Investing in the gemstones business in Nigeria1 of 4.

Gemstones Business in Nigeria

Igonor Emmanuel E.
B.Sc. Geology; M.Sc. Mineral Exploration
Petra Prospectors Limited (Nigeria)
e-mail: eeigonor@yahoo.com; tel: +2348066943346

Investment opportunities in the gemstones business in Nigeria

There are abundant and diverse Investment opportunities in the nascent colored gemstones
industry in Nigeria and these include: mining, trading, brokering deals, and processing.

Mining: Mining of coloured gemstones is widespread in the nation and is mainly carried out
by Artisans and Small scale Miners (ASM). The artisanal miners are informal mostly
migratory and have served as ‘pathfinders’ discovering and temporarily mining many rich
deposits of spectacular gemstones.

The government as part of the mining reform established the department of Artisanal and
Small scale Miners to organise support and promote ASM. The general economic reforms
have created an enabling investment climate with relatively cheap labour.

There are numerous viable opportunities for mining the rich and extensive near surface
deposits of sapphire, ruby, emerald, aquamarine, tourmaline, and the rest, which are found in
Nigeria and presently under-exploited. Investment in this sector allows foreign ownership or
in partnership with local miners.

Trading: The guidelines and conditions for the establishment of private mineral buying
centres (MBC) have been developed. Government is embarking on a drive for the registration
of MBC nationwide which will provide opportunity for trading companies to establish gem
buying centres in any part of Nigeria.

Processing: Since Nigeria is not ‘a consuming nation of gemstones’ much of the gemstone
production is being exported rough. Only an insignificant portion is processed locally hence
there are great opportunities for tumbling, beading, faceting, carving, and jewellery making in
the country.

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The extract above is taken from a business/investment e-book written by the author to guide
investors venturing into the gemstones business in Nigeria. The full book, which is about
84pages, has table of content as outline below. Interested persons may contact the author for
the book.

Table of content
Front page cover

Dedication

Copyright information/ disclaimer

Table of content

Cover page

Gemstone package – introduction

• What are gemstones

• Characteristics of gemstones
• Pricing and value of gemstones
• How to buy a gem
• Value factors
o Colour
o Clarity
o Cut
o Carat weight
• Price and prejudice
• Where you shop is also important
• Gems that are a cut above
• Host rock
• Mode of occurrence
• Uses of gemstones

Some gemstones and their brief description

♦ Agate
♦ Alexandrite
♦ Amethyst

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♦ Aquamarine
♦ Beryl
♦ Emerald
♦ Garnet
♦ Zircon
♦ Tourmaline
♦ Sapphire
♦ Ruby
♦ Quartz
♦ Morganite
♦ Diamond

Gemstones treatment and enhancement

• Heating
• Oiling
• Beryllium heating
• Diffusion
• Irradiation
• Doublet
• Triplet
• Fracture filling

Why treated gemstones are less expensive than untreated ones

Investment opportunities in the gemstones business in Nigeria

• Investment opportunity – 1 – Gemstones Mining

o Gemstones mining practice in Nigeria
o Expenditure to consider when starting at this stage
o Profitability profile for mining of gemstones
o Skills needed in the mining of gemstones
• Investment opportunity – 2 – Gemstones Brokering
o Profitability profile for brokering of gemstones deals
o Skills needed in the brokering of gemstones deals
• Investment opportuinity – 3 – Gemstones Trading
o Steps involved in the trading of gemstones
o Skills needed in the trading of gemstones
o Profitability profile for the trading of gemstones
o Current local prices of various gemstones
• Investment opportunity – 4 – Gemstones Processing

How to source for gemstones locally

• Nigeria’s amazing coloured gemstones

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Sourcing for gemstones internationally

Sourcing for buyers for your gemstones

• Sourcing for buyers from the local market

• How to source for foreign buyers for your gemstones

Conclusion

Other profitable resources

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