Editor’s Note
This article examines the complex reality of Madagascar’s sapphire industry, which supplies an estimated 40% of the world’s gems. It highlights the largely unregulated and often clandestine nature of the mining, a sector that draws thousands into a challenging and competitive pursuit of fortune.
Madagascar is a land of sapphires, reportedly the source of 40% of the world’s production. Often clandestine, this activity is poorly regulated on the island. It attracts thousands of people willing to do anything to unearth this precious stone.
When the first shovel struck, they came running by the thousands, from the entire region, from across the country. The sapphire frenzy, a mad hope of escaping poverty. A mirage for the vast majority of miners, a lucrative market for the dealer who gets his hands on it.
In Madagascar’s gemstone trade, Marc Noveras is an indispensable figure. He has lived here for 30 years. He was the one who alerted us to the discovery of a new deposit in the north of the island. The stone hunter agreed to guide us to this very remote agricultural region. The track is chaotic, but it’s the only one leading to the mine. Before the massive arrival of miners, only farmers and their zebu cattle passed through here.
After three hours on the road, this is what we discovered.
Over more than a kilometer, thousands of miners have turned everything upside down. The miners are organized into small groups. The only rule: find a patch of earth and dig. Rado and his friends are in their twenties; they started a week ago. Like most of the people we met, they left their jobs to try their luck here.
In three months, a town has sprung from the ground with its stalls, its barbers. The wildcat mining has attracted so many people that the state dares not shut it down. And the more time passes, the more it grows.