Location and How Discovered:
Location and How Discovered: The Chinese sapphire mine is located in the central part of Shandong peninsula. About1000KM
from Shanghai and 800KM from Beijing, the place is a typical volcanic terrain with rich deposits of sapphires andother minerals.
The sapphires were first found in river beds by local farmers in the year of 1987. The sapphires were first thought to be blue and
black gravels but then they were tested and proved to be gem quality sapphires by the local No.7 Geological & Mineral team.

According to gemological survey, the local sapphire mine covers a total area of over 400 square kilometers.
Total deposit amounts to several billion carats. It's one of the largest sapphire mine in the world, though not very well recorded
up to now.

Mining Acttivities:
Up to the moment, no large scale government mining has been conducted and most of the mining operation are done by
individual miners(local farmers). For that reason, there is still potential deposit for the next 50 to 60 years.

Shandong Sapphire Properties:
The Shandong sapphire was formed deep in the once thriving volcano lava. After eruption, they were carried by rainfall and
distributed in a wide area. The local sapphires are usually found in well-formed hexagonal prisms which are ideal rough stone for
well-proportioned and high yielding rate cutting. The rough stone usually weighs above 1 gram up to 10 more grams. The stones
weighing between 1 - 5 grams account for about 50% among all rough stones that are mined. The most notable feature for the
shandong sapphire is that almost all of them have very good crystal integrity with no or few inclusions or fractures. They can be
found in various colors like blue, green, yellow, golden, lemon, padparadscha. And dark midnight blue accounts for 99%.The 6 ray
and 12 ray star sapphires are also available in blue, yellow and black color which is ideal for man's jewelry.