral: corundum.
The metals and common colours of heraldry. One system of hatching is shown at right. Tinctures are the colours, metals, and furs used in heraldry.Nine tinctures are in common use: two metals, or (gold or yellow) and argent (silver or white); the colours gules (red), azure (blue), vert (green), sable (black), and purpure (purple); and the furs ermine, which represents the winter fur of a stoat ...
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Corundum is a crystalline form of aluminium oxide (Al 2 O 3) typically containing traces of iron, titanium, vanadium, and chromium. [3] [4] It is a rock-forming mineral.It is a naturally transparent material, but can have different colors depending on the presence of transition metal impurities in its crystalline structure. [7]
Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapphires. Ruby is one of the traditional cardinal gems, alongside amethyst, sapphire, emerald, and diamond. [3] The word ruby comes from ruber, Latin for red. The color of a ruby is due to the element chromium.
Zambia is the world's second biggest producer, with Kagem mine being the world's largest emerald mine [11] responsible for 25–30% of the world's production of gem-quality stones. [12] In 2019 Kagem emerald mine produced 42.4 million carats of emeralds. [13] The Zambian emerald sector is an important contributor of tax revenue to the Government.