Pakistan is not competing well in gemstone market

Pakistan--has not competed well in the international gem stone market inspite of its superior gem stone deposits and there is need to change the thinking of the small-scale miners through education and training.Every naturally occurring gemstone-has its own particular feature, which should be known before to explore it in the mountainous areas of the country.
There are emerald mines in Mohmand and Bajaur Agencies and Swat,topaz mine of Katlang,tourmaline mine of Stak Nala,Ruby mines of Hunza and AJK and peridot mine of Spat,Naran-Kohistan.
Gemstone deposits of Pakistan are said to be the biggest-deposits of the world with the estimated reserves over million of carats for each of the deposit.
Previously,these deposits-were explored and exploited by the government enterprises, but at present all the gemstone mining in NWFP and northern areas is done by private sector.
Gemstones have captured the imagination and-desires of men and especially women for ages.The pursuit of gems has become-the subject of legends,fairy tales,epics and major motion pictures. Today,finer gemstone specimens are available to the average person than at any other time in history.
Out of more than 3,000 identified minerals,less than 100 are-used as gemstones Talking to APP, curator Hamid Dawood of Pakistan History of Natural Museum (PMNH) said the northern and northwestern parts of Pakistan are shrouded by the three world famous ranges called Hindukush, Himalaya, and Karakorum.