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Tanzanite is the blue/purple variety of the mineral zoisite discovered in the Meralani Hills of northern Tanzania in 1967, near the city of Arusha. It is a popular and valuable gemstone when cut, although its durability is somewhat lacking. Tanzanite is noted for its remarkably strong trichroism, appearing alternately sapphire blue, violet, and sage-green depending on crystal orientation. However, most tanzanite is subjected to artificial heat treatment to improve its colour: this significantly subdues its trichroism.The name tanzanite was a trade name coined by Tiffany & Co. shortly after the gem's discovery, an obvious allusion to its country of origin. This was thought necessary in order to make the stone marketable to the public: the name has since stuck as a varietal designation. Tanzanite's present-day popularity as a gemstone is largely thanks to Tiffany's marketing campaigns. The mining of tanzanite nets the Tanzanian government approximately USD $20 million annually, the finished gems later being sold mostly on the US market for sales totaling approx. USD $500 million annually.
In June of 2003, the Tanzanian government introduced legislationLegislation refers to the set of statutory laws in a state. Legislation is passed by a legislature and, in some states, must also be confirmed by the executive. When a bill becomes a law the law is said to be 'promulgated' or 'enacted'. For information on banning the exportEconomics In economics, an export is any good or commodity, shipped or otherwise transported out of a country, province, town to another part of the world, typically for use in trade or sale. Export products or services are provided to foreign consumers b of unprocessed tanzanite to IndiaThe Republic of India is a large multicultural country in South Asia, with a population of over one billion. The Indian economy is the fourth largest in the world, in terms of purchasing power parity, and is the world's second-fastest growing economy. (like many gemstones, most tanzanite is cut in JaipurJaipur , also popularly known as the Pink City, historically sometimes rendered as Jeypore is the capital of Rajasthan state, India. Jaipur is also the capital of Jaipur District . Jaipur is the former capital of a princely state of the same name. The cit). The ban has been rationalized as an attempt to spur development of local processing facilities, thereby boosting the economyEconomics is the social science studying how society uses its limited resources to meet desires and wants. Put otherwise, economics studies what, how and for whom society produces. This involves analyzing the production, distribution and consumption of go and recouping profitProfit is what is gained, after costs are accounted for. In accounting, this is usually measured in monetary terms. In economics, profit is most often measured differently, since costs are opportunity costs. Profit is income received by buying low and sels. This ban will be phased in over the next two years, until which time only stones over 0.5 gramFor other meanings of gram see gram (disambiguation). The gram (also spelt gramme is a unit of measurement of mass, and is defined in the SI system of units as one thousandth of a kilogram. See 1 E -3 kg for comparisons with other masses. The symbol for gs are affected.
This is a grave situation for the city of Jaipur, as one-third of its annual gem exports are of tanzanite. Some members of the industry fear the ban will set a dangerous precedent, leading Tanzania to ban the export of all raw gem material, including the country's production of tsavorite , diamondAlternate meanings: Diamond (disambiguation Diamond is one of the natural allotropes of carbon (the main allotrope being graphite; see also allotropes of carbon). The hardest of naturally occurring materials, diamonds cut into multi-faceted shapes are amo and ruby.
