Post subject: Re: New Gem Hunt series to debut on the Travel Channel
Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 2:21 pm
Established Member
Joined: Mon Jun 04, 2012 1:14 pm Posts: 35 Location: NW PA
Bernie had told us that many of those "natives" are now rich beyond belief because of them and others coming in to purchase gemstones. They are very shrewd businessmen now (the natives). As long as they put it back into their communities (?)...
_________________ Julie Kocur, GIA, AJP Still studying Gems are such a miracle of nature
Post subject: Re: New Gem Hunt series to debut on the Travel Channel
Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 5:42 pm
Gemology Online Veteran
Joined: Thu Feb 22, 2007 10:23 am Posts: 923 Location: NYC
as i said before i was talking about fair deals, it wouldn't kill if they spend 200$ when they are profiting thousands , for those dealers who drop from 50k to 23k you are right they make money from ripping tourists, i bet they still make 200% profit.
Post subject: Re: New Gem Hunt series to debut on the Travel Channel
Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 8:15 pm
Moderator
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:42 pm Posts: 2846 Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
I did a gem trip to Sri Lanka a couple of summers ago. While there is some mechanical mining, most is not. One of the traditional mines we visited consisted of about 8-10 guys who work together and share any profits. The mine was a 30 foot deep hole, bolstered with hand cut timber. Communication to the surface consisted of a rubber pipe. One guy at the bottom shovelling gem gravel into a basket while a couple others hoisted it up, dumped it into a pile and another was washing it basket by basket, waist deep in water. Bare feet, no safety equipment.
At the end of the day, the results of their labour consisted of a handful of stones. Mostly garnets, tourmalines and other not very valuable stones. If they're lucky, they will occasionally come across something worthwhile. If they're not, they end up with virtually nothing to show for their time, divided by 8 or 10.
Bernie had told us that many of those "natives" are now rich beyond belief because of them and others coming in to purchase gemstones. They are very shrewd businessmen now (the natives). As long as they put it back into their communities (?)...
Um... right. I like Bernie, but I'm going to call this statement a comforting little lie. The overwhelming majority of the people in gems and mining manage at best a working class standard of living (by local standards) while working in difficult and often dangerous conditions. This includes the miners and runners. and A few people who have more business skills, a vehicle, and some capital to invest are managing a middle class standard of living by local standards. A very, very few people, most of whom had money walking in, made a bunch more money.
Post subject: Re: New Gem Hunt series to debut on the Travel Channel
Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2014 6:08 am
New to the Forum or The Quiet Type
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2014 4:10 am Posts: 8
all GH episodes (except Episode 4) on youtube.com YT user by the name of Danish Digger uploaded a while back. Easy to find by just typing GH S01E01 into YT to start watching
Post subject: Re: New Gem Hunt series to debut on the Travel Channel
Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 2:57 pm
Platinum Member
Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2008 4:40 pm Posts: 2667 Location: South Dakota
blue paraiba wrote:
I watched one episode of this series on the weather channel. I was bored with watching the hunters rolling rocks down the mountain for a large part of the episode.
It's not the most exciting thing to watch, blue. It's not really a spectator sport. More fun when you are doing the digging, ya know. I got the invite from Amanda to come dig on her Antero Claim if/when I make it out yonder. Of course, I would have my copy of "Antero Aquamarines" with me....following in the footsteps of the great Ed Over
_________________ MrAmethystguy ~ Some jokes just fluorite over my head!
Post subject: Re: New Gem Hunt series to debut on the Travel Channel
Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2016 8:42 pm
Established Member
Joined: Mon Dec 07, 2015 12:11 am Posts: 18
Mine Hunters on sale on Amazon (at least for today) Season 1 for $4.99
"Gem hunter Guy Clutterbuck and his specialist squad search the globe for ethical mines and work alongside local miners to find precious gems. But high stakes gem hunts come with high risks."
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